Official System Requirements

[Istanbul_Kop]

Like I found out when I built my super PC that can literally run anything on ultra settings....CIV IV is limited by the confines of the game itself. In the end, doesn't matter what you have up to a certain point, the game will run slow. It's the game. It won't fully take advantage of modern hardware. Benefits rest in the superficial elements of the game, like graphics. Which are of course, nice.

 

[timtofly]

Like I found out when I built my super PC that can literally run anything on ultra settings....CIV IV is limited by the confines of the game itself. In the end, doesn't matter what you have up to a certain point, the game will run slow. It's the game. It won't fully take advantage of modern hardware. Benefits rest in the superficial elements of the game, like graphics. Which are of course, nice.

I have to disagree here. I have an i7 2670QM 2.2 GHz 8 gig ramm and nivedia GT 555M. And the turn rate at turn 2000 was not any slower comparatively than turn 1. Turn one was .25 seconds and turn 2000 was the expected 15 seconds. I am running everything in the game on the highest settings. Changing the AA down a notch lets units move more smoothly, but the game does take advantage of the latest hardware.

I was using a below specs computer and it took 20 seconds just to select a unit in the city build que, after about 120 cities on the map, and turn times were 5 minutes. I have seen the difference in the wide range of computers out there.

 

[sl168]

I have to disagree here. I have an i7 2670QM 2.2 GHz 8 gig ramm and nivedia GT 555M. And the turn rate at turn 2000 was not any slower comparatively than turn 1. Turn one was .25 seconds and turn 2000 was the expected 15 seconds. I am running everything in the game on the highest settings. Changing the AA down a notch lets units move more smoothly, but the game does take advantage of the latest hardware.

I was using a below specs computer and it took 20 seconds just to select a unit in the city build que, after about 120 cities on the map, and turn times were 5 minutes. I have seen the difference in the wide range of computers out there.

That sounds alot like what I'm experiencing now.Since the patch and addition of G&K,once I get into the game a ways,it takes about 8-10 seconds for anything I do to register,and a few minutes between turns.What's more,I'm not using a large number of civs,and CS are under 20.Often,I have to hit ctrl-alt-del after exiting the game and close the civ 5 in processes because the cpu and ram are maxed out.

 

[timtofly]

Firaxis is working on it and will get things patched ASAP.

 

[Conand]

Hi civvers, I'm thinking of getting a new laptop which I want to play CiV on. Which of these is better suited to the job and how well will it do it?

HP Pavilion g6-1331ea 15.6" Laptop. less processing power?
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pavilion-g6-1331ea-15-6-laptop-silver-11884802-pdt.html

Samsung Series 3 NP300E5A 15.6" Laptop. not sure how much GPU memory?
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-series-3-np300e5a-15-6-laptop-silver-13212978-pdt.html

Any help is much appreciated as I was looking at computers for hours and still none the wiser.
But I'm thinking maybe the second one is best. Uhh my head hurts!

 

[The_J]

After looking at some charts, it seems that neither graphics card is able to handle Civ5.
I'm not a hardware pro, but I guess one of them might in the next time also check this thread, so please wait a bit .

 

[tokala]

Well, the HP could have been decent if they had just sticked to the integrated graphics.
But some genius had to add a dedicated GPU that's worse than the integrated one

(Edited out reading failure)

The second one will probably be a decent choice at that price point; good CPU, tolerable GPU, lightweight and a non-glare display.

If you don't mind a glare display and a bit more weight, you will get a much better GPU for £30 more:
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lenovo-ideapad-z750-15-6-laptop-silver-12377721-pdt.html

 

[timtofly]

Hi civvers, I'm thinking of getting a new laptop which I want to play CiV on. Which of these is better suited to the job and how well will it do it?

HP Pavilion g6-1331ea 15.6" Laptop. less processing power?
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pavilion-g6-1331ea-15-6-laptop-silver-11884802-pdt.html

Samsung Series 3 NP300E5A 15.6" Laptop. not sure how much GPU memory?
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-series-3-np300e5a-15-6-laptop-silver-13212978-pdt.html

Any help is much appreciated as I was looking at computers for hours and still none the wiser.
But I'm thinking maybe the second one is best. Uhh my head hurts!

The first one is out: the Radion HD 6620G + HD 7450 M Crossfire, is a DitectX 10 and 11 only. Unless the AMD poster can correct me, the driver issues will not let you play games in DirectX 9, so if you do not like 11, there is not a 9 to fall back on. Some games play better with the extra card turned off, which means that you may have problems in 11.

The second one may play the game well, on low settings.

You may be looking at around £150 more for a laptop that will play the game well.

 

[tokala]

The first one is out: the Radion HD 6620G + HD 7450 M Crossfire, is a DitectX 10 and 11 only. Unless the AMD poster can correct me, the driver issues will not let you play games in DirectX 9, so if you do not like 11, there is not a 9 to fall back on. Some games play better with the extra card turned off, which means that you may have problems in 11.

I'm fairly sure that this is not correct, nevertheless such a crossfire combo just don't make any sense at all.
If the dedicated GPU can be deactivated, it might be an option, but the CPU would be a bit sluggish for Civ5.

 

[Conand]

Thanks for your help guys, I've found one for £599 which looks good but what do you think?

hp pavilion dm4 3002ea

It has the i5 2450M 2.5Ghz (with TurboBoost? to 3.1) and an AMD Radeon HD 7450M.

 

[tokala]

No.

If you main point for a new laptop is "should play Civ as good as possible, at price point X, available at that shop"

then for X = about £500:

If you don't mind a glare display and a bit more weight, you will get a much better GPU for £30 more:
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lenovo-ideapad-z750-15-6-laptop-silver-12377721-pdt.html

If not, you should specify what you are looking for in more detail.

 

[Conand]

Thats more or less it,
the main point of the laptop is to play civ as good as poss, at between £500-£650, doesn't need to be that shop.

Found this one at Laptops Direct how does it compare with that Lenovo? Is the processor better or worse? It has less speed but is an i7
Acer Aspire 5755 Core i7 Laptop
This one is £40 more has double the GPU memory but is a 540M optimus
GT540 2048MB

 

[timtofly]

Thats more or less it,
the main point of the laptop is to play civ as good as poss, at between £500-£650, doesn't need to be that shop.

Found this one at Laptops Direct how does it compare with that Lenovo? Is the processor better or worse? It has less speed but is an i7
Acer Aspire 5755 Core i7 Laptop
This one is £40 more has double the GPU memory but is a 540M optimus
GT540 2048MB

Both should be fine, but why only 6 Gig Ramm??? I am running an i72670QM 2.2 GHz. 8Gig Ramm. With a GT 555M optimus. The game and G&K both run great on every thing maxed. My Nvidea has 144 cores versus the 96 cores of the 540, but both are around 650 MHz. The GT 630 is just a rebranded GT 540. BTW, the computer gets really hot and should be in an environment with good air circulation, if not AC.

 

[Jesus Kdogist]

I'm barely making it with Celeron and intel graphics.. Had to run in directx9.. Has leader animations.

 

[Conand]

Thank you for your help tokala & timtofly!

I think I will fork out for the Acer Aspire 5755 with the 540 2GB which does say 8GB ram. Then I can enjoy the game properly.

 

[Eclipse4449]

Hello Civ5 crashes at the slash screen, I have a laptop with;
Processor: AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-58 (2 CPUs), ~1.9GHz
Chip type: ATI Radeon X1200 Series (0x791F)

Could someone please help me with this? 2k support just sent me back to the store for a refund?

 

[timtofly]

Hello Civ5 crashes at the slash screen, I have a laptop with;
Processor: AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-58 (2 CPUs), ~1.9GHz
Chip type: ATI Radeon X1200 Series (0x791F)

Could someone please help me with this? 2k support just sent me back to the store for a refund?

That card is very much below specs. You could try updating the graphics driver, but I cannot guarantee that will solve your issue.

 

[The_J]

Seems to be the relatively latest drivers, so I guess there's no chance. Even if there were latter drivers, I'd not say that there's any possibility to get the game to run with that card.

And pretty strange that 2K sent you to get a refund. Because you'll not be able to get one. The game is bound to your Steam account, and not reusable for anyone else.

 

[Eclipse4449]

@timtofly and @The_J Thanks for the replies.

It doesn't look like I'll be joining the ranks unless a laptop video card can be upgraded
sighing out

 

[Szarlej]

Hello,
for some time now I've been looking forward to at last play Civ 5. Nevertheless I wouldn't like to spoil the whole fun with not having proper hardware. Currently I'm thinking about a PC:
- Intel Core i5-3550 BOX (4core, 3,3 MHz)
- Vertex3D Radeon HD 7850 1GB X-Edition
- ~8GB RAM
Would it be enough for comfortable play? Am I going to experience any delays, especially later on the game? Do highest details, texture quality etc. still remain an issue?
I've been through some posts in this thread and noticed that some of you claim that avoiding delays later on the game (be it 2000 AD) is hardly possible and a big/huge map would make it even worse.