Should I upgrade my video card?

[Invader3K]

Hey everyone. I just got Civ 5 a few days ago. Only played through a couple games so far.

Overall, the game runs "OK" on my PC. I have only had one crash, but I've been playing on smaller maps (the crash happened during the loading screen). I have to run the game on reduced settings ("medium" or "low"), otherwise it runs way too sluggishly. The game is still a bit sluggish graphically.

Here are my PC specs:

HP p6230y desktop
Windows 7 (64 bit)
8 GB RAM
AMD Phenom II X4 810 2.60 GHz processor
ATI Radeon HD 4200 PCI video card

I've read that the video card is a bit underpowered. I suspect the rest of my system should be up to snuff. I'm wondering if upgrading the video card will significantly improve the performance of Civ V or not. I do realize I would have to upgrade the PSU as well, since it's only a 300 watt model currently.

Any info would be appreciated, including suggestions on video cards.

Thanks!

 

[tokala]

Indeed, your video card is by a wide margin the weakest link in your system. Upgrading would not necessarily lead to faster turn times, though. There appear to be lots of variables at work here.
It would however enable you to enjoy Civ with better graphics quality and frame rate.
Almost any modern cards will be a big improvement over your current integrated graphics, the sensible choices start at around $60 with a HD 5550/5570 DDR3, and the maximum that appear to makes sense for Civ would be a $160 GTX460-768MB.

The former would not require a new PSU, even the latter should run with a quality 300W PSU, but I would recommend a 400-500W brand name PSU to be on the save side.

Things that might further influence the GPU choice are monitor resolution, size/form factor of your case and if you are interested in other (more demanding) games.

 

[Invader3K]

Ended up getting a Geforce GT 430 and a 600 watt PSU yesterday afternoon. I have only done some preliminary testing with the game, but it now runs MUCH smoother than it did before. Will post more if anything else comes up.

 

[sagima]

Upgrading my card from a geforce 9800gt to a GTX 460 eliminated almost all of the issues i had with civ5. (except the late game large map crash)