Slow to start, slow to load

[Hoss]

It seems that it takes forever to load Civ and get to the point where I can load a saved game.

Then it seems like it takes forever to load the game so I can continue my world domination plans

Now I know I'm impatient and eager to dominate the world, but it is really taking a long time.

PC is fairly well tuned, defragged, lots of HD space, latest drivers, etc.

Any tips to improve things?

Paul

 

[otaman1]

It's probably your GHz. My GHz on my computer is 3.2 and CiV loads pretty fast but in-game it lags like hell. My laptop has 2.5 or 2.7 GHz and it takes a long ass time to load but in-game it doesn't lag as much (except when there's like 1000 Montezumian units on the battlefield). So yeah. It's probably your GHz. Maybe provide your computer specs.

Edit: My laptop actually only have 1.65 GHz. No wonder why it takes 5 minutes to load a game

 

[tomtom5858]

...Did you just say "it's your gigahertz"? Okay. What kind of processor do you have, Hoss? If you have a dual-core, think about upgrading to a quad-core. It will MASSIVELY reduce loading times. As an example, creating a huge map on a 2.2GHz dual-core takes until the end of "Can you build a civilization that will stand the test of time?", maybe a bit more. 2.9GHz quad-core is halfway through the first paragraph.

 

[BluegrassGeek]

Yeah, clock speed (aka gigahertz) is pretty irrelevant nowadays. I've got a 2.3ghz Core2 processor, but a newer Haswell generation 1.3ghz i5 would kick its butt.

Civ is just plain slow to load up. And loading a savegame takes longer the further into the game you are. Really, having a modern processor & a fast hard drive are the best ways to increase your load speeds.

 

[Hoss]

well ... I thought it was an OK machine, not new but still

Running a Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40 GHz, 4 GB RAM, and sata 500GB HD. Vista Home as OS

I do try to keep the extra processes to a minimum, and manually use System Internals' Autorun.exe to house keep what gets started.

Paul

 

[bobbo008]

I find it quite irritating as well. it's another 50% more waiting if you have to load up mods as well. I typically just minimize the game when I'm not playing, unless I need to restart or something like that. After a couple months of this, steam says I've played Civ for a total of 822 hours... oops...

 

[tomtom5858]

well ... I thought it was an OK machine, not new but still

Running a Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40 GHz, 4 GB RAM, and sata 500GB HD. Vista Home as OS

I do try to keep the extra processes to a minimum, and manually use System Internals' Autorun.exe to house keep what gets started.

Paul

Hmm. With a processor like that, you should be kicking this game halfway to next Saturday. What's the speed of your hard drive? You may also want to consider purchasing 8GB of GDDR5 RAM, it will speed up your computer quite a bit. Also, as someone else said, a Haswell core would likely speed up the process as well.

 

[Hoss]

Hmm. With a processor like that, you should be kicking this game halfway to next Saturday. What's the speed of your hard drive? You may also want to consider purchasing 8GB of GDDR5 RAM, it will speed up your computer quite a bit. Also, as someone else said, a Haswell core would likely speed up the process as well.

Agree, or at least halfway to next Thursday

It saves a game in seconds, so i was thinking that 1) it's not a 'image' of the game state that is just being reloaded, 2) it replays EVERYTHING to get back to the game date of the save

I deleted every cache I could find thinking that it's create a fresh copy, but no difference

I am looking at another computer, but I see that others also think load times are a little 'excessive'

Paul

 

[tomtom5858]

Agree, or at least halfway to next Thursday

It saves a game in seconds, so i was thinking that 1) it's not a 'image' of the game state that is just being reloaded, 2) it replays EVERYTHING to get back to the game date of the save

I deleted every cache I could find thinking that it's create a fresh copy, but no difference

I am looking at another computer, but I see that others also think load times are a little 'excessive'

Paul

Can you give a speed on the HDD?

 

[joncnunn]

Hum, given that the machine is running Vista, try DirectX Version 9 instead of 11.

I'm also surprised no one above has mentioned size of the map (which is the one thing you can do without buying new hardware); while that doesn't impact the time starting Civ V; it does impact the speed of both starting a new game & loading an existing same.
The bigger the map, the longer it takes.

If you do end up getting a new windows machine; I'd wait lone enough for them to come with Windows 8.1 pre-installed an given that the Windows 8 interface sucks.

 

[Hoss]

@tomtom5858 --

HD is a wdc wd5000aaks-75yga0

500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s [SATA II] 16MB CACHE HARD DRIVE

@joncnunn --

given how long it takes to setup a new machine, I'll probably dawdle until Win8.1 is the OEM 'standard'

I typically only play on Tiny and Small, just cuz of my natural impatience

I'll give DirectX 9 a try

Thanks for the tips, and any more that might come up

Paul

 

[tomtom5858]

@tomtom5858 --

HD is a wdc wd5000aaks-75yga0

500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s [SATA II] 16MB CACHE HARD DRIVE

Hmm, 7200RPM, that should be loading faster. I agree that it's probably DX version. Make sure your drivers are up to date, too--I know you said you updated them, but it's always good to verify.

 

[AlcatrazUK]

I'm running a quad q6600 (just upgraded from twin core) and my load times have drastically reduced to about 30 seconds (from a few minutes).

Am runnig 8GB Ram and a 64 bit OS which may do it.

Diagnostics say the only way for me to speed up (and with matching processors I imagine you too) is to upgrade hard drive to a solid state drive...but that's a bit pricey

 

[Hoss]

More extra memory would most likely help (I'm using 4GB now)

I was actually looking at a SSD but decided to wait for the next computer

 

[bdporter]

For me, the latest patch (1.0.3.18) has significantly sped up the loading speeds.

 

[iamdanno]

I've also noticed snappier loading times since the patch. :goodjob

 

[ColonelPanic]

It's probably your GHz. My GHz on my computer is 3.2 and CiV loads pretty fast but in-game it lags like hell. My laptop has 2.5 or 2.7 GHz and it takes a long ass time to load but in-game it doesn't lag as much (except when there's like 1000 Montezumian units on the battlefield). So yeah. It's probably your GHz. Maybe provide your computer specs.

Edit: My laptop actually only have 1.65 GHz. No wonder why it takes 5 minutes to load a game

The deciding factor in Civ V performance is the GPU -- Graphical Processing Unit -- rather than the CPU. Take my current setup for example.

In terms of my CPU I use an AMD Phenom II X4 960T for my professional workstation and gaming desktop. Normally the 960T features quad cores and a stock frequency of 3.0GHz. However, I was able to unlock two latent cores and overclock the system using an aftermarket heat-sink/fan solution. So, now I am able to play Civilization II, III and V with a 6-core 3.6GHZ CPU

My original GPU for this system was a GTX 550 Ti, which was stupendous in allowing me to play at maximum settings @ 1920x1080 with a 60Hz refresh rate.
Since I gave my NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB GDDR5 GPU to my sister as a gift (she needed it for professional use more than I did for my games) I am using an NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT 1GB DDR3 GPU... At least until my RMA'd AMD HD Radeon 6850 arrives at my house.

Since the 9400 GT uses an older form of graphical memory -- in this case DDR3 -- it is considerably slower than my GTX 550 Ti. This increases the loading times and concurrently decreases the quality and in game performance. If Civilization V were entirely dependent upon the CPU for rendering, anti-aliasing and other essential graphical elements, I would definitely not have a problem with an over-clocked hex core.