System Requirements?

[Arkangelus]

Mobile graphics are always a bit funny, especially with nvidia's remaning fetish... I would think though that that should definately be enough for Civ, even if not on max. A relatively low resolution and the fact that framerate isnt as vital as it would be on a more reflex-based game should definately mean that it can handle things, since they're meant to be optimizing for a lot less. The Intel GMA is what most devs would aim for when they make something 'laptop compatable', so the fact that its any step above that bodes well.

 

[civ_king]

I do both, lots of mods and maxed out. And no AA. Though I don't really understand why you're being so contrary with your posts on this. If I say my video card isn't good enough for my own games, why is that an issue for you?

I now feel
a) stupid
b) like a jerk

That was the one I looked into as well.

What bugs me though is that no specifications about the FSB and such are in there. I suppose we may assume that the memory in there is fully utilised by the mobo. This would make for some very solid memory speeds, also the processor is fine. I am not really up to speed when it comes to the performance of video cards for notebooks. I cannot comment on that too much, but I would assume there will be settings in the game that you can lower should it come to that.

Taken all that in consideration I think you can tune the game enough so that it should run at an acceptable speed, but I doubt the laptop's performance should be stellar. It will be fine, but if you are looking into buying a computer for the sole purpose of running Civ V I think that you can find something more acceptable for the money.

IIRC iX series don't have FSBs

 

[Willem]

I now feel
a) stupid
b) like a jerk

Admirable reaction. That makes you a decent human being.

 

[V. Soma]

let me ask from a different perspective:

What does Civ(5) need as graphical hardware feature most?

Pixel, texture, polygon handling?
Video memory?
Frame rate?

So that I would know what I should want from a GPU...

 

[Shurdus]

What will it need most? Hard to say exactly. Certainly not video memory as I would assume they will handle the different features so that there is little need for a lot of memory. Is frame rate even an hardware feature? I believe it is more a function of how well the video ard handles dfferent graphical features.

It mostly depends on your budget, but I would get a 9800GT. I have onemyself and they are common cards so you are guaranteed to have frequent driver updates. Also games are guaranteed to support them for yeas to come. They cost about $100 and they perform really well. That card should be well capable of dealing with Civ5.

 

[Willem]

Also games are guaranteed to support them for yeas to come.

That's not necessarily true. The 9800 is a DirectX 10 card. If game developers starting flocking to DirectX 11, that card won't useable anymore. It will be good for at least a year or two though, and probably for Civ 5.

 

[Arkangelus]

Well it'll be a long time before developers completely abandon DX9 and move onto 11, but you're semi-right in that you might not get all the features of the new games.

 

[Shurdus]

A lot of gamers still have WinXP, me included. DX11 is still relatively rare, so devs are not truly focussing on catering to those gamers. The 9800GT should be fine for another few years, at least until Microsoft abandons WinXP in a few years.

 

[civ_king]

A lot of gamers still have WinXP, me included. DX11 is still relatively rare, so devs are not truly focussing on catering to those gamers. The 9800GT should be fine for another few years, at least until Microsoft abandons WinXP in a few years.

WinXP dies on April 8, 2014

 

[Shurdus]

WinXP dies on April 8, 2014

Ah, so the 9800GT should be fine until then - maybe it will become less good a bit before then, but then again so will every card you buy right now.

So I would recommend the 9800GT by nvidia, and I would warn people not to get ATI cards - they get very, very hot and causes two of my computers to die. I switched to nvidia and nothing bad happened to my computer ever since.

 

[Willem]

WinXP dies on April 8, 2014

That doesn't mean that developers will be writing for it that long though. I suspect in 2 years we won't be seeing too many DirectX 9 titles anymore. Three years at the most. Which is actually not a bad life span for a video card that's already a couple of generations behind.

 

[civ_king]

That doesn't mean that developers will be writing for it that long though. I suspect in 2 years we won't be seeing too many DirectX 9 titles anymore. Three years at the most. Which is actually not a bad life span for a video card that's already a couple of generations behind.

I meant it will be 100% dead

 

[deanej]

Problem is, video cards that are just one generation behind will become useless at the same time due to people ignoring DX 10. That said, anything that gets people to move away from XP is a good thing IMO.

 

[Eddogegr3]

He already intends on getting Windows 7. If you're going to spend a bundle on new gear, it makes sense to upgrade your OS as well. XP is going to be obsolete fairly soon.

That computer I mentioned is already purchased and built. I bought Win 7 64 bit.

You also mentioned that my ATI card I bought does not support Direct X 11? Well, it was only $100. I am not rich but I will just buy a better one in the next year or two--no big deal.

 

[Willem]

You also mentioned that my ATI card I bought does not support Direct X 11? Well, it was only $100. I am not rich but I will just buy a better one in the next year or two--no big deal.

It will no doubt be good enough to play Civ 5, you just won't get the full benefit of the new graphics. I'm not sure what exactly will be effected by not having a DirectX 11 card though. Chances are it will be pretty minor.

 

[a5ehren]

Ah, so the 9800GT should be fine until then - maybe it will become less good a bit before then, but then again so will every card you buy right now.

So I would recommend the 9800GT by nvidia, and I would warn people not to get ATI cards - they get very, very hot and causes two of my computers to die. I switched to nvidia and nothing bad happened to my computer ever since.

There's just as many people can say the same thing the opposite way. The plural of "anecdote" is not "data" .

Frankly, most of this requirements discussion is a bit silly until Firaxis says something. I still remember the epic whining that went on here right after Civ 4 came out. I'd say that any modern integrated GPU (AMD 7xx series, Intel G45, nvidia 2xx series) will run Civ 5, but it won't run well. These benchmarks show all the integrated GPUs getting absolutely wrecked by a $40 stand-alone card (Radeon 5450 - it even has DX11, fwiw). If you're using a desktop that has a PCI-Express slot, just bite the bullet and get something that's a good value when Civ 5 comes out. At this end of the market, even $10 can buy you a lot more performance. The Radeon 5570 or Nvidia GT 240 are the cards to watch in the low-end space. Good step-up cards are the Nvidia GTS 250 (essentially an up-clocked 9800) and Radeon 5670/5750.

If you still have an AGP slot, it's time to buy a new PC (or at least a new motherboard if you're the DIY type) if you want to play modern games. You can find AGP cards, but for the cost you can replace your whole PC and get much better performance. If you're building a new desktop, I like Tech-Report's system guides. It's also a good guide to what to look for in a system if you're buying from HP/Dell/Whoever.

If you're planning on playing Civ 5 on a laptop, I would try very hard to get something with a discrete GPU (Nvidia Geforce 3xxM for Intel Core i3/i5/i7 laptops...don't buy a Core 2 at this point unless it's a great deal) if you can fit it in your budget. Anything is better than integrated.

 

[The Rusty Gamer]

It's 6 core because it needs 1 processor for each hexagonal side.

 

[civ_king]

I guess we all need AMD rigs ($150-300 vs $1000 for processor) as Intel Hex requires $1000

 

[crazyunits]

do u guys think the Intel i7 quad core (1.6gHz) will be enough processing power for civ 5?

 

[civ_king]

do u guys think the Intel i7 quad core (1.6gHz) will be enough processing power for civ 5?

OC'ing is your friend