Emperor Giulio
King
I am looking for something cheap, but efficient.
I just cant seem to get away from this game, so I will take it with me.
I just cant seem to get away from this game, so I will take it with me.
What is a good Notebook PC that can run Civ 4?
- Thread starter Emperor Giulio
- Start date
GreatEngineer
Chieftain
I use a Dell XPS 1530 which used to be on the expensive side (I got mine for $1500 but could have spent way more), but I think has come down in price. My friend uses the XPS 1330 which was about the same price as mine, and both of our ~2 yr. old laptops run the game tip top. I had another friend who installed and ran the game on a 6yr. old Dell Inspiron 5100, but he had a tough time getting into the industrial era because of choppiness.
If you're looking for specific recommendations, I will not recommend the Dell Studio XPS, because though there is a slight difference in name, a noticeable difference in performance and reliability exists in my experience. It will run the game on high settings, though. Dell Inspirons work, too, as I had a 3rd friend who had a newer Inspiron and it worked just fine. I'm not affiliated w/ Dell at all, but I think they make the best laptops I would spend money on.
How much are you looking to spend? I can't imagine you need to spend more than $600 for a laptop that'll support a game as old (and awesome) as CivIV.
If you're looking for specific recommendations, I will not recommend the Dell Studio XPS, because though there is a slight difference in name, a noticeable difference in performance and reliability exists in my experience. It will run the game on high settings, though. Dell Inspirons work, too, as I had a 3rd friend who had a newer Inspiron and it worked just fine. I'm not affiliated w/ Dell at all, but I think they make the best laptops I would spend money on.
How much are you looking to spend? I can't imagine you need to spend more than $600 for a laptop that'll support a game as old (and awesome) as CivIV.
Steve2000
Mighty Pirate
Just like with desktops, they key to Civ IV is RAM and your graphics card. Look for a laptop with a discrete graphics card, and the more RAM the better.
Asus makes some nice budget gaming laptops that you can find on sites like Newegg.com
Asus makes some nice budget gaming laptops that you can find on sites like Newegg.com
PeteAtoms
FormulaRandom
I don't know much about computer hardware, but I'll give you my anecdotal experience:
I have a gateway laptop from 2006. It has 2GB of RAM and I have a cheap-o integrated graphics card. And I can run Civ4. but when I start the game, it has a pop-up telling me I can't, I just click 'ok' and play on the lowest graphics possible, with animations turned off.
I think most laptops you can get today, even on a budget, will work well. Just be sure to get a good graphics card (anythings better than my integrated
)
I have a gateway laptop from 2006. It has 2GB of RAM and I have a cheap-o integrated graphics card. And I can run Civ4. but when I start the game, it has a pop-up telling me I can't, I just click 'ok' and play on the lowest graphics possible, with animations turned off.
I think most laptops you can get today, even on a budget, will work well. Just be sure to get a good graphics card (anythings better than my integrated
)
Steve2000
Mighty Pirate
If you go to your CivilizationIV config file you can hide this warning. If you don't know, this can be found in your "Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization IV\" folder.
Find the line that says:
And, change the 0 to a 1, save the file and close it, and you will not get that warning anymore.
(If you are playing BtS or Warlords, then you would need to change the respective config file for that expansion rather than the Vanilla Civ IV one.)
Urgh, I am in the exactly the same boat now that my gaming PC has packed up. Does anyone know whether an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (integrated) will be allright to play? It is going to suck from the days of my Geforce 8800, but aslong as it runs I dont mind...
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
It will be able to run Civ 4 with some tweaking but at the very lowest settings. If graphics cards were limbo bars, the 950 is sitting on the floor.
lutzj
The Last Thing You See
Can it run Vista?
Install XP and Civ 4 will run great.
Install XP and Civ 4 will run great.
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
No reason to install Vista now that Windows 7 is out.
GreatEngineer
Chieftain
I heard on the radio today that 31% of Windows 7 users have reported problems. Now that includes the most minor of issues where Internet Explorer closes suddenly and a "Report this problem?" dialog box appears, but still that's not very good.
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
Any new OS may have problems. But there's 2 things I see wrong with that number:
1. What's the source?
2. What kind of numbers does Vista have?
The second one is the most important one.
Additionally, what qualifies as an issue? The graphics driver crashing is not necessarily a Windows issue, as it may just be a problem with your hardware.
1. What's the source?
2. What kind of numbers does Vista have?
The second one is the most important one.
Additionally, what qualifies as an issue? The graphics driver crashing is not necessarily a Windows issue, as it may just be a problem with your hardware.
GreatEngineer
Chieftain
1. It was a CNN news update on the radio, and they said Microsoft reported it, so I trust it. 2. I can't find any after a quick search and reading a few articles, but it doesn't bother me that much. My Vista computer runs well and that's all I need.
At any rate I understand about new OSs having problems early in their careers. I posted that info more like, "Oh no, I hope Microsoft doesn't suffer anymore!" than, "See? This is why I use a Mac." Actually I don't use a Mac, nor would I ever pay full price for one: I want to get good with Linux.
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
See, you already run Vista fine, so you have no reason to upgrade to WIndows 7 now. But for those looking to install an OS on their computer, there is no reason to go with Vista. Windows 7 may still have some teething problems, but its been out for damned close to a year now, and the showstopping bugs have pretty much been eradicated. Windows 7 also improves on a lot of things in Vista.
GreatEngineer
Chieftain
I don't mean to quibble because it sounds like we agree on most things, but if I'm not mistaken the official release was in October 2009. The 22nd in the US and UK at least: www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59L0SV20091022
I know the beta had been out for nearly a year before that, though.
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
The beta was essentially the release, since it wasnt very limited. They also had the RC (which is pretty much the final version) out somewhere around may or june, and the release to public was in August, with general store availability in October. You had to be a MSDN member to get it in August, but nonetheless, the final version has been out for pretty much half a year, and the beta which I believe was feature-complete, for about a year.
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