What to buy to speed turn times

[Abraxis]

I'm just wondering what would best speed up the time between turns.

I have windows xp pro 64bit with 4gb ddr2 ram (4x1gb) running at 667mhz
I'm thinking of upgradeing that to 8gb ddr2 ram (4x2gb) 800mhz

-or-

My graphics card, Geforce 8600GS (512mb)
with... something better.

-or-

My AMD Phenon X4 9500 Quad core (2195MHz each)
with a AMD Phenom II X4 955 Quad Core ( 3200MHz each)

What do you people think?
The ram is the cheapest solution, than the processor, then the graphics.

I think the bottleneck might be at the processor, since it's usually using close to 90-100% of one of the cores
but I'm also convinced the 800mhz ram will do better than what I have now

If nothing else, does anyone know if the turn times are more ram or cpu intensive?

 

[Agentus]

I can't say for sure, but afair the ram that can be used by civ is limited anyway and the extra 4 gb would be of no or little use.
And for the processor: Since civ can't use multicores (as you noted yourself - one core takes most of the load) it would probably be better to use a powerful dualcore instead of a quadcore. Or in other words: Make that one used core as powerful as possible - the extra cores are somewhat redundant.

But, don't expect too much of any upgrades. Since the growth in civ is basically exponential any extra performance will be eaten up within a few turns. Even if you could double the performance you're still going to get long turns, just a little later. Since you already seem to have a pretty powerful machine you can't expect too much with any upgrade.

 

[JosEPh_II]

I can't say for sure, but afair the ram that can be used by civ is limited anyway and the extra 4 gb would be of no or little use.

Not with XP Pro 64 bit the ram is utilized. It's XP Pro 32bit that only uses 2GB of ram without the /3GB Switch. A higher speed ram will help. I use XP Pro 64 bit with 8 GB of DDR2 1066.

And for the processor: Since civ can't use multicores (as you noted yourself - one core takes most of the load) it would probably be better to use a powerful dualcore instead of a quadcore. Or in other words: Make that one used core as powerful as possible - the extra cores are somewhat redundant.

I agree here.

But, don't expect too much of any upgrades. Since the growth in civ is basically exponential any extra performance will be eaten up within a few turns. Even if you could double the performance you're still going to get long turns, just a little later. Since you already seem to have a pretty powerful machine you can't expect too much with any upgrade.

Is the vid card ram DDR3 or better? If not then the card can be upgraded and will help.

But with RoM there will be some wait between turns at the late Eras. I personally don't mind the wait as long as it doesn't exceed 2 mins like it did on my old system (a XP Pro single core 32bit with 1.5 GB DDR 400mhz ram).

JosEPh

 

[Afforess]

I'm just wondering what would best speed up the time between turns.

I have windows xp pro 64bit with 4gb ddr2 ram (4x1gb) running at 667mhz
I'm thinking of upgradeing that to 8gb ddr2 ram (4x2gb) 800mhz

Seeing as this will cost $100 (cause you need to totally replace your ram, since you should have invested in 2x2gb sticks to start) it is a good option, and may speed games up, especially later, a good some.

-or-

My graphics card, Geforce 8600GS (512mb)
with... something better.

May help some, especially if you buy a new Radeon 4780. This will cost about $160-180, depending on where you get it. Don't go for the new Geforce's (100-200 series) as the Radeon beats all but the most expensive $400 dollar ones.

-or-

My AMD Phenon X4 9500 Quad core (2195MHz each)
with a AMD Phenom II X4 955 Quad Core ( 3200MHz each)

Complete waste, you need a new motherboard and need to use DDR3 RAM with it to see any performance gains. Might as well build a new system, with a AM3 socket ONLY, and DDR3 ram. That would cost WAY too much.

Go with option one or two, or both if you have cash to spare, but never ever three.