Will Civ4 work on a New Comp?

[Lord Gold]

I'm buying a new comp and wanted to know if it will be good enough to run Civ 4. I've compared the System Reqs to the New Comp's Specs over and over again. I don't understand most of it

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Processor: 1.6GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T2060
Memory: 1GB
Hard Disk Space: Don't Know
CD-ROM Drive : If it means Optical Drive then its Super Multi Double Layer +/- DVD
Video: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Though I have been considering having an ATI Radeon X1300 Pro AGP 256MB Video Card installed
Sound: If it means Audio Type its Software Sound 16-Bit Stereo
DirectX®: Doesn't say

I hope to get answers very soon

 

[Sam_Yeager]

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950

This will be your key problem. This doesn't really hack it. I believe that the replacement card you mention should be ok. Have a check in the TnL sticky in this forum.

 

[Lord Gold]

I thought so, I'll have that pretty Raedon x1300 installed then. Thank you for the help

 

[Gumbolt]

For a new pc. I would stick in 2-4gb ram for vista as it gobbles up ram. Well maybe 2-3gb is more realistic for games. x1300 for me seems a bit low spec but that is just me.

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2007/02/06/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money_uk/index.html

Perhaps one of those may perform better. it is one reviews sites opinion.

Liking the core 2 duo though although prices on CPU will crash come April 21st. Quad core parts will be more mainstream come 3-4th quarter 2007 although civ 4 may not utilise that to its fullest yet.

To be fair anything is better than onboard graphics. Let us know how the card performs )

 

[Lord Gold]

I can't afford more RAM...

I looked around, would a ATI Radeon X1600 Pro PCI-Express 512MB Video Card be good enough?

 

[Thorn]

I've got the x1400 card in my notebook (with 2gb RAM). It runs Civ4 great at the highest resolution. Also runs Call of Duty 2 on slightly lower settings with no problems.

 

[Lord Gold]

So, I absolutely need more RAM and that x1600 video card?

 

[T.A JONES]

So, I absolutely need more RAM and that x1600 video card?

No! No! hes just showing of... but, it wouldn't hurt. You pay most for the engine why not deck it out so you can not worry about limits

I had a 512MB and a 206MB chip set and my graphics card was 128. My engine was only 2.0g. I could play standard Maps with 8 civs no prob. So can't see how your specs with 1GB woudn't allow for huge maps with 12 civs flawless (see my logic?)

It depends what else you have running at the time. This guy might need to run a lot of stuff and figures you should have that luxery aswell. (example I turn of Antivirus and don't play winamp with Civ4)

I say if you have a 4 bus scoop another 512MB just to be sure. First Its cheap, and its there if you need it. 2nd it saves on gas if your having to upgrade at a later date)

 

[Thorn]

No, I wasn't showing off. What I meant was I have the x1400 card and 2gb RAM. I'm sure the x1300 card and 1gb of RAM would be good enough to run Civ 4. In fact, my last notebook had 1gb of RAM and a Radeon x700 and it ran Civ4 just fine. Hope this helps!

 

[Gumbolt]

For cheaper pcs i was looking at refurbished pcs. Dell outlook or Dixons refurbished PCs could be good value if your in the UK. Dixons had a Core 2 1.83ghz duo pc refubished for under £300 on site among other pcs with older cpus.

http://www.dixons.co.uk/martprd/sto...oduct&fm=3&sm=1&tm=3&sku=574221&category_oid=

Im sure the graphics card could be replaced and more ram installed. Not sure what power supply or motherboard is. Not sure if that 1gb ram is two 512 chips or one 1gb chip. Anyway at under £300 its cheap as chips really.

Refurbished = a pc returned that works but customer did not want for one reason or another.

To be fair i have never bought a refurbished pc but 12 month warranty is a safety net.

 

[Lord Gold]

Alright, well I'm going to buy my computer today. I'll get that x1600 video card installed. Thanks for all the help

 

[Lord Gold]

Ummmm, it turns out I need an external Video Card for my new laptop. Anyone know where to buy good ones in Canada?

 

[crunch]

Maybe you should first give it a try with the Intel card. Unless high details are important to you, with proper tweaks in the ini file Intel GMA should offer quite playable experience, until at least standard (large?) maps.

 

[Lord Gold]

I'll need more help with this..

 

[T.A JONES]

Ummmm, it turns out I need an external Video Card for my new laptop. Anyone know where to buy good ones in Canada?

Wo! still havn't settled yet? Plop a Radeon in from Future Shop(Canada's Best Buy) anything 128mb and up will suffice. If you don't go external, the onboard will just leach your memory needlessly, so ya , its a must when your settling under 1.5G and want large maps to play smooth.

 

[Lord Gold]

Neither BestBuy nor Futureshop have external video cards on their website, unless I'm looking in the wrong places.

 

[T.A JONES]

Go with this its Canadian product at Futureshop, I hear Nvida is better so ask if you want. A 256mb video card will do the job aswell, "google" it.

 

[Lord Gold]

Hmmmm...wierd, the person who sold me the computer at BestBuy said I needed an external Video Card for my laptop. Well, thanks for your help T.A JONES. I'll have to convince my mom to spring for $200 though...


This is the computer I got, I think.

 

[Horizons]

My laptop has crappy onboard graphics but I can still run high-resolution mode if I use the smallest resolution (1024 * 786).

 

[T.A JONES]

My laptop has crappy onboard graphics but I can still run high-resolution mode if I use the smallest resolution (1024 * 786).

Hey thats awesome! Ya proved me wrong man!. Enjoy