Would this PC run Civ4 properly?

[Bubba_Dub]

Hello. I know next to nothing about computers so please forgive me with this question. I only got into Civ4 because a friend had the game and gave it to me when he gave me the laptop that I play it on now. It can barely run Civ4 with Rise of Mankind, but just barely. I've had enough of the slowdown and crashes, and I want to be able to experience maps that are larger than standard, so I'm going to buy a new PC just to play Civ4 on. I know what the definition of RAM is but beyond that I don't have a clue so I'm going to list the specifics of the PC that I want to purchase:

* AMD PhenomTM X4 9550* quad-core processor 2.2Ghz

* 6GB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM, 640GB SATA hard drive (7200 rpm)

* NVIDIA GeForce 9100 graphics, Features up to 256MB dedicated graphics memory and up to 1599MB total graphics memory as allocated by Windows Vista

* 15-in-1 media reader, 2 IEEE 1394 (FireWire) interfaces and 6 high-speed USB 2.0 ports

* Wireless LAN connectivity (802.11b/g), Built-in 10/100Base-T Ethernet networking interface

Processor, Memory, and Motherboard
* Hardware Platform: PC
* Processor: 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon XP-M
* Number of Processors: 1
* RAM: 6 GB
* RAM Type: DDR2 SDRAM

Hard Drive
* Size: 640 GB
* Manufacturer: None
* Type: Serial ATA

Ports and Connectivity
* Modem: None

I know a lot of you are busy and all but if anyone could tell me if this PC would be good to run Civ4 properly, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you for your time.

 

[Jabarten]

Try this again (accidentally deleted a good chunk of the post).....

Anyways, it is an Asus G72 gaming laptop. Google it and you will see the exact computer for sale at bestbuy.com for 999.99...

While loading Civ IV, obviously CivIV basic first, then BTS. patches I'll figure out later....

Then when finished loading, clicking the Original shortcut Icon of basic Civ IV that had not changed (no BTS shortcut Icon), and if I have the BTS playdisk in there, it prompts me that it is not compatible with Windows 7.

If however, I manually put in the BTS playdisk by itself, it will go ahead and go into autorun, play the game, give me a message that it has to run windows 7 basic, and then from there. It will NEVER let me exit the game, and having the disk still in the computer, let me reload on its own....

I think I may have lost Civ IV altogether......the computer is too new. Not unlike what I went through on the previous computer and Civ II.........

 

[Jabarten]

Found out that to start BTS without constantly taking the disk in and out, is by pressing start, and going to "games" on the far right column, pressing it, and scrolling down to the BTS icon.....and sure enough starts up with the same message "Windows has to go down to Windows 7 basic" again....

It's going to take a few days before it is back to normal.

 

[Furiey]

In win 7 it seems best to always right click on the setup program or patch and choose run as administrator rather than just double clicking or letting the disc autorun. Download and install patches outside of the game rather than using the auto update.

Patch Civ 4 to v1.61 before installing BTS

when BTS is installed patch to 3.17 then 3.19

You should not need the disc to play BTS once you have patched to 3.19.

You may well have to download and install directx9c from microsoft.

I don't have Win 7 so this is just from reading other's problems. You will find more info in the Win 7 experiences thread, the Lemon Civ/Vista thread will help with install sequences (they're much the same). I think I've seen some people post that they've had to disable aero but I'm not sure about having to go to Win 7 basic, you shouldn't have to do that.

 

[Jit]

Hi new here, same question, if i buy the following do i have a reasonable chance of running BTS on W7?
asus m2a74_am motherbd w/onboard ATI radeon 2100 256mb grafix
AMD x2 (240) 2.8 ghz
2gb ddrII ram
hate those blue screens, especially loading. always play single, (dodgy slow dial-up, live in Himalayas) Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thanx

 

[ori]

it should work - make sure to patch the game though (and to get a new directx 9c version) - those are rather large downloads however

 

[Jit]

I upgraded as described, & got a friend to dnld patches 3.17 &3.19 for me, (the dir x 9 c came w/the new box) & fired up a fresh game, & it runs slick as a lightning flash! In all these years I'm sure I've never before run civ (3 or 4) without a single hitch or even a flicker, barely ever. Ohmygod, it's like the sun suddenly came out. I always figgered 25 - 30% of civ time was for rebooting reloading reinstalling cussin' etc. Yer advice saved me wondering, & came up trumps. Thanx again, Jit