05-06-2005 10:54									#1
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Has there been any word on what kind of system gamers will need in order to run Civ IV successfully? I trust Firaxis is keeping with its past philosophy of ensuring a game can run on the maximum amount of systems possible, but the graphics being shown seem to demonstrate a fair amount of demand.

	05-06-2005 11:20									#2
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I couldn't imagine it needing it more than 256 MB of RAM.

	05-06-2005 12:32									#3
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Another thread mentioned it should be similar to the requirements for Pirates.

	05-06-2005 13:11									#4
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according to a source

No, there is no info about this yet. But most likely it will be more or less similar to Pirates!, since both games use the game graphics engine:

* Operating System: Windows® 98/Me/2000/XP
* Processor: Pentium® 1.0 GHz or higher
* Memory: 256 MB RAM
* Hard Disk Space: 1.2 GB Free
* CD-ROM Drive: 4X Speed
* Video: 32 MB video card* with Hardware T&L support
* Sound: Windows® 98/Me/2000/XP-compatible sound card
* DirectX®: DirectX® version 9.0b (included) or higher

Civ4's requirements might be slightly higher, but probably not too much.

Hope that helps,

	05-06-2005 13:24									#5
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Hmm. My PC is a 1GHz P3 with 512MB ram and a GeForce2 Ultra. Its going to be close.

	05-06-2005 19:05									#6
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Yeah, it's going to be close to me too. I have an Athlon 1.6 GHz with 512 MB RAM and a Geforce FX 5200. Pirates runs well on my system, almost all options maxed out, just a little slowdown on some intensive 3D (with shadows) parts.

But I play it on 800x600 to get it smooth. I can only hope that the change to 3D in Civ4 will give me the option to play on 800x600, unlike Civ3 (which can only be played on 1024x768 and above). If I'm forced to play on 1024, I can predict massive slowdowns in the game, especially in the late game.

	05-06-2005 19:18									#7
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If Pirates can run on 800x600, Civ4 likely can do so, too. But those with 1.5 GHz machines and 256 MB RAM do NOT need to worry. It's not a super advanced 3D engine, besides, I'm fairly sure you can turn off stuff like shadows. Likewise, any card newer than GeForce 3 should be OK - otherwise it would just make no sense.

	05-06-2005 19:23									#8
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I may only need a new graphic card.
Pentium IV 3,2Ghz 1Gb RAM 128MB video card.
though my video card isn't the best there is.

I'm not afraid for cIV 8)

	05-06-2005 19:32									#9
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Come on, there's no need for a new video card with that machine. Or are you telling me you have a GeForce 2 that can't do anything?

	05-06-2005 20:06									#10
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Anything in the pre-Geforce FX series is really, really old -- over 3 years already (and Civ4 is still six months out). When Civ3 came out it didn't support 1997 hardware either, for the most part. I wouldn't be surprised if Firaxis isn't gonna support such old cards. I hope they do (and since Pirates does for the most part there's good reason to suspect they will), but I'm not holding my breath on it.

I expect that anyone with a FX 5600, Geforce4 Ti, Radeon 9500 or higher will have absolutely nothing to worry about. Anything below Geforce3 or Radeon 9000 series is probably hopeless. The jury is out on everything in between.

	05-06-2005 20:12									#11
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Below GeForce 3 is probably hopeless indeed, as a GeForce 2 can hardly cope with any 3D engine. A GeForce 3 could do that I think, though, although rather poorly. But after all, Civ4 isn't going to put such a huge strain on the GPU, if the effects are off.

I'd say that anyone who could run the 2004 shooters won't have a problem.

	06-06-2005 17:42									#13
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quote: Originally posted by Solver I'd say that anyone who could run the 2004 shooters won't have a problem.

Half-life 2 and Doom 3? If I could run those games I'd be laughing maniacally at the rest of you all.

	06-06-2005 18:19									#14
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Yup, HL2 and Doom3. If you can run both of them fine, you can run anything, and definitely Civ4. I can run both so I DO laugh maniacally .

	06-06-2005 18:22									#15
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I couldn't play doom3 with my configuration.
Ok, I could, but it was terribly slow. (I really hated that since I had just bought a completely new top of the bill system! )

I'm going to buy a new graphic card anyway.
I don't want to put cIV in my system only to find out that my configuration is outdated.

	06-06-2005 19:17									#16
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IMO, CPU is more important for Civ4 than the graphics card. I mean, A GeForce FX 5200 can do a simple 3D engine, and so can the GeForce 6800 GT. It will hardly make any much difference for Civ4. The CPU, though, will have an impact on turn wait times.

	06-06-2005 19:25									#17
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This Toshiba Laptop was confirmed to be able to run Civ IV by someone I know. He didn't give me specifics, but said it would work fine (although he recommened to up the RAM).

Hope this helps...

Last edited by Donegeal on 06-06-2005 at 20:04

	06-06-2005 19:28									#18
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

That's a 1.3 GHz with 256 MB RAM. I would indeed expect such a machine to run Civ4 fine.

I think that people with 1.5GHz, 512 MB RAM and a GeForce 4 or newer will not have any problems whatsoever running this.

	06-06-2005 21:41									#19
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Civ4 will be on the discount rack before I can get another decent PC.

	06-06-2005 22:25									#20
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quote: Originally posted by Solver I think that people with 1.5GHz, 512 MB RAM and a GeForce 4 or newer will not have any problems whatsoever running this.

Make that Geforce4 Ti and I would agree. The MX series is even crappier than most Geforce3 types though, and the earliest FX cards aren't much better.

	06-06-2005 22:27									#21
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Though there are some fantastic FX series - modified stuff. Like a 256-bit FX 5200 for instance. Not as good as top of the line cards, but fancy.

	06-06-2005 22:33									#22
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quote: Originally posted by Vince278 Civ4 will be on the discount rack before I can get another decent PC.

I think the only thing you need to upgrade is your video card, the rest is probably fine (though with only 1GHz you there's a chance you might have to disable some of the fancier graphics options and you might need to avoid playing with lots of opponents on very large maps).

A new video card that meets the requirements for Civ4 (assuming that's Geforce4 Ti or ATI 9000 series or higher) shouldn't cost more than €40-50 in Europe. The US is typically about 20-30% cheaper (but that's for complete systems, I'm not sure if the same applies to graphics cards). And that's today, the game isn't out yet...

	06-06-2005 22:34									#23
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quote: Originally posted by Solver Though there are some fantastic FX series - modified stuff. Like a 256-bit FX 5200 for instance. Not as good as top of the line cards, but fancy.

I said earliest, not lowest

	06-06-2005 23:04									#24
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quote: I think the only thing you need to upgrade is your video card, the rest is probably fine (though with only 1GHz you there's a chance you might have to disable some of the fancier graphics options and you might need to avoid playing with lots of opponents on very large maps).

to disabling graphics effects. Should be done often .

	06-06-2005 23:37									#25
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I'm golden with my 2 gigs of RAM and 3.4 GHz processor

	08-06-2005 08:54									#26
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quote: Originally posted by Locutus I think the only thing you need to upgrade is your video card, the rest is probably fine (though with only 1GHz you there's a chance you might have to disable some of the fancier graphics options and you might need to avoid playing with lots of opponents on very large maps). A new video card that meets the requirements for Civ4 (assuming that's Geforce4 Ti or ATI 9000 series or higher) shouldn't cost more than €40-50 in Europe. The US is typically about 20-30% cheaper (but that's for complete systems, I'm not sure if the same applies to graphics cards). And that's today, the game isn't out yet...

Thanks, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

	08-06-2005 08:55									#27
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quote: Originally posted by Kuciwalker I'm golden with my 2 gigs of RAM and 3.4 GHz processor

Nice.

	08-06-2005 21:17									#28
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I bought a PC for Civ II, and will likely buy another just to be able to play Civ IV.

That might be a sign that I need counseling....

	08-06-2005 21:27									#29
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quote: Originally posted by Kuciwalker I'm golden with my 2 gigs of RAM and 3.4 GHz processor

2 gigs of RAM? What conceivable use is that? In other words, is more than 50% of that memory ever used?

	08-06-2005 21:59									#30
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Aside from video editing and programming I can't of terribly many single applications that would require that much memory now, but it doesn't hurt to think ahead. You just wait 2 years and ask that question again