I just bought Civ 4 but it runs a bit slow. I have a Celeron 2.5G chip and 512K of Ram. Would just getting more RAM significantly speed it up or do I need a new processor?
It might be your graphics card. Does your graphics card have the recommended amount of RAM? I have the same problem with Sims2, but then my video card only has 32MB of Ram rather than the recommended 64MB.
How can I find out how much RAM my graphics card has?
Sims 2 worked find with my computer.
I don’t think Civ 4 is very demanding as far as graphics go. When my empire gets bigger it moves slower and slower.
I have an Athlon 64 3200 processor and a new 128MB 6600GT graphics card, and Civ4 still runs slow when I play on huge maps. It’s fine on normal maps though.
So what you guys are saying is your computers meet the system requirements? (whatever they are, I can’t seem to find them anywhere on the Internet).
I’d say your processor is currently your strongest asset. I would recommend upping your RAM to AT LEAST 1024 MB (I assume you meant 512 MB, btw, not 512 KB.
As for your graphics card, for games nowadays you should be looking at 128 MB (Unless you’re REALLY SERIOUS, in which case you’re looking at 256 MB, PCI Express, etc etc. (I’ll let the serious gamers provide more info on that type of thing).
How to check your graphics card…
Right-click on an empty part of your desktop and choose Properties. Click the Settings tab at the top of the window which opens, then click on Advanced. Click on the Adapter tab at the top and you will see some information about your graphics card, including how many MB it is (Mine is an unbelieveably low 4 MB at work (I just checked) bloody cheapskate employers).
Civ 4 requirements
Minimum System Requirements
1.2 Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon processor
256MB Ram. 64 MB graphics card
Recommended requirements
1.8 Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon
512MB RAM
128MB Graphics card
I am running
2.53GHz Pentium Celeron
512MB Ram
GForce 4 64MB graphics card
I am at the minimum level for my graphics card at at the recommended level for RAM. My processor is a Celeron though so not exactly sure about that.
I guess I’ll buy a new graphics card. Maybe new RAM. But I think the RAM will be expensive cause I am running 2- 256MB cards so i’ll have to buy 2 new 512 MB cards.
I really don’t want to have to buy a new Processor cause that would mean buying a new motherboard as well.
Civ 4 requirements
Minimum System Requirements
1.2 Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon processor
256MB Ram. 64 MB graphics card
Recommended requirements
1.8 Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon
512MB RAM
128MB Graphics card
I am running
2.53GHz Pentium Celeron
512MB Ram
GForce 4 64MB graphics card
I am at the minimum level for my graphics card at at the recommended level for RAM. My processor is a Celeron though so not exactly sure about that.
I guess I’ll buy a new graphics card. Maybe new RAM. But I think the RAM will be expensive cause I am running 2- 256MB cards so I’ll have to buy 2 new 512 MB cards.
I really don’t want to have to buy a new Processor cause that would mean buying a new motherboard as well.[/quote]
The graphics card can be had for one thousand and something NT these days (MSI make a pretty cheap NVidia-based 128MB card for that cheap).
If the RAM’s gonna cost you 4 times that, then I’d start with the graphics card.
Regarding the RAM, don’t you have 4 slots on your motherboard? Only 2 slots seems very little.
just get a good video card and at least 2 gigs of ram. it’s not that much; the video card will cost more.
You might start with using minimum settings and getting the latest update.
I’ll see how Civ 4 works once it comes out for the Mac and I get my MacBook Pro.
OK, so there’s the problem LBT. Your graphics card doesn’t have enough RAM.
I think it’s a combination of my graphics card and too little RAM. There are a few nice animations in the game that run slow/jump and I think this is because of my graphics card. But the problem with the game itself being slow (mostly at the end of each turn) is a RAM issue I think.
1Gig RAm will run me about NT 4000.
A new graphics card 2000-3000.
A bit expensive just for 1 game. 
But I love this game.
Try to look at it as an investment in future games.
Download the lastest patches from 2kgames.com/civ4/downloads.htm
[quote]v1.52 is a major upgrade to Civ IV and includes numerous optimizations for memory usage that should help performance on all machines but are tailored to especially improve performance on machines at or near the minimum specification.[/quote]That sounds like it might help. It is a bit buggy anyway out of the box, so you’ll want the patch for that anyway.
[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]Download the lastest patches from 2kgames.com/civ4/downloads.htm
Yep. I downloaded it and it works much better. But I think I will still upgrade so I can get more out of the game.
Thanks guys.
I got 1 Gig of Ram for NT2800.
NOw the game runs smooth (Except for the animations)
I’ll get a new graphics card soon. Any suggestions? Nothing too expensive but with at least 128M.
P.S. I have a 1Gig Ram board. Can I put my 256 Ram board in the other slot to effectively have 1256MB of RAM? :help:
[quote=“Lo Bo To”]I got 1 Gig of Ram for NT2800.
NOw the game runs smooth (Except for the animations)
I’ll get a new graphics card soon. Any suggestions? Nothing too expensive but with at least 128M.
P.S. I have a 1Gig Ram board. Can I put my 256 Ram board in the other slot to effectively have 1256MB of RAM? :help:[/quote]
I’m pretty sure I saw a 128MB Nvidia-based card going for one thousand and something, at TKEC of all places [the one down the road from the Frying Scotsman] (Made by MSI I think).
P.S. It depends on your motherboard about the other stick of RAM, but probably not. By all means give it a go though. (Can you tell us the motherboard make/model?)
P.P.S. 1G of RAM for 2800NT$?? That’s brilliant! Has it really come down in price that much?
[quote=“Lo Bo To”]Can I put my 256 Ram board in the other slot to effectively have 1256MB of RAM? :help:[/quote]You should be able to, but all the RAM will run at the speed of the slowest stick. IE if you have a DDR400 and a DDR333, they will both run at 333, which wouldn’t be worth it because the the extra 256MB would be hardly used. If it’s not going to slow it down, you might as well put it in.