Minimum requirements

[Socrates]

Just a thread about it...

quote:MINIMUM
Windows 2000/XP with SP1 or higher

Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon CPU with at least 1.2 GHZ

256 MB RAM

64 MB graphics card with Hardware T&L (GeForce 2/Radeon 7500 or better)

DirectX 7 compatible soundcard

DVD-ROM drive

1.7 GB free hard disk space

RECOMMENDED

Windows XP with SP1 or higher

Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon CPU with at least 1.8 GHz

512 MB RAM

128 MB graphics card with DirectX 8 support (pixel- and vertex shaders)

DirectX 7 compatible soundcard

DVD-ROM drive

1.7 GB free hard disk space

I think my PC will be just OK to run Civ4 !! :)
- WinXP SP2 : ok
- AMD Athlon XP 1800+, at 1.54 GHz : ok
- 256 MB RAM : ok
- NVidia GeForce2 MX/MX 400 (don't know the MB) : should be ok, since the AoE3 demo runs well on my PC, with just the occasionnal stall when I get a tech (and that's the same requirement as that demo)
- soundcard : should be ok ! ;)
- DVD-ROM drive : I knew it would have its use ! [thumbsup]
- free hard disk space : errr... no j/k, I have tons of that !

In any case, if it doesn't work I'll quickly run to a cheap micro-store to buy the missing thingie.
What about you ?

[Shabbaman]

WinXP sp2: check (since BF2 doesn't run on win2k, grrr). But since the game runs on the same engine as Pirates2, I'm sure civ4 will run on win2k as well.
Athlon 2600+: check (it even runs on 2086mhz these days ;) )
Geforce 6600 256mb: check
SB live!: check
DVD: check
HD space: check. Unless 2k games are as moronic as the EA games whores: those MF assholes (insert more profanities here) require to have 1600 MB free space on the c-partition, because you can't run a patch otherwise. Ever heard of changing temp folders to another partition, assholes? (yes, I'm angry) [mad]

[ERIKK]

I have no DVD and only 32mb graphics card. Rest is OK. I wonder if you realy need a DVD drive...

(My option is to buy a cheap DVD drive and a cheap 64mb card somewhere...)

[Tubby Rower]

Krs, I would get more RAM. Just because 256 is the minimum needed to run it, doesn't mean that it'll run it well. I just upgraded min from 512 to 1024.

I'm guessing that they needed the extra space of a DVD-ROM for all of the in-game movies. CD-ROMs maximum is ~700MB but DVD-ROMs can go upwards of 4GB, 9GB for dual layered ones.

All my specs are greater than the recommended.. although I do need to check on XP's service pack.

[digger760]

Looks like you are ok...although your graphics card could be at the bare minimum, that would be the most likely upgrade if required.

I had to upgrade to run Civ3, but should be OK vor Civ4. Ive got
WinXP SP2
PentiumM - 1.5Ghz
512MB Ram
DirectX9 Capable Graphics (GeforceFX Go 5650 - 128 MB Ram)
Its internal sound, but I'm am certain it will run DirectX 7 sound
DVD-ROM
roughly 9 gig Disk space free

[Ginger_Ale]

Not sure if I have SP1 or 2 - don't remember getting it. Anybody know where I can check my XP#?

RAM: 256MB - ok, bare minimum
Video Card: 64MB iirc - ok, bare minimum
Hard drive space: tons
DVD-ROM: yeah
Sound: good
Processor: 1.8GHz - ok, close to bare minimum

I need a new computer as for most games coming out I'll be running minimum specs (or below it), but I don't see that happening soon... :(

[Tubby Rower]

GA, right click on your "My Computer" icon. Then go to properties. It should be listed on the first page you come to.

[Ginger_Ale]

Microsoft Windows XP
Home Edition
Version 2002

?

[Markstar]

GA: Looks like you don't have any SP installed.

[digger760]

GA, you must'nt have windows automatic updates switched on...why not? are you on dial up?

[Matrix]

I barely meet the [u]recommended</u> requirements. :)
AMD Athlon 2800+ (1.92GHz)
512MB RAM

But I find it quite stupid you need a DVD-ROM. Why not also sell it on three cd's?
I'm a bit disappointed anyway that it needs so much space.

[grahamiam]

i'm confused about the dvd/cd-rom issue. it seems that they are selling the cd-rom in the USA, but maybe DVD overseas? personally, i'd prefer a DVD, but I don't think we have that option here, yet.

[Matrix]

I'm interested to see who meets the requirements, so I made a poll at CFC. ;) My God, that forum's busy!!
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=131884

[Beam]

I meet the recommended requirements on my desktop but the laptop has a video of just 32 MB. :(

[barbu1977]

I have an Athlon XP1700+ with 256mb.

I'll probably upgrade to 512mb to celebrate. This should work fine.

Where did those specs came from?

[akots]

Sounds similar to RTW requirements. RTW actually runs fine on Duron 900 with 128Mb RAM and a 32Mb shitty old Radeon video and ISA 16-bit sound card. Just need to update the drivers. On the other hand, RTW has a lot of tweaks to increase performance by decreasing resolution and quality of graphics.

Regarding DVD: If it is similar to RTW, you can use either CD or DVD depending on your preference. Even though the game might be shipped on DVD, it is probably possible to make CDs out of this DVD and on the contraty, if it comes on CDs, one can certainly make a DVD out of these. There are lots of utilities out there, Alcohol 120% being one of them. The question is however whether it is legal or not according to EULA. Should be legal, why not? You're still running one copy of the game.

@Beam: It may be your laptop can still be fine... [confused]

[Beam]

quote:The question is however whether it is legal or not according to EULA. Should be legal, why not? You're still running one copy of the game.

Apart from that it will also depend on a countries copyright laws and the copy protection mechanism that comes with the game. Taek 2 have been using SafeDisc which is easy to circumvent, if it is using Starforce it's another story.

[Socrates]

From a link in Matrix's thread at CFC... www.srtest.com

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/kryszcztov/20051020223710_Requirements_Civ4.jpg
136.29KB

[cry] but I fail to see why my vid card is not enough though. Does this mean that the game will refuse to install, or will it be irritating to play under those specs ?

BTW, just been opening the Age of Empires III demo v1.1 and it says I can't play it because of my vid card (though I was able to play the v1.0). And it appears it's the same spec as for Civ4. [blush2] I opened the demo nonetheless, and I'm now able to play as before, though it seems a bit slower... Does this mean that I can run Civ4 anyway ?

[Beam]

Nice utility. :)

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Beam/20051020231358_hardwarepassed.jpg
91.09KB

@krys, you'll most likely be able to run the game but gets slower the more graphical elements need to be resolved.

[Kemal]

Hmm, but it looks like the test skips the part of the DVD-Rom requirement. Btw, how would you know you'd have one? And if not, they're probably easy to replace right, in terms of cash?

[Socrates]

@ Beam : You're so lucky !! :) For me it brings back annoying memories, when I learned that our family PC wasn't enough to run Civ3 (by far, but I didn't test it). I waited for more than a year before getting my PC and start playing with PTW. But, Beam, won't you also experience slower performances as the game gets filled with units, cities and tile improvements ? Or will your video card still have a margin to hold all of this, so that it runs smooth at any time ?

@ Kemal : Don't understand your concern. I have a DVD drive, isn't it enough ? I don't need a test to know I have one ! I've already watched a few movies on DVD with it. Am I missing something ?

[Beam]

quote:Originally posted by Kemal

Hmm, but it looks like the test skips the part of the DVD-Rom requirement. Btw, how would you know you'd have one? And if not, they're probably easy to replace right, in terms of cash?


25 pleuri makes you the proud owner of a DVD player.

[Matrix]

Cool site. :) I indeed passed the test and have recommended requirements.

[Tubby Rower]

It looks like Beam has me beat on the processor speed but I have you on the video card ;)

btw, IMO the video card memory requirement and the RAM requirement are the most crucial to this list. I've had games lock up on me before I got this computer when I was playing a game that required 32 MB of vid memory and I only had 16. Same thing can happen when you run out of RAM.

If you go to your task manager then go to the performance tab, you'll see the physical memory. If you available is less than 100k then I'd recommend getting more memory. At work so of our machines would just grind to a halt when it got down to 40k.



Image Insert:
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Tubby Rower/2005102132326_sr.jpg

[digger760]

@Kemal to know if you have DVD or CD go to control panel, open the system icon, click on device manager, click on the + next to DVD/CD-Rom, it should list your Optical device there. Mine says Matshita UJDA775yDVD/CDRW which means it reads DVD and can write CD's (indicated by the RW)

I guess other options could be DVDR/CDR for read only devices.

[Swingue]

WTF?????




http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/swingue/20051021111041_req_civ4.GIF
41.28*KB

or worse when is see recommended.

What does it mean? Hardware transform & lightning.

[aargh]

[digger760]

Hardware Transform and Lighting?
It was one of the first things that 3D graphics cards did. I am suprised you could play any modern PC game without it.

Oddly looking back at Krys Graphics card, he meets all the sub-requirements of the graphics card. I wonder why it failed, possible doesn'nt have enough grunt, or the developers never tested that card. I would put my money on Krys' card working, albiet very slow. and with graphical features having to be switched off.

[Pastorius]

MINIMUM
Windows 2000/XP with SP1 or higher: CHECK (XP SP2)

Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon CPU with at least 1.2 GHZ: CHECK (Athlon XP2100+ at 1.7ghz)

256 MB RAM: CHECK (512)

64 MB graphics card with Hardware T&L (GeForce 2/Radeon 7500 or better): CHECK (128mb NVIDIA GForce 4 based IIRC)

DirectX 7 compatible soundcard: CHECK (Creative Live Player for 5.1 surround, which I also have. woohoo)

DVD-ROM drive: CHECK (Samsung 40x)

1.7 GB free hard disk space: CHECK (20gb at least)

RECOMMENDED

Windows XP with SP1 or higher: CHECK

Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon CPU with at least 1.8 GHz: DOH!

512 MB RAM: CHECK

128 MB graphics card with DirectX 8 support (pixel- and vertex shaders): CHECK

DirectX 7 compatible soundcard: CHECK

DVD-ROM drive: CHECK

1.7 GB free hard disk space: CHECK



But I am not getting it. I think

[Matrix]

Swingue, your CPU is pretty big, perhaps it can take over some things the videocard. I remember I could do that with Quake2...

[ERIKK]

Bought a DVD player and an 128MB video card... ;)

These are the last euro's I spent on my old system!

[grs]

No way for me to meet the minimun requirements; neither on my PC nor on my notebook :(

[grahamiam]

quote:Originally posted by Matrix

Swingue, your CPU is pretty big, perhaps it can take over some things the videocard. I remember I could do that with Quake2...
is that a laptop? I know the on-board SiS 650 chipset does not support T&L, but if you have Intel Extreme 2 chipset, the CPU can take over the T&L functions and it'll probably work ok.

[Melifluous]

Lame.

Would generally ignore references to T&L.

My current machine failed this test and still runs Quake3, World of Warcraft and Half Life 2.

Fuckers the lot of em...

Melifluous

[Melifluous]

In fact the test site tells my I cant run WoW for the same reason and it runs on this machine.

All is not lost Swingue.

Melifluous

[Banzai]

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/banzai/20051021183725_req.JPG

wtf??
My video card to slow?
LOL
I think this test can't handle GForce cards properly!

[Socrates]

So, before this site fuck up, I wanted to say :

I think this video card affair is BS... :D

BTW, it was confirmed at CFC, from Firaxis, that the US version will be shipped on CDs, while the European version will be shipped on a DVD. I smell the multi-language option there. [thumbsup]

[Ginger_Ale]

quote:Originally posted by kryszcztov

From a link in Matrix's thread at CFC... www.srtest.com

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/kryszcztov/20051020223710_Requirements_Civ4.jpg
136.29 KB

[cry] but I fail to see why my vid card is not enough though. Does this mean that the game will refuse to install, or will it be irritating to play under those specs ?

BTW, just been opening the Age of Empires III demo v1.1 and it says I can't play it because of my vid card (though I was able to play the v1.0). And it appears it's the same spec as for Civ4. [blush2] I opened the demo nonetheless, and I'm now able to play as before, though it seems a bit slower... Does this mean that I can run Civ4 anyway ?


I got the same result as you. My video card passed all required tests yet it says I still failed...[hmm]

[Beam]

Sounds like: play and see before spending cash on a new vidcard.

[Shabbaman]

My graphics cards passes the test. Funny thing is, in the recommended tab my geforce is ranked better than in the minimum tab :)

[Swingue]

quote:Originally posted by grahamiam

quote:Originally posted by Matrix

Swingue, your CPU is pretty big, perhaps it can take over some things the videocard. I remember I could do that with Quake2...
is that a laptop? I know the on-board SiS 650 chipset does not support T&L, but if you have Intel Extreme 2 chipset, the CPU can take over the T&L functions and it'll probably work ok.


it is a laptop and so far working quit fine.
I bought it partly to do video editing
and I am running WoW on it which works fine.

I would be surprised if Civ4 didn't work,

[Dell19]

quote:Congratulations, your system will Rock this product! Wish we had a system that hot you lucky dog.

Which is pretty cool since the PC is slightly over two years old.

[Swingue]

Ok, at the office we got civ4 (this means PP has to spent less time with his kid ;).

But I keep getting bugs when i try to play civ4. The terrains is shown black except for the trees and so.
Can anyone help please.

[barbu1977]

I had balck terrain problem with a nVidia GF4 MX420

I had to get the latest drivers from nVidia, the latest from my video card maker was not enought.

[ERIKK]

Check out the Nvidia thread at cfc (bug reports) for detailed help (from other posters).

[Swingue]

Problem is that I don't have a Nvidia card but a Sis M650 card

[ERIKK]

You can always call the helpdesk...;)

[ProPain]

Well, all works well on my laptop. Now I have to test my desktop

[Darkness]

:(

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Darkness/20051111221746_systreq.JPG
201.61KB

I guess this means I need a new graphics card to run the game...?
Or is

But which one?
And how do I check if the card is compattible with my machine?

And, guys, please note that I am a complete idiot on these things so please just use simple words... [blush2]


But, you know what's really strange?
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Darkness/20051111222232_systreqmadd.JPG
194.24KB

I get this when I check Madden05, which works perfectly on my machine.
So, how good is this test anyway?

[Rik Meleet]

[hyper]

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/Rik Meleet/2005111201255_cIV passes.JPG
84.46KB

[Socrates]

So I eventually started Civ4 on my PC. :)

I installed it (in English), then installed the patch downloaded from CDZ. Odd, the PC freezes when I try to access/open the Civ4 directory (seems to work OK now, but before I launched the game, it would freeze, then accept me in that folder) ; BTW, I installed the game in another place than the default directory. OK, so, now I have launched the game, I can find the directories and INI file to which 10 links point (/Civ4/My Games) : is there something to do about that, to make the Civ4 activity running (taking screenshots, save games, etc...) ?

I launched the game, and watched the intro movie. It was completely fucked up : graphics and sound were glitching every 2 seconds, making it unbearable to watch (fortunately I saw it in a vid before and we can skip it). The main menu runs fine, the Earth rotation's cinematics and the superb music (Lion King ;) ). Just, I get a message that I'm below the recommanded configuration (and so it will give low performance), but it was expected. Odd, when I entered the tutorial mode and got out of it, the game would leave full-screen for a few seconds, back to Windows, before going to this little box with the status bar again (like when you launch the game), and then go to the tutorial/main menu.

The graphics are fair, not splendid. Can't tell much by what I saw, since the tutorial prevents you from messing with the game as you want. I stopped there (well, I went as far as Sid was there). In fact, I have never seen a game exiting as fast as this one (a very few seconds including the "bzzz bzzz" in Windows). Leaderheads would show completely. Noticed a few strange things on the map. I could see the terrain east of Rome in the tutorial (beyond the sea), but when I moved the screen towards it, it would become black (fog of war) as it should always be, and the rest of the land would turn blueish ; mousing over the "new" terrain in the east wouldn't reveal the usual info though (normal). Also, I was able to see the greenish stuff specific to the (long) flood plains in the fog of war... effectively indicating that there were some flood plains there. That's all so far, I think.

Anything to comment on, direct me to ? How do I stand on the system's issue ?

[Pastorius]

The game reloads for the tutorial, and for mods.

[Pastorius]

quote:Originally posted by kryszcztov

From a link in Matrix's thread at CFC... www.srtest.com

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/uploaded/kryszcztov/20051020223710_Requirements_Civ4.jpg
136.29 KB

[cry] but I fail to see why my vid card is not enough though. Does this mean that the game will refuse to install, or will it be irritating to play under those specs ?

BTW, just been opening the Age of Empires III demo v1.1 and it says I can't play it because of my vid card (though I was able to play the v1.0). And it appears it's the same spec as for Civ4. [blush2] I opened the demo nonetheless, and I'm now able to play as before, though it seems a bit slower... Does this mean that I can run Civ4 anyway ?


Thought it better to quote this than to babble along without knowing your specs.

Firstly, do not do as GA does - upgrade your drivers and try again if you havent already.

There is no need for the system specs shown in your pic to work as well as they were supposed to, given that the test on srtest is based on "old info".

You have more memory for your GPU than minimum, and it still does not meet the minimum - which is strange. The fact that yours and GAs problems are somewhat similar seem to indicate the need for driver updates though.

You might also want to check the pagefile stuff - since that could become an issue later...

Me no comp wiz, but in a helping mood. :)

[Socrates]

Didn't get if it was a YES or NO basically : should I try to update my driver for my gfx card or no ? And for something else ? How do I do that anyway ? Any useful link ?

[Pastorius]

www.nvidia.com is a good place to start.

Not entirely sure if yours is a 100% nvidia - I think mine is "Gainward" - but it doesnt matter, as original nvidia drivers seem to work. Ehm. They work for me [:p]

Looks like your ram might be troublesome though. You could also try to follow the link from the form at srtest, but IIRC, it is the same as the one I am posting here now...

[Ginger_Ale]

Wow, krys, I realized we have pretty much the same specs ... actually, exactly the same specs. :)

I did experience the flood plain bug as you say, but the movies weren't choppy for me..

[Pastorius]

[rant] http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=3367118&postcount=13

[Socrates]

I got me the latest nVidia driver : 8.1.9.5. Don't really know if it'll change anything for me with Civ4. At least the intro movie is still as choppy as before, so I'm not going to watch it again anytime soon ! Still the greenish thing from flood plains in the fog of war too...

Anyway I'm low on everything, and so the game put me on 'low' in every kind of settings.

[Pastorius]

d'oh

[barbu1977]

quote:Originally posted by kryszcztov

At least the intro movie is still as choppy as before, so I'm not going to watch it again anytime soon !

Apparently, with the new patch, there is a movie setting in the ini file to stop the movie chopping. I have not tried it yet.

[Melifluous]

quote:Originally posted by Paalikles

d'oh


d'or n'est-ce pas?

[meli]

[Ginger_Ale]

quote:Originally posted by kryszcztov

I got me the latest nVidia driver : 8.1.9.5. Don't really know if it'll change anything for me with Civ4. At least the intro movie is still as choppy as before, so I'm not going to watch it again anytime soon ! Still the greenish thing from flood plains in the fog of war too...

Anyway I'm low on everything, and so the game put me on 'low' in every kind of settings.


Thanks for testing, I guess I won't install them if there are no changes.