Helping Mistfit with a new PC.
 

Mistfit informed me that he wants to buy a new PC / new hardware to be able to play Civilization 4. His current system is 6 years old and has a PCI-video card.

After talking to him I learned that it's for cIV mainly. He'll be needing a CPU, Memory, Vid-crd, Motherboard, Harddrive and a stronger Powersupply. I think he'll be needing a new chassis as well. He'd like to stay below 800 USD, but he did mention 1000 USD to me as well. I have no knowledge of hardware prices in the US.

I thought up this configuration:

CPU: AMD 3500. An alternative (more expensive, but also quicker) = AMD 4000.
Video Card: Geforce 6600 GT (128MB or 256MB). Alternative (More expensive, but will be up-to-date for more years) = Geforce 6800 GT.
Motherboard: Asus A8N-E. This one has an active cooler, so there could be a bit fan-noise. Alternative = Asus A8n-SLI deluxe Nforce 4 SLI.
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?m...1=3&l2=15&l3=0
Memory: 2 modules of 512 MB DDR 400 (also called PC2300). Best to get a "kit" as that allows dual-channel, which basically inproves speed.
HardDrive: 200 GB serial ATA (S-ATA) - that's about 20 Euro cheaper than 80 GB. [crazyeye]
Powersupply: absolute minimum is 350 Watt. 400 Watt is recommended. Bigger wattage is advisable.

CDZ-ers; what do you think ??

If it's just for civ4 than the Geforce 6600 is a bit excessive don't you agree?
After all, the game also runs on cheaper cards (hell, it even runs on my integrated intel card, though the videos are not very good)...

For the game to run; yes it is much.
For the game to be able to run Huge Terra maps with 18 civs late game (which some HOF-players might go for), I don't know.

What Video-card would you recommend ?

I disgaree with your assessment on the 6800. There isn't much between the 6600 and 6800 chips. Obviously the 6800 is better, but when it comes to games that'd support it both chips will get out of date at the same time.
The GT version is especially nice for those who want to overclock it, which I doubt the clown will do. The simple 128 MB 6600 card will do for civ4, and save you a lot of money (about more than half). I have the 6600 256 MB version, more than good enough to run civ4 on high graphics settings without any problem. (the issue with this card is that it works faster than the memory bank it has, thus limiting the card to use the memory to its full potential. It's still a lot better than the 128 version)

Graphics card cost a lot these days. A cheap card like the 6600 128mb should come cheap. The simpler version of the same chipset is the 6200 (iirc), that should be ok as well. Personally I would only go for the more expensive card if you'd want to play 3d shooters (or similar games). If you buy a cheap card now, then you can always buy a new card later (since you don't waste too much this way). By then the newer chipsets (7200 family?) will be affordable.

Didn't the other topic on graphics cards already convince you that I don't know anything about computers, so I should be the last guy you should ask this? ;)

I just wanted to point out that the Geforce 6600 is a very good card with a pretty big price tag. If the sole purpose of getting the new system is playing Civ4, than I am sure that the more computer-knowledgable people can suggest cheaper options (that are still good enough to run the game).

Shabba: I agree the 6800 is (a lot) more than Mistfit will need. I just wanted to give him an option in case he does want to spend more on a videocard.

The 6200 I advise against. Its onboard memory is only 16 MB, but it has the ability to borrow up to 118 MB of system RAM to mimic a 128 MB card. The disadvantage in this for games like cIV is that the game itself requires a large portion of memory so anything that is taken from it (for the videomemory in this case) is a direct loss. Furthermore, the 6600 has a great value-for-money ratio. It's a very cheap card for its price. The 6200 is cheaper, but has a worse ratio. You'd in fact spend money on something that is not that good (although perhaps sufficient) while for about 60 to 70 Euro's more you get a videocard which is without any doubt a quality card without disadvantages for a game like cIV.

FWIW; the 6200 is around 70-100 euro, the 6800 around 140 to 200 Euro (depending on reseller and memory size).

Not sure what Mistfit wants but you can get a very decent PC to run civ4 in the US for about $500-600. AMD 3500+1Gb RAM+160Gb HDD. The one which would run huge maps smoothly might indeed need good graphics card (+$100). Just don't buy it from brand name big company like HP, Sony, Gateway, Dell or similar crap. Quiet options are there too, just add about $50-100. Indeed in the end it comes to about $800 total.

Last time i looked there was only 3 Euro diff between a Gigabyte 6600 128Mb and Gigabyte 6600 256Mb card. But if you ask me its the best value for money card about and should be able to handle Civ4...i would think that anything less will struggle on huge settings.

PC-World [believe it or not] have a relatively cheap and quiet 350Watt PSU. I can't seem to find it on there website though...I will see if i can find out.

The rest I am unsure on...but if its an AMD system then its likely to be a cheaper option. Misfit can reuse his monitor so that will sav some dosh.

The cheapest 6600 card is 87 euros, the cheapest 6800 card is 135 euros. A 6200 card with 128MB is 50 euros. I'd advise against buying a video card with less than 128 MB memory. BTW, I forgot to mention that you should get a motherboard with PCi-express.

Source, *clickety*

I bought my wife a system from Monarch Computer about 2yrs ago. Works great, no problems. Here's a system that pretty much matches Rik's spec's for $815 (plus some other free stuff :) . Might want to upgrade the processor, but that's probably not necessary right now. Later, when the price comes down, you can upgrade to an X2 style processor (duel core) if desired. You can also select "Configure PC" to change components to match Rik's.

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merch...ode=AllNemesis