Most Important Hardware for Civ5 Games

[temps]

I like this game, but I've found it a little frustrating that I have, thus far, only been able to play the game smoothly on small maps, and even then only with a mod that makes the AI take turns faster. Otherwise, the game runs badly.

System specs:
Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.4 GHZ
8GB RAM
Windows 10 64 bit
And the graphics card is something like an ATi 7870 or something close to that... I can't remember exactly.

The recommended specs for the game on the Steam store page say:
Processor: 1.8 GHZ Quad Core
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: ATI 4800 series or better

So it seems like I exceed the requirements on each of those by quite a bit, yet I still don't feel like I have the full functionality of the game. If I turn off the AI quick turns mod in particular so I can play one of the scenario theme maps like "Scramble for Africa" the game slows to a crawl, particularly when the AI is taking their turns, and it becomes almost unplayable.

What's going on here? What system hardware does this game need upgraded to run butter-smooth with quick AI turns on medium or even large maps?

[zxcvbob]

what is the AI quick turns mod? It sounds like something I could use.

[contact459]

needed Hardware:
1) most of all upgrade to 16 GB DDR Ram. you will benefit every where from it.
2) Graphic is weak too, but less important than the Ram upgrade
Your GPU has only 2 GB VRAM. this the reason it can not hold big maps. A GPU with 6 or 8 GB is the choice. Civ runs better on AMD than nvidia btw.
For price issues you can look for used GPU cards, if you know about.
A used RX 580 or RX480 (Sapphire) with 8 GB Ram is going for about 90 bucks on ebay.

[temps]

Is it true of all the civilization games that they run better on AMD than Intel, or just this one? Thanks for the tips regarding hardware.

[Damsteri]

If your turn times are too long, then you need a faster CPU. Faster CPU decreases the turn and load times. Civ V is mostly limited by CPU and any extra speed helps. Using huge maps with lots of civs will make games slow, even with fastest consumers CPUs you can get. I have run quite hefty rigs and turn times will still be minutes on some settings late game.

Clock speed is much more important than CPU's core count. I made a test years ago by limiting amount of CPU cores available in my 6-core CPU. Result show that 4-cores was just 5% better than 2-cores and 6-cores was only 3% better than 4-cores. Clock speed was much more important. My CPU overclocked, but limited to 4-cores was easily beating the same CPU on 6-cores at stock clocks. I found out also that the Intel HyperThreading actually slowed down the game, because Civ V can utilize all cores nicely and making 6 physical cores appearing 12 logical cores (that's what the HT does) didn't help at all. It was marginally slower that way (but not enough to go for Bios to change that setting every time you play Civ V).

My girlfiriend plays civ with similar CPU than you, actually even slower. She has i5-3450. I need to wait quite long in our MP games between turns because of it. She doesn't care, she knits when the game is processing the next turn. Maybe you can start a new hobby too?

You could overclock your CPU, but doesn't help much (not much room for it and it's too old). It would be better to upgrade the CPU (and Motherboard). It would not be too costly to get a better one as that is quite old. I bought that i5-3450 to my gf for 50 euros (with a compatible mobo). Your CPU is 8y old, you don't need a brand new one, a cheap 5y old used CPU would beat it easily.

[JAGGzilla]

That is useful info right there about the cpu. I recently OC'd my old 4670k and memory pretty heavily, but also bought a new gpu. I noticed significant improvement across the board, but wasn't sure exactly where the most gains came from. Now my bet is the cpu OC. This game is still just awesome after all these years, but with quick game turns and now on all the highest settings for the first time.

[contact459]

the poster has a 3570k CPU,having enough speed. Beeing short in RAM and that GPU are way weaker than his current CPU.
I had that CPU myself earlier and it does handle CIV 5 fine.
The CPU is not the limiting factor on that system.

[|H|H| Fr3ddi3]

The game is not visually taxing on graphics cards in the slightest.

I have a worse CPU and no GPU in my tower, i'm using integrated, the game runs fine.

Something else is going on here.

[Xaphnir]

All of that is far past what you needed to run the game decently when it was first released. Might just be aging hardware, as that hardware is putting your computer at probably around 8 years old.

[zxcvbob]

Have you blown the dust, dog hair, and Cheetos crumbs out? I'm serious, it might just be running hot because the heat sink is dirty, and the CPU is throttling-back to protect itself. Especially if it's a laptop.

[Xaphnir]

Originally posted by zxcvbob:

Have you blown the dust, dog hair, and Cheetos crumbs out? I'm serious, it might just be running hot because the heat sink is dirty, and the CPU is throttling-back to protect itself. Especially if it's a laptop.

With my old laptop I blew out the dust from the fans and the GPU's typical running temp dropped 15 C.

[JAGGzilla]

All the dust cleaning can be a huge help. Plus, clean and reapply some new thermal paste for very old cpu's. Know what you're doing first and don't attempt without a complete understanding of the process. Nice temp gains if done correctly and safely.

[temps]

Originally posted by Ryika:

You haven't really defined what "almost unplayable" means to you.

That could refer to processing times of several minutes, or 20-30 seconds, depending on your expectations. The latter is entirely normal when there's a lot of stuff happening during later turns on large maps (especially those with lots of land) on a somewhat older rig.

I would have estimated it's more like 10 seconds, maybe 15 for me. Anyway, it sounds like RAM and CPU are probably the most relevant issues based on what I'm reading here.

How long do AI turns take (without the mod) for anyone here who has a modern or fairly new gaming PC?

[Damsteri]

Originally posted by temps:

How long do AI turns take (without the mod) for anyone here who has a modern or fairly new gaming PC?

Absolute turn time depends on more about the map settings (game speed, map size, how many civs), game settings (graphics settings, quick movement/combat), and game phase (early/mid/late) than any component in your PC. First turns would always be just seconds, but try a marathon speed late game huge map with 22 civs and without quick movement/combat. Then AI turns would take minutes even on the fastest computers.

You need to have a save game file for testing and synchronized game settings (if using multiple computers) to do any comparisons between absolute turn time values.