Civilization IV needs to play better!

[Azurik]

The system I play Civilization IV on is:

AMD XP 3200XP (2.06ghz)
512MB Dual Channel DDR
160GB HD
ATI AIW 7500, 64MB

Obviously, the biggest bottleneck is the video card. I need to find a relatively inexpensive video card that will give the biggest bang for the buck. Looking to spend anywhere from $0-$175

Any ATI recommendations?

 

[moonboy403]

6600 gt/6800 gs
they're the best bang for bucks

 

[Azurik]

What about the ATI 9550 128MB AGP card? Retail is around $130?

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: Azurik
What about the ATI 9550 128MB AGP card? Retail is around $130?

That's too much money for that card. I'd recomment either one of these:
6600gt
6800
x800

 

[LostTime77]

If youre going to spend 130, I suggest you get a 6600gt. They will smack the pants off of a 9550 in my opinion. MSI and XFX have these cards at newegg for around 155/145 for AGP. I would say go with the 6600gt. 8 pixel pipelines vs 4 with the radeon and 500mhz with the GT vs 250mhz with the radeon. Also the memory is a heck of a lot faster. 1000mhz vs 400mhz. 6600gt for 20 dollars more.

 

[Azurik]

Originally posted by: munky

Originally posted by: Azurik
What about the ATI 9550 128MB AGP card? Retail is around $130?

That's too much money for that card. I'd recomment either one of these:
6600gt
6800
x800

Munky, do you have a specific brand in mind at all? I do not know much about video cards and Best Buy has a ton of options for those searches.

 

[SPARTAN VI]

Originally posted by: Azurik

Originally posted by: munky

Originally posted by: Azurik
What about the ATI 9550 128MB AGP card? Retail is around $130?

That's too much money for that card. I'd recomment either one of these:
6600gt
6800
x800

Munky, do you have a specific brand in mind at all? I do not know much about video cards and Best Buy has a ton of options for those searches.

I've had a EVGA and XFX 6600GT, both worked great.

 

[obeseotron]

ATI 9550 is much, much slower than a 6600GT, possibly less than half as fast. It's a 4 pipeline card, 6600gt is an 8 pipeline card with a faster clockrate, faster memory and a better feature set. AGP versions go for $140-$150. You could also grab a 9800 pro 128mb for $135, I'd expect the 6600gt to be faster in just about everything except maybe source engine games. There are a lot of very, very good deals from nvidia and ATI around $200 on the PCIe side which would give you double the performance of either a 6600gt or a 9800 pro, unfortunately you won't see them on the AGP side, ever.

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: Azurik

Originally posted by: munky

Originally posted by: Azurik
What about the ATI 9550 128MB AGP card? Retail is around $130?

That's too much money for that card. I'd recomment either one of these:
6600gt
6800
x800

Munky, do you have a specific brand in mind at all? I do not know much about video cards and Best Buy has a ton of options for those searches.

I usually dont look at the brand when buying a card, the basic card is the same across all brands. Some of the more reputable brands are Evga, BFG, Sapphire, but I usually just get whichever brand sells a particular card for the lowest price.

Also, I would not buy it from BestBuy because you can get the same cards cheaper at online retailers like newegg, monarchcomputer, zipzoomfly... the list goes on.

Evga 6600gt agp - $150
even has a $20 rebate

 

[SPARTAN VI]

Originally posted by: munky

Originally posted by: Azurik

Originally posted by: munky

Originally posted by: Azurik
What about the ATI 9550 128MB AGP card? Retail is around $130?

That's too much money for that card. I'd recomment either one of these:
6600gt
6800
x800

Munky, do you have a specific brand in mind at all? I do not know much about video cards and Best Buy has a ton of options for those searches.

I usually dont look at the brand when buying a card, the basic card is the same across all brands. Some of the more reputable brands are Evga, BFG, Sapphire, but I usually just get whichever brand sells a particular card for the lowest price.

Also, I would not buy it from BestBuy because you can get the same cards cheaper at online retailers like newegg, monarchcomputer, zipzoomfly... the list goes on.

Evga 6600gt agp - $150
even has a $20 rebate

Best Buy actually had a killer clearance sale on their AGP cards a few months back. X800XL's for $250 then a $30 rebate on top of that. At one point, they were selling X800XL for PCI-E for that price and similar rebate while the 'egg was still charging an arm and a leg ($300). Even better for me, a friend of mine is a manager, almost got me a X1800XL for $320, but I got 4x 7800GT's instead.

I personally like MonarchComputer more than Newegg. They take twice/three times as long to ship, but they don't charge tax, which adds to $10-$30 cheaper than Newegg, sometimes.

 

[mikester]

I just got Civ4 this past weekend and it's very smooth on my 6800GT (overclocked to 420/1140) at 1280x1024 with the highest graphics settings. That card is about twice as fast (maybe a little more with the OC) as a 6600GT, but I think it would still play well on a 6600GT, especially if you are playing at a lower resolution like 1024x768.

If you can swing it, the 6800GS is a steal at $209. It's roughly comparable to a 6800GT - it only has 12 pipes instead of 16 like the GT, but it runs at a faster clock speed to make up for it. And you get the 256bit memory interface on the 6800 instead of the 128bit on the 6600. That makes a big difference on stuff like antialiasing and shading. So if you can spare a little more, that card will last you for another year or two, but if you can't then the 6600GT is still a pretty good deal since you can get them for $130 now.

EDIT - one more thing, I noticed Civ4 is more processor intensive than a lot of games. It keeps both cores of my X2 very busy when running.

 

[mwmorph]

this will be perfect. if you are gonna pay $150 for a 6600gt, might as well get this. it is much faster stock and can get even faster with some work.

 

[cyclohexane]

just wait for the patch, it should be out this week.

 

[A5]

The guy has an AGP system...quit recommending the 6800GS

I'd recommend a 6600GT or a plain 6800 if you can find one...

 

[secretanchitman]

6600GT, 6800nu, 6800GT (used cause ive seen them in the 275+ range)

 

[Eureka]

Firstly, don't get them from B&M retailers like BestBuy. Get them online, you'll find prices are half as much. As for the card, I'd recommend a 6600GT 128MB AGP for $130 with MIR from Newegg. If you're looking for something with a little more oomph, get a Connect3D x800GTO, and then soft-mod it and overclock it to x800XT speeds. As for the 6800GS, its too new for me to comment on it. 6800GT is still a bit pricey, but if you can get a used one from FS/FT it also does extremely well.

Norm

 

[Hacp]

6600GT plays fine on 1280/1024 w/o eyecandy for me. Def the best bang/buck for you in terms of price. Heck, I'd even say that you could get away with a 9800Pro or X700 non pro and still have decent framrates

*disclaimer there have been known problems with civ 4 and ATI cards

 

[tuteja1986]

just get an agp card of 6600gt (140ish) or x800gto (170ish) or some low range $80 card : 6600nongt..