Graphics options for Civ 5

[frozentundra123456]

Hi, not a big deal, but I am curious about why I cannot run Dx10 on Civ5.
I know my computer is not that fast, but it is a decent system. The game runs fine in Dx9 mode but Dx10 is literally a slide show. totally unplayable, even in a turn based setting.

My system is E4500 and 9800GT, neither overclocked. I have 3gb of ram and an running Vista at only 1440x900 resolution. Is Dx 10 really that demanding, or is there something that I am doing wrong?? It is not like the game has a lot going on or I am trying to run high resolution. Am I CPU limited?? Seems like a 9800GT should be able to handle this at my resolution.

Anyone else having similar results and any ideas what it takes to run DX10??

 

[toyota]

not sure if an E4500 is even enough for decent framerates on certain settings in Civ 5. certainly any gpu upgrade over your 9800gt would be fairly wasted on the E4500 in general though.

 

[RussianSensation]

certainly any gpu upgrade over your 9800gt would be fairly wasted on the E4500 in general though.

Not for Civ5. 9800GT is clearly the more limiting component in this case (esp. since OP mentioned that switching from DX9 to DX10 results in a slideshow - clearly a videocard limitation).

9800GT can only get 14 fps with a Core i7 920 @ 3.7ghz in DX10 at 1440x900.

Reduce "Terrain Tessellation" and "Terrain Shadow Quality" and "Shadow Quality" to Low. Set all other quality settings to Medium. See if this helps.

 

[toyota]

and then if he goes out and buys a faster gpu it will be his cpu that will be the issue. in Civ 5, even the Q6600 with two more cores, more cache, higher frequency, and larger fsb is only getting 20fps with a gtx480. basically its going to be both gpu and cpu limiting him for most modern games.

 

[RussianSensation]

Ya that's true. Both of his CPU and GPU are limiting. I still think if he can overclock the E4500 to 3.0ghz+, sell the 9800GT and grab a GTS450 1GB, that's a pretty reasonable upgrade/solution.

 

[slayernine]

When gaming the general rule is that the most expensive single component should be the video card. If you buy a $200 processor, get a $300 video card. So yes I agree with the upgrade your video card, your CPU is not the limiting factor when you have bad frame rates. If you were playing an RTS and frame rates dip drastically when you have more units running around then possibly it could be your CPU. Best way to test this is to run GPUz and task manager and compare your processor usage vs your GPU usage while your framerate is lagging. This will clearly show where the performance bottleneck is.

 

[bryanW1995]

a faster cpu makes an enormous difference in civ5, much more so than in almost any other game. It is important to keep the gpu/cpu in lockstep. I would recommend an entire system upgrade.

example: I typically play standard sized maps, and going from 3 ghz to 4 ghz on my i7 has made all the difference in the world for me. I'm actually contemplating a large or even huge map next time, whereas before getting my oc mojo back on that was a pipe dream.

edit: with an e4500 you could actually get some great performance if you took the time to oc. what mobo/cpu cooler do you have? maybe you can oc the cpu up on the cheap and get a stronger gpu for now.

 

[Russwinters]

I play at 1920x1080

Q6600@3GHZ
Geforce GTX 460 1GB OC to 800
8GB RAM


I maintain at least 30-40FPS.

Playing DX11 all maxed, no AA though.


Note: I only play HUGE maps

 

[bryanW1995]

I play with 4xAA but had to drop down textures to low when I went through the dark ages of getting a new mobo that wasn't oc'd yet. I'll try to go back to everything high now and we'll see how much of a bottleneck the gtx 460-768 is for me. also I'm wondering if 4gb isn't enough, might have to try 6-8.

 

[REALM_AZRAEL]

I Recently Upgraded my video Card from Nvidia Geforce 8400 to Nvidia GEFORCE GT630 2GB mem DDR3. my PC Setup Intel Core II Duo 3.0 ghz, 4Gb Ram, Windows 7 64bit, I test the CIVILIZATION V, set the game graphics settings to max and the display to Maximum Resolution. I Played it in a huge map and full AI. It never slowed down, I also tested the NFS Most wanted 2012 Criterion with maximum game graphics settings, both games run smoothly with no lags.

 

[alcoholbob]

Quite a thread revival.

 

[Will Robinson]

Actually he has the worst of both problems.His CPU doesn't have the raw power to push frame rates high at decent settings even with a much better card.
His GPU doesn't have the bandwidth or the shader performance for DX10 to help either.:\

OMG just noticed its a Necro