These Are the Civilization V System Requirements

By Marcus Yam
published

Are you ready for Civ?

Civilization V is aimed at pleasing fans of the series, especially those who have been with the franchise from the very beginning on the computer.

While technologically, it's no Crysis 2, but it's still worth taking a look at the system requirements to see if you're going to be able to run it well with settings turned all the way up.

Minimum System Requirements

Operating System: Windows® XP SP3/ Windows® Vista SP2/ Windows® 7 Processor: Dual Core CPU Memory: 2GB RAM Hard Disk Space: 8 GB Free DVD-ROM Drive: Required for disc-based installation Video: 256 MB ATI HD2600 XT or better, 256 MB nVidia 7900 GS or better, or Core i3 or better integrated graphics Sound: DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card DirectX®: DirectX® version 9.0c

Recommended System Requirements

Operating System: Windows® Vista SP2/ Windows® 7 Processor: 1.8 GHz Quad Core CPU Memory: 4 GB RAM Hard Disk Space: 8 GB Free DVD-ROM Drive: Required for disc-based installation Video: 512 MB ATI 4800 series or better, 512 MB nVidia 9800 series or better Sound: DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card DirectX®: DirectX® version 11

Other Requirements: Initial installation requires one-time Internet connection for Steam authentication; software installations required (included with the game) include Steam Client, Microsoft Visual C++2008 Runtime Libraries and Microsoft DirectX.

Internet Connection and acceptance of Steam™ Subscriber Agreement required for activation.

Want to know more about how Civilization V plays? Read RPS's previews here.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
43 Comments Comment from the forums
  • welshmousepk
    oh, Dx11? thats a surprise.

    would be nice if i can max this on my HTPC with its 5770.
    Reply
  • Fetal
    Normal.
    Reply
  • Arguggi
    Damn my E5200 and my 9600 Gt are getting old :( let's hope Overclocking helps a bit
    Reply
  • Hard Line
    hmmmm video contains content from playcast. who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds... roflmao guess they don't want me to see what the game is like to make a decision on whether or not to purchase .. this is too funny talk about shooting yourself in the foot lol
    Reply
  • wotan31
    Looks cool, I've always wanted to try the Civ series as it's been around a long time, they must be doing something right. But the "OS: Windows" part is a show stopper. Sorry, I cannot play the game, and therefore they won't get my money, until it comes to OSX or Linux.
    Reply
  • wotan31
    And why are they recommending a quad core CPU? Is this game really multi threaded like that? If so, that's great news that these newer games are finally taking advantage of multiple cores.
    Reply
  • Tmanishere
    I'm not sure why they would need a quad core CPU for... Have the AI improved so much that it really utilizes milti-thread? I kinda doubt that. I'm thinking it's more for HD movies or something.
    Reply
  • Tamz_msc
    Those requirements look good, but is there any desktop 1.8 GHZ quad core CPU?
    Reply
  • zinabas
    I'm assuming 1.8 quadcore translates to 2.4 triple core (AMD) or 3.6 dual core both of which are doable and do exist.
    Reply
  • chrisjust98
    zinabasI'm assuming 1.8 quadcore translates to 2.4 triple core (AMD) or 3.6 dual core both of which are doable and do exist.
    Or maybe they're talking like the mobile Core i7 that's 1.8 Ghz?
    Reply