Slower Sim City?

[Jake_Lava 0]

Hey, I recently got a new, game worthy computer. While my older computer could play Sim City 4 just fine, it seems that my new computer is having a harder time with it then my old computer was, even though it's better then it in every way. Is there any way to fix this, or is this just me?

Old computer specs:

2.2GHz P4

40gig HD

1gig RAM

nVidia GeForce 5500 256MB VRAM

New computer specs:

2.7 GHZ AMD Athlon X2 (dual core)

500gig HD

4gig RAM

ATI Radeon HD 3870 512MB GDDR4

[Ryusuke516 1]

It would be your video card. Since it is an ATI Radeon card, sim city does not like ATI for some reason and wants the hardware to render it then the software.

So to make it run good, go into the game video options and switch the rendering from software to hardware (I mite have got it backwards by the way, if so do the opposite). Yeah some things mite look ugly, but it should at least run good.

Edit: as a system builder, i recommend that you stay with Nvidia because their cards are more powerfull and are supported by more companies (even though ATI deos give them some competition). Don't get me wrong or anything, that is just what i recomend.

As a user, i have had better luck with Nvidia then i had with ATI.

[Jake_Lava 0]

Yeah, you got it backwards. Running it in software mode speeds it up to how fast I'd think it should go, and doesn't look bad at all. Thanks for the help.

As for me picking ATI, I picked it cause I was on a budget and wanted more bang for the buck. No question that their cards are more powerfull, but budget ruled the outcome of my computer, and I think I did VERY well for under $400. ;-)

[Spinmaster 75]

I noticed you have 4 GB of RAM. Do you also have a 64-bit edition of Windows, by chance? I remember having the same curious issue about a year ago, when I bought a new computer (laptop). This may take a moment to wrap your head around, did for me... but the game can't handle 4 GB of RAM in the system very well (first of all, it can't use more than 2 GB of it anyway, no matter how much you have - that's simply how Windows treats 32-bit applications, with a few exceptions that almost never apply to games). It's not the video card - I had an ATI on my last computer, and it was flying... but it was 32-bit Windows XP and only 2 GB RAM. And I've been through at least 2 other ATI cards/chipsets in the past 6 years since the game came out... never had a problem (ok, once... they do put out bad drivers sometimes).

On my new system, with an nVidia, 4 GB of RAM, and 64-bit Windows... I expected SC4 to scream. Instead, it was dead-slow. Yes, putting it to software rendering was "ok" but I wasn't satisfied with ok. The graphics, when using hardware, looked stunning... just couldn't play the game because it was so terribly slow.

When I actually lowered Windows' memory - just a bit, to 3.5 GB (i.e. Windows itself won't recognize more than that), I got the response I expected. It screams AND looks great. Yes, it's a sacrifice.. and a sad one at that, as I do other things on this computer from time to time... like running multiple virtual machines. I often have to pop the memory back up to 4 GB then remember to drop it down before I play SC4 again. But in the end it's your choice - slightly less RAM, but you can play full-speed with full-graphics, or if you're truly satisfied with software rendering and don't want to "give up" the RAM... then do that.

How: I won't go into details; if you're not computer-saavy, you could cause a more serious problem with your system if you're not extra careful... if you are, then a quick "it's here" should do... msconfig -> Boot -> Advanced Options ... Maximum memory. Anyone who doesn't know what this means... ask someone you know who does, please. I'll accept no responsibility if you whack your own system.