This article examines the performance of Civilization 7, finding that while it runs well initially, it struggles with larger maps and more opponents. The article highlights the CPU-intensive nature of the game and how even powerful CPUs can struggle in late-game scenarios. It also mentions the game's built-in benchmarks and their usefulness in assessing system capabilities.
With each new Civilization release, fans of previous versions have taken polarising views of the changes made and it will be no different with this one. However, what might tip opinions in a particular direction is how well it runs and, to cut to the chase immediately, it's not brilliant. It's not Benchmark ing games like Civilization is somewhat tricky, though. While it's easy to record frame rates, that's only one aspect of how well the game runs.
It's running well because we're looking at a standard game that's only an hour or so into the run. A larger map, packed with opponents, or one that's in a late-game stage is likely to paint a very different picture. Reaching that point takes many hours—far more than I realistically had to carry out all of the testing—but developer Firaxis Games has that covered.
I examined the CPU usage during this test on a number of systems and Civ 7 seems to allocate the bulk of its workload across four to six threads, though it generates considerably more than this. The test result for the Ryzen 7 5700X3D shows that it's not particularly cache-dependent either and it essentially just comes down to the IPC and clock speed of the CPU.
And that was using Vulkan instead of DirectX 12, as the latter induced a crash almost every time I tried to run the Graphics benchmark. Graphics settings would frequently not activate upon change and each bench run required at least two checks of the graphics configurations to ensure they were correct. Firaxis Games did say that its day 0 patch fixes a lot of problems but with the daily install limit getting in the way, I couldn't fully test in time.
I did manage to get some additional runs on the Ally X using the other quality presets. As you can see, while the average frame rates with the Low and Medium quality presets are perfectly acceptable, lowering the graphics just doesn't help the 1% lows. That's because it's not a GPU limitation but a CPU/system one, with the handheld grinding down when the camera moves to a new location.
Notice how upscaling doesn't improve the 1% lows? It's not an oddity unique to the Graphics benchmark, as this also occurs during normal gameplay. Those minimum frame rate situations take place when the camera is moving about and when that happens, the performance is determined by the CPU and the rest of the PC.
MSAA is quite taxing on the GPU so gaming PCs with an old or low-end graphics processor should switch to using FSR 3 Native or FSR 3 Quality. Personally, I recommend using it anyway, as MSAA blurs out fine detail on certain objects, whereas FSR 3 Native doesn't.
CIVILIZATION 7 PERFORMANCE PC GAMING CPU BENCHMARK
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Civilization 7: Everything we know about the first new Civ game in nearly a decadeTyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call 'boomer shooters' now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!).
Read more »
Sid Meier's Civilization needs to keep reinventing itself to stay relevantCivilization 7 is bringing a lot of big and controversial changes—that's good.
Read more »
Civilization VII Launch Celebrated With Civ World Summit TournamentFiraxis Games will host a live Civilization VII tournament, the Civ World Summit, on February 8th to celebrate the upcoming launch of Civilization VII. The event will feature a multiplayer showdown between five prominent members of the Civ community and will be streamed online. Firaxis also plans an exciting announcement during the livestream.
Read more »
Civilization 7 player stacks so many bonuses that the game breaks and demands negative foodTyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call 'boomer shooters' now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!).
Read more »
Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 release date, time, and platformsThe acclaimed strategy series is getting its seventh instalment. Find out the release date, time, platforms, and editions for Civilization 7.
Read more »
How towns and cities work in Civilization 7Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call 'boomer shooters' now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!).
Read more »