who knows about grafix cards

[M Dogg™]

need some help. my grafix card doesn't even want to play Civilization, and I'm planning on getting the expansion packs. So what should I do. How do I install them and which one should i get got a Sony Vivo desktop.

[E. J. Rizo]

laptops tend to be really difficult to replace something like that... so it might not even be possible for you without some heavy knowledge.... thats one of the downfall of laptops...

but on desktops its very easy... pop in the AGP port or whatever and install drivers and you are on your way... for the most part...

[Narrator]

Civilization?  The original?  I never played it, but somehow, I can't even imagine it's at all optimized for any graphics card made in the past 5 years.

[Bramsterdam (see ya)]

Like EJ said for laptops it sucks but for desktop.. as long as you have an AGP or PCI-E slot, then get a graphics card for one of those slots, put it in and update drivers and you're set..

[T-Dogg]

^^
Take note though that AGP slots are slowly dying out. The latest and greatest graphics cards aren't made with AGP combatibility anymore, they're all PCI-E.

If you got a laptop though (especially an older, no longer produced model), you might be shit outta luck. In many cases only a certified service provider can replace something in a notebook if your model is old enough, it might not be supported by the manufacturer anymore.

In any case, if you're getting a new video card go for something with an nVidia 7xxx chipset or Ati X1xxx chipset for best price/quality ratio (I'd go for the nVidia myself, I think the nVidia software is better and I've heard Ati cards tend to break more often.) Both have newer, better models available but they cost a lot (too much, really) and they need Vista in order to get the full advantage out of 'em. Besides, something like Civilization doesn't really need that power anyway. Even the ones I mentioned are overkill for the original Civ, but they DO offer the best overall value for your money.