Sid Meier's Civilization® V System Requirements
Sid Meier's Civilization® V is very light on modern hardware by 2026 standards. It wants 4GB of memory and 1GB of VRAM for a comfortable experience. Set aside 8GB of free space.
Check my PC against this gameFull system requirements
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows | Windows |
| DirectX | DirectX 9 | DirectX 9 |
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.0 GHz≈ AMD Phenom 9850 | 1.8 GHz Quad Core CPU≈ AMD Phenom 9850 |
| Graphics card | 256 MB ATI HD2600 XT or better, 256 MB nVidia 7900 GS or better, or Core i3 or better integrated graphics≈ Intel HD Graphics 4000 | 512 MB ATI 4800 series or better, 512 MB nVidia 9800 series or better≈ Intel HD Graphics 4000 |
| Video memory | 1 GB | 1 GB |
| System memory | 2 GB | 4 GB |
| Storage | 8 GB | 8 GB |
Estimated performance by graphics card
High preset, upscaling off, paired with a AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D-class processor.
| Graphics card | Tier | 1080p | 1440p | 4K | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 | S | 1434 | 1434 | 1434 | Recommended spec |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 | S | 1434 | 1434 | 1434 | Recommended spec |
| AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX | A | 1434 | 1434 | 1434 | Recommended spec |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER | A | 1434 | 1434 | 1434 | Recommended spec |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 | A | 1434 | 1434 | 1434 | Recommended spec |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | A | 1434 | 1434 | 1434 | Recommended spec |
| AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT | A | 1434 | 1434 | 1434 | Recommended spec |
| AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT | A | 1434 | 1434 | 1434 | Recommended spec |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER | A | 1434 | 1434 | 1434 | Recommended spec |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | A | 1434 | 1434 | 1434 | Recommended spec |
Modelled estimates rather than captured runs — see our methodology.
Frequently asked questions
What are the minimum requirements for Sid Meier's Civilization® V?
At least 2GB of system memory, a graphics card with 1GB of VRAM (roughly a Intel HD Graphics 4000 or better), 8GB of free storage, Windows and DirectX 9.
What are the recommended specs?
For a comfortable experience: 4GB of memory and a card with 1GB of VRAM — around a Intel HD Graphics 4000, paired with a AMD Phenom 9850 or equivalent.
Is Sid Meier's Civilization® V demanding on PC?
It is very light on modern hardware by 2026 standards, with a recommended GPU score of 1/100. It is primarily CPU-bound.
