"Realistic" System Requirements

[simaholic97]

Well, I'm assuming what the Sims 2 website calls the minimum for the game to run and what is required for the game to run well are different. I'm getting a new computer soon, via a family friend who works with computers, so I have quite a bit of say in terms of what I need and want. While my game runs, it can lag at times and will freeze. Plus, I'm jealous of everyone with gorgeous, super smooth gameplay.

At the moment, these are my specs: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 1800+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.5GHz processor (I'm not computer stupid, but I know absolutely NOTHING about processors. However, if even my grandmother thinks this one is awful, it must be). 512MB RAM, and a 256MB NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500, which is basically the only thing I would call adequate.

I've requested that if I get a new PC, it have 2GB RAM on it. This should be enough, right? As for processors, like I said: I know nothing. I'm simply trusting that the person who is in charge of getting the PC for me isn't going to get one nearly as ancient as that one. As for the graphics card, is there something better than the one I have that I can get? Is it worth it?

Basically, what will I need to run the game all of the expansion packs smoothly?

[Darth Joules]

I've requested that if I get a new PC, it have 2GB RAM on it. This should be enough, right? As for processors, like I said: I know nothing. I'm simply trusting that the person who is in charge of getting the PC for me isn't going to get one nearly as ancient as that one. As for the graphics card, is there something better than the one I have that I can get? Is it worth it?

Sounds like what you're going to get is a bit of a mystery/surprise. Do you have any influence over what's goign inside this new (one hopes) PC? As for graphics cards....there are a heck of a lot of better and way more powerful graphics cards now. The Geforce 8800GTX, today's top card, is like 8-10 times more powerful than a FX5500.


Basically, what will I need to run the game all of the expansion packs smoothly?

Getting 2GB RAM is a very good start. It should also have the most powerful CPU affordable, a good mid-range graphics card, decent all-round motherboard, a stable and efficient PSU, a high denisty SATA II hard drive (>320GB), and a decent case with good layout and airflow. No sound card is necessary as modern motherboards today come with very good on-board sound chips, some are now on little daughter boards to improve sound fidelity. The OS should either be WinXP Home or Pro, because Vista is a resource hog and virtually useless. I'll break down what you should expect across all the components.

CPU:
Any of the following Intel Core 2 Duo (dual core) CPUs are ideal: E6400, E6420 (both 2.1Ghz), E6550, E6650 ( both 2.33Ghz), E6600 (2.4Ghz), E6700, E6750 (both 2.66Ghz), X6800(2.93Ghz), E6850 (3Ghz). The E6750 is the best of the bunch, offering the most power in ratio to price.

Any of the following AMD Athlon64 X2 (dual core) CPUs are ideal: 4800+ (2.5GHz), 5000+ (2.6GHz), 5600+ (2.8GHz), 6000+ (3.0GHz), 6400+ Black Edition (3.2GHz). Pound for pound the AM2 X2 are beat fair and square by the Core 2 Duos; the 6400+ is only a bit better than the E6600.

RAM:
You'll either get 2x 1GB or 4 x 512MB DDR2 sticks, doesn't really matter which. But the speed of the RAM is important, these are ideal (accending in speed); PC6400 (800Mhz), PC7200 (900Mhz), PC8000 (1000Mhz) PC8500 (1066Mhz). Ideally you want PC8500, but PC6400 is more than good enough and is usually the norm. If you get any of the Core 2 Duo with "..50" as the last two digits of their model you should get PC8500.

Then it's really brand; Corsair, Crucial, Geil, A-Data, OCZ, G.Skill, Patriot, and Mushkin are all good brand. Corsair, Crucial, and OCZ are perhaps the most reliable at present.

DDR3 RAM is not worth considering because it is sooo darn expensive at present.

GRAPHICS CARD:
Any of these nVidia Geforce PCI-E models: 6800GS 256MB, 7600GS 256MB (or GT), 7800GS 256MB (or GTX), 7900GS 256MB/512MB (or GT, GTX), 7950GT 512MB, 8600GTS 256MB, 8800GTS 320MB/640MB, 8800GTX 768MB. The Geforce 8000 series cards need a case with plenty of room....they're very big cards.

Any of these ATI Radeon PCI-E models: X1800 256MB, X1900GT 256MB (or XT), X1950Pro 256MB/512MB (or GT, XT), X1950XT 512MB (or XTX). I've deliberately omitted the enitre X2000 range becuase I consider them a waste of money, you're better off with one the GeForce 8800s. And a word of warning, the X1950 range can have a rather noisy cooler fitted.

MOTHERBOARD:
For the Intel CPUs I've mentioned it should be a good all-round Intel P965 chipset motherboard. Apart from the ones with "..50" as the last two digits of their model, then a Intel P35 chipset motherboard but not one of the ones that supports DDR3 RAM (because it's expensive). For the AMD Athlon64 AM2 X2 CPUs it should be a decent nVidia 650i chipset board. I won't go into specific makes or models are there are too many and too much variation performance wise between them all.

HARD DRIVE:
Ideally one Hitachi Deskstar 7TK1000 perpedicular drives (750GB or 1TB). But being more realistic either Hitachi Desktar 7TK500 or Samsung Spinpoint T (or P) 320GB, 400GB, or 500GB hard drives (all with 16MB cache) would be ideal. Basically any SATA II drive bigger than 320GB will do....so long as it isn't a Maxtor hard drive.

PSU:
The Wattage power of the PSU choosen does depend on what's going inside. It's usually the last part you buy if you're custom building a PC. El'cheapo PSUs should be avoided like the plague. Good reliable brands are: Antec, Seasonic, Tagan and Enermax.

CASE:
Anything that's reasonably well built and well laid out inside. And more importantly has very good airflow. Ideally a minimum of one 120mm fan sucking air in and one 120mm fan blowing air out. Function should always prevail over form....not much point of having a pretty looking case if everything inside is overheating.


In conclusion I've been very brief here and only covered what's really available "as new" on the market today. Since you don't know what you're getting you may end up with older technology. So long as you get stuck with something weak like the crappy Sempron and Celeron CPUs or dodgey second-hand parts, you should get something infintely better than what you already have.

If you know the budget for your new PC I can help put together a shopping list for you....so long as it's being custom made.;)

[simaholic97]

$800-$1000 should be a good estimate, if that's even realistic. The person who is building it for me knows I need something pretty powerful. He also knows this computer overheats quite often (to the point where, last time, I could smell burning). At this point, I think I know even less about computers than I originally thought I did!

[R.Quest]

$800-$1000 should be a good estimate, if that's even realistic. The person who is building it for me knows I need something pretty powerful. He also knows this computer overheats quite often (to the point where, last time, I could smell burning). At this point, I think I know even less about computers than I originally thought I did!


You can look at my thread.. based on Darth Joules Recommendations the Parts and such he recommended are coming to a total of 1300$ just a bit higher than max of 1000$ you are aiming at.. I find you get what you pay for... 6 yrs ago when I purchased the computer I have now ( and am in the process of replacing)... I made a bad decision that came back to haunt me 2 yrs later I chose to buy the computer with the slower processor and 2 yrs later when I went to install Fable I was not able to , because my processor was not fast enough.... - the computer I did not purchase would have been...

You want to get a computer that works for you now... but also if you can help it you do not want to have to upgrade too soon.... it is a waste of money to pay for a new video card..or piece of equipment; use it for one year and then get a new one... because the 1yr old one no longer does what you want to do...