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Haley0489 · 15-05-2009, 09:24 PM

Hi everyone! I've been an avid The Sims fan since the original series, I've had every expansion leading up to The Sims 2: Seasons. I lost interest in the community and shortly there after, lost interest in my game. I closed my sims forum and stopped playing all together January 2008.

I had no interest in getting The Sims 3 and wasn't even going to look into it until my online friends kept going on and on about it. I instantly wanted to get the game when I read about all the new traits and personalities. My computer ran TS2 amazingly, I had brilliant graphics and super fast load times, but I run Windows 2000 which isn't listed as a supported operating system for The Sims 3; plus my RAM is near the minimum requirements for TS3 so I imagine my load times would be horrendous.

Well, wouldn't luck have it...my computer is dying! {clap}
The majority of people would hate this, but hey! I've needed a new PC for a while and now I can get one that will handle TS3. I went on Dell and looked at their remaining Windows XP computers and found one I liked. I customized the processor, RAM, and video card; but I wanted to check with others who may be more "computer literate" before I place my order.

Will these specs run TS3 smoothly?

Dell Inspiron 530 IntelÂ® Coreâ¢ 2 Duo Processor E7400 (3MB L2 Cache,2.80GHz,1066 FSB)
Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs
Video Cards ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB supporting HDMI
Hard Drives 320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cacheâ¢
Optical Drive 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Sound Cards Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

I have the option to upgrade to a Quad Processor (which I read were really extravagent and a dual processor would do the same jobs just as well.) I also have the ability to upgrade my graphics card to a ATI RADEON HD 4670 512MB, but if the one I've picked out will do the trick & have nice graphics then I don't want to over do it (in case I fall out of my Sims addiction again, I won't have wasted too much.)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I feel so out of the loop since I haven't touched The Sims in well over a year.

BroadwayBeckons · 15-05-2009, 09:27 PM

Oh yes, your computer will be more than capable of running TS3. There's no real pressing need to upgrade the processor or graphics card, but it couldn't hurt. You'll be fine either way. Smile

Haley0489 · 16-05-2009, 05:29 AM

Really? Awesome!!
I'm so excited for TS3 now. {lol}

BroadwayBeckons · 16-05-2009, 05:42 AM

Welcome to the club. Tongue

MrAlex · (08-02-2009 04:43 PM)

Your GPU is a bit rubbish. No offence but that's a HTPC graphics card and will not run the Sims on completley full settings without getting low fps. ATI just released an UB3R cheap Radeon HD 4770, in the sub-$99 range, and it comes with GDDR5 memory and is the first 40nm card which means that it uses LESS power than any other card. Infact, it almost doesn't need an external power supply! But you're using a OEM PC, so I don't know if it lets you upgrade;
Some reviews:
www.techspot.com/review/163-radeon-hd-4770/
www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/diamond_4770/
I'll take a guess and say you're in America, so here is a cheap place:
$99.99 (Not in stock yet):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814131155
$109.99 (In Stock)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814103077

Haley0489 · (This post was last modified: 16-05-2009 05:39 PM by Haley0489.)

Why won't the card run TS3? Is it because the card itself doesn't have much memory or...? I'm not particularly computer literate when it comes to phrases like HTPC, low fps, GDDR5, or OEM.

I'm buying my computer from Dell, and really want to get everything from their website already in my computer and ready to go. Which is why I'm not thrilled at the idea of going on newegg and buying hardware to install myself. Dell offers a ATI RADEON HD 4670 512MB; 4670 seems pretty close to 4770, would it be a better card or is it also going to be rubbish?

My PC as is, is already costing me $907, to upgrade to the above graphics it's going to cost me $85 more.

Could I have my computer built with integrated graphics (saves me $150) and then upgrade to Radeon one you mentioned later? It doesn't make much sense for me to spend $150 on a card from Dell that isn't going to be up to par, if I can spend $100 and get a top of the line one...I'm just not sure if I can upgrade the integrated? Does it matter? Or will it be like any other graphics card where you just plug and play....I'm definitely not tech smart...as you can see! Tongue

MrAlex · 17-05-2009, 08:11 PM

HTPC : Home Theatre PC (Like a TV Box)
Low FPS: Low frames per second (Number of images shown in a second, the higher the better)
GDDR5: The speed of the memory and the amount of data transfered (I.e 256MB of GDDR5>1GB of GDDR2)
OEM: original equipment manufacturer (I.e HP, Dell, Lenovo, Etc)

Integrated graphics = Fail @ Games

If you want a new PC, PM me or post here and the budget and I'll get you MUCH better than what Dell offers and a PC that will last you a few years too.