I am in the process of shopping around for a new desktop computer after my old one died this past week. I am hoping to find some guidance so I don't make a mistake picking the wrong computer.

I initially was going to customize a computer at ibuypower, however, after speaking to a representative yesterday I was told it would be cheaper to just purchase one of the already prebuilt models that I could order through them or through bestbuy. So I found some links to a few options I am considering.

I only need the CPU I have already recently purchased a new mouse and keyboard. I have my older monitor, hoping it will still be compatible with a new computer. I plan on replacing that in the future, but, for now that will be put on hold unless absolutely necessary.

The only game I currently play is the TS2 and TS3. I have a TON of CC and Mods that I would like to use along with all expansion and stuff packs. I also would like to be able to play large worlds with around 200++ population, 350 would be ideal. I also would like the game to perform smooth like glass when running on the highest settings with minimal loading times.

I am looking for a bit of overkill with the specs figuring I will be keeping this computer for several years.

… Do I need or should I have both HDD and SSD?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypo...p?skuId=6292002

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypo...p?skuId=6325606

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypo...p?skuId=6325609

Love to hear any other suggestions ... please let me know. I would prefer to keep the total closer to $1,000
To everyone that took the time to read this and to those that offer advice … TIA!

You don't need a HDD but you most certainly need an SSD.

A little disappointed, but, not surprised. I realize Sims 3 has quite a few limitations. If I used NRaas Traveler and had multiple worlds filled with additional Sims would that be a work around to achieve a larger population or is that a cap to that as well?

What an aggravating experience. I am not completely sold on ibuypower and any other suggestions are welcome. I know just enough about computers to know what I would like as far as [majority] features but not enough to make a decision on which brand to go with and the best price.

The performance limitations mentioned refer to the resident population of single worlds, the one being actively played at any given time. You can Traveler mod connect as many worlds as you like, only one at a time can ever really be simulated. Well, as many as you like within reason. We've never heard of anyone playing over 50 worlds within one game and there's probably a tipping point involved somewhere before that, but 10 or even 20 shouldn't ever really be a problem.

Some worlds for some players can get closer to a resident population of 300 but there will typically be a performance trade-off especially with any form of story progression going. Other worlds cannot really accommodate quite that many. We had a very long term NRaas member who for years insisted that his very long-running main world with a large but not overly huge map (it may have been Riverview or a custom world based on it now that I think about it) had a resident population of over 800, that's actual residents in actual houses, but keeping a world going properly when it's that heavy and densely populated involved almost as much or more maintenance and constant tweaking than gameplay. He had a very unique approach to the game and technology in general and it was all a labor of love to him, but I think that kind of gameplay would frustrate more players than it would entertain. The super huge custom world maps that are out there that can seem to more "naturally" accept that many residents would, for most of us, tip the RAM usage scale above the 32-bit imposed 3.7 GB limit and not really be playable for very long.

My TravelDB is over 900 MB currently, with 16 connected worlds. I've let it grow as high as almost 2 GB before, but that was probably asking for trouble that I never got. Like the not currently active nhd files for the inactive worlds, it's never actually loaded into RAM but just comes along for the ride for reference when games are loaded, saved, and quit. I need to clean that one up again soon, using S3PE since the only version of Save Cleaner I can use on a Steam install doesn't work on TravelDBs.

All of the above of course assumes a healthy dose of NRaas mods to keep things moving along properly and occasional game file maintenance at least to some extent.

Positive. I remember our conversations about your ongoing game, but this was one of our founding and frequently participating members with a screen name of Inf666. We didn't really believe him at first on the 800 residents, it had to be more like 170-200+ households since not every one had 8 sims in it, until we saw some videos and MC Demographics charts showing what he was doing. We haven't seen him for a year or two now, he's likely moved onto something else. But his computer rig was...uhm, interesting as was his style of gameplay but again most of us would be more annoyed than happy to go through all the required hoops to make a setup like that service a 32-bit application as well as he could make it. I don't know how many generations of play he got out of that game, but it was probably on the order of 40 or 50 with tremendously long lifespans.


Simply cleaning out the SNAP files in the TravelDB is plenty for me when I can be bothered to get around to it, but yeah that doesn't happen all by itself because EA didn't provide any level of automatic cleanup. I can't delete the entire file without ruining my game (the way I play it), my legacy style household is spread out among some of those worlds and I rotate active gameplay through five or six of them; they stay in touch with and visit each other frequently.

Can recommend ASUS. They're pretty solid in terms of quality.

Most of what is said here is assuming the OP is playing with ageing on, am I correct?
I have ageing off and I setup NRaas SP to basically allow no changes to the population without my input, and my hood that has had 200+ sims for years has shown no signs of problems.

You have 200+ sims in total or are these just the residents each with their own proper households?

I guess different players are going to experience different things here. Can't say I've noticed a difference in performance with aging on/off even in highly populated worlds except at the exact moment where the game might pause to age someone off-screen up to their next life stage. Many players also get unhappy about story generation (for those who use NRaas StoryProgression) and while that does have a sporadic impact, it's more typically the career management aspects of SP continuously running that add the most stress to the game for those of us who rely on it to make things around the households we are actually playing feel more realistic. If one is playing or attempting to play the entire world in turns, then of course that kind of progression probably becomes unnecessary.

My play style varies depending on the world I'm playing, but I typically play with aging on. I love to micromanage my towns while not interfering too much in my Sims daily lives. I use Ani's Mods so I'm constantly managing stores and inventories. Being able to play with several (around 5) additional worlds using Traveler will fit my needs, I really just wanted a larger overall population so it doesn't feel like my Sims know everyone or after several generations end up being related to majority of the town.

Question about graphic cards....
What are your thoughts on this graphic card in general and for playing The Sims 3? I have read about the Nividea GeForce GTX series mentioned by other Sims players but nothing so far about RTX.
nividea geforce rtx 2070

I don't believe the RTX is really anything other than a GTX with one or two extra features, a different name and a higher price tag. From what I've heard it's overpriced and overrated, as is the rest of this year's Nvidia lineup.
You can't really pick and choose as much since you're going for a pre-built PC but at the moment, the wisest choice is to go with an older card in the same series.
Of course having the latest hardware is wise in a longevity sort of way, but I'm reading here that the 2070 goes for $500-550 while the 1070 goes for $300-350 despite the former being hardly 30% more powerful than the latter.

I paid €493 for my first 1070 back in 2016, and that was a good price at that time. I haven't the faintest reason to believe it's getting old. I can play everything I throw at it on high settings, and it's almost laughably overpowered for TS3. Anytime I pause my game, it shoots up to 144 frames per second and clings to that like there's no tomorrow.

What's your secret? I have about 110 Sims in my world and it lags to hell and back. I really need to do something about it since this is my recording world, but I don't seem to be able to do anything about it.

That doesn't explain my world......which was empty. This is what I keep my lots in. Lags to hell and back. I really need to get it to run better in some way, because it's WAY too laggy for a small, featureless world with ~30 lots in it.

I have EVGA RTX 2060 XC Ultra and I love it. However, as far as the raytracing I have only tried it out on Anthem which I got for free; yes the game was beautiful and I did not have any performance issues for the time I played the game. I also have a custom built computer. I also use ASUS products (i.e. monitor, router, laptops, optical drives) and have not had any issues with them, though we have since starting using MSI laptops. If you decide to get GTX (will not find a 1080 new, maybe 1070) or RTX, I would go with EVGA for the awesome customer service/warranty or ASUS. Nvidia has enabled some raytracing capabilities on the GTX, but it's useless for Sims.

I've been playing Bridgeport for quite a while now, also fixed the issues with the highrise shells or at least the ones related to NPC-only units being on ground floors and resident sims instantiating and getting stuck in those, and do not have this problem. I think this is where the NRaas GoHere mod's now fixed option to deny boat/water routing helps. It might also help that I have extended the subway system, retuned things so that inactives use it much more often, and there is a subway station on or next to the beach lot. Most of the sims who are headed for the beach now use the subway. The only real problem I have with this world is that sims keep getting stuck in elevators throughout the day, need to be reset, and cannot wait for Overwatch to reset all of the elevators as it now does at 5 am every day, although sometimes an entire sim day can go by without anyone getting stuck (this seems rare). I'm not prepared to replace all of the elevators in town with walk-ups nor to move the residential units on the LN apartments to the ground floor in each case.

I think the OP might be shooting a bit high on some of the components being discussed here like the RTX 2070 for a game that can only use 800 MB of vram, much of that GPU power will not get used on it. But if they have or will have other intended uses for this system or other games in mind for the future, then there's nothing wrong with aiming somewhat higher than what TS3 can really make use of if their budget can allow for it.

As a world builder I have to struggle with routing, and it's not a fixed thing. If you do changes in edit town, it will be regenerated. If you use a lot already there, it should be fine though. Also the best is to take the world into caw and inspect the routing. Fixing a world that isn't your own doing though, is a real bother.

When it comes to SSD vs HDD, I just had to change my SSD, and it was only 3 years old. I had someone else backing it up for me, and the new SSD was expensive. Recommendations I've read is to have programs on the SSD, to avoid 2 many changes on the disk. Then save documents, pictures etc on a HDD. For that reason I think you need an HDD, as well as a SSD, for longterm economics.

Those are proper sims, not townies.