We have noticed that the most common thread types circle around whether or not a person’s computer, graphics card, etc, will run TS2 and TS3 well. This includes many people asking for recommendations for computer parts and even full computers which can handle the games. We understand that there is a lot of information to consider, and for many it can be confusing. We want to help, but we also want to cut down on all the repeat questions. Individual threads asking how a computer will run the Sims games, or asking for advice on computers or computer components to run the games are no longer allowed. Instead, please post all questions in this thread.

BEFORE POSTING, please search this forum and read this thread to make sure there isn't already information about your question. Make sure you read the sticky on the system requirements for running TS2/TS3. You may also want to check out guide to buying a new graphics card. There is already quite a lot of information in these forums if you are willing to take the time to look.

I'm going to college next year, but I'm saving for the laptop now. I've read the other thread so I have a pretty good idea of what to look for(processor, card ect.) but every computer I find with one good part, it lacks in the other areas. I've gone to Dell and tried to build one, but the prices are getting out of control. Is there a way to build my own laptop with actually manually building it myself?
Or do I have to bite the bullet and save up a lot(1500+)?

The System Requirements thread contains recommendations for several laptops, all well under $1500, which meet our requirements. I recommend taking a closer look at the thread. You can't build a laptop quite the same way you can a desktop. There are places where you can buy bare bone laptops and then are able to install your own processor, ram, hard drive and install your own os, but that's the extent of it. You don't have the same flexibility as you do with building a desktop. Xoticpc.com is a place which allows for this.

Thank you!

Thank you for showing me the one with the warranty! I'm going to switch to that one. In the post about the defective GO cards it says this:

Current mobile cards which are strong enough to provide good TS2 game play are as follows:

Does good mean like just ok?

Also, I know no one knows what the requirements will be for TS3, but should I consider going back to the 2.8GHz or will updating ram later be good enough?

No, not okay, good..a synonym for well, which is what I used in the original post. See how I made a point to underline it? Those are the cards we recommend.

The cpu and the gpu you have is strong enough to play the games well.. I've said this to you -a lot- now.. I'm confused as to why you keep needing to hear it over and over again.. Maybe if you're that uncomfortable with this laptop you should get a desktop Whatever route you choose I've given you my best recommendation.. take it or leave it

I would ask things over and over about a desktop too. I don't know a lot about computers and we're talking about a lot of money here. If it were my money it wouldn't be much of an issue, but since it's my mother's I want to make sure. Thank you for being patient with me.

I've got a pretty specific question about a video card compatibility with a motherboard. The motherboard is pretty old. It is an Intel P4VMM2 with a 4x AGP slot. I've found this AGP ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro card for pretty cheap at a local store and I would like to know if they are compatible.

val429 - Yes it will work, but it will clock it down and run at the 4x instead of the full 8x the card is capable of. You may not get the performance you desire on that computer, especially if the rest of your specs also fall short of our recommended specs. You still need to check power requirements. Unless your power supply is newer than that motherboard, you are likely going to need a new psu too. Our sticky, New Graphics Cards - Read here before posting about getting a new card!, will tell you how to check to make sure you don't also need to buy a new power supply.

my question is the place to get a pc for the most with a budget of 2000$ mainly for gaming? i dont mind paying 500$ more... but only if it will make a world of a difference...

ive looked on hp-blackbird/dell-xps/alienware but im not sure which company gives you more for the look and which one gives you better performance? ive also read these cooling options like air cooling and liquid cooling... is that even for reals? or are they just trying to milk you for more money? i mean does it really matter to pay the extra 50$ to have your pc cool faster?

anyways ive played around with the specs to fit my budget and i was wondering which would be the best choice in the long run like a good few years? for sims and maybe the newer games that is to come in the future.

HP-Blackbird - $2,289.00

Dual Core - Intel® Core2™ Duo 3.0GHz E8400
2GB 1066 MHz CORSAIR PC2-8500 DDR2 SDRAM SLI Ready
Thermal Management-Air Cooling
Motherboard - EVGA nForce™ 780i
Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
NVIDIA GeForce GTX-260, with 896MB of GDDR3 SDRAM (AC)

Alienware- Area51-7500 $1,879.00

Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB
System Cooling: Alienware® Standard System Cooling
Single 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280
3GB Patriot EP+ Low Latency Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 x 1024MB + 2 x 512MB
Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA® nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Windows Vista® Home Premium with Service Pack 1 – DirectX 10 Ready!
Enthusiast Essentials: Dual High Performance Gigabit Ethernet Ports

Dell XPS730 - $2,249

Intel® Core™2 Q9450 (12MB,2.66GHz, 1333FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz - 4 DIMMs
nVidia GeForce GTX 280 – 1024MB


and is there a big difference in running xp with 2gb of ramand vista 32 bit with 3gb of ram and vista 64 with 4gb of ram when it comes to game play? or do those just balance each other out so it would be the same and i wouldn't need to pay overboard for 4gb of ram and vista 64 bit?

also are those new all-in-ones desktops from like dell/sony/hp generally not for gaming?

Wow, talk about painfully overpriced... Those are all insane amounts of money to pay for those systems... or any gaming system, honestly.

Just for an example... this is my build (or very close to it) from Newegg, which is -extremely- competent for gaming. It's not a monster, but it does very well at gaming and will continue to do so for years to come:

• Processor: E8400 3.0 gHz Core 2 Duo - $169.99
• Mobo: Socket 775 Mobo w/SLI - $134.99
• PSU: OCX GameXStream 600w - $99.99
• RAM: 2 GB DDR2 (2 x 1 GB) - $43.99
• Graphics: nVidia GeForce 9600 GT - $119.99
• Hard Drive: 500 GB 7600 RPM SATA - $99.99
• DVD Burner: Sony nice and fast one - $23.99

They don't have my case at NewEgg (Gigabyte Poseidon 310) but most any decent case with good cooling will do. I know Callistra recommended several back on the previous thread.


You'd also need:

Vista Home Premium 32 bit - $99.99

And you could double the RAM if you wanted and add an extra fan.

Which puts you at just under $1000 assuming double the RAM, $15 for an extra fan, and $150 for a case (probably more like $100). You could go with a better graphics card (8800 vs. the 9600 - I think if you want a 280, that's fine - but if you wait a while until it's not the hottest thing out there, you'll get a much better deal on it). Either way, with my suggested build above (and I'm sure Callistra will come along and nitpick me, hehe!) you STILL get a WAY better deal than any of those prebuilds. The quad core stuff is -way- overkill and isn't used by much of anything yet. The E8400 is a great processor (that's exactly what I have) and kicks the ass of anything I throw at it. Again, if you wanted to go quad core later, the socket 775 would allow you to do so - and you'd get a better deal on a later upgrade as the prices would have dropped, but it's just not necessary now.

Vista 32 bit is a way better choice as 64 bit has compatability issues with many programs. I personally run XP Pro with 2 gigs and I much prefer it to Vista. Haven't run across any game my system can't handle with ease, and I would prefer what I buy to actually go more toward what I want to use it for - gaming - rather than propping up my specs-greedy OS.

Liquid cooling is... IMO, again overkill. I've always used air cooling and never had any trouble. Get -good- air cooling, a case with good airflow, and if you need it, additional fans. Monitor your heat, and if you find you need additional cooling, then you can do that later.

Since I got an invite, this change lol..

CPU: no change
MOBO: I definitely would not go for an nforce board for that build. The only reason I'd ever go that route is if you actually plan on running SLI (no help for Sims games), but otherwise the nforce boards tend to be more headaches than worth - stability issues and what not. Recommend going with a nice P35 or P45 chipset. If you plan on future crossfire (ATI cards only) go X48.
PSU: OCZ is a good brand, but PCP&C is my brand of choice.
RAM: That G.Skill ram is good ram. It's what I recommend on a budget and what I put in my friend's machine. Since you're not on such a budget, maybe some faster ram. 2gb in XP is fine. For gaming in Vista would recommend 3gb+. Now the trick with that is you have to install in matched pairs. So you could either get 1gbx2 AND 512mbx2 to get the 3gb, in which case you've now used all 4 slots or you could spend approx the same amount of money and just get 2x2gb now even though you can't really use it all on a 32 bit system.
GPU: 9600gt is a good card. Hard to recommend something when you weren’t specific with what games you want to play outside the Sims world.
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16822136073 SATA is definite need (other one HP linked to was IDE/PATA)
Optical: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16827129032 I’ve been through a ton of optical drives over the past few years and Sony consistently burned the most coasters. I’m liking Pioneer right now myself.

There's no point in installing liquid cooling unless you plan on doing some crazy overclocking. Even then I recommend sticking to air unless you have experience with liquid or have someone locally who can help you maintain it. If you don't want to OC then stick to stock cooling. If you do then this would be my recommendation for air cooling: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16835233003 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16835233019 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16835186020

Also recommend you follow our rules outlined in the first post and read through our stickies, as I’ve already done a lot of in depth recommendations for new machines. In one post in particular I took the time to lay out dozens of great case choices. I've also given my recommendation for what company to go with if you feel you have to have it prebuilt.

ok... i'm feeling very very nervous about posting here, but here goes anyway!

I'm currently looking into getting myself a laptop. Right now I have an oldish, but very nice (for my needs anyway), desktop computer. I would like a laptop because it would be portable and a little more practical for my current lifestyle. My only issue is that I really really don't want to take a step backwards in performance when I make the switch (that is to say, I want it to run the sims 2 - with all eps and sps - on max graphics, and without much lag). I'm not really interested in other games at the moment as there are 2 other desktop computers in the house that can easily run much better/newer games. I'm also not really concerned about upgrading at all...

My current PC's specs:
AMD Athlon 64 Processor, 4000+ ~ 2.4GHz
~1GB Ram
ATI Radeon X1900, 512MB
its currently running vista home premium 32bit

That having been said I'm actually specifically interested in the Dell Studio 17 (i love purple...). If I got one with the intel dual 2 core T9300 (2.5GHz), ati radeon mobility 3650 w/ 256MB, 3GB of ram, and the 320GB SATA Hard Drive, would this machine be able to run the sims 2 (w/ all eps and sps as well as a moderate amount of cc) very well? - what settings would I be able to run the game on?

also, just out of curiosity, would this machine be able to run spore or maybe the sims 3?

If you read our sticky on the system requirements to run TS2 and TS3 you will see that the Dell Studio 17 with those specs meets or exceeds all reccomendations. It should be able to handle TS2 and all expansions at max settings. It should be able to handle a fair ammount of custom content as well. Just keep in mind that even high end cards can have some lagging if you get enough cc and especially with high polygons.

As the sticky also says, we can't know at this point what TS3 will require, but my best guess is that laptop will play TS3 well too.

Looks good for Spore too.

I would just like to that callistra for all of her help(mainly in the other thread) with my new desktop. It arrived today and I am very pleased so far. It runs well and is fast. I haven't had a chance to play the game more than a few moments after I only had NL installed, but it was running well then.

Thanks so much! :D

I hope this is the right spot to post this but I am thinking of getting a 22inch wide screen lcd monitor in the near future(when I have the funds) and I would like to know if Sims2 will run on it ok and look fine not weird. Thanks!

It will look normal/fine, so long as you know how to set things up. For the best results, you will want to tell TS2 to play at the native resolution of the monitor, and the "use square pixels" fixes any distortion. Just keep in mind that the higher the resolution the lower your performance is going to be - frames per second will drop. You may not notice this drop at all, or you may notice an increase lagging/jumpy game play, depending on how good the rest of your computer is. You can always reduce the resolution, but any LCD not running at native resolution won't have the best display quality.

Hope this helps!

Thanks Callistra! At the moment I play Sims2 in window mode not full screen. Can I still do that with the wide screen monitor? And what brand do you recommend?

Yeah, you can still play in window mode. What's your budget? Viewsonic (Pro and Graphic series) and LG make some good quality cheaper consumer grade panels. Samsung makes some really popular ones, but Viewsonic and LG look a lot better to me.. never really been big on Samsung myself. Then you can get into some nicer S-PVA panels.. but they're more expensive.

Thanks Callistra. Right now I don't have a budget because I am thinking of getting after Christmas. So I have sometime to save up for it. What is S-PVA Panels? LG is a no for me cause every LG product we have had hasn't really been any good. I know my friend has a nice monitor. It has a black edge around it. Plus I would like one with speakers built in. My current one is a 17 inch BENQ FP72E.

I'm sorry about your experience with LG. I understand wanting to stay away based on previous experience, but perhaps if you could look at the panels in person you might see why I would recommend them. I'm not sure what you've used in the past that has not been very good, but current LG panels are some of the best consumer grades around. I've own two LG monitors are they were both very good, considering the price paid.

The Viewsonic Graphics series has built in speakers, but you're not going to get really good speakers out of any monitor. Most are pretty crappy to be honest, but if you don't care about the sound quality it does save space.

At work right now but later I will try to do some research on what other models are available in Australia.

Here is an article on the different types of LCDs: http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guide...panel-types.php TN, S-PVA, S-IPS, H-IPS, etc. The only thing I'd ignore is the S-IPS recommendations. I know that NEC isn't even a current model.

The space thing is the problem. I have a small desk. So where the monitor is, is the only space. If I can get speakers that have a long cord, I would prefer that. But I will look at at the LG at Harvey Norman and ask my computer tech guy aswell. I have to admit the monitor I have at the moment has built in speakers and there ok. Not as good as the separate speakers I had. My separate ones were so good when one of them stopped working I didn't even notice! I really appreciate all the help callistra! Thanks! I will have to read that article a few times for it to sink in. Thanks again.

Hi everyone,

I'm really sorry to ask the same old question: I'm considering playing the Sims 2 again now that I have a new PC but am getting very confused by all the specs and requirements. I have read around this forum and some other websites, but the more I read the more confused I get! :confused:

I'd really, really appreciate it if someone could please tell me whether my new PC would be okay with the game, or if there are any troubles I could expect. I don't want to go and spend money on the game if I'm going to have problems with it again, as I'm sure you can understand! I was looking at getting the Sims 2 Double Deluxe pack, since it's fairly reasonably priced now.

My PC is a HP Pavillion S3320 running Windows Vista Home Premium, and these are it's specs:

RAM 2 GB
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 processor, clocked at 2.2 Ghz
Hard drive 250 GB SATA
Video Card ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO graphics card, 256 MB dedicated memory, up to 1023 MB total available graphics memory

Many, many thanks for any help you can offer. I really appreciate it!

All you have to do is look at your computer specs and then look at the recommend specs and ask yourself "Are they equal to or greater than?" Look..

Your RAM: 2gb
Recommended RAM: 2gb
Verdict: You're fine

Your CPU: 2.2ghz
Recommended: 2.5ghz
Verdict: You're a little low and you will have to wait and see how it goes.

Your GPU: 2400 PRO
GPU Chart: OK for base game through Uni. Might be ok from Nightlife to Pets, but expect lagging in some circumstances. Not suitable for any expansions past Pets.
Verdict: May be ok, with some expected lagging in some circumstances.

So basically your computer is on low end of prob be ok. Just don't expect to bog it down with lots of CC, and don't be disappointed or surprised if it's not absolutely perfect/flawless game play.

Thankyou for getting back to me Callistra. I guess I just needed some reassurance

I'd read somewheer else that it was reccomended you have at least double the minimum specs, so I was getting a bit muddled as to just what I'd need and whether I'd be up to scratch or not. I went ahead and ordered my copy of Double Deluxe last night, can't wait for it to arrive!