So three days ago my computer fried. I went out and bought a computer from Walmart.
AMD A-6-5200 APU With Radeon HD 8400 graphics. I looked inside the desktop and since there is a slot for a graphics card I wanted to get a NVIDIA GeForce GT 630 with a 500 w power supply.
The computer cames with 6gb of ram and the graphics card adds 2gb. My question is if I upgrade my computer with the graphics card and power supply will it be able to play the sims 3 with that processor?
Sorry I'm new at this and really wasn't expecting my computer to take a crap.
Thanks in advance.

So my specs before I change anything (how it was bought):

Processor AMD A6-5200 APU with Radeon(TM) HD Graphics
Manufacturer AMD
Speed 2.0 GHz
Video Card AMD Radeon HD 8400
Manufacturer ATI
Chipset AMD Radeon HD 8400
Memory 6 GB
Operating System Microsoft Windows 8 (build 9200), 64-bit
Service Pack 0
Size 64 Bit
Edition Basic
Display Maximum Resolution 1366 x 768
Size 500 GB

And what the specs would be after:

Processor AMD A6-5200 APU with Radeon(TM) HD Graphics
Manufacturer AMD
Speed 2.0 GHz
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GT 630
Memory 6 GB
Operating System Microsoft Windows 8 (build 9200), 64-bit
Service Pack 0
Size 64 Bit
Edition Basic
Display Maximum Resolution 1366 x 768
DVD TSSTcorp CDDVDW SU-208DB
CD TSSTcorp CDDVDW SU-208DB
Drive
500 GB

How much did you pay for that computer? Can you still return it? How many Amps are on the +12V rail of the power supply you already have?

The power supply that came with it is 250 watts... Which is why I will have to purchase an upgrade. My husband paid $400 for it. (He was being thoughtful, but didn't know about the specs for the sims 3) I could return it but was hoping that I could just upgrade the power supply and graphic card, but my problem is I don't really want to update the processor at the moment. Will the processor on this computer make the game run slow or lag, or can I get by with it until I can update it ?

Slow and lag >> http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A6-5200+APU This comparison is of course against the TOP of the Top tier. Sims 3 won't need that much of a powerhouse like the 12000 benchmarked CPU.
Anything below 5000 generally shows up on these forums with issues. Even those > 5000 benchmark shows up here if the GPU is not up to par.
So with the HD 8400, this system has no chance with a good Sims 3 experience at all. You did look at our GPU chart, before going shopping, at least? So you'd know that the GT 630 won't be much better. (SysReq link in my signature.)

Is "Edition Basic" the Operating System? Or the PC system's classification? Well, that's your clue.

If your budget fits a CPU benchmarked < 5000, you'd need a good GPU (with ALL GREENs) and enough RAM (6GB min).

I would return it, add another $300-$400 to your budget and you'll get a decent system for The Sims 3.

Thanks for all the help! I will probably return it and look into a desktop on a Dell website.

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