As promised, I am back to report on the state of my computer running Sims 3 without external graphics card.
I posted last summer asking for opinions on how advisable it is. A lot of advise suggested that it would tax my system in the long run, so it would break down earlier than it should. The thread with the specs is archived here.

http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=480218

The thing is now over 6 months old and is still working fine. Temperature and FPS rates haven't changed. I'm running it with CCMagic (I keep to about 2.5Gb of CC), the settings are now on max except for visual effects and reflections.

The only significant difference I see is with texture loading times with large worlds and large save files recently. On initial loading of the game, it takes a minute to render completely. What bugs me most however is the time it takes to load clothes, hair, and patterns in CAH.

Since I will probably buy University, I think by then it will be time to invest in an external graphics card again.

My question: Would that help with the loading times in CAH?

Good to hear! I think the discrete card should help with loading textures faster, but I'm not sure.

But, how often do you play?
And if I remember correctly, without reading over that thread, it was on quite a low resolution, I believe...? So, in essence, it is not exactly taxing that component too much.

On average, I play about 6 hours per week, I think. Yes, the resolution is 1280x1024, so, I guess, not too high?

Thanks for the update. Appreciate you coming back and keeping us informed!
I'd still be interested to learn how it performs 1 year, 2 years, down the line.

The HD 8000 series release is rumored to be "soon". So after the high-end ones hit the market, the "not-so-crazy-expensive-that-would-break-the-bank-and-still-play-Sims-3" models would maybe be out a couple months after that. Which would mean the older 7000 series may get discounted, if the 8000 series is still not within budget.

"What bugs me most however is the time it takes to load clothes, hair, and patterns in CAH."
And there's the rub, isn't it? Most times, it is not "can the machine handle it?" that we should ask. It should be "can I handle the lag time it takes to load, each time that screen needs to load, day-in and day-out of playing?" when selecting budget components. Because, sure, new components can handle it. But we humans are more impatient than machines.

This. I think that's spot on with the new technology we're seeing in recent integrated graphics solutions.

Well, it 's fine for my play style, play time, and number of expansions and it's not taxing for my system for now. For someone who has less CC, the CAH loading times would probably faster, which, depending on which game I load, is always an option. And the fact that the processor by itself is pretty fast, it will work well together with a good external card once that becomes necessary.
I generally think of my builds as evolving since technology advances so fast, nothing will ever be perfect. It will be perfect for a year but then something better will be on the market, promising increased, speed, graphics, elves beating orcs over the head on my motherboard.....

Oh, apparently the HD 8000 series is only for OEM systems, not available for retail. This tells me it's just a "rebranding" marketing spin that AMD is doing. Color me disappoint.

Yeah, hardly worth waiting for that one perfect component these days, eh? As long it fits the need, get what you can budget for at this point of time.