Ensuring Sims will work on new computer

[katya]

Hi
I am about to buy a new computer for my daughter and want it to work well with the SIMS games and others bought over the last 2 years. I bought a computer 2 years ago which was completely useless, despite having told Dell what I wanted it for. Don't want to make the same mistake again. I am told I should ensure it has a graphics card with 512mb of dedicated RAM, a processor with not less than E6750 capacity, 3gb of memory and if poss 500 gig on the hard drive. Also, that I should avoid VISTA and stick with windows XP. Will this do it? I read somewhere about installing all the games in the order in which they were bought (as if I remember)... is it that delicate?
thanks for your thoughts
Katya

 

[samjohnson]

Ok, well couple of things you really don't need there, or not as much. First off you don't need a 512mb video card, I have a 256mb Geforce 7600GT that will more than likely run any game you have. A good processor is always a good thing so you can't really go wrong in getting something really good. 3 gigs of memory really isn't necessary, just get 2 gigs. Unless you are running the 64 bit version of windows than I would get three but with a 32 bit you don't need 3. Depending how much stuff you put on your computer you don't need a 500 gig hard drive. I only have a 160 gig and works great for me. You can always add more gigs later. Yes I would stay away from vista for the time being. XP for gaming, especially if you don't have much knowledge will work better than vista. No you don't need to install your games in the order in which you bought them. This makes no sense. I don't have a clue where you got this advice from but I would say not to go there again. Do you plan on building a computer or are you buying a prebuilt? I suggest building one yourslef, it isn't hard at all. You really don't need much knowledge about computers to be able to put one together yourself.

 

[katya]

Guaranteeing Sims will function

Hi Sam, thanks a lot for your message, which I have taken on board. I'm pretty sure I read the business about installing the games in time order on the Techspot website... I am thinking of getting the computer made up (wouldn't have clue myself) and will pass your comments on the guy who'll do it. By the way, when I have installed Sims and other games on other computers, I have noticed - possibly unconnected - messages along the line of <Direct X has caused xxx to become unstable>. What is direct x, and how does it impact other bog standard applications? sorry for the ignorance
Katya

 

[samjohnson]

I really don't know what direct X is but I can tell you that most games need it to run. Sorry but I can't help on the error there. You will have to wait and see if anybody comes along that can. I have a bunch of games and I just randomly put them on my PC. I don't think it matters what order you put them in.
What type of games do you have? Maybe I can help you out on what graphics card to get. You do want to make sure that you get a computer that has PCIe x16 capability which will allow you to put in the best graphic cards around.
Some people around here have recommended this website to order computers from.

http://www.ibuypower.com/mall/lobby.htm

I have never used them but they seem like they have good computers.
On there you can put one together your self and they will assemble it or you can buy one of there "ready to go" computers.

 

[Cinders]

DirectX is a video and sound processing standard that Microsoft has developed. In the past video and sound in games were dependant on the video and sound cards you had installed in your computer, so the game had to be compatible with your cards for you to be able to play the game. There are/were many video and sound chips. Too many chips for game designers to competently accommodate so Microsoft stepped in and designed a standard of processing. There are actually two major display standards. The first was Open GL and the second was DirectX. These two standards make designing games easier. Instead of designing games to play on chips, game makers design games to play on the two standards and chip manufacturers design chips to use those standards.

As far as what you need to play games like the Sims for the next few years. Pretty much any new computer with 2GB of ram and a dedicated video card with at least 256 MB of DDR3 video ram and a 256 bit memory bus will do the job nicely.

Something like these.

Just ignore the AGP models.

 

[samjohnson]

Nice clarification cinders, I was kinda curious myself to exactly what direct x was.

 

[Cinders]

No problem! :grinthumb

 

[katya]

sorted

Thanks to you both for your help. I reckon I have enough to go on now and will probably opt to over-spec my new computer in case the kids get more demanding with their games. Cheers.
Katya

 

[Sharkfood]

Hi Katya,
I actually have a system spec'd around what you have listed: Core 2 Duo 6750, 3 gigs of DDR2 memory, and actually 2 videocards linked together to add even more 3d/video performance (Crossfire in my case as I'm using AMD/ATI 3d cards).

I'm an avid player of The Sims 2. Do you mean Sims 2 rather than Sims? The original Sims will play on most old, junky computers hehe. Sims 2 is a system hog.

My system plays Sims2 pretty well, but it's still a fairly inefficient and poorly written game. It still suffers from slow downs and occasional choppiness no matter what system you build so going over-spec a bit doesn't hurt.

As far as order goes, I think you mean for the game itself. Yes, order of installation is important.. and order of applying patches needs to happen in that same order. The order should be (skipping any expansions you may not have):
Sims 2 (DVD, Standard or Deluxe)
University
Night Life (if not Included in the above/Deluxe version)
Open for Business
Pets
Seasons
Bon Voyage

The "Fun Stuff" packs can be added at any time and in any order. These just add objects to the games. You should then download the patches for the above and install them in the above order as well. You can download the Sims 2 patches for the above at:
http://thesims2.ea.com/update/?pid=Help_patches

If you have Sims 2 Deluxe, you wont need to patch Sims 2 nor Nightlife as these are on the DVD in their latest form right now.

Enjoy!

 

[magiclight]

For installing the sims you will need to install the original before the expansion because you need the original to play all the rest. but you can put the expansion packs any way you want, hope this helps

oh sorry shark didnt see your post above

Magiclight

 

[katya]

sims again

Well thank you both for your contributions, especially the specific order for installing the games, which I shall follow. And it was sims2 I meant, best wishes
Katya