Bethany Dian ([info]princess_diary) wrote in [info]thesims2,
@ 2008-02-11 12:17:00
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Computer Specs
Hello People

Thank you soo much for the overwhelming response for my last question (re: Playstation platform). I'm pretty sure I sent everybody an individual thank you; I really appreciate everybody's comments and opinions.

I had asked because Sims games always seem to slow down my computers so I was thinking if I got it on an external playing device. I want all the EPs and SPs and they don't come on PS2 so there ya go. lol So the response was pretty much a NO to playing Sims on PS2 not a good idea.

My question is about how the system specs. I will be getting a new computer this year and I would like to confirm that I understand the explanation of specs from the Official site correctly. I want to get the best computer so it will run smoothly and doesn't slow down the whole computer.

Latest EP, Free Time, specs say:

* 1.3 Ghz processor (2.0 for Vista)
* 512 MB RAM (1GB for Vista)
* Windows(R) Vista, Windows XP, Windows ME, Windows 98 or Windows 2000 Operating System.
* 8x or faster CD/DVD drive
* At least 1.5 GB of additional hard drive space (5.0 GB total is required if installing both The Sims 2 and The Sims 2 Bon Voyage Expansion Pack at the same time.)
* A T&L-capable video card with at least 32 MB of video RAM.

Supported video cards:

* ATI Radeon(TM) series 8500 or better (9600 or greater required for Vista)
* 8500, All-In-Wonder 8500
* 9000, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800
* X300, X600, x700, X800, x850
* X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950

NVIDIA(R) Quadro(TM) series
Quadro, Quadro2, Quadro4

NVIDIA GeForce series GeForce2 GTS and better (GeForce 6200 or greater required for Vista)
# GeForce 2, 2 GTS
# GeForce 3, 3 Ti
# GeForce 4, 4 Ti, 4200, 4600, 4800, MX 420, 440, 460
# GeForce FX 5200, 5500, 5600, 5700, 5800, 5900, 5950
# GeForce PCX 5300, 5900
# GeForce 6200, 6600, 6800
# GeForce 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
# S3 GammaChrome
# S18 Pro
# S18 Ultra Intel(R) Extreme Graphics (see note below)
82865, 82915 and above

NOTE: If you have a non-T&L capable video card, such as Intel Extreme Graphics, then you need at least a 2.4 GHz processor.

This is what is needed for all EPs or does the specs each one add up? That can't be, all added up cuz that would be impossible. Also I see that the specs for SPs are different and don't require as much so do these minimum specs include and cover all EPs and SPs?

Am I making myself clear?

Also can someone explain what is meant by "if installing both The Sims 2 and The Sims 2 Bon Voyage Expansion Pack at the same time"? Is Bon Voyage an EP?

Thank you.

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[info]faedreamer
2008-02-11 08:21 pm UTC (link)
Bon Voyage is an expansion pack, the most recent one prior to Freetime. As for the specs, the ones given with each new EP are the minimum specs required to play that EP and teh base game. If you have more EP or SP's installed, you'll probably need more ram, a better video card etc, but it all depends on your computer. My laptop, for example, runs the base game, Uni, Nightlife, OFB and Bon Voyage no problem. I plan to up my RAM before installing Freetime though, because I think it'll be too much for it to handle all of those EP's at once. So I'm taking precautionary measures and upgrading to be safe. If in doubt, upgrade. It not only helps your game run better but just your comp in general.

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[info]princess_diary
2008-02-11 08:38 pm UTC (link)
Ah, okay. I don't have a computer to play on right now... I will be buying one and I want to make sure I get one that will be able to handle it all, ya know? So I'll have to add together as much RAM as I'll need to play all EPs and SPs?

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[info]sawcat
2008-02-11 09:02 pm UTC (link)
If you're looking at the Vista computers, the budget ones will have something like GeForce 6100, which is onboard graphics, not a seperate card. And EA is lazy about updating the list with newer models, so don't be surprised if its not listed. If you want to get something with a standalone graphics card, it will probably be GeForce 8000 series (not sure on the ATIs). But you might have a look on the Nvidia and ATI websites to see the current models.

The note about Bon Voyage- Its for if you bought the base and BV at the same time, they take up 5GB of space together. If you already have the base and just install Bon Voyage, you need 1.5 GB free space for it.

The biggest thing to note is those are the minimum system requirements. You can get things from the lower ends of the list (or cheaper, value cards or small amounts of ram), and the game will run, but you might not get all the fancy effects like snow on ground, or see fish, or water reflections, etc. If you want to see the Recommended requirements, go to the store and look at the stickers on one of the newer EPs (Seasons or Bon Voyage), or go to http://www.systemrequirementslab.com and select Free Time and let it scan your computer (even the current one you can't play on). It will compare it to and show you the minimum and recommended requirements. If you can afford it, aim for the recommended requirements.

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[info]princess_diary
2008-02-11 09:11 pm UTC (link)
Awesome. Good info. Thank you so much. I need to add this to memories.

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[info]itlandm
2008-02-11 09:05 pm UTC (link)
OK, it's hardware time! If your main game will be The Sims 2, bear in mind that the artificial intelligence is a big drain on processing power. For this reason, try to get a better processor than the minimum requirement. Especially if you have many expansion packs: Each of them add various new behaviors for your sims, some even behaviors that only arise when two packs are combined. The more possible behaviors available to a sim at any time, the more artificial intelligence is needed, and thus the more processor is needed. So please, for the sake of your sanity and the time you are going to waste drumming on the table, splurge on processor. Also, add another GB of RAM because of all the strange things the machine will have to remember at the same time.

Sorted by most important first:
Processor
RAM
Video card
Hard disk
CD/DVD reader.

The big gap is between processor and memory on one hand, and everything else, when it comes to speed. The video card does help on speed, but is mostly to get pretty pictures. If your system runs slowly, you will need to disable the pretty anyway. CDs are only checked once per play setting so the cheapest is good enough.

A dual-core computer is preferable, as it will farm out all the Windows housekeeping to one of the cores and use the other for the game. A quad-core computer will not be faster than a dual-core of the same speed, but a dual-core will be almost twice as fast as a single-core of the same speed. (The requirement lists the speed for a single-core processor.)

Most machines let you add more RAM, and there are external hard disks. But upgrading the processor is often impossible, always expensive. Go high on processor and upgrade the rest as needed.

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[info]princess_diary
2008-02-11 10:15 pm UTC (link)
Thank you so much. I looked up processors and computer speed on wikipedia but I'm still confused. The processor is the speed, correct?

Yes, I will try to get the best, newest computer possible, I'm just trying to understand the specifics so when I get one I'll know what I'm talking about.

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[info]itlandm
2008-02-12 08:35 am UTC (link)
Yes, the processor is the one with the speed. Faster is better, but if it is a dual-core you should double the number. Well, not quite, but almost. A dual-core at 2GHz is a good bit better than a single-core 3GHz.

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[info]princess_diary
2008-02-12 05:36 pm UTC (link)
Good to know. I'll have to make notes of all these tips when I go to buy the computer. thank you!

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[info]katu
2008-02-12 11:40 pm UTC (link)
Something worth mentioning is that if you go somewhere like Best Buy, you can just say, "I want a gaming computer that will run the Sims 2 and all the expansions" and chances are someone there will know what the hell you're talking about. Because when I've gone computer shopping, I've taken notes on this and that and the other thing, and gotten everything all figured out, and then I get there and it kind of all falls apart. :P But asking has always done right by me.

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[info]princess_diary
2008-02-13 12:01 am UTC (link)
Yeah, I thought about that too... I want to know some though just so I know what I'm getting and make sure I'm not gettin' ripped off. Thanks.

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[info]katu
2008-02-13 02:27 am UTC (link)
Which is always a good plan. :D

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[info]nameless_cricke
2008-02-11 10:09 pm UTC (link)
remember to add a little Ram for Vista, running anything on Vista takes more ram then on XP because Vista is a resource hog. Seeing as you are getting a new computer it will probably come with vista unless you have it built, so I recommend 2 gigs ram if you are looking at having all the eps. More would be better but I would say that anyway *Really wants 4 gigs herself*. With 4 gigs you would probably never reach the CC limit, the CC limit being the amount of custom that your game can handle before it lags.

I have all eps and sps, an ATI radeon xpress200 series with 256 memory.
AMD atholon 64 x2 dual core processor 4200+ 2.19ghz, 1.43bg of Ram.
Without CC my game plays very well indeed, no fish but other then that, it's actually quite good. With CC (5+gigs)I have horrible loading times and lag, of varying degrees, sets in nearly everywhere.

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[info]princess_diary
2008-02-11 10:21 pm UTC (link)
Oooo good info. Thank you. Will definitely keep all this in mind. Do you think in another year or so Vista and computers will be working better together? I'm not gonna be able to get it for a while, I'm just anxious. :) Asking questions now. hehe
do you know anything about a Sims 3? So that they might be packaging all Sims 2 EP & SP together like they did with Sims Complete Collection?? (I forgot to add that question to my post.)

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[info]nameless_cricke
2008-02-12 12:00 am UTC (link)
With the way EA works, they won't be packaging the entire series together until they are done milking the cash cow, they can make more on the individual sales as is, and will still be able to, into the sims3. I'd say that the Sims3 will be out and have it's first expansion before the Sims2 even thinks about having a complete bundle. There may be smaller bundles though, but all this is just a guess.

As for Vista, I doubt they will get it to work any better. They seem to think that nothing is wrong with it, I personally hate it as an operating system, I don't like for my computer to restrict what I do on it. Vista as it is, will probably not work with any more efficiency regarding recourses, even with any updates or patches. They would have make another version of vista and release that. but seeing as that doesn't seem to be happening and even if it does, that isn't a guarantee, we can not really know.
Information on Sims3 is all just Lies and Propaganda right now, I wouldn't beleive any of it. I remember the promotional video for the sims2 that was on one of the sims1 cds, it's almost nothing like the game we have.

Anyway, when looking at system requirements, always look at the recommended(at the least), not the minimum. System requirements lie and I suspect that the Minimum is the computer with nothing on it, but the game in question, it makes a differance when most of your computer is taken up with other programs and processes as well as the game you want to play.

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[info]princess_diary
2008-02-12 12:13 am UTC (link)
I haven't seen any advertising for Sims 3, I just assumed they'red be one. OH I didn't realize that they wait that long to release that kind of stuff but then I don't think I really keep up with the news on the latest and greatest... but thanks to you I am learning. hehe "milking the cash cow" LOL sad but true.
I've heard a lot of people don't really like Vista, its really complicated and user-friendly. Sad we don't have any choice.
I will remember to always look for recommended. Why don't they list those instead of minimum if minimum is good for nothing. But then also, wouldn't that mean that the game would work on any computer if they're saying it runs on minimum, or are they lying again?
Thanks so much for the info.

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[info]nameless_cricke
2008-02-12 12:34 am UTC (link)
it would run on min but you have to take into account anything else that may be on your computer and taking up space. This also means that it may run but it doesn't mean that it will run in a manner that you may find playable and not aggravating, but then I have a low tolerance for such things.

It's a little hard to tell what EA will do, but they will try to get the most out of their money. I predict smaller bundles of The Sims2, NL, Seasons, and BV and a pack or two of all the stuff packs in a few years. When Freetime comes out they will make a Sims2 Deluxe with Freetime bundle to try to get the few players that they haven't yet. Then possibly another 2 years before a whole bundle. I'm just guessing though, they may rush it, them being EA, once they are on Sim3 they will focus more on that and care less about the Sims2 so they may actualy rush a bundle after a year.

As for Sims3 info, pretty much the only conclusive bits I've seen are the videos in the Sims Freetime videos. Our sims will be playing Sims3 and Spore before we do. You can see a little closeup of the sims3 as it is on the sims2 computer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xTipLHIj4s

and you may find this funny, it's the original Sims2 promo video, the one that was on ...the makin magic cd I think ...Hmm. I have them around here somewhere.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV_NZUYuAcU

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[info]nameless_cricke
2008-02-12 12:43 am UTC (link)
There are three other games they are working on right now.
"Sim Animals", "anything Sims" and remaking "Sims online" *barf* The new sims online looks like a rip off of Second life. The other two I have no idea about but www.simanimals.com brings you to the sims EA page. just some other things to keep your eyes on.

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[info]princess_diary
2008-02-12 12:54 am UTC (link)
ok thanks.

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[info]princess_diary
2008-02-12 12:47 am UTC (link)
that sims2 video was funny, the kid flying from the ceiling fan. lol

oh yeah I agree, it's no fun to play if it lags. thanks. lots to think about.

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[info]nameless_cricke
2008-02-12 12:58 am UTC (link)
I know! Isn't that great, and celings! The kid breathing fire! GAhh ...I was so dissapointed when Sims2 finally came out. I've lost all hope for a makin magic and superstar remake ...I loved those. Expecialy making magic. It would have worked well with the genetics. Having a Magic gene to pass on, the more the gene shows in your family the more likely the kids will get it. Seriously, how had would that have been to incorporate into Freetime? Actualy ....slight of hand and magic as a hobby would have been great and funny to watch.

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[info]onsenmark
2008-02-12 07:31 pm UTC (link)
Magic as genetics? I like. XD

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