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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 19th May 2017 at 1:30 AM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage
Default Sims 2 UC System Requirements for Dell laptop
Hey guys, I'm getting a new laptop soon and I was wondering if anyone here could help me since I know very little about computers. I did some research online about this but I didn't come to a clear conclusion. I was wondering if Sims 2 Ultimate Collection can run on a laptop with the following specs (or, if not, even the regular Sims 2 CDs, as I have those as well). I'm not worried about the memory or operating system, but about the processor and graphics card specifically, as none of the places I looked I seemed to find anything about those specific ones.

Dell Inspiron 15.6" Laptop
PROCESSOR: Intel 7th Gen i3-7100U OR Intel 7th Gen i5-7200U
MEMORY: 8 GB RAM
STORAGE: 1TB Hard Drive
OS: Windows 10
GRAPHICS CARD: Intel HD Graphics 620 (the websites I looked on said I'd be okay with other Intel Graphics cards, but I'm not sure if it applies to this specific one also)

Let me know if I've missed out on any information you'd need. Thanks in advance!
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 19th May 2017 at 9:04 AM
The processor is fine, the am is fine, the storage is fine, Windows 10 is fine (use it myself).
I don't really know enough about graphics cards, somebody should be able to tell you, though. So I am not sure about that one.
Forum Resident
#3 Old 19th May 2017 at 10:13 AM
I believe the entire "Intel HD" line includes exclusively integrated graphics---which unfortunately isn't good news for you, OP. I'll let someone with way more technical savvy jump in here to give you even more clear word, but I can say that compared with dedicated graphics cards, integrated graphics chips are always going to be far weaker (and I know are often said to be too weak for "Sims 2").

Wish I had better news! Although...it may be possible to fit this computer of yours with a dedicated graphics chip, if you buy it and then pay someone to install it for you. Someone knowledgeable can probably even do the buying for you. Whether any of this can be done will depend on whether your computer has a slot for a dedicated graphics chip available---so, it had to have shipped with a ready, empty such slot. If it didn't...then you're stuck with the onboard (another word for "integrated") graphics chip that will struggle to play the full (all EPs) game.

I guess the bright side is that you may still be able to play basegame and the first few EPs. There are players here who do so on pretty graphics-basic computers. Like @AndrewGloria, who plays on a netbook and is, I believe, just getting around to installing University and is successfully playing with basegame and Nightlife already.

*Ongoing TS2 informational projects (come on by to contribute, get info, or spectate!): (1) the SimPE Preservation Project and (2) Conflict Tracking for the 3t2 Traits Project Mods
*Need a Pescado mod? Use his hack directory: in the first post, find the link for your latest EP, then go in hacks/
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#4 Old 19th May 2017 at 2:57 PM
That chip is indeed an integrated graphics processor rather than a graphics card, but integrated graphics technology has come a long way in the last few years and a lot of integrated processors are now suitable for some gaming. That particular chip should be fine for TS2, though bear in mind that it doesn't have its own memory, so using it effectively halves your 8GB of RAM down to 4GB.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Forum Resident
#5 Old 20th May 2017 at 4:32 AM
That is really exciting news, Nysha! I'm bowled over, actually, and so glad both for the OP and for, well, my future shopping. Because it is harder in the first place (and more expensive) to find laptops with dedicated graphics chips. Of course it makes sense that technology would improve, but I didn't realize just how much it had!

Would it be possible for you to say, or provide a link, about which Intel HD chips (and up?) can support the UC? Because that's my preferred version too.

*Ongoing TS2 informational projects (come on by to contribute, get info, or spectate!): (1) the SimPE Preservation Project and (2) Conflict Tracking for the 3t2 Traits Project Mods
*Need a Pescado mod? Use his hack directory: in the first post, find the link for your latest EP, then go in hacks/
Mad Poster
#6 Old 20th May 2017 at 9:32 AM
Quote: Originally posted by natboopsie
Like AndrewGloria, who plays on a netbook and is, I believe, just getting around to installing University and is successfully playing with basegame and Nightlife already.
Basegame, Nightlife and Open for Business! I've had OFB for a couple of yeas now. And I have now added University and it plays fine.

I was about to post a long and possibly quite depressing message about which EPs and SPs I consider safe, but thought I'd better check the thread first. I'm glad I did, because Nysha's post is much better news. I was wondering how integrated graphics chips might have improved in the last few years. Even my netbook, which was almost new when I started to play in 2012 is a higher spec than you'd have got on some quite expensive PCs back in 2004 when The Sims 2 first came out. I'm sure this "onward march" of digital technology has helped me to "get away" with playing The Sims 2 on a computer which many people regarded as inadequate for the task.

For myself I stick to the EP's below Pets (EP4), and the stuff packs below SP6. From what I've read in older threads, the problems with burnt-out graphics chips started when Maxis brought out Pets. And I keep graphics resolution low. I know some people find my pictures blurry, but I prefer to think of it as "soft focus". It's much kinder to those of us of advancing years -- you can't see the wrinkles! The elders in my game much prefer it that way. And, "soft focus" or not, I enjoy my game immensely.

All Sims are beautiful -- even the ugly ones.
My Simblr ~~ My LJ
Sims' lives matter!
The Veronaville kids are alright.
Field Researcher
#7 Old 21st May 2017 at 12:04 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Simoleon37
GRAPHICS CARD: Intel HD Graphics 620


You should be fine with that card, provided you don't indulge in any excessively long marathon sessions on graphics-intensive lots that cook the laptop. I've run the Mac version, Sims 2 Super Collection*, on a Macbook Air with an HD 5000, which is 3 generations older than that card. Not only are modern integrated cards more powerful than they were when the game was new, the CPUs they're part of tend to be less power hungry and run less hot, which is also better for the health of the laptop.

I will say that I mostly played on battery rather than mains power, since that seemed to keep the machine cooler as well. :-)


* the Super Collection includes EPs up to and including Bon Voyage, so goes beyond the Pets-related graphics jump
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