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Instructor
Original Poster
#1 Old 14th Aug 2012 at 9:19 PM
Default What Kind of Computer Do You Use?
To play The Sims 3? I want to have an idea of what type of computer I might want to get in order to play it properly.

And also, if you built yours, was it hard to build it? Were the parts expensive? Do you think it turned out better than a store-bought computer?

My male Sims are...Simulicious!
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Theorist
#2 Old 14th Aug 2012 at 9:31 PM
Well my recommendation is to go on the back of the Sims 3 game case, and read the minimum required specs there and if your building it, then you want to probably 1-up everything that's on there for the best gameplay. Also it's cheaper to build a computer, as long as you know how to, and most times 9.9./10 it is better than a store-brought because it's accustomed to what YOU want. And if that's not enough, well, I don't know where your gonna want to go from there.
#3 Old 14th Aug 2012 at 9:55 PM
I built my own! In total it was probably 700 dollars (not counting keyboard/mouse/speakers/OS!). The game runs pretty fine. I have 8GB of ram and a 3.8Ghz CPU, and a Radeon 4870, I believe.

The CPU is what really did it. Before I only had 2.5 or something like that. Getting a 3.8 made the game run like it does in the demo videos they do before a new EP! <3
Theorist
#4 Old 14th Aug 2012 at 10:08 PM
Well, all I can tell you is that I have 2 computers and they feel really slow for TS3 with almost all expansions and patches, but I think it's TS3's fault because they play EVERY other game perfectly with no lag.

Machine 1: AMD Phenom II X4 965 (quad core) overclocked to 4.0GHz, Corsair H60 water cooler, 16GB DDR3 RAM, 1TB Hard Drive, MSI Hawk GTX460v1 video card
Machine 2: Intel Core i3 2130 (dual core), stock 3.5GHz clock, 8GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, MSI GTX460v2 video card

The problem is load and saving takes several minutes. Also going into CAS, it takes something like 20-30 full seconds for the game to fully populate the thumbnails of clothing. The pie-wheel is also laggy, taking a second or two to pop up and register my selections. I don't know what it will take to get a game that isn't laggy and responds instantly, but whatever it is, I don't have it.

Nah, building a PC is fun and super easy. I enjoy it. Parts are not expensive if you look for bargains, there are several deals sites out there like slickdeals.net and fatwallet.com.
I love my home-built machines because I like to do a little extra work to build them into unusual cases. For example, my Core i3 system is built into a vintage Mac Quicksilver G4 case (http://68kmla.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=18550).

Resident wet blanket.
Field Researcher
#5 Old 14th Aug 2012 at 10:17 PM
Okay, the story of my now two year old, amazing computer. My previous computer was getting "old" (I used to replace it every two years back then...), and I was getting a ton of issues with TS3. So I decided to get a new computer (desktop). I went with HP and customized one online to my needs. I had decided to try to get a lasting computer this time - I tried to get the best of everything. It was a costly machine, but it is so well worth it. I did spend another few hundred dollars getting an amazing graphics card, for gaming/simming, and a new power supply to power said graphics. I opened it up and attempted putting them in, but ended up having my computer tech brother help me. It works great and I have most of the game graphics on high - a few are lower, I'm paranoid, haha. I get no lag other than from probably routing, etc. Basically game based lag, not my PC.

I heavily researched what I'd need for weeks before buying. I wanted it to be perfect and last a good while. I can never buy a pre-made computer anymore, they never have everything I want. For my last 3 PC's, I've gotten a customized PC online from the manufacturer.
Field Researcher
#6 Old 14th Aug 2012 at 10:22 PM
Quote: Originally posted by TMBrandon
Well my recommendation is to go on the back of the Sims 3 game case, and read the minimum required specs there and if your building it, then you want to probably 1-up everything that's on there for the best gameplay.


Yeah, he could, but only if the system requirement listings were actually accurate.

We all have to look for answers somewhere. Some in big ol' books, others in big ol' bottles of whiskey.

— Kimberly Irion as Bonnie MacFarlane in Red Dead Redemption (2010)
Instructor
#7 Old 14th Aug 2012 at 10:37 PM
My computer is a couple of years old now. It's an HP pavilion dv6t (laptop) that I customized on their website, picking the best options I could that were within my budget. 6GB RAM, 2.6Ghz CPU (i5), and a Radeon 5650. It ended up being just over $1,000.

The game still runs surprisingly well considering all of the crap I've loaded it with Most of my settings are on high, but tweaking in-game settings as well as the general graphics settings has made a BIG difference.

You could build your own or get a desktop for much cheaper, but it was important to me to have a laptop, since this is my only computer (so I also use it for EVERYTHING else, in addition to playing TS3). I've been thinking about investing in a desktop specifically for my games, especially in light of the two awesome EPs coming out before the end of the year... But it'll be a while before I can afford a whole new computer ^__^ Maybe for Xmas

waiter, there's a conundrum in my soup
The Adom Legacy
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 14th Aug 2012 at 11:14 PM
I built my own. I mainly built it to play Battlefield 3, but I play any game I like on it.

It has an AMD FX-8150
16gb of RAM
2x 500 GB HDD in raid 1 for Fraps recordings
and a main 1tb HDD.
and the all important Radeon HD 6950.

I don't have a signature, because I was to lazy to make one.
One Minute Ninja'd
#9 Old 14th Aug 2012 at 11:15 PM
What DuskTrooper said. Forget the EA requirements, you're not building a 4 year old machine.

Have you ever built a computer before? Are you technically adept (no, not soldering iron adept, but knowledgeable about PC parts, how to evaluate the quality of what you buy, and how to install them)? There are plenty of good forums devoted to home builds out there, just like MTS in the sims world, with people who can give you feedback and support on what to buy, where to buy it, how to assemble it, and how to troubleshoot any problems with it. If you're willing to put in the time to educate yourself, a home built box can be pretty cost effective, and perform quite a bit better, than a generic store bought machine. Most of the time.

If you're more the "just give me what works", you can find some good system suppliers out there who can give you something to meet your personal specifications at a reasonably competitive price, as well as offering you one stop support on all the components.

If you build it yourself, and something breaks (although more often it's that something conflicts with another component), you have to deal with the individual parts manufacturer for support and warranty repairs. With a system builder, you deal with them. Again, that's a matter of your own comfort level of working inside the pc box, and figuring out what component is causing you a headache. That's usually obvious, but not always.

Finally, store bought or home built, what are YOUR requirements? Is this a box just optimized for TS3? Thinking about TS4 (good luck with that, as no one knows when, or what it will require)? Will you be doing other things, like other games, processing home video, editing high quality photos, or using it as a media server for music and videos for your entertainment? Finally, and most importantly, what's your budget? As in, how much can you really spend on it, not how much might you hope to have for it, or little do you want to pay for it. All these issues are important in guiding the selection of components.
#10 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 12:19 AM
Quote: Originally posted by GnatGoSplat
The problem is load and saving takes several minutes. Also going into CAS, it takes something like 20-30 full seconds for the game to fully populate the thumbnails of clothing.


Sounds like your hard drive sucks.
Theorist
#11 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 12:56 AM
Yeah, my PC does that to some extent too, and the hard drive DOES suck. Except for that, I love my desktop, which I had Cyberpower build for me about a year and a half ago. I did end up having to replace the video card myself because the one they sent with the machine was DOA, but they credited my account so I was happy. Two days after I ordered it they offered free shipping so I called and asked if I could have that and they gave that to me, too. I figure I will try to learn to upgrade this one as I go, rather than to try to build the whole thing from scratch.

It has an Intel Core i7-2600K CPU, 3.70GHz processor (not overclocked), 8.0 GB RAM,
Windows 7 64-bit and I ended up getting a NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti GPU. Didn't have enough left to upgrade to a better hard drive because they were still a bit pricey back then.

I also studied PC parts for a month or two before ordering. I hung out at the Tom's Hardware forum and read posts, and I also really liked this Passmark site because it gives you benchmarks and prices, so you can get the best thing you can afford. I'm not saying I believe that all the benchmarks are 100% accurate or anything, I just use them as a guide. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

Before I bought this desktop I always used a laptop to play Sims. I live in a small house and resisted getting a desktop PC for many years, but finally decided to get one just for gaming. I must say it does play the game a lot better than my laptops ever did, but they weren't especially great laptops, either. Just off the shelf from the local Best Buy store. So I don't regret getting the desktop - I have very few problems other than the general wonkiness we all have with this game from time to time.

¢¾ Receptacle Refugee ¢¾ ~ Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket!? ~
Laura's Legacy
Field Researcher
#12 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 1:15 AM
I bought an Alienware m17 after sims 3 became unplayable on my brand new HP laptop, grrr.

Has really good specs and ... it looks awesome, haha.

Annie
Eminence Grise
#13 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 1:48 AM
I bought my most recent one from IBuyPower. They're similar to Cyberpower but have better reviews of their customer support online, which is why I chose them.

You can choose pretty much every component you want, and the markup is much less than for the big name brands. They kept me informed every step of the way as they built and shipped it, and I haven't had any issues at all. I have a NEARLY top of the line computer for just over a thousand.

You DO have to know exactly what you want in the box though For that, as a rule of thumb, I tend to go with the latest and greatest minus one, heh... there's always a premium on the last thing to come out, so you want one below that... unless whatever just came out has a feature I know I'll benefit from.

And you have to choose between AMD and Intel/NVidia for processor/graphics... I go back and forth depending on which of my geeky friends is helping me the most at the time, and what they prefer

After selecting a processor and graphics card, you just need enough RAM and a big enough hard drive for your needs... beyond that you can go with low end/defaults. And reuse your current monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers etc when at all possible.

The big advantage of buying a premade computer, btw, is that you get a warranty... if you build your own, the only warranty you have is whatever is on the parts, and it may be harder to get any defective ones replaced (plus you're responsible for your own troubleshooting, both initially and if something goes bad down the road). I know several people who build their own computers, and I also know that they routinely have to send parts back as part of the process Buying premade a tad more expensive than building your own, but not that much more since they can buy in bulk and get their parts cheaper than you can, and IMO the warranty more than makes up for the remaining price differential.
Test Subject
#14 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 2:13 AM
I just bought a new macbook pro and the game runs really well. The only problem I had was that I had been buying the game and EPs on disk, and the new laptop doesn't have a disk drive. So I bought a downloadable version of my latest EP, and now have no problems. My Memory is 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3, and my Graphics are NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1024 MB. I was also relieved that sims 3 played well with the Lion OS, and so does the other software that I have to use for work.
Field Researcher
#15 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 9:11 AM
I have an alienware m11x laptop but it seems to be a lil slow on loading, my only problem is the processor of my laptop because its only a dual core sometimes I get lag when too much sims is in there. I built my custom PC with this specs: intel core i7 2600k CPU @ 3.40ghz. (not yet overclocked), 8 gb ram ddr3, and a 256gb M4 crucial Solid State Drive ( I bought a solid state drive to make the loading times 3x faster,I might buy another SSD for 2nd dock bay coz sims 3 has too much files) I didn't buy a graphics card yet because I am planning to insert a crossfire graphics card which my motherboard supports it and waiting for Sims 3 seasons and i'll have to check it if it runs smooth on my alienware laptop. coz I am still thinking if I am gonna do a crossfire graphics card coz its dang expensive. and yea its expensive depends on the build you did mine cost around $900 including accessories and without graphics card- waiting for radeon to decrease their painful prices.

when you build a PC you will need these: Motherboard, Processor, power supply(get the fully modular one - less wires), cooling fan-you can do liquid cooling too, tower case (full tower or mid tower)either with a 3.0 / 2.0 usb drive, hard drive (SSD/HDD), CD/DVDrom, graphics card.

when you build it there is an instruction on the your motherboard how you connect them just be careful though one mistake ruins everything .

http://www.kathflores.com
"Every color has its definition and that is what ART is...Defining who you are"
Field Researcher
#16 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 9:49 AM
I think the best thing I ever did was get an SSD! I can't believe the difference it's made to my gaming experiences...
Theorist
#17 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 2:23 PM
Quote: Originally posted by WintertimeExplainer
Sounds like your hard drive sucks.


I wish I could blame the HDDs. They're both crappy Seagates, but got good performance benchmarks on storagereview.com. It's probably partially my fault because I have Twallan's Traveler and combined all my hoods into a Super Mega Hood which I think is 1.9GB in size. The HDD goes long periods without the LEDs lighting up (just intermittent blinks) while CPU utilization is constantly maxed. I think it's just what happens when there's a lot of content to decompress which bottlenecks the CPU. The laggy pie menus and populating thumbnails in CAS definitely aren't using the HDD at all.

I probably need the most expensive Core i7 to make this game feel anywhere near as responsive as... well, everything else!

Resident wet blanket.
Alchemist
#18 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 2:44 PM
Quote: Originally posted by GnatGoSplat
Well, all I can tell you is that I have 2 computers and they feel really slow for TS3 with almost all expansions and patches, but I think it's TS3's fault because they play EVERY other game perfectly with no lag.

Machine 1: AMD Phenom II X4 965 (quad core) overclocked to 4.0GHz, Corsair H60 water cooler, 16GB DDR3 RAM, 1TB Hard Drive, MSI Hawk GTX460v1 video card
Machine 2: Intel Core i3 2130 (dual core), stock 3.5GHz clock, 8GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, MSI GTX460v2 video card

The problem is load and saving takes several minutes. Also going into CAS, it takes something like 20-30 full seconds for the game to fully populate the thumbnails of clothing. The pie-wheel is also laggy, taking a second or two to pop up and register my selections. I don't know what it will take to get a game that isn't laggy and responds instantly, but whatever it is, I don't have it.



You need a faster hard drive. the rest of your system is tight. People get wrapped up in the storage capacity of drives but forgot about speed
Theorist
#19 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 3:45 PM
Quote: Originally posted by kennyinbmore
You need a faster hard drive. the rest of your system is tight. People get wrapped up in the storage capacity of drives but forgot about speed


I might agree with you if the HDD access LED is always lit and the drive sounds like it's working, but the HDD light only blinks intermittently and the drive doesn't make hardly any access sounds while CPU cores are always pegged 100%.

Slow HDD also doesn't explain the laggy pie menu and slow building of thumbnails in CAS. There's no HDD access going on for either activity, and I don't believe the game uses the HDD at all after the save game has loaded.

Resident wet blanket.
Lab Assistant
#20 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 5:01 PM
I play it on a regular toshiba laptop. It's 4 gigs of ram, and 2.2 ghz processing speed, and I've found that it works quite well. Though I must admit, the only downside is that I can't have as much CC as I want, but I will be upgrading the ram to 8gbs as soon as I can.
Field Researcher
#21 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 5:25 PM
I have a custom built one I call "Frankencomputer". It's only a year and a half old but my old PC (also a custom but had expensive components) fried after 5 years and wasn't worth fixing. We didn't have a lot of money and was tired of having to borrow my husband's laptop because he's rather attached to it. So I went to a place that builds them, they had some basic ones on offer and I asked them if they could salvage some parts from the old one and add it to the new one. It cost me €380 or so. My old one cost me €1200 so it was a big step down, lol.

It meets at least double the minimum requirements for TS3 but my problem is that I have an integrated card so the newer expansions don't run so well. Whenever I can afford to upgrade it I will, but I can at least play all the EPs up to Generations.

I love custom built computers. My old one was a real beast in its day and was built for gaming. This one was built because I was broke and needed something, anything, right away, lol.
Field Researcher
#22 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 10:25 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Srikandi
The big advantage of buying a premade computer, btw, is that you get a warranty... if you build your own, the only warranty you have is whatever is on the parts, and it may be harder to get any defective ones replaced (plus you're responsible for your own troubleshooting, both initially and if something goes bad down the road). I know several people who build their own computers, and I also know that they routinely have to send parts back as part of the process Buying premade a tad more expensive than building your own, but not that much more since they can buy in bulk and get their parts cheaper than you can, and IMO the warranty more than makes up for the remaining price differential.


This is actually true . you are responsible for the parts that you buy. If you bought and installed a let say, motherboard and installed a graphics card chip which is not compatible it might ruin up your system and you have to replace the whole thing (by parts) . When you build your custom PC you have to know your way around building rigs and future troubleshoot/s. Its fun building it but at the same time its not fun on my wallet . As for premade desktop/laptop. I have my alienware m11x laptop so whenever it has problems like the custom pink light wont work on the keyboard the manufacturer replaces it due because of my warranty. Whenever there are broken parts they can change it/ replace it. Its nice both ways but there are pros and cons too.

http://www.kathflores.com
"Every color has its definition and that is what ART is...Defining who you are"
Alchemist
#23 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 10:59 PM
I am in love with this laptop. *sigh*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TQr...feature=related
Field Researcher
#24 Old 15th Aug 2012 at 11:13 PM
Quote: Originally posted by McChoclatey
To play The Sims 3? I want to have an idea of what type of computer I might want to get in order to play it properly.

And also, if you built yours, was it hard to build it? Were the parts expensive? Do you think it turned out better than a store-bought computer?


I needed an upgrade early in 2010 and ended up building my own computer for around $800. Prior to that I had never done any more than install RAM or a HD. But, I received an unbelievable amount of help here at MTS. Whether you want to buy or build my suggestion would be to go to Computer and Software Technical Support and post this same question there. Calistra frequents that forum and is a wealth of information and extremely helpful.

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
There is no limit to what you can accomplish when you're supposed to be doing something else.
Top Secret Researcher
#25 Old 16th Aug 2012 at 4:44 PM
Quote: Originally posted by McChoclatey
And also, if you built yours, was it hard to build it?

Assembling a PC is actually quite simple to do.
Quote:
Were the parts expensive?

Each gaming rig I've assembled in the past ten+ years has cost me about $2000 for all the components and the OS. Even with inflation and the ever changing hardware specs, the price has always been about the same. The single most expensive component is always the graphics board. Don't go cheap there because there is no point in using a great CPU if you are going to tie it down with a cheapo piece of crap graphics board. A good board will cost $400 to $500 even at OEM prices.
Quote:
Do you think it turned out better than a store-bought computer?

You get far more value for your money by building your own rather than buying a pre-built. The pre-builts always include inferior components.

Quote: Originally posted by WintertimeExplainer
Radeon 4870

I hope that's a typo.

TS2 and TS3: Where adult sims potty train their toddlers.
TS4: Where adult sims make Angry Poops.

Which game is made for the juvenile minded?
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