need advice on buying a new desktop

[Pip-Lover]

Greetings!

After 6 unbearable years of playing TS2 on a laptop with 512MB ram (yes, 512..) it finally bit the dust and I can buy something new! yay!

I haven't compared systems for a while and I totally zoned out when it came to motherboards and processors, so I shall need your help desperatly!

I picked out three deals from this shop again:

I. AMD STARTER 100 (http://www.acom-pc.de/product_info.php?info=p51425_Ultra-Gamer-AMD-STARTER-100---HD-5570---AMD-Phenom-X4-840-3-2-GHz---4-GB-RAM---750-GB-HDD---DVD-Brenner---CR---500-W.html)
II. AMD STARTER 120 (http://www.acom-pc.de/product_info.php?info=p50684_Ultra-Gamer-AMD-STARTER-120---AMD-Radeon-6850---AMD-Phenom-II-X4-840-3-2-GHz---4-GB-RAM---750-GB-HDD---Brenner---CR.html)
III. Intel STARTER 120 (http://www.acom-pc.de/product_info.php?info=p52428_Ultra-Gamer-Intel-STARTER-120---GTS-450-1GB---Intel-Core-i3-2100-3-1-GHz---4-GB-RAM---1-TB-HDD---DVD-Brenner---CR---USB-3-0.html)


I was wondering if those three will be able to run TS2 with all EPs and about 7GB of downloads. You listed the HD5570 as suitable for TS2 but not for TS3, so that kind of makes me wanna get something better, but still the price is pretty good.
The 6850 and the GTS 450 weren't listed at all, so I was wondering if they're even compatible?

I'd like my new system to be able to run TS2 without a hitch but I'd also like to take a shot at TS3 and other games as well.

Also, I was thinking, TS2 can't really take advantage of all mutlicore processors, right? Will those above be likely to cause troubles?

And finally the motherboards.. I have absolutely -no- idea if they're okay or not..

I'd be really grateful if you could take a look at those and tell me which one is the most suitable or if I should keep looking for something else.

So long and thank you! :up:

[ellacharmed]

Unless you're building it yourself, motherboard and processor choices are limited to the configurations provided by the builder/site/manufacturer.
You didn't mention a budget, so if budget is not a concern, go as high up the tiers as you can afford, with the understanding as too high and you're wasting money as Sims don't use that much of the "Extremes", or not optimized to take advantage of "Extreme" components.

The newest batch of GPUS are not listed on the Wiki list yet, as I haven't make an analysis of them and compare with past performance to guesstimate on their "color codes".

Looking at charts, and benchmarks, the 6850 is 2 rows higher than the 450, while the core i3 2100 is higher than the Phenom II X4 840.
So if the price difference of the individual components tally with the overall bundle's cost, with RAM being of equal amount, I'd go with the lowest price/performance ratio I could get away with.

For desktops, I usually looks at these sites for charts/benchmarks

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu,2951-5.html
http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php / and it's GPU equivalent
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu,2951-5.html

[Pip-Lover]

thanks for the quick help! too bad the long downtime kept me from reading it sooner..
okay, so I suppose the amd starter 120 would give the better price/performance ratio overall.
what makes more sense though, a better gpu or cpu?

what's your guess, is this system suitable for the sims3, too? (come to think of it, is it even suitable for the sims2 at all, or is it too high already? starting to get confused..)
and also, since you don't know about the newer gpus yet, what would you, personally, expect from the 6850? I mean, by the look of the chart it seems that nvidea has fewer problems with the sim games, whilst amd seems to display more yellow and red rows.. any guesses yet?

[Pip-Lover]

does anybody else have a guess or maybe owns a 6850 and can tell me something about it? I'm grateful for any little piece of advice!

[ellacharmed]

so I suppose the amd starter 120 would give the better price/performance ratio overall.
what makes more sense though, a better gpu or cpu?Well...I'd go for better CPU as GPUs are easier to upgrade than CPU. When you need to upgrade a CPU, if the chips don't fit on the motherboard, or are EOL and no longer being manufactured (because the makers have newer models they want you to purchase), you would need to purchase a mobo+cpu bundle to upgrade.

As long as you think ahead and ensure the PSU would last the longest of all other components, you can upgrade the GPU anytime. And cheaper than a mobo+cpu upgrade.

what's your guess, is this system suitable for the sims3, too? (come to think of it, is it even suitable for the sims2 at all, or is it too high already? starting to get confused..)
and also, since you don't know about the newer gpus yet, what would you, personally, expect from the 6850? I mean, by the look of the chart it seems that nvidea has fewer problems with the sim games, whilst amd seems to display more yellow and red rows.. any guesses yet?I based my analysis on Sims 3 as that has higher requirements. So if it can run Sims 3, it can run Sims 2. If Sims 2 is the only thing you're going to be playing, however, than yeah, it is overkill.
But for the price? And if you have the budget for it? What the heck!
That's the common entry-level bundle nowadays that should last for at least a few years.

With HD 6850, you'd be able to have some settings on high. I don't see the benefit of maxing out all the Options as they don't have improvements that I can discern with my naked eye.
Yes, Sims 3 was touted to be optimized for Nvidia cards. I don't know if that is still true.
But I think as long as there are driver updates, the glitches (if any) on AMD cards, won't be forever. Least until the next driver updates, I hope.