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- System Requirements for TS2/TS3
Replies: 1 (Who?), Viewed: 31693 times.
#1
17th May 2009 at 4:14 PM
Last edited by whiterider : 29th Apr 2012 at 10:45 AM.

Posts: 5,905
Thanks: 5808 in 17 Posts

Help Upgrading or Building/Buying a New Computer
Guide to Buying a New Graphics Card
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How Do I Find Out What My Specs Are?
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Minimum system requirements for playing TS2 and each expansion can be found here. However, it is best to keep in mind that just because your computer meets minimum requirements, doesn’t mean that it will run TS2 well! The first section of the guide goes beyond what EA has recommended and states what experienced game players feel is more realistic.
It is recommended that for the base game you have at least:
- A 1.5 GHz processor
- A 128 MB dedicated video card
- 512 MB of RAM.
It is recommended for expansions, especially Pets or later, that you have at least:
- A 2.5 GHz processor
- A 256 MB dedicated video card - a newer, better one (higher MIDDLE numbers = better. For example a Nvidia 7600 would be faster than the newer 8400. Newer does not necessarily equal better. Generally speaking, expect the previous series mid-range cards to perform similar to the current series low-end, and so forth.)
- 1 gig of RAM (2gb Vista)
If you have questions about whether or not specific cards will run the game well, please view the above linked guide.
Please note that nVidia GO series cards (found in laptops) are widely thought of as being NOT compatible with Sims 2 and are not supported for use with Sims 2 or its expansions! While some people report no problems, it is far more likely that you -will- have problems running Sims 2 if you have a GO card. Updating drivers can help sometimes but usually not. If you already have a laptop with a GO card it will not hurt your computer to try to run the game on it, however it is certainly recommended that when getting a new laptop you choose one without a GO card. The best thing to do if you have a GO card and you would like to play Sims 2 is to pick up one of the Stories series games (Life Stories, Pet Stories, or Castaway Stories) which are specifically made for laptop gaming and do support the nVidia GO series cards.
Mobile GPUs which CAN play TS2/TS3:
NVIDIA GeForce series:
8600*, 8700*, 8800
9500, 9600, 9700, 9800
120M, 130M, 150M, 160M
230M, 240M, 260M, 280M
325M, 330M, 335M, 350M, 360M
480M
ATI Radeon™ series:
2600, 2700
3600, 3800
4600, 4800
5600, 5700, 5800
*Are known to be defective and therefore are not recommended.
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Minimum system specs for TS3 have just been released and are as follows (S2C recommendations are also noted in parentheses and underlined below):
Quote:
THE SIMS 3 AND WORLD ADVENTURES MINIMUM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR WINDOWS XP 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent (2.0ghz Core 2 Duo or higher is recommended) 1 GB RAM (2GB of RAM is recommended) 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0 (256 MB dedicated video card - mid-range or higher - is recommended) The latest version of DirectX 9.0c Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB of additional space for custom content and saved games (9.6 GB if installing World Adventures with The Sims 3) FOR WINDOWS VISTA/7 2.4 GHz P4 processor or equivalent (2.0ghz Core 2 Duo or higher is recommended) 1.5 GB RAM (at least 2.5GB of RAM is recommended) 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0 (256 MB dedicated video card - mid-range or higher - is recommended) Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 or Microsoft Windows 7 At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB of additional space for custom content and saved games (9.6 GB if installing World Adventures with The Sims 3) For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires at least: Intel Integrated Chipset, GMA 3-Series or above 2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent 0.5 GB additional RAM SUPPORTED VIDEO CARDS: (Underlined cards are ones which will most likely play the game well) NVIDIA GeForce series: FX 5900, FX 5950 Note: EA does not list the entire 200 series as being supported. However, we have expanded the list to include cards from the series which should work well. ATI Radeon™ series: 9500, 9600, 9800 Note: The official list no longer includes the anything below the 4850 from the Radeon 4000 Series graphics cards. However, we have expanded the list to include some these cards which should work just fine. Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) GMA 3-Series, GMA 4-Series Laptop versions of these chipsets may work, but may run comparatively slower. Standalone cards that are installed in vanilla PCI slots (not PCIe or PCIx or AGP), such as some GeForce FX variants, will perform poorly. Intel integrated chipsets featuring underclocked parts will not perform adequately. Integrated chipsets such as the ATI Xpress and the NVIDIA TurboCache variants may default to settings that are higher than what would be optimal for them. Graphics settings can be lowered to improve performance. Please note that attempting to play the game using video hardware that isn't listed above may result in reduced performance, graphical issues or cause the game to not run at all. The NVIDIA GeForce FX series is unsupported under Vista. FOR MAC OS X Mac OS X 10.5.7 Leopard or higher Intel Core Duo Processor 2 GB RAM ATI X1600 or Nvidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or Intel Integrated GMA X3100. At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games (9.6 GB if installing World Adventures with The Sims 3) This game will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) based Mac systems, or the GMA 950 class of integrated video cards. MAC OS X Supported Video Cards ------------------------------ NVIDIA GeForce series 7300, 7600 8600, 8800 9400M, 9600M GT GT 120, GT 130 ATI Radeon(TM) series X1600, X1900 2400, 2600 3870, 4850, 4870 Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) GMA 3-Series |






If you have the absolute minimums and the lowest listed graphics card, that does not mean the game will look good or play well - or even be decently playable at all! As with Sims 2, it is likely that Sims 3 will require a considerably stronger system than the minimum requirements for nice graphics and decent gameplay. Systems under the minimums will not be able to play the game!
It's also very important to remember that the requirements will only increase for expansions, so it would be extremely unwise to buy a new system or upgrade based on these stats without well exceeding the minimums! You can see the system requirements for TS3 with expansions here.
#2
17th May 2009 at 6:12 PM

Posts: 5,905
Thanks: 5808 in 17 Posts

FORM:
Quote:
OS: CPU: RAM: GPU: MANUFACTURER/MODEL: |
Most of the information needed can be found by clicking on the 'Start Menu' -> 'Run' -> typing in 'dxdiag'.
The very first 'System' tab will always accurately tell you what processor you have, how much RAM you have, and what operating system you are running:

The 'Display' tab will tell you what graphics card/chip you have:

To find the manufacturer and model you can run this program:http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php. Look to the left where there are several rows of icons. Click on the middle icon on the top row. Click 'Manufacturer' in the box that pops up next to it. In the box below, it should display the information under 'Product' and 'Version'.
If you have a custom built computer, you will probably see the motherboard manufacturer and model information listed. If you have purchased a prebuilt computer from a mainstream company, like Dell, HP, Emachines, Gateway, etc, it will display information somewhat differently. Do not be worried if you see something slightly different.


COMPLETED EXAMPLE:
Quote:
OS: Windows XP Professional CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 RAM: 2046MB (equivalent of 2GB) GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 MANUFACTURER/MODEL: GA-EP45-UD3R |
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