I need help with new PC Specs

[BeautyWitch]

I need some help finding a new computer. The Sims 3 fried my new laptop and my 3 year old desktop within 3 months of installing. The computer techs said my motherboard and the AC are done and they've never seen anything like that before  . Anyways, I'm buying a new one even though I know it's going to be ruined. So I'm asking for help with deciding on a cheap computer that will give great (or as great as cheap can get) performance. This is what I have so far:

Dell Studio Desktop
PROCESSOR   Intel® Pentium® dual-core E5300 (2MB L2, 2.6GHz, 800FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM   Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
MEMORY   8GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4DIMMs
HARD DRIVE   500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
OPTICAL DRIVE   16X DVD+/-RW Drive
VIDEO CARD   Integrated Intel® GMA X4500HD Graphics
SOUND   Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio



Dell Inspiron 546 MT
PROCESSOR   AMD Phenom™ II X4 820 (2.8GHz, 6MB)
OPERATING SYSTEM   Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic SP1, 32-Bit
MEMORY   4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE   750GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
OPTICAL DRIVE   16X DVD+/-RW Drive
VIDEO CARD   Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics
SOUND   Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio


Any recommendations (I'm interested in hearing about other brands as well)  would be great. I only need it for The Sims 2 & 3. TIA
Also, do I have to get Vista or lower to run the game?

[Grimma]

Why don't you check out one of the OVER 9,000 similar threads that have cropped up in the last two or so months regarding hardware? There's a very recent one, I saw new posts in it just this morning. Search is your friend, and so is lurking.

Also, Vista is crap. Don't get Vista. Personally, I'd suggest Windoze 7.

Protip: Another good friend to have is the FPS-limiter, especially if you say that Sims 3 "fried" your computers. Just sayin'.

[JinxNyx]

I just got an Asus Essentio Model: CG5270-BP004 and I'm very happy with it! It runs my Sims 3 WA super smoothly and other graphic-heavy games I play. The most important thing I wanted on my new computer was for it to be upgradable in the future and this one definitely is. I'm planning on upgrading the power supply to get a better graphics card, but the one it came with has been working really well so far, so I don't think it'll need an upgrade for the next 2 years or so. For $649.99 I think it's a great deal!

Check out the review here: http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/asus-essentio-cg5270-bp004/4505-3118_7-33777273.html