Graphic's card advice?

[SilentDream]

I have a dell, it's about a year old and is a fantastic computer minus the fact it has an integrated chipset video/sound card. It's done well so far but I'm going to assume Seasons will easily kill it. So now that I have some cash ($400) I'm planning to buy a new one.

The system I have is XP Media Center Edition, an Intel Pentium 4 CPU, 2.99 GHz, 504 MB ram... I really need more ram..

I know there was a post about this a while back but eh necromancy is bad, right? So... I'm looking for advice on what to get, anything else I need to improve and... you know hopefully stay in the price range since it'll be a long time before I get cash to spare again.

[Assmitten]

Necromancy is bad, but the search button ROOLZ. I think someone just posted about graphic cards in the "building a compy for the Sims 2" thread.

[ElfPuddle]

And they managed to do it without adding a useless apostrophe.

This is why I teach English.


edited to change title.

[notveryawesome]

And here I thought we were getting advice about cards from somebody named Graphic. I feel so cheated.

[ElfPuddle]

 


edited to change title.

[Paperbladder]

What's your price range?  A budget video card ($50 or so) will work just fine for TS2 and will show Cutscenes, Smooth Edges, Higher Resolutions, etc.  If you get a better card the max resolution will increase, shadows/lighting won't lag the game as much, less lag with increased draw distance, etc.

Definitely upgrade the RAM to at least 1GB though, that'll have a greater impact on performance than a better video card and it's cheap.  As for the processor, don't bother since upgrading will probably require a new motherboard.

[KatEnigma]

You need to figure out what kind of slot you have before we can tell you anything, what your power supply is, and you definitely need more RAM. A new video card will make it look pretty, but to get it to run any faster/better, you need at least a GB of RAM, and 2 would be better.

Oh, and XP Media Center doesn't tell us crap. If you want help figuring out what slot you have free, we need the model number.

[Assmitten]

Now, I've heard that RAM doesn't matter as much as processor.

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6133243/index.html?type=tech

I may be mistaken, but I thought this Gamespot Guide said that you might as well not fuss with more than 512 MB of RAM. What's hosing me, for instance, is not my video card or my RAM, but my 1.8 gigapoodle processor. Gamespot makes it sound like Sims is a processor hog.

[ZiggyDoodle]

"Fantastic" one-year-old Dell computers don't come with integrated graphics unless you are talking about a laptop.  If it isn't a laptop, then it's not such a fantastic computer because integrated graphics are just that: integrated.

Reading the entire thread of updating a computer will give you good answers to your questions.

As to RAM - two gigs is good if you plan on running all the EPs.

[Ambular]

Definitely get more RAM.  Especially if you have a lot of downloaded content and/or if you run TS2 at the same time as any other program (and for general computing purposes, really.  I wouldn't try to run with less than a gigabyte; my system works pretty smoothly with 1.5 gigs now.)

[Vren Lyet]

For "The Sims 2" the power of your graphics card is actually quite unimportant. The game does not make use of the features of modern video adapters.
Also, the overall graphical quality - though nicely done - is quite poor in relation to current 3D action titles for example. So any graphics card would do.

Much more important: in my experience, you need a lot of RAM (as said here before - the more downloaded custom content the more RAM you should have). The game easily uses up to 800 MB RAM on my machine - I have just about 1 GB of custom content in my game.

Next thing in regard to performance is a really powerful CPU. While the graphics card's power doesn't really matter the CPU's power really does - it's like with DOOM³: a fast video card helps, but a strong processor and lots of RAM help even more.

As to which one (AMD/Intel, ATI/nVidia) I'd recommend to check for some benchmarks on the web - performance vs. price should be the best argument for decision.

[KatEnigma]

Now, I've heard that RAM doesn't matter as much as processor.

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6133243/index.html?type=tech

I may be mistaken, but I thought this Gamespot Guide said that you might as well not fuss with more than 512 MB of RAM. What's hosing me, for instance, is not my video card or my RAM, but my 1.8 gigapoodle processor. Gamespot makes it sound like Sims is a processor hog.

No, what the article actually says is that all 3 things- video card, processor, and RAM are important, but the video card is less important than RAM and Processor, which is different than standard Gamer thinking. Anyone who says you don't need more than 512 MB should be forced to play the game with it.

[Tamha]

I'd been running on 256 RAM for a long time (the very minimum to chug along a Sims 2 game), but recently added another 512. Drastic improvement! My Sims game loads 10 times faster than it did before. I'm sure a full gig would make it run even better, but honestly I'm just happy I'm down to 3 minutes for the initial game load from 30.

[Assmitten]

Now, I've heard that RAM doesn't matter as much as processor.

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6133243/index.html?type=tech

I may be mistaken, but I thought this Gamespot Guide said that you might as well not fuss with more than 512 MB of RAM. What's hosing me, for instance, is not my video card or my RAM, but my 1.8 gigapoodle processor. Gamespot makes it sound like Sims is a processor hog.

No, what the article actually says is that all 3 things- video card, processor, and RAM are important, but the video card is less important than RAM and Processor, which is different than standard Gamer thinking. Anyone who says you don't need more than 512 MB should be forced to play the game with it.

Okay, seriously, thank you. I was being a big skimmer the other night, and now I will re-think my RAM issue.

[DrBeast]

Though it's becoming quite dated, this thread is still quite helpful. Heaps of info about building a TS2-oriented machine, really worth its 6 pages.

Edit: just checked that thread again, seems it's still alive and kicking.

[sanmonroe]

TS2 doesn't use more than 1 gig of ram regarless of how much you have.

If you have less than 1 gig upgrading to 1+ will make a big difference on your game. If you turn on a memory meter and have 2 gig you will never use more than 58% if you play with azereus and an MP3 player both running in the background while you play.

3GHz, 1.25 gig ram, NVidia 6800, is about the point the game will run with pretty much no problems at decent demand.

From there I would say, faster processor beats better video card and both beat more RAM, which is useless for TS2. Although a 6800 will chug a bit on large lots with everything cranked up with tons of sims.

[KatEnigma]

TS2 doesn't use more than 1 gig of ram regarless of how much you have.

If you have less than 1 gig upgrading to 1+ will make a big difference on your game. If you turn on a memory meter and have 2 gig you will never use more than 58% if you play with azereus and an MP3 player both running in the background while you play.

3GHz, 1.25 gig ram, NVidia 6800, is about the point the game will run with pretty much no problems at decent demand.

From there I would say, faster processor beats better video card and both beat more RAM, which is useless for TS2. Although a 6800 will chug a bit on large lots with everything cranked up with tons of sims.

Then why does my computer use just under 1.5 GB when I'm running the game?  And why was I, and others, still getting the occasional "low virtual memory" warnings when we only had 1 GB in our machines? (and no, I did not have mine set at the Windows default) I don't believe Pescado's rule that you need twice as much RAM as downloads, but if you do have a fair amount of downloads, you need more than 1 GB.  I've run on this machine with 1 GB (X2 3800, Radeon X850, Raptor HD) and I've run with 2GB- 2 is better.

[sanmonroe]

TS2 doesn't use more than 1 gig of ram regarless of how much you have.

If you have less than 1 gig upgrading to 1+ will make a big difference on your game. If you turn on a memory meter and have 2 gig you will never use more than 58% if you play with azereus and an MP3 player both running in the background while you play.

3GHz, 1.25 gig ram, NVidia 6800, is about the point the game will run with pretty much no problems at decent demand.

From there I would say, faster processor beats better video card and both beat more RAM, which is useless for TS2. Although a 6800 will chug a bit on large lots with everything cranked up with tons of sims.

Then why does my computer use just under 1.5 GB when I'm running the game?  And why was I, and others, still getting the occasional "low virtual memory" warnings when we only had 1 GB in our machines? (and no, I did not have mine set at the Windows default) I don't believe Pescado's rule that you need twice as much RAM as downloads, but if you do have a fair amount of downloads, you need more than 1 GB.  I've run on this machine with 1 GB (X2 3800, Radeon X850, Raptor HD) and I've run with 2GB- 2 is better.

Virtual Memory is not RAM.

You can set your virtual memory to be whatever you want. Usually you want to set it based on the ram you have (real memory) so you don't have manegement problems, but technically you could have 256meg ram and 30 gig virtual memory or 8 gig real ram and 0 virtual.

Try increasing your VM and cleaning the spyware/malware from your download laden computer. TS2 uses 1 gig of RAM. Whatever you have running in the background is most likely using up the rest.

Like I said above, my computer uses 58-60% of my ram when I play. Thats 1.2 gig. 1 gig the sims uses, the rest is azereus and an MP3 player.

[blubug]

My virtual memory is set to 2300MB, the highest allowed amount (just checked, I have the game running now). I do remember changing it months ago, but I have only 1.5GB RAM. Is it possible I may have changed it to this? I thought I changed it to 1400 or something. Then again- maybe I'm wrong.

So the game runs pretty smoothly with 8GB of downloads and here I am using furryfox as well. Right now the memory usage appears to be 897,668K. It's never passed 950,000K. Before that, the virtual memory was set to a low 256MB, and I'd have game crashes (Access Violation) all the time. Now I hardly ever have any.

[KatEnigma]

TS2 doesn't use more than 1 gig of ram regarless of how much you have.

If you have less than 1 gig upgrading to 1+ will make a big difference on your game. If you turn on a memory meter and have 2 gig you will never use more than 58% if you play with azereus and an MP3 player both running in the background while you play.

3GHz, 1.25 gig ram, NVidia 6800, is about the point the game will run with pretty much no problems at decent demand.

From there I would say, faster processor beats better video card and both beat more RAM, which is useless for TS2. Although a 6800 will chug a bit on large lots with everything cranked up with tons of sims.

Then why does my computer use just under 1.5 GB when I'm running the game?  And why was I, and others, still getting the occasional "low virtual memory" warnings when we only had 1 GB in our machines? (and no, I did not have mine set at the Windows default) I don't believe Pescado's rule that you need twice as much RAM as downloads, but if you do have a fair amount of downloads, you need more than 1 GB.  I've run on this machine with 1 GB (X2 3800, Radeon X850, Raptor HD) and I've run with 2GB- 2 is better.

Virtual Memory is not RAM.

You can set your virtual memory to be whatever you want. Usually you want to set it based on the ram you have (real memory) so you don't have manegement problems, but technically you could have 256meg ram and 30 gig virtual memory or 8 gig real ram and 0 virtual.

Try increasing your VM and cleaning the spyware/malware from your download laden computer. TS2 uses 1 gig of RAM. Whatever you have running in the background is most likely using up the rest.

Like I said above, my computer uses 58-60% of my ram when I play. Thats 1.2 gig. 1 gig the sims uses, the rest is azereus and an MP3 player.

I know that virtual memory isn't real memory, but you sure run out of it fast while playing TS2 when you don't have enough RAM.  Not to mention that I prefer not to run off virtual memory at all, considering it's so much slower than RAM and fragments your hard drive that much faster. Yes, you could run with 256 RAM and 30 GB virtual, but you'd run damn slowly, and at that point you'd be working against yourself as writing to the disk so much just slows you down even more.  If you really knew half as much as you pretend, you'd have known that.

And don't be such a condescending jerk and say that I must have spyware/malware just because I know you're talking out your ass.  I run a clean system and take the necessary precautions against malware- which in itself uses RAM, naturally, but even if TS2 itself only uses 1 GB, you still have to run Windows and there are some services you can't disable, so you'd better have more than that.  I could care less what you do on your own machine, and if you're too cheap to buy extra RAM and want to run in virtual memory, go right ahead and chug along, but I'll continue to tell other people what the reality is.

[kellinjar]

Virtual Memory is not RAM.

You can set your virtual memory to be whatever you want. Usually you want to set it based on the ram you have (real memory) so you don't have manegement problems, but technically you could have 256meg ram and 30 gig virtual memory or 8 gig real ram and 0 virtual.

Try increasing your VM and cleaning the spyware/malware from your download laden computer. TS2 uses 1 gig of RAM. Whatever you have running in the background is most likely using up the rest.

Like I said above, my computer uses 58-60% of my ram when I play. Thats 1.2 gig. 1 gig the sims uses, the rest is azereus and an MP3 player.

Check your actual system wide usage next time. Start your computer fresh and play for an hour. Then bring up the task manager, goto the performance tab and have a look at the peak. Regardless of what incorrect number the task manager reports in the processes tab, the peak listed in the bottom left is the amount of ram usage your system has peaked at (including virtual memory usage). I've never seen anyone play TS2 and not have that number not be in the 1.3-1.5 GB range.

[sanmonroe]

TS2 doesn't use more than 1 gig of ram regarless of how much you have.

If you have less than 1 gig upgrading to 1+ will make a big difference on your game. If you turn on a memory meter and have 2 gig you will never use more than 58% if you play with azereus and an MP3 player both running in the background while you play.

3GHz, 1.25 gig ram, NVidia 6800, is about the point the game will run with pretty much no problems at decent demand.

From there I would say, faster processor beats better video card and both beat more RAM, which is useless for TS2. Although a 6800 will chug a bit on large lots with everything cranked up with tons of sims.

Then why does my computer use just under 1.5 GB when I'm running the game?  And why was I, and others, still getting the occasional "low virtual memory" warnings when we only had 1 GB in our machines? (and no, I did not have mine set at the Windows default) I don't believe Pescado's rule that you need twice as much RAM as downloads, but if you do have a fair amount of downloads, you need more than 1 GB.  I've run on this machine with 1 GB (X2 3800, Radeon X850, Raptor HD) and I've run with 2GB- 2 is better.

Virtual Memory is not RAM.

You can set your virtual memory to be whatever you want. Usually you want to set it based on the ram you have (real memory) so you don't have manegement problems, but technically you could have 256meg ram and 30 gig virtual memory or 8 gig real ram and 0 virtual.

Try increasing your VM and cleaning the spyware/malware from your download laden computer. TS2 uses 1 gig of RAM. Whatever you have running in the background is most likely using up the rest.

Like I said above, my computer uses 58-60% of my ram when I play. Thats 1.2 gig. 1 gig the sims uses, the rest is azereus and an MP3 player.

I know that virtual memory isn't real memory, but you sure run out of it fast while playing TS2 when you don't have enough RAM.  Not to mention that I prefer not to run off virtual memory at all, considering it's so much slower than RAM and fragments your hard drive that much faster. Yes, you could run with 256 RAM and 30 GB virtual, but you'd run damn slowly, and at that point you'd be working against yourself as writing to the disk so much just slows you down even more.  If you really knew half as much as you pretend, you'd have known that.

And don't be such a condescending jerk and say that I must have spyware/malware just because I know you're talking out your ass.  I run a clean system and take the necessary precautions against malware- which in itself uses RAM, naturally, but even if TS2 itself only uses 1 GB, you still have to run Windows and there are some services you can't disable, so you'd better have more than that.  I could care less what you do on your own machine, and if you're too cheap to buy extra RAM and want to run in virtual memory, go right ahead and chug along, but I'll continue to tell other people what the reality is.

I am sorry I tried to explain something to the ignorant. I won't try to help you in the future. Oh, and if you don't want to run off virtual memory at all... have 1.5 gig of RAM that will take care of TS2 and most of your bloatware in the background.

Don't blame me if your computer is bloated and infected. Also try reading comprehension if you think I run on 1 gig ram and the rest virtual mem.

Check your actual system wide usage next time. Start your computer fresh and play for an hour. Then bring up the task manager, goto the performance tab and have a look at the peak. Regardless of what incorrect number the task manager reports in the processes tab, the peak listed in the bottom left is the amount of ram usage your system has peaked at (including virtual memory usage). I've never seen anyone play TS2 and not have that number not be in the 1.3-1.5 GB range.

I use a constant monitoring program. I get the stats fed to me real time and compiled on my keyboard LCD for RAM and CPU. Not too important for Sims, but helps me monitor things like VG that suck up resources. I may set it up to track by program use this weekend when I play a littl emore. WIth 2 gig ram again, I run at 58-60% or so with WMP and azereus (yes katen, and background processes), so I am just a little below your estimate, but the quality of the RAM also plays a role. Still, well within expected range of 1 gig for sims and anythign more for other progs and BG. Again, 1.5 is more than enough. I am sure if someone has 8 gigs of downloads you can bloat down anything though.