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Building new system for Sims 2
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Posted by: valleygirls
I am building (for the first time!) a new system, mostly for Sims 2.
The system I have now plays Sims 2 and Sims 2 University surprisingly well, considering it's borderline on some of the requirements -- an Asus A7V-E motherboard, AMD Athlon Thunderbird 850, 512 MB DDR RAM, 80 GB 72000 rpm Hard Drive, Radeon 9200 videocard with 128 MB RAM, Windows XP Pro, DirectX 9.0.
I've read and researched enough to know I should maximize RAM and get the best video card I can afford. So far, I'm leaning toward another Asus motherboard, and AMD Athlon 64 3000 or higher processor, a bigger hard drive, a GB of RAM and a Radeon 9800 pro so far. What I want from a new computer is less lag time, and a smoother, faster game. Also, very importantly, I want to make sure my new system can handle upcoming expansions, and right now I think my current one is pretty much at capacity.
I'm hoping to hear some recommendations from simmers who are playing the game on a good system, it runs well and they're happy with it, and who can also give me recommendations for motherboards, hard drives, cpu's etc., and advice about bottlenecks, power supply and what to watch out for. My budget is $1500 CND, give or take.
I'm pretty new at this, and so need some help thinking it through. I'd love to hear any advice and suggestions for building my new system. Thanks very much!
Posted by: goranpaa
Hi!
Well, I dont play SIMS. But I do play alot of demanding games. So I hope, that you still trust me on this?
What you have suggested, is a really good machine. BUT if you want upgradable stuff, I would say, go PCI Express! Motherboard and Videocard. ASUS or MSI, is O.K. motherboards.
For Videocard, I would suggest, XFX Geforce 6.600 GT. 128 mb . PCI - Expr. $164.99 Or if your budget can cover it? XFX Geforce 6800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 . $349.00 at newegg.
Just make sure the mother board, use nforce 4 chipsets (Best is nforce 4 ultra chipset)
The processor is a really good choise! A 3000+ or 3200+ will do the job.
For RAM. I would suggest ones from Corsair. XMS or the cheaper, but still very good "Value Select". That is for you to decide.
A really powerful, high quality Powersupply: Antec True Blue 480 W. (People often forget, or dont know, how important the PSU is).
Harddrive(s) If you want speed? Go for a Western Digital Raptor 10.000 RPM. S ATA. 36 gigabyte. (Just for Windows and games). Then a 120 or 160 gig SATA 2 drive from Hitachi
That way, you will have the speed demanding stuff on the fastest drive ( The Raptor), and still have a very speedy drive for your other applications.
MSI:s motherboard:K8N Neo4 Platinum/SLI Motherboard. supports SATA 2 and AMD 64. But it will cost you, $175.00. at newegg.
Or : ASUS A8N-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard. $160.00.
The fun stuff is, that you can connect 2 Identical PCI - Express videocards to an SLI motherboard. Then your SIMS 2 will fly at the speed of light!
And I'll promise to eat an IDE cable or two if THAT KIT cant handle SIMS2 lol! (Or "SIMS 4" , for that matter.)
Check out newegg, net store for best prices.
http://www.newegg.com/
And dont forget to buy Arctic Silver 5 Thermal paste, for the CPU! Use A razorblade to apply it in a paperthin layer on top of the CPU.
A antistatic wristband / wriststrap, should also be on your "wishing list". Never touch any hardware, without ensuring yourself that you are free from static electrisity!!!
Posted by: redwench
assuming you want a static configuration for as long as possible, you probably should go with a pcie board and video card. 9800 would handle the expansions, more than likely, but perhaps not other games coming out.
Posted by: valleygirls
Thank you both for the excellent information! Very helpful!
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