What are your PC specs?
Regina:
Hi all! I'm still gathering info for my upcoming computer build (hopefully latter part of next month!) and am wondering about processor speed. Obviously I want a good, fast processor that's going to be able to adequately handle TS2 and all the expansions if I should decide to buy them, as well as handle plenty of custom content.
It might help if I start with what I already know (like we've been building computers for somewhere around 6 years now on and off).
#1. AMD processors are WAY faster than Intel and Celeron chips.
#2. Processor speed alone doesn't dictate how fast the computer will run--good video speed and RAM coupled with good PC RAM make all the difference in the world, and of course there are a few other important things to look for when buying a processor and mobo.
#3. Cooling is also extremely important; without proper cooling all kinds of things can go wonky.
#4. That no matter how much I know I'm always learning more. :D
Basically my PC (I currently have an Athlon 2200+ which = about 1800mhz, 512 mg RAM which is the max Win98SE can support, a GeForce4 video card with 128 megs of DDR RAM) handled TS2 by itself fairly well, with the exception of slowing down on large lots with 6 or more sims on them. I didn't notice much difference after installing Nightlife. However, since installing University I've noticed a drastic difference. Now the medium lots are barely chugging along with more than three or four sims on them.
So, I need to know what makes a good combination to be able to keep the game running without much in the line of noticeable slow-downs. I realize, of course, there will probably always be a little slow-down when night turns to day, when new NPCs are generated and stuff like that.
Thanks so much for input!
Ancient Sim:
I have exactly the same specs as you - Athlon 2200 and 512MB RAM, although my processor is overclocked to 2000. My video card is unsupported, so I have to cheat a lot. As I've said on another thread, I am totally mystified by all this technical stuff because I don't have any real problems with slowing-down. I did in the original game (couldn't even load community lots and wasn't able to play more than one lot without restarting), but not since installing Uni. I regularly have 30-40 Sims on lots when there are parties going on and only really notice any lag when I get to around 32-35 or so and can play as many lots as I want now and go downtown over and over.
It's all very confusing.
Regina:
AncientSim, that is very confusing! In the neighborhood I play I have one main family, a couple of sorta families in small residential lots, a dozen or so Townies I made myself, then the normal Downtownies and University people. I don't even have a full gamut of NPCs, something like a couple of newspaper carriers, a couple of grocery delivery people, and one mailman. I have the default playable sims at LaFiesta Tech, then four college students in one medium-sized house. As I said, my game now grunts and groans at every turn.
I've been going through and deleting custom content and only installed a handful of custom houses to try to keep things down to a dull roar. I do routine maintenance about every couple of weeks, shut off my background programs and the whole nine yards. It's pathetic!
Ness:
I thought win98SE could support 1G of RAM?
I suspect I need to double check that, as we are planning to take my computer up to the 1G mark...
I've got a 2.7G processor, and a radeon 9600 graphics card (128M video RAM), with the base game and uni everything was fine and on the highest settings - with nightlife, I've been dropped back to medium and have a few lag issues.
Current plan is to upgrade to a 3.1G processor (fastest supported by my motherboard) and add an extra half a G of RAM...
katemonster:
I have an AMD 3400+ (clock speed 2.2ghz), 1gb RAM, and a Radeon 9600 card with 64mb of memory. It's a laptop, so none of those specs are going to change until I get a new computer a long, long way down the road (the only thing I could upgrade is the RAM and I doubt I'm going to.) I have no trouble running NL with all graphics settings on the highest, and I've never noticed any major play issues on big or crowded lots, other than increased loading times and longer hiccups when a lot of people come over for a party. However, I have to cheat to turn smooth edges on, because Maxis thinks you need to have 128mb of video memory to adjust this, which is bullcrap.
My old laptop had a Pentium 4 processor (3ghz I think), 512mb of RAM and a Radeon 9200 card with 128mb of memory. It couldn't run with smooth edges or reflections on (slowed down to the point of being unplayable). It also had major issues with overheating which were not fun and are part of the reason it got returned to Best Buy under warranty and exchanged for my nice new (well, new a year ago) machine.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page