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Graphics Cards vs. Screen Resolution
CodySimstein
Posts: 1,466 Member
Hello all,
I've seen a lot of discussions about people suggesting that certain GPUs will or will not work, however I think sometimes a key piece of information is sometimes left out, which is pretty important; screen resolution. I accept that compared to other triple A PC gaming titles, this isn't considered because the graphical requirements are comparably lower for the Sims 4. Here's an example. Let's say I have a GT 740 GPU, which is about borderline for the recommended settings. At a resolution of 1366x768, I reckon you could get medium-high settings pretty smoothly. But if the resolution was 1600x900, then the GPU would struggle a bit, and at 1080p, the settings would probably have to be cranked down to medium.
Now a second example could be the GTX 650 or GTX 750 - these cards are pretty much the recommended cards for optimal performance at the highest settings. However, I doubt you would get this experience if the cards were playing the Sims at higher screen resolutions of 1920x1080 or 2160x1440. So perhaps this is something to consider when thinking about whether a GPU or a PC altogether can run the Sims 4
Thanks for reading,
Cody
PS. I'm happy for comments if you liked this, or if you disagree.
I've seen a lot of discussions about people suggesting that certain GPUs will or will not work, however I think sometimes a key piece of information is sometimes left out, which is pretty important; screen resolution. I accept that compared to other triple A PC gaming titles, this isn't considered because the graphical requirements are comparably lower for the Sims 4. Here's an example. Let's say I have a GT 740 GPU, which is about borderline for the recommended settings. At a resolution of 1366x768, I reckon you could get medium-high settings pretty smoothly. But if the resolution was 1600x900, then the GPU would struggle a bit, and at 1080p, the settings would probably have to be cranked down to medium.
Now a second example could be the GTX 650 or GTX 750 - these cards are pretty much the recommended cards for optimal performance at the highest settings. However, I doubt you would get this experience if the cards were playing the Sims at higher screen resolutions of 1920x1080 or 2160x1440. So perhaps this is something to consider when thinking about whether a GPU or a PC altogether can run the Sims 4
Thanks for reading,
Cody
PS. I'm happy for comments if you liked this, or if you disagree.
Member of the Tech Responders team.
Ask me about custom-built PCs!
Need to upgrade? - $400 for high settings in Sims 4 --> http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LtphdC
Ask me about custom-built PCs!
Need to upgrade? - $400 for high settings in Sims 4 --> http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LtphdC
2
Comments
and for top tier cards with loaded up RAM many times that added ram is only useful with running higher resolutions , or multiple monitors or wide ones
From my experience with more resource intensive games, the rule of thumb is that for resolutions 900p and below = 1GB of VRAM, for 1080p = 2GB of VRAM, and for 1600/1440p = 3GB+ of VRAM. If you're lucky enough to have the funds for dual, triple or quad SLI of GTX 780 / 780 Ti or GTX TITAN's, or Crossfire of R9 290 / 290x, then you require 4GB+ of VRAM for 4K resolutions.
I think the vast majority of Sims 4 players will be people playing on laptops which have the resolution 1366x768 or 1600x900, so 1GB of VRAM (or maybe even less) would probably suffice for these people.
Cody
Ask me about custom-built PCs!
Need to upgrade? - $400 for high settings in Sims 4 --> http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LtphdC
I'm planning to buy a GTX 960 but I was confused about which monitor I should buy in order to make the two things work smoothly.
According to what you said, a 1080p resolution monitor would fit perfectly a GTX 960 GPU, wouldn't it?
16GB hyper X fury
MSI GTX 1080
MSI gaming M5 mobo
Evga 750 supernova
Corsair hydro h110i GT
Corsair obsidian 750D
500GB SSD
6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
LG 34" ultra wide
... and beyond the resolution, which other features should I take into account before purchasing a monitor in order to have a great experience of the game?
But do not know if that helps anyone or not. But as i said I can run Ultra with no issues if I so desire - I do worry about possible heat issues as my mobo is over 2 years old and I have been wanting to update for a while now. this is a desktop by the way and we build our own pcs. Right now the Mobo i want if still well over 300 bucks and that is before processors or anything else - just the mobo - the brand new Asus one... but this Asus evo board with a 6 core processor on it has no issues even at the highest setting.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
2 year old mobo its still young.
ETA - My whole family - even in Maine, rebuild every 18-24 months - hopefully while our pcs are still decent running. Then hubby or my middleson who is also a pc tech for Tri-state computers - will refurbish and then we donate the like new pcs to the Tech for kids program - which is both in New Hampshire and Maine that allows some kid or teen in a poor household and ones with an ill child to have a decent computer for free. So we make out with new equipment - and so do needy kids. So I have gotten very spoiled over the last 10 years we have been doing this.
I have it written down - and can't find it, I think hubby has my notebook - but it is the newest one coming out of Asus and I do believe it is DDR4 seeing i was told i could not use the ram I have now.
Eta:
This is one of the ones I was looking at - I can't find the other one but it is an Asus version of a Z97 I believe.: and yes this one wants DDR4. Forget looking in hubby's office - I can't find anything in there - but I have a list of everything I needed in a notebook somewhere there. Hubby went to the hospital after he broke his hip for a week, then spent the last 6 weeks hobbling around in his office but unable to put things where they go - so it is a disaster. I spent days just making that list back in January. Lol
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asus-x99-pro-motherboard,4022.html
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
that is fun! especially since so much good stuff keeps coming out. and thats a great board and i am too asus person. they are simply the leaders
ETA - My whole family - even in Maine, rebuild every 18-24 months - hopefully while our pcs are still decent running. Then hubby or my middleson who is also a pc tech for Tri-state computers - will refurbish and then we donate the like new pcs to the Tech for kids program - which is both in New Hampshire and Maine that allows some kid or teen in a poor household and ones with an ill child to have a decent computer for free. So we make out with new equipment - and so do needy kids. So I have gotten very spoiled over the last 10 years we have been doing this.
I have it written down - and can't find it, I think hubby has my notebook - but it is the newest one coming out of Asus and I do believe it is DDR4 seeing i was told i could not use the ram I have now.
Eta:
This is one of the ones I was looking at - I can't find the other one but it is an Asus version of a Z97 I believe.: and yes this one wants DDR4. Forget looking in hubby's office - I can't find anything in there - but I have a list of everything I needed in a notebook somewhere there. Hubby went to the hospital after he broke his hip for a week, then spent the last 6 weeks hobbling around in his office but unable to put things where they go - so it is a disaster. I spent days just making that list back in January. Lol
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that is fun! especially since so much good stuff keeps coming out. and thats a great board and i am too asus person. they are simply the leaders :) and please youll have to update when you get ddr 4 so very excited to see how it performs for real simmers. im not planning on updating until after the release of windows 10, which also means ill have to wait until at least 6 months after release to see how glitchy it is. [/quote]
Speaking of windows 10 I am looking in to buying a new desktop & I'm thinking about if I should just wait because everyone says how they hate windows 8. I haven't used windows 8 yet. I only have a laptop which is windows 7
The GTX 745 card is DDR 3 vram so you need to be lower than 1080p resolution if you want to survive all this games add ons and have your game run smoother. . It's also an older card and slightly under recommended requirements. To game in 1080p resolution you need a video card that is DDR 5 vram .