Would this PC run the Sims 3 plus most add-ons?

vivica86

My PC is ancient, it runs the Sims 3 and most add ons OK-ish, it's just very slow. So I'm looking at getting a new PC but sadly on a budget (unfortunately I'm not great at the technical side of things!)

Would this PC run the Sims 3 and add-ons well?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-Computer-Precision-490-WINDOWS/dp/B007BNCF3O/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1340808576&sr=1-2

Its spec is:

General
Brand: Dell
Color: Black/Silver
Processor
Processor Brand: Intel
Processor Type: Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2
Processor Count: 4
Memory
RAM Size: 2 GB
Hard Drive
Hard Drive Size: 400 GB
Hard Disk Technology: SATA
Additional Drives: DVD-RW
Graphics
Graphics Card Description: NVIDIA Quadro FX 550
Graphics Card Ram Size: 128 MB
Additional Specifications
Hardware Platform: PC
Operating System: Windows XP Professional Edition

vivica86

Oh and what would be the absolute minimum spec that I could get away with?

Thanks

bob007

I'm ancient so that makes your computer old. Let's start with the operating system Windows XP. Microsoft will halt all support for Windows XP SP3 on April 8,2014. Nvidia Quadro video cards are more for workstations and are not really gaming cards (although they perform better then integrated graphics chips). They are mostly used in cad/cam workstations. It only shows 2gb of memory and that may be max for that unit. My guess is that they are old units. You may be trading up but I'm guessing not by much.

SBPTSAGK

Well first of all Windows XP computers that run newer games will work, but it depends on your video card and RAM. 4 Gigs of RAM is what I recommend but 2 gigs should work. Next, your video card. You should probably upgrade that to a Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 or if you can afford it, get GTX 680.

bob007

Minimum requirements really depends on what packs you have. PETS really pushed the minimum requirements to a new level.

Minimum -

2.2ghz dual core processor (the higher the ghz the better)
500gb 7200rpm hard drive
4gb of memory (TS3 is a 32 bit app and needs as much memory up to 4gb that it can get).
Vista or Windows 7

I know your on a budget but the cheapest for a new system (with out the display) would be $550 usd (and that's really cutting it). You can shop for a used system but you may be buying someone else's problems. Your best bet is to find the local wizard (the geek who fixes everyone's computer). I frequently obtain computers that have been replaced with a newer computer and I scrap all the good parts and sometimes come up with a pretty good computer. There are resellers who get computers from surplus houses and careful picking you can get a nice one.

barebones -
http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1824466&Sku=B69-0509 as you can see the operating system is not included and has to be bought separately but you can save some money if you can find someone to put it together for you.

hth