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PC Advice/Help

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I am so excited to make this thread after lurking for so long and saving all my spare cash. I am finally prepared to invest in a good Desktop and would love some advice from the resident tech gods.

1.) My budget is $1,500. While I'm willing to go that high, it'd be great to get what I'm looking for without using the whole budget.

2.) I have Sims 3 and 80% of the expansions including Seasons and Pets. I'd like to play on Medium to High graphics.

3.) I do use mods, CC, and store content.

4.) Other games I wish to play are: Minecraft, Steam, and Eudemons Online.

If there's anything else that I need to add, please feel free to let me know. Thank you for any and all help! It's all greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    Desktops to carry the entire game at medium to high graphics tend to start at $750 USD, give or take, they will go higher if we add high capacity Solid State Drives (SSDs) to the mix. Minecraft and Eudemons won't change the requirements. Is there an actual game called "Steam" as opposed to the Steam platform from which one can install other games (that is, a competitor to Origin)?

    And are you in the US, with these being US Dollars?

    With this budget, you should be able to do a custom build where you, with some assistance, specify the parts and the vendor assembles the machine for you. And with these requirements, you should be able to stay well below your budget. Will you also need a monitor?

    Paging some colleagues.
    @phoebebebe13
    @chesterbigbird
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  • phoebebebe13phoebebebe13 Posts: 19,400 Member
    steam has games that require different computer specs. Some specs are way higher than the sims 3 . What are all the specific games you are playing.?
  • HelitorianHelitorian Posts: 19 Member
    @igazor

    If I can keep it under $1,000 I would be very happy so a pre-made PC would be enough. I do need a monitor and I am in the US. It's Steam the platform. I have yet to play anything from it so I wasn't sure how to refer to it.

    @phoebebebe13

    I haven't started playing anything since I have a Mac Air and don't want to strain it. What I've been considering is: My Time in Portia, Farm Folks, and Stonehearth. I hope those aren't super demanding?
  • dyedye15dyedye15 Posts: 4 New Member
    I want to buy this laptop to run the sims 4 but I have all expansions packs, some stuff packs, cc and mods so would this laptop be ok:


    Lenovo IdeaPad 330 15.6 Inch
    AMD A6
    4GB 1TB Laptop
  • dyedye15dyedye15 Posts: 4 New Member
    I want to a laptop to run the sims 4 but I have all expansions packs, some stuff packs, cc and mods and was think about this laptop:
    Lenovo Ideapad 320
    Processor: Intel® Pentium™ N4200
    Operating System: Windows 10 Home
    Hard Drive: 1TB HDD
    Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 505
    Memory: 4GB
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited August 2018
    @dyedye15 - I would say no on either one, Ideapads are not made for gaming. But this is the TS3 section of the forum, you will get a more informed answer on a forum board devoted to TS4.

    The TS4 Help Center area on this forum is closing in a few days. Players needing such assistance are advised to post on EA's Answers HQ board (in the correct section for TS4) since otherwise there might not be enough time for a proper conversation.
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  • phoebebebe13phoebebebe13 Posts: 19,400 Member
    Helitorian wrote: »
    @igazor

    If I can keep it under $1,000 I would be very happy so a pre-made PC would be enough. I do need a monitor and I am in the US. It's Steam the platform. I have yet to play anything from it so I wasn't sure how to refer to it.

    @phoebebebe13

    I haven't started playing anything since I have a Mac Air and don't want to strain it. What I've been considering is: My Time in Portia, Farm Folks, and Stonehearth. I hope those aren't super demanding?

    @Helitorian I would ask @chesterbigbird she is the desktop expert. I was asking what you play so she can get an idea of what specs you need in a computer. Some people play heavy games on steam that require a more powerful computer
  • HelitorianHelitorian Posts: 19 Member
    @phoebebebe13 Thank you for pointing me their way. I'll send them a PM!
  • phoebebebe13phoebebebe13 Posts: 19,400 Member
    @Helitorian Your welcome. It's easier to get chester in PM. Paging people in here sometimes does not work
  • SassypintSassypint Posts: 3 New Member
    Hi! Sorry to hijack your post OP, but I have a similar situation. My budget is about $1200 US, and I have all Sims 3 expansions and stuff packs, use CC, etc. I want to play the highest graphics possible. Also want to play Minecraft and edit videos, and eventually I want to play the Sims 4.

    What I was really wondering though is, what is better: a desktop or a laptop? Can I get the same performance with a laptop? Also, would it make a difference to just buy a desktop or build one?

    I keep going around in circles as to which computer is best, please give me some guidance :) Thanks!!!!!
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited August 2018
    Desktops will always offer stronger performance for less money than laptops and more often components can be upgraded. Laptops require stronger, more expensive configurations to even approach the performance that a desktop can deliver and cannot be upgraded over time, except in some cases for adding more RAM or replacing a hard drive. Laptops are essentially expensive disposable machines with much shorter expected lifespans than desktops. Their only real benefit is portability.

    Custom configurations are recommended over a certain budget amount ($1,200 USD certainly qualifies) because you get to choose exactly the components you want, with some help as needed, and you get higher quality parts than off the shelf.

    Some basic guidelines for TS3 with all EPs (what we call "the entire game"), it's not all that different for TS4.

    Processor - i5 quad core or higher, i7 would be better (especially for TS4), or the AMD equivalents. At least 2.4 GHz but most desktop level i5s and higher are already there. TS4 might need more power than that, but the game isn't "finished" yet.

    Memory (RAM) - At least 8 GB. I wouldn't buy a new computer today with less than 16 GB, but the games don't need that much. That would be more for future-proofing and running programs alongside of the game at the same time.

    Graphics Card - Definitely a dedicated Nvidia or AMD card of sufficient capacity. On the current series, at least an Nvidia GTX 1050/1050Ti, a 1060 would be ideal, or again the AMD equivalents. Older cards are fine too if they are of sufficient strength within their own series, but they don't tend to make new mid-to-higher range computers with older cards. Lower end cards will cause problems.

    Hard Drive - At least 512 GB, multiple internal drives are fine as long as the one the games are installed on and the user Documents folder resides on is at least that. Solid State Drives (SSDs) are great, TS3 can certainly benefit from those (for TS4 these don't matter), but ones of sufficient size can drive the price tag way up.

    The case must have sufficient cooling and there must be an adequate power supply to run all of these components efficiently.
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  • SassypintSassypint Posts: 3 New Member
    @igazor

    I'd read that the 1050/1060 graphics cards have issues with TS3. Like the game doesn't recognize the card or something. (also thanks for the speedy reply)
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited August 2018
    Sassypint wrote: »
    @igazor

    I'd read that the 1050/1060 graphics cards have issues with TS3. Like the game doesn't recognize the card or something. (also thanks for the speedy reply)
    The game does not formally recognize any cards that are not in its database, and that hasn't been updated in many, many years. The highest level Nvidia card that the game recognizes on its own is the 660M; we've had the 700s, 800s (laptops only), 900s, and now the 1000s since then.

    Not recognized does not mean the card isn't used properly (that would be not detected). It only means the game doesn't know which default profile to associate with it, so it gets a generic one. That can be changed and formal recognition for today's cards can be achieved with some one-time edits to the base game's sgr files. Not everyone really needs to do this, though.

    Any time anyone says anything about TS3 that begins with "I've heard/read that..." you can probably dismiss the rest as nonsense. Uhm, unless they heard or read it from a tech responder here, of course. Okay, I don't really mean that but there's a lot of "bad" information out there provided by players who unfortunately don't really know what they are talking about or are assigning blame for something not great they are experiencing to an incorrect cause.
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  • SassypintSassypint Posts: 3 New Member
    @igazor Thank you so much!
  • elleskyheartelleskyheart Posts: 69 Member
    I really need help. Somebody please. I can run sims 3 on my new computer, a Lenovo Legion Y520 due to it needing to download framework 3.5. Now I've tried that and it doesn't download. Can someone please help me. I brought this to play sims 3
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    I really need help. Somebody please. I can run sims 3 on my new computer, a Lenovo Legion Y520 due to it needing to download framework 3.5. Now I've tried that and it doesn't download. Can someone please help me. I brought this to play sims 3
    Answered where you also posted over here. :)
    https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16760573/#Comment_16760573
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  • Alex_SimsAlex_Sims Posts: 13 New Member
    So I have a GTX 1050 Ti and my pictures always look really bad in the sims. It is driving me kind of insane and I was wondering if there is anything I could do about it. I have seen others play with my card and it looks much better. What do I do?
  • Alex_SimsAlex_Sims Posts: 13 New Member
    > @Alex_Sims said:
    > So I have a GTX 1050 Ti and my pictures always look really bad in the sims. It is driving me kind of insane and I was wondering if there is anything I could do about it. I have seen others play with my card and it looks much better. What do I do?

    My DeviceConfig says that my card is found and matched but it looks the same without it recognized :(
  • phoebebebe13phoebebebe13 Posts: 19,400 Member
    Alex_Sims wrote: »
    So I have a GTX 1050 Ti and my pictures always look really bad in the sims. It is driving me kind of insane and I was wondering if there is anything I could do about it. I have seen others play with my card and it looks much better. What do I do?

    Are you on a laptop or desktop? Make sure you game in the launcher is set to 1929 X1080p 60 hz. This is the resolution your card can handle and should be running

    If your on a desktop what is the resolution of your monitor ?
  • SimplyJenSimplyJen Posts: 14,823 Member
    Alex_Sims wrote: »
    > @Alex_Sims said:
    > So I have a GTX 1050 Ti and my pictures always look really bad in the sims. It is driving me kind of insane and I was wondering if there is anything I could do about it. I have seen others play with my card and it looks much better. What do I do?

    My DeviceConfig says that my card is found and matched but it looks the same without it recognized :(
    - Are you playing The Sims 3 or The Sims 4?
    - Are you sure graphics settings are set to high/ultra?
    - Could you be more descriptive about the graphics issue you're experiencing? Jagged edges, blurriness, etc...

    - The Sims 3 shouldn't have this card already recognized since it's not technically in the card database unless you've taken the time to edit the SGR files yourself. If you have done so, it may be worth a shot putting the original SGR files back in place (if those were backed up beforehand).
    - Make sure the graphics driver is up to date; *especially if this is about The Sims 4.
    - If you're using Nvidia GeForce Experience with the game optimized, try reverting the optimization.

    i7-13700K • 16GB • RTX 4070
    S3 simblr: http://simplysimming.tumblr.com/
    S4 simblr: http://simlogic.tumblr.com/
  • Alex_SimsAlex_Sims Posts: 13 New Member
    I have pictures of the problem but I can't post them. It is the Sims 3 and I have a desktop. My graphics are set to the highest and my monitor's resolution is 1920 x 1080. I'll try to explain the problem but it would be a lot easier with a picture. The walls are splotchy with different colors and a lot of the stuff in the game doesn't look right. It looks better in CAS but not perfect.
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited October 2018
    Alex_Sims wrote: »
    I have pictures of the problem but I can't post them. It is the Sims 3 and I have a desktop. My graphics are set to the highest and my monitor's resolution is 1920 x 1080. I'll try to explain the problem but it would be a lot easier with a picture. The walls are splotchy with different colors and a lot of the stuff in the game doesn't look right. It looks better in CAS but not perfect.
    New members cannot post pictures, but you can send them up to a photo or file hosting site (which you would have to do anyway, the forum doesn't hold uploaded files) and provide some broken up links like by using "h.t.t.p.s." in the beginning so we can figure out where to look.

    Could we also please see your DeviceConfig.log? It's a file that will be in your TS3 user game folder in Documents, it might show up as just DeviceConfig if you have Windows set to hide file extensions. It's not very long, you could just copy/paste that in here, and we only need the first 40 lines or so and not the lists of game options that follow. We may need to see a full dxdiag report also, but this is a good place to start.
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  • Alex_SimsAlex_Sims Posts: 13 New Member
    === Application info ===
    Name: Sims3
    Version:
    Build: Release
    === Rating info ===
    GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 1 CPU: 4 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 3394 Threading: 3
    Adjusted CPU: 4126 RAM: 16334 Adjusted RAM: 15822 Cores: 16
    === Machine info ===
    OS version: Windows 7 6.1.7600
    OS prod type: 0
    OS major ver: 6
    OS minor ver: 1
    OS SP major ver: 0
    OS SP minor ver: 0
    OS is 64Bit: 1
    CPU: AuthenticAMD
    Brand: AMD Ryzen 7 1700 Eight-Core Processor
    Family: 15
    Model: 1
    Cores: 16
    HT: 0
    x64: 0
    Memory: 16334MB
    Free memory: 12841MB
    Computer: DESKTOP-632T89K
    === Graphics device info ===
    Number: 0
    Name (driver): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
    Name (database): GeForce GTX 1050 Ti [Found: 1, Matched: 1]
    Vendor: NVIDIA
    Chipset: Vendor: 10de, Device: 1c82, Board: 37641458, Chipset: 00a1
    Driver: nvldumd.dll, Version: 23.21.13.9101, GUID: D7B71E3E-5FC2-11CF-6554-69171BC2DA35
    Driver version: 9101
    Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
    Texture memory: 32MB <<OVERRIDE>>
    Vertex program: 3.0
    Pixel program: 3.0
    Hardware TnL: 1
  • Alex_SimsAlex_Sims Posts: 13 New Member
    h.t.t.p.s.://www19.zippyshare.com/v/6mTQZ1zT/file.html

    This picture shows my problem really well.
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited October 2018
    @Alex_Sims - Hmm. I think we really do need to back a step here. Yes, your 1050Ti is recognized, but it's showing with a GPU Memory Score of 1 (the lowest rank) which for that card would be ridiculously low, it should really be more like 3 or 4. And you are getting the 32 MB texture memory override. How did it come to be that this card is recognized? It can't be by the game itself without some help as has already been stated. If you edited the sgr files yourself or had help from someone else, I would have to say this wasn't done correctly. Do you still have the original sgr files so we can start over and try again?

    Note that going through this procedure might not help, but it certainly shouldn't hurt or make things any worse. I don't think you are getting as much performance out of that card as you could be.
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