Is this desktop okay with Sims 3? «12...Next Go

ZeeGee

Hi, I'm considering getting a new computer to play Sims 3. From what I can tell this one looks like it will get the job done very well but I know nothing about amd cards or any issues they might have so would like to get an expert's advice before I buy it.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypower-gaming-desktop-intel-core-i7-9700f-16gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-5700-xt-1tb-hard-drive-480gb-ssd-black/6370149.p?skuId=6370149

ScottDemon

That is good computer but the Radeon 5700 XT's tend to overheat causing performance to drop because of the high burst speeds they have. The sister card the Radeon 5700 doesn't have that problem as it lacks the high burst speeds the XT's have.
The 5700 XT's and the 5700 are essentially the same card just that the 5700 doesn't have the overheating problem and has slightly less performance.

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-5700-XT-vs-AMD-RX-5700/4045vs4046

ZeeGee

@ScottDemon Thank you. This system at Best Buy doesn't allow you to pick and choose components though. So I have another idea. Would this install okay on my current computer?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/amd-ryzen-5-3600-six-core-3-6-ghz-desktop-processor/6356278.p?skuId=6356278

Current system:
https://pastebin.com/kxR7s7Wp

ScottDemon

Now if this is only going to be used for the Sims 3 and even if you plan on getting other games this one can give you much more bang for your buck. The graphic card it has is very good comparable to a GTX 1060 6gb you can always upgrade that later if you decide you need more than what it has to offer.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-7-3700x-16gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-580-2tb-hard-drive-240gb-ssd-white/6362426.p?skuId=6362426

Here's a performence comparison between the 2 processors

https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Ryzen-7-3700X-vs-Intel-Core-i7-9700F/4043vsm816132

ScottDemon

ZeeGee wrote: »

@ScottDemon Thank you. This system at Best Buy doesn't allow you to pick and choose components though. So I have another idea. Would this install okay on my current computer?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/amd-ryzen-5-3600-six-core-3-6-ghz-desktop-processor/6356278.p?skuId=6356278

Current system:
https://pastebin.com/kxR7s7Wp

Nope that processor requires a Socket AM 4 or Socket AM 4+ motherboard.

ZeeGee

ScottDemon wrote: »

Now if this is only going to be used for the Sims 3 and even if you plan on getting other games this one can give you much more bang for your buck. The graphic card it has is very good comparable to a GTX 1060 6gb you can always upgrade that later if you decide you need more than what it has to offer.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-7-3700x-16gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-580-2tb-hard-drive-240gb-ssd-white/6362426.p?skuId=6362426

It is only for Sims 3, that's the only game I play. I have Subnautica but have never played it. This looks great and cheaper than the other! Except I'd like to have a 512 gb SSD to run Sims 3.

ScottDemon

ZeeGee wrote: »

ScottDemon wrote: »

Now if this is only going to be used for the Sims 3 and even if you plan on getting other games this one can give you much more bang for your buck. The graphic card it has is very good comparable to a GTX 1060 6gb you can always upgrade that later if you decide you need more than what it has to offer.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-7-3700x-16gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-580-2tb-hard-drive-240gb-ssd-white/6362426.p?skuId=6362426

It is only for Sims 3, that's the only game I play. I have Subnautica but have never played it. This looks great and cheaper than the other! Except I'd like to have a 512 gb SSD to run Sims 3.

Other than better loading times the Sims 3 doesn't really benefit from an SSD and you can always swap those out. Unless the Operating System is installed on the SSD that could be problem if it doesn't come with an install Disc.

ZeeGee

What about this one?


https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-5-3600-16gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-5700-1tb-hdd-512gb-ssd-white/6376550.p?skuId=6376550

ScottDemon

ZeeGee wrote: »

What about this one?


https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-5-3600-16gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-5700-1tb-hdd-512gb-ssd-white/6376550.p?skuId=6376550

Not bad the processor is slightly lower than the 3700X plus it has the 5700 I'd say go for it. I would evenually get a larger HDD or add another HDD.

https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Ryzen-7-3700X-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-3600/4043vs4040

ZeeGee

@ScottDemon But it's not the 5700 xt that you said overheated, right?

ScottDemon

ZeeGee wrote: »

@ScottDemon But it's not the 5700 xt that you said overheated, right?

Nope that's the sister card the Radeon 5700.

ZeeGee

@ScottDemon Ok, thanks for your help

ScottDemon

@ZeeGee you're welcome and glad I could help

puzzlezaddict

There's no reason you need to buy a whole new computer. Your i7-7700K will drive any GPU out there right now, up to and including a 2080 ti, not that there's any reason to have one. Your motherboard should support any new card as well. You might need a new power supply, depending on what you have now; if you're wondering, just look at the PSU and list its specs. And while your case may or may not fit a long GPU—be sure to measure—there are plenty of mid-range cards that come in compact form and would run TS3 on ultra settings.

The point is, you have a good system as it is, and replacing it so soon would be a waste. Besides, it's not clear at all whether this is specifically an Nvidia issue. It would be incredibly annoying to find that your brand-new computer had the same problems as the old one, not to mention all the money you'd spent for basically nothing.

By the way, if you do want a new computer at some point, configure a Cyberpower system. You can pick the card and the drives and everything else you could possibly want, instead of having to choose among premade options. It's certainly not cheaper than a prebuild, but then again you wouldn't have to compromise on any of the components.

If you want to test whether this is truly an Nvidia issue, you can try running TS3 on the Intel chip. (It would be slow and ugly, but it should run long enough for you to have a look.) You'd need to poke around in BIOS a bit, since the chip is disabled currently, but the setting should be accessible enough. If you're interested, I can give some general directions, with the caveat that BIOS settings, and even some of their names, change between manufacturers.

ScottDemon

puzzlezaddict wrote: »

If you want to test whether this is truly an Nvidia issue, you can try running TS3 on the Intel chip. (It would be slow and ugly, but it should run long enough for you to have a look.) You'd need to poke around in BIOS a bit, since the chip is disabled currently, but the setting should be accessible enough. If you're interested, I can give some general directions, with the caveat that BIOS settings, and even some of their names, change between manufacturers.

You don't have to go into the BIOS all you have to do is connect the monitor to the Intel chip. Your computer will automatically use whatever graphics card it's connected too.

ZeeGee

puzzlezaddict wrote: »

If you want to test whether this is truly an Nvidia issue, you can try running TS3 on the Intel chip. (It would be slow and ugly, but it should run long enough for you to have a look.) You'd need to poke around in BIOS a bit, since the chip is disabled currently, but the setting should be accessible enough. If you're interested, I can give some general directions, with the caveat that BIOS settings, and even some of their names, change between manufacturers.

@puzzlezaddict I actually have a Cyberpower now. Chesterbigbird put it together for me. So it's good to know that if changing the card would fix it I could do that. Yes please, can you give me directions to test on the i7? When I boot up my computer it goes to a screen that says 'press delete to go to BIOS' so I can definitely get into it. If you would just tell me what to do from there?

@ScottDemon I have no idea how to do that either.

I'll be back on tomorrow afternoon to try out any solutions offered. Thanks for your time.

ScottDemon

@ZeeGee it depends on the motherboard and the case but the on board graphics connection will be up with all the usb ports on the back it'll either be an old VGA, DVI or HDMI connection port.

puzzlezaddict

@ScottDemon The Intel chip isn't listed in the dxdiag under display devices, and there's no driver in system devices. So there's a good chance that connecting the monitor to the motherboard port wouldn't work without enabling the chip first.

@ZeeGee You can try just connecting the monitor to the board's DVI port. (The specs sheet says it has one.) It will have the same shape as the one you're currently using. If you don't know where to look, see this pic; the red arrow points to the board's ports:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues/MONITOR-WONT-DETECT-MY-DESKTOP/m-p/8517464#M236

If it doesn't work, just reconnect the monitor to its original port and then go looking in BIOS. Restart your computer, and hold down or press the Delete key when prompted. From here I'm guessing, because I can't see your system. Unless you have a BIOS guide handy, it would be better to describe exactly what you see rather than changing any settings for now.

Click Settings > Advanced > Integrated Graphics Configuration > Initiate Graphic Adapter, which is likely set to PEG by default. You can click on it to switch to IGD, which would tell the board to use the integrated graphics device. But I don't want to tell you to do that without knowing your settings. By the way, the IGD multi-monitor setting is to allow the card and chip to each run one or more monitors at the same time, so it might work too, but again, I don't want to recommend anything without knowing exactly what settings your version of BIOS offers.

ScottDemon

puzzlezaddict wrote: »

@ScottDemon The Intel chip isn't listed in the dxdiag under display devices, and there's no driver in system devices. So there's a good chance that connecting the monitor to the motherboard port wouldn't work without enabling the chip first.

If their computer was so old that they where still running XP or had a Pentium or Athlon you would be right. I have an old I3 2120 I just fired it up after connecting to the on board and well never had to into the BIOS and the on board kicked in and working fine. By the way my on board didn't show up in the dxdiag either.

The computer should automatically engage the on board during boot up when you connect it to a monitor.

ZeeGee

@puzzlezaddict Here's a pic of the Bios menu. Thank you



@ScottDemon Thanks for your help, but you're way over my head!

puzzlezaddict

I apologize for the delay. As much as I can read about BIOS settings, I didn't want to tell you to mess around without getting a consult, and also trying some stuff myself. I'd still be happy to help you play with your settings; in the above screenshot, you'd need to click Advanced at the top of the screen to get to the options I described. You could of course try just plugging the monitor into the motherboard port (shut down your computer first), but that doesn't always work. And yes, that comes from testing, not just speculation.

On the other hand, if you don't want to go to the trouble... I managed to test the game on an Intel UHD 630, the same chip in your processor. (It's been in all the high-end Intel CPUs for a few years now.) I got the chip recognized and played with the settings a bit. The color weirdness is still there, maybe even a bit worse than with the dedicated card running the game. It's worse on medium settings than on ultra, but ultra still looks bad. And 20 fps is fun too, especially with a ton of stutter, so I don't think it would be a viable option even if the colors looked better.

So if you want to test for yourself, let me know, and I'll help. But it looks like this is definitely a Windows issue, and not Nvidia. It's also not a 1903 issue, since I tested on a fully updated 1809. I might have access to a less-than-fully updated Windows install, but that will have to wait.

I will say this whole process was fun though, once I stopped worrying so much. I'm even reasonably sure I didn't break my computer.

ScottDemon

puzzlezaddict wrote: »

So if you want to test for yourself, let me know, and I'll help. But it looks like this is definitely a Windows issue, and not Nvidia. It's also not a 1903 issue, since I tested on a fully updated 1809. I might have access to a less-than-fully updated Windows install, but that will have to wait.

I will say this whole process was fun though, once I stopped worrying so much. I'm even reasonably sure I didn't break my computer.

I know someone with 1803 and they have the same problem. It's was found to be a Windows issue earlier as it also affects other games.
https://www.nraas.net/community/chatterbox/topic8132/o30

I have 1909 and it's even worse.

ZeeGee

@puzzlezaddict Thank you so much for all your testing. I don’t need to test for myself. I have confidence in your results. I guess there is no solution then unless Windows fixes what they’ve broken and I don’t see much hope for that.

LauraLee_Gillion

Hi there, I don’t know how create a separate discussion but I have the same question as ZeeGee. I’m planning to buy a desktop and was wondering if these Features are good to play sims 3? I basically have all the expansion packs and quite a lot of CC.

Standard Features Include:
AMD Athlon 3000G Socket AM4 (3.5GHz, 4MB Cache, 4x Threads, 3.5GHz Turbo) APU
AMD A320 Micro-ATX AM4 DDR4 USB3.1 HDMI, AMD RYZEN Motherboard
Integrated AMD Radeon VEGA 3 Sesries DirectX 12 Graphics
8GB DDR4 2666MHz High Performance Gaming RAM
1TB HDD 7200rpm 64MB Cache High Performance Hard Drive
Black Case with 400W Power Supply
24x Dual Layer DVD +/- Writer
Supports Dual Monitor Display
Integrated 8 CH High Defination Sound Card
Integrated Gigabit LAN Card - Broadband Ready

ZeeGee

@LauraLee_Gillion Hi! And welcome to the forums. You can't post a thread cause you're a new member but there's a thread for new members to ask for help if no one responds here.

Here's the thread: https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/893122/thread-for-new-members-to-post-their-sims-3-game-issues#latest

puzzlezaddict

@LauraLee_Gillion As ZeeGee mentioned, there's a dedicated thread for new members to ask questions.

But for this specific question, the answer is no, that computer probably wouldn't handle Sims 3 well at all. The base game might run okay, and an early expansion or two, and stuff packs, but the integrated graphics chip is nowhere near fast enough to handle the most demanding EPs. Some people with this kind of hardware find they can't play at all; others technically can but get constant crashing, even on low settings.

If you'd like help picking out a new computer, just list your budget and country, as well as any other considerations that matter to you. However, I'm not sure there's a good option in the price range of the system you've been considering. The cheapest models with this kind of hardware are considerably less expensive than any laptop or desktop that would run Sims 3 well. But whatever your price range, I'll have a look and see if there's something that would work.