What do upgrade to play the sims 2.

My sister wants to upgrade her computer so it can play the sims 2. Right now its not good enough cause its only a pentium 3.

The Specs:
Pentium 3 500mhz
512mb ram
Sapphire ATI Radeon 9250 128MB 128 Bit DDR AGP 8X Video Card
40gb hd.

I'm thinking only an upgrade of the motherboard and proccessor. Anything within 200 dollars for the pair.

 

Do you already have an ATX PSU & Case?

mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128259

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103443

 

Yeah, the CPU is slowing you down. See how much faster of a CPU your current motherboard can support. Your video card will be holding you back, too, 'cause the old saying is "Your PC is only as fast as its slowest part."

In other words, if you get a top of the line processor, it's still going to suck because that video card is... well, poop. I have never played Sims 2, but it seems to be fairly system intensive. If at all possible, you probably want to get a new video card as well. My guess is that your motherboard won't support much more than that 500MHz CPU. Probably not even a 1.0GHz. You may want to check these out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130252
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819104251
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813152054

That's a new CPU, video card, and motherboard for $208. That will handle games much better, plus you'll have PCI-Express and a 64-bit CPU.

If it is a manufactured PC (Dell, HP, etc. etc.) with Windows pre-installed on it, you'll get an error about needing to activate Windows. Basically, Windows has a point system and if you change too much hardware, Windows considers it to be a "new computer," thus it wants you to buy a new copy of Windows (this is with XP, assuming that is what you have, if not, then disregard this paragraph). I had an HP once and I changed some stuff out, I just called HP and read them the serial number off of the physical computer box and they gave me a new activation code. If you have no idea what I'm talking about with Windows activation, try a Google search with "Windows activation"

If you can spare the $208 and think you can install it without trouble (easy if you know what you're doing... research will make it easy if you are unfamiliar) I would recommend those three products.

If you have XP: But make sure you know how to get a new activation code if you have an OEM copy of Windows XP (If someone built the PC for you, contact them and ask them if it's an OEM copy of Windows XP)

Sorry my post is so long. I tend to do that-- hope you can sort through it.

Good luck

 

HERE are the minimum requirements, and also a tool to check your PC.

Your video card is supported, but your processor (CPU) is well under the minimum.

You may be able to get away with it, but you really need an upgrade.

However, your hardware is too dated, so you would be better off building or buying a new complete PC.

 

I also forgot to mention that I am canadian. I have just upped the budget to 400 bucks. You can look on www.tigerdirect.ca.

The video card is brand new because I was planning to put it in another computer but it wasn't compatible. I'm also only asking for motherboard and processor only. Not top of the line, just enough to play the sims 2 at a decent resolution.

 

Don't worry, we all have our problems.


Your video card is AGP, which is slowly being phased out, and most motherboards these days are PCI-Xpress.

You can either sell your card and build a whole new system, or build the system around the current video card.

No matter which way you go though, you will need new RAM and CPU, as your current hardware is to old to fit on modern motherboards.

Your hard drive will also slow the system down, so you would need a new drive.

As I said earlier, you can't really use parts from this PC because it's too old.

 

Brand new is not what I need. I need decent. Doesn't have to be brand spanking new technology. The video card is good enough. The ram is good enough. A proccessor and motherboard will do me good. I know I know, my motherboard is too crappy and I know I know, my processor is too old. I don't need advice, I need a good pair that is compatible and will work good.

 

Let's start again.

What parts do you want to reuse in the "new" system?

 

Everything except for the motherboad and proccessor.

 

You will be held back by the RAM as new RAM is DDR, whereas yours is SD RAM.

My advice is to change the RAM also. If not, then look at second hand as there aren't many SD RAM boards.

HERE are some, but make sure they have an AGP slot.

If you are willing to change RAM, then ASUS do a P5P800 which has AGP.

MSI do a 915PL NEO-V which has both PCI Xpress and an AGP slot.

Both boards are Intel, and are very well priced for the features, and you can combine them with a Celeron chip.

You may however, run into some hurdles like your current case (tower) and power supply, which is why I suggested second hand.

Personally, I would look in the Buy and Sell section.

 

If you have SD RAM you will not be able to use a modern processor and mobo and will not be able to run Sims 2.

 

Ok, thanks for the advice. How about a mobo, proccessor and memory combo?

 

Chances are you will need a new Power Supply as well. Probably Something at least 350W.

Here is what I would suggest:

Motherboard/CPU ($250): http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1538033&CatId=1181

RAM ($120): http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1170139

Power Supply ($60): http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1389575&CatId=0

Total is about $450, but you may or may not need the power supply. It just depends on what you currently have. If you have a 300W or less, no-name PSU, you will definitely want a new one. If you have a 300W or better, name brand (Antec, Enermax, PCP&C, Thermaltake, etc.) then you should be fine.

 

Thanks Wyatt. Sounds like a good deal. Came out to $485.61

If anyone else has a better deal please feel free to suggest it.

 

Depending on where in Canada you live, I have found both memoryexpress.com and vibecomputers.com to have really prices beating out NCIX most of the time and tiger direct 50% of the time. Both of those are good if you are out west. Out East I have no clue.

 

I live on the pacific coast. I'll look at those sites to compare prices.

 

Yeah west coast I recomend Vibe, they are in Burnaby.