THAT HOUSE O.O Where do you live? I am so coming over and stealing your computer if it can handle a house like that! It's beautiful and huge! XD Love the update, tho I'm sorta sad Geordi isn't heir. He looks like he'd make beautiful babies. But then Q is cute too so it works out XD
Wisconsin! But no stealy! *clings to Optimus* I just bought him! He is my baby! D:
I was also sad that Geordi couldn't be heir...but he was completely not related to the bloodline, so it's against the rules. D: But he did make some good-looking childrens with Yuna! :D
Aw, that's too far away! Darnit! XD But seriously, where did you get him? I'm been searching for a new comp and it's all Greek to me half the time.
Yeah, after I posted that, I thought about it, and realized where he came from. That sucks, but I'm glad he's being put to good use making some kids with Yuna! XD
I got it from ibuypower.com, which is slightly pricey (as custom built computers tend to be), but you can pick and choose everything you want, which is awesome. And was especially nice for me, because you get to choose your operating system! And since I have a Windows XP disk, I saved $138 by just buying a clean hard drive. :D
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THANK YOU so much, that was such simple language and makes it easier for me to narrow down my search. I have a kinda crappy computer now, so I'm worried I will miss out on something for the new one and be stuck right back at square one. But now that I know what to focus mostly on, I should be good. I'll check out ibuypower.com too. Thank you!
No problem, that exact thing happened to me, where I didn't know what I needed to make the game run well, and ended up buying a laptop for $700 that didn't even do that well, and overheated a lot. A year later I ended up buying my new one, for $800 total (includes parts, labor, shipping, and warranty). :P So I know how important it is, and how damnedly hard it is to find clear information on what you need to run the darn game, lol.
I was hoping I could bug ya with a question. Would any Radeons be fine? Looking through a website for computers, it appears that for a particular model I like, I only have an option of a Radeon HD 3650 256 MB or Radeon HD 2600 XT 256 MB (and well a few others I was able to elimate because of the MB). Neither are listed in the requirements for the Sims, I think because they're new(er). Do you think either would be ok? Or should I really stick to what video cards are listed at EA's website?
I had at ATI Radeon Xpress with 128MB in my old laptop, it wasn't the best. My old laptop didn't run the game amazingly well on large lots or with many sims, but it also only had a 1.7GHz processor, so that was probably the issue more than the graphics card.
I'd personally rather go with a more commercial brand, but if money's an issue (when is it not?), than I'm sure Radeon would be fine. It's just not as good. Higher model numbers should be better. :D
Desktops all the way. I would love an awesome laptop, but that's sorta out of the price range (and with my current desktop getting wonky, I probably need another desktop to hold all of this one's crap).
Someone else recommanded to me Dell, so I was surfing there, trying to get a good balance and it seems those two cards were the best there :/ I tried looking at ibuypower, but damn, I didn't realize just how much you could customize it! Motherboards and stuff? Over my poor little head. Did you, when you got yours, more or less pick the default options they preselected (aside from the RAM, video card, etc, the important-er stuff)?
Oh, I have to recommend NOT getting a Dell for desktops. Their laptops are fine, but if you want to upgrade a Dell desktop, you can't do it anywhere but Dell because their parts aren't compatible with other computers. And they tend to take advantage of non-computer-literate people by selling them a ton of stuff they don't need.
And yeah, I don't know anything about motherboards or anything, so I just went with mostly defaults, and only customized the stuff I cared about. The nice thing about desktops is that even if I find out that my power source is crappy, I can replace it, and the one that I got with my computer was free, so it's no skin off my nose, really.
And they tend to take advantage of non-computer-literate people by selling them a ton of stuff they don't need. Oh yes, I definitely feared that. Or the other extreme and getting absolutely nothing worthwhile because they reassured me nothing important is needed for the sims. Which I know isn't true, but yeah. I never knew that about the parts tho, so that's good to hear! I would have hated to only be able to find something at one place (so no shopping around for the better deal).
Yeah that's also why I was gonna go for defaults for things I really didn't care about. Like the metal case the computer's tower is in? It could be pink with purple polkadots for all I care, as long as it protects everything good. XD Thank you for everything~
Ok! One last question, I think. I've pieced together a computer and my only doubt is the video card (well, and the motherboard but I don't know anybody who knows about that stuff). "NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX 512 MB w/DVI +TV Out Video" sound good? I don't see it on the list, but then the higher numbers and GTX I thought meant it was a better card?
That should certainly be sufficient. One thing I've found with ibuypower.com is that pretty much 100% of the time, if it's more expensive, it's better. The only exception is the accessories, like keyboards/mice/speakers, because that's really a matter of opinion.
I did a quick google search on "NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX" and from what I've read, that's a seriously epic card. It should definitely do you good. :D
Oh, and one note about the tower it comes in: make sure you're choosing a tower with at least 420MW power supply. Some of them come with only 400, and since you can usually find one with 420 for the same price, you'll want to do that.
Quick question, which option did you build the computer under? The "Intel Core Duo Configurator"?
I did a quick google search on "NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX" and from what I've read, that's a seriously epic card. It should definitely do you good. :D
WOOT! Thank you for checking up on it, I always doubt myself when it comes to these things :D;
Oh, and one note about the tower it comes in: make sure you're choosing a tower with at least 420MW power supply.
Yeah, I really liked the first tower--simple black with no flashing lights or something else equally weird, but I noticed the power was low, and most of the others were 420 so I went back to the default, the "Tuniq Symmetry I Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply".
Quick question, which option did you build the computer under? The "Intel Core Duo Configurator"?
The, uh, Intel Custom Build Configurator. Then I went for the highest duo processor, since you said no need for quads and to make sure the ghz/cache ratio is good. So I went with "Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E8500 (2x 3.16GHz/6MB L2 Cache/1333FSB)".
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E8500 (2x 3.16GHz/6MB L2 Cache/1333FSB) That's probably a little higher than you'll need. Optimus is from the same base configuration, and I decided to get the 3.0GHz with 6MB cache instead because according to mostly everyone I asked, it wasn't worth the extra $50-$60 for the .16 GHz difference.
And yeah, I definitely wanted to get one with no lights. I don't remember the tower I ended up getting, but it looks like a Transformer. Hence the name Optimus. :P
"I decided to get the 3.0GHz with 6MB cache instead because according to mostly everyone I asked, it wasn't worth the extra $50-$60 for the .16 GHz difference."
Oh very true, the extra .16 isn't all that much. Sneaky little bastards trying to get people to make that one look better and convince more people to get it LOL
And I think I got one with a blue glow to it, I'm not sure. Maybe I just bought myself a glorified light night LOL
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I was also sad that Geordi couldn't be heir...but he was completely not related to the bloodline, so it's against the rules. D: But he did make some good-looking childrens with Yuna! :D
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Yeah, after I posted that, I thought about it, and realized where he came from. That sucks, but I'm glad he's being put to good use making some kids with Yuna! XD
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I had at ATI Radeon Xpress with 128MB in my old laptop, it wasn't the best. My old laptop didn't run the game amazingly well on large lots or with many sims, but it also only had a 1.7GHz processor, so that was probably the issue more than the graphics card.
I'd personally rather go with a more commercial brand, but if money's an issue (when is it not?), than I'm sure Radeon would be fine. It's just not as good. Higher model numbers should be better. :D
Reply
Someone else recommanded to me Dell, so I was surfing there, trying to get a good balance and it seems those two cards were the best there :/ I tried looking at ibuypower, but damn, I didn't realize just how much you could customize it! Motherboards and stuff? Over my poor little head. Did you, when you got yours, more or less pick the default options they preselected (aside from the RAM, video card, etc, the important-er stuff)?
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And yeah, I don't know anything about motherboards or anything, so I just went with mostly defaults, and only customized the stuff I cared about. The nice thing about desktops is that even if I find out that my power source is crappy, I can replace it, and the one that I got with my computer was free, so it's no skin off my nose, really.
Reply
Yeah that's also why I was gonna go for defaults for things I really didn't care about. Like the metal case the computer's tower is in? It could be pink with purple polkadots for all I care, as long as it protects everything good. XD Thank you for everything~
Reply
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I did a quick google search on "NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX" and from what I've read, that's a seriously epic card. It should definitely do you good. :D
Oh, and one note about the tower it comes in: make sure you're choosing a tower with at least 420MW power supply. Some of them come with only 400, and since you can usually find one with 420 for the same price, you'll want to do that.
Quick question, which option did you build the computer under? The "Intel Core Duo Configurator"?
Reply
WOOT! Thank you for checking up on it, I always doubt myself when it comes to these things :D;
Oh, and one note about the tower it comes in: make sure you're choosing a tower with at least 420MW power supply.
Yeah, I really liked the first tower--simple black with no flashing lights or something else equally weird, but I noticed the power was low, and most of the others were 420 so I went back to the default, the "Tuniq Symmetry I Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply".
Quick question, which option did you build the computer under? The "Intel Core Duo Configurator"?
The, uh, Intel Custom Build Configurator. Then I went for the highest duo processor, since you said no need for quads and to make sure the ghz/cache ratio is good. So I went with "Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E8500 (2x 3.16GHz/6MB L2 Cache/1333FSB)".
Reply
That's probably a little higher than you'll need. Optimus is from the same base configuration, and I decided to get the 3.0GHz with 6MB cache instead because according to mostly everyone I asked, it wasn't worth the extra $50-$60 for the .16 GHz difference.
And yeah, I definitely wanted to get one with no lights. I don't remember the tower I ended up getting, but it looks like a Transformer. Hence the name Optimus. :P
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Oh very true, the extra .16 isn't all that much. Sneaky little bastards trying to get people to make that one look better and convince more people to get it LOL
And I think I got one with a blue glow to it, I'm not sure. Maybe I just bought myself a glorified light night LOL
Reply
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