Windows Seven Ult. 64Bit
Samsung SyncMaster P2770 27" Monitor
Asus L1N64-WS Sli (680a) Motherboard
(2) Amd Athlon 64 FX74 Dual Core @ 5.025 gig
(2) EVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra 768Mb PCIe-Sli Mode
(2) WD 150Gb RaptorX @10,000 rpm
8Gb OCZ PC2 6400 Gold Edition @ 4-4-4-12 Memory
1200W Toughpower

My laptop:
Windows 7
Intel Core i7 2720QM 2.2GHz (3.3GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (4DIMMS)
1.5GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
750GB 7,200RPM HDD
17.3-inch WideHD+ 1600 x 900 60Hz WLED

I had just the base game, but my boyfriend bought me all the EPs and the outdoor stuff pack last night. I run all settings at max. I was sure even on this comp, TS3 would run like crap lol...I was so used to having a computer that can barely handle TS2 because I abandoned desktops in favor of laptops years ago. Now all my Sims games run insanely fast - worth the upgrade, I'd think!

Here's my laptop. (The only computer I've got atm, my desktop died.)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Processor: AMD Athlon Processor TF-20 ~1.6GHz
Memory: 3GB RAM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 3200
Sims Games Installed: Ambitions and Late Night
I'm not too savvy with the hardware aspects of computers, but yeah.
I usually run Sims at low-medium settings averaging 11-15 fps.
Anyone have tips on improving the performance of Sims? It kind of sucks that I can't have more than 7 Sims onscreen at a time without terrible lagging.

Bought it last summer. It runs everything on high settings. I have all expansion packs. It stays really cool too and it's more quiet than I expected it to be.

RAM: G.SKILL F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH Ripjaws PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7-21 Core i5 1.5V Memory Kit
Motherboard: Asus P7P55-LX Ddr3 Pcie Core I7
HDD: Western Digital 500g Sata 32 Megs Caviar Black
CPU: Intel Core i5 750 (2.6G) 8 Megs LGA 1156
Power Supply: Antec Earth Power 650 Watts
Monitor: LG 21.5" LCD W2243T-PF 1920x1080 30000:1 5Ms
Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5
Graphic: Gigabyte Radeon HD5670 1GB
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

This computer is one I've been working on for 2+ years, and it's my pride and joy. The worst thing about it is the GPU, which isn't that bad.

RAM: (Forgot the brand :P) 12GB (3x4GB DDR3-1333)
Motherboard: Asus P6X58D-E with i7 support
HDD: 750GB HDD SATA
CPU: Intel Core i7 950 (4 hyperthreaded cores, each at 3.1GHz)
PSU: 750 Watts
Monitor: Dell 21.5" 1920x1080
Case: Cooler Master HAF (High Air Flow)
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium x64.

Also, runs everything I throw at it at max settings with no drop in FPS (With the occasional stuttering in Crysis, but w/e)

Hmm. I love my laptop (mostly cause towards the end of my Xp desktop's life I was about to take an axe to the thing)...

Anways, here's the specs:

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Brand: Toshiba
Processor: AMD Athlon II P320 Dual-Core,~2.1Ghz
Memory : 4GB RAM
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 Series

I have all of my settings on max, but I have a cooling pad under it while playing the Sims. Just about the only time I have to use the cooling pad.

I bought my current gaming rig in 2004, and I've been experiencing problems with it so I can no longer play. However, I plan on building my first custom pc soon to suit my casual gaming lifestyle and professional needs.

Current PC: Dell Dimension XPS Gen 5
CPU: Pentium 4 w/ HT @3.4Ghz
GPU: Radeon X850 Platinum
RAM: 5GB
HDD: 7200RPM 140GB
PSU: 420W (Approx.)
Monitor: 17" 1280x1024

When the game DID like to run, I would get a barely playable experience with average-to-low settings.

New PC Build:
Case: Corsair 600T or NZXT Phantom (Black)
Motherboard: P8P67 Deluxe
CPU: Core i7 2600K OC @ 4+Ghz
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 560Ti SOC 1Gb VRAM
RAM: 8GB G.SKILL 1600
PSU: Cooler Master 1000w 80 Plus Gold
SSD: Plextor 64GB SATA III (Boot Drive)
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 750GB 7200RPM (Storage)

In total, my new system will cost me about $2,000 with a monitor... More, if I go with a 2560x1440-1600 resolution (27" or 30") Lol

Update. I'm still running this rig:



Since then I've used a GLORIOUS little program that will overclock your graphics card for you called MSI Afterburner . Easiest thing in the world to use. I chose to overclock mine a modest 15% and it still runs cool as ice (I think my computer automatically limits temperature to 47°C/116°F before it winds down performance anyway.)

I then used The Sims 3 Graphics Performance Guide to find a good balance, and I've boosted the following settings:

- Enable Reflections: Mirrors & Super Water
- Lighting and Shadows: High
- Edge Smoothing: High
- Draw Distance: High

I'm now getting 20-35 FPS to boot.

I'm convinced if I overclocked it another 5-10% or so I could run it all on high without my computer even feeling the stress. However, I played with the settings earlier (using the graphics performance guide in conjunction) and made my own before/after screenshots of high vs med details, and couldn't see any significant quality improvement. So, I'm happy with what I've got.

I recommend the above method. Great way to squeeze out some extra juice.

Edit: Tried that extra 10%, all settings on high, running like a dream, computer is still barely warm. Very pleased.

Are you using just stock cooling on that thing?

Would I be able to use the MSI Afterburner even if my Card isn't from MSI?

Nevermind, I got my answer. Thanks for the tip, it was really useful!

I'm not using anything other than what's already in the laptop, but my laptops got pretty decent specs though (other than the graphics card).

I personally don't need it, but I imagine if someone was planning to seriously overclock a less capable one, there's always cooling pads and extra fans you can buy. My sister has a neat little gizmo that props up her laptop and fans extra air into it to bring the temp down.

Processor: intel core i5-2500k @ 3.30ghz
Ram: 4 gb
Video: Nvidia Gt 240
Monitor: 1280 x 720 viewsonic

i dont know what's wrong actually, but my sim resolution is ugly.. stretchy... there's no 1280 x 720 reso in the option.. my sim looks fat..

I have a Dell XPS M1530 laptop.

Vista Home Premium 32-bit
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T6400 @ 2.00GHz
3070MB ram
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT

I have all EPs and SPs.

My game runs pretty well but XPS's are known for overheating so I have a frame limiter that I limit to 30FPS and I use a cooling pad. With these two things running my game experience improved dramatically.

I have sim detail on very high, lighting high, shadows medium, textures on medium, advanced rendering, reflections but not super water, smooth edges is about two notches up. The only thing that slows the game down dramatically is the draw distance so I keep it as low as possible.

What does overclocking mean?

You do realize overclocking that thing will reduce the life of the machine don't you? Just some friendly advice

Every CPU has a clock speed, which basically says how many operations (and by extension, ultimately the number of calculations) per second it can perform. That's why a higher MHz and GHz rating is good.

Actually, each CPU has a clock speed rating, which is the speed the manufacturer (generally AMD or Intel) says the CPU can run and remain stable. Much like how an engine has a horsepower rating.


It's possible to make the CPU perform at a clock speed which is higher than it was rated. Through doing so, you can get more performance out of the same CPU. However, there are downsides.

Doing so sometimes requires boosting the voltage supplied to the CPU (particularly if the additional % of clock speed is significant), and the CPU also produces more heat, increasing the odds of overheating and failure. Therefore, it often requires upgrading the cooling system used to remove heat from the CPU. Overclocking also has the potential of instability, so crashing is more likely.

I consider it an advanced technique that shouldn't be attempted by anyone unless they know exactly what they are doing.

Yeah, thus why I only have the overclocking settings running when I'm playing the game (which is very intermittently. Just watch, I'll be bored of it by next week again). When I'm done I set it back to normal and close Afterburner down.

That said though, would you recommend I not do it at all? I'm not overclocking it by much (I think), and my laptop doesn't appear to struggle in the slightest, but now you've got me wondering.

If you're just adjusting the clock settings when you game it shoudln't be that much of a problem. Overclocking is not a problem for those who know how to do it, but I'd never recommend overclocking a laptop. Most people who overclock are PC people because you can add extra cooling. Your machine generally won't show any struggle from overclocking, when a problem comes it'll probably just crash out of the blue. Generally you're ok until you start noticing frequent crashing

Have an HP desktop. It's actually pretty buggy. I have a hard time buying a computer that doesn't have a crappy bugged out motherboard. I'll likely build my own next time. But anyway...

(Getting this info from dxdiag)
Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 (Wish I had Win7.. But don't want to bother doing a clean install WHICH I NEED.)
Intel Core i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
6134MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 (Need to update my drivers)
Display Memory: 3813 MB
Dedicated Memory: 1001 MB
Shared Memory: 2811 MB
With a crappy "HD" integrated sound card. (By Realtek)


I can actually play the game with everything on full, but it stutters.. Everything will stop for a second or two, then start again. I'm not even sure why.. it SHOULDN'T BE doing that, but it does. :\

ps: Uhm... is my computer a little excessive? It really didn't cost as much as it seems. We got it on sale.. It was half price custom built @ hp. We got really lucky. (But like I said, I'm going to build my own next time...)

Dell Inspiron m501r

Phenom II x4 1.6ghz
Radeon HD 550v 1gb dedicated ram
4gb of ram
500gb hdd @ 5400rpm
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

And it all plays Sims 3 without a hitch, unlike my old desktop

Pentium Dual-Core e2200
Intel GMA 950
2gb ram
Windows XP Pro
and a whole wopping 160gb of harddrive space :P

And i got lucky hehe new rig comming next week

What do you guys think of it?

mobo : asus M4A77TD
Processor : Athlon II X4 quad core 3.1GHz
RAM : 4GB ddr3 (2x2GB for dual channel)
Video: EVGA GeForce 9500GT DDR2 1GB

All the rest will be the same of mi old one

Hmm,
I play on a Dell Inspiron 1720 i believe. Anyways, it is a 3 yo laptop with a 1.8 core 2 duo, 2.5 gigs of ram, and an Nvidia Geforce 8600 GT. Was pretty good in the day but mediocre now.
Anyways oddly enough I play with most all settings on high and a few very high like sim detail and texture details. Reflections are on and draw distance is pretty high. I have all expansions and stuff packs except OL, well I have it but am afraid to install it. I use several Twallan mods like Master Controller, Overwatch and Story Progression. Everything plays flawlessly with little to no lag. A little nervous about the upcoming expansion, but until my computer can't play, I am not going to upgrade.

Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.110408-1631)
System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
System Model: HP Pavilion dv2700 Notebook PC
BIOS: Ver 1.00PARTTBL8
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83GHz (2 CPUs), ~1.8GHz
Memory: 2048MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Display Devices
Card name: Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
Display Memory: 358 MB

I guess this is it, it seems my processor is more appropriate for the office work than gaming. it becomes worse because I only have onboard graphic so I have to sacrifice a lot of display setting to play sims 3 , I'm considering building a desktop devoted to sims and this thread is a helpful references.
Otherwise, I want to upgrade my processor to Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 2.53G/6M/1066-Penryn, I think it's compatible because they both use socket P, do you guy think the processor upgrade can actually boost the game's speed, my friends argue with me that without dedicated graphic card, maybe my upgrade is just a waste

@noxnoxnox

I`m not sure if u can change the processor on a notebook, but I dont think its possible...
I´d say build a desktop gaming rig that would be much easier to upgrade and much more
cheap if you choose each component yourself.

Anyways just the better processor would not do much for you,because then the video card
will became the system bottleneck...

Hope it helped

I can replace the laptop's cpu, but I'm afraid of what you said too, I think the card is essential for rendering amazing 3D/texture in the sims 3.
But I only play Sims 3 and live in a small apartment, so I still pause when thinking about a separate desktop for the game.
oh, this is so heart-breaking

I agree about the desktop being more upgradable, I was playing on a laptop since I started playing the sims because of space limitations. But I just received a custom built desktop PC that I ordered a few weeks ago. I didn't feel experienced enough to build my own; plan is to upgrade parts as needed to gain experience so the next PC I will likely build myself from scratch. Already had to learn how to switch out the GPU - came with a bad card.

Specs:

CoolerMaster 690 II Adv case
Windows 7 Home Prem 64 bit
i7 2600k processor, 3.4 GHz stock speed
Gigabyte MoBo P67A-UD4-B3
8 GB DDR3 RAM 1600 (saving up for 16 GBs and the third thing I'll replace after a new monitor)
1 GB NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti
Corsair 750 watt PSU
1 TB Sata II 7200 RPM HD (the weakest link and the first thing I'll replace)

My laptop was a pretty nice one but I definitely see a performance increase with this.