It can actually help if the Operating System is taking away a large amount of RAM, I usually have only 3GB (or so out of 4GB) RAM available.
That, and I need to upgrade anyway as music production and digital art likes to eat all the RAM, but that's going off topic.

So here are the final specs (think these are all of the things... let me know if I've missed anything out):

Intel Core i5 4440 3.10GHz Socket 1150 GMB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
EXDisplay Assus B85M-E Socket 1150 DVI HDMI 8-Channel HD mATX Motherboard
Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3 1600MHz C11 XMS3 (x2)
Seagate 2TB BARRACUDA 3.5" SATA-II Hard Drive - 72000PRM 64MB Cache
Corsair CX 430W Fully Wired 80+ Bronze Power Supply
MSI GTX 770 Gaming 2GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card
Windows 8.1 OS

p.s. I'm sure you can tell I'm pretty much clueless so I thought I'd just include every little detail; I'm sure most of that /\ wasn't needed (in terms of being listed..)

Yeah, that ought to do it! Personally I'd add as much RAM as you can afford, and go with a SSD for your main drive (it can be small - mine is 250 gigs but can even go for 50 or 100) for Windows and major installs of things you want to run fast/well, plus a larger SATA storage drive for other stuff that is not as important speed-wise. But that will add significantly to the cost.

That was recommended to me but I feel it may be a later purchase and/or my Christmas present. Me and my bank balance are on precarious terms; one more purchase may result in a divorce.

Thanks for the advice!

I think it's possible to run the game with all the EPs & SPs with a bunch of mods free of lags or freeze regardless what spec PC you have because I have tested it on both different spec of PCs and it just work fine on both PC with all EPs (except Pets, Supernatural, and ITF) installed and all SPs and ton of mods installed, but first there few things to do in order to get free of lags and freeze. It maybe not 100% free lags but I dare to say it's 99.9% free of lags

And here's what I did to run the game with all the EPs & SPs with a bunch of mods and it's free of lags or freeze:

1. After you install all the EPs and SPs (from fresh/clean install), you need to patch it to 1.67 patch.
2. Replace all the world map files with the ones that has been fixed by ellacharmed
3. Now run the game for the 1st time (without any mods) via the launcher to create the necessary folders in your documents folder under Electronics Art folder
4. At the menu, click option to setup your graphic setting accordingly, don't forget to set your display monitor to 60 hz
5. After you done setting the option menu, exit the game to save your configurations setting.
6. Now installing the mods, before installing the mods, you need to combined your mods files using S3PE, I combined my mods files into few categories such cars, hairs, clothes, core mods, etc I did this by following the instructions from http://modthesims.info/wiki.php?tit...Graphics_Issues
7. If you're using awesome mod, you will need the latest patched (1.67) and don't combined awesome mod and awesome config into other combined files mods.
8. I also used No Memory mods to disabled sims memory from Generations EP that made the game so laggy, (combined it into core mods category)
9. Install your mods, install fps limiter or 3booter and you're good to go

My 1st PC spec are: (before I sold it to trade it)

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T @ 3.3Ghz
Asus M5A78L-M LX V2 motherboard
16 GB DDR3 of RAM
Nvidia Asus GTS250DK
Corsair 128 GB SSD (No hard drive)
Acer X223HQ LCD Monitor @ 1920x1080 HD
Windows 7 64-bit

My 2nd spec are:

Intel Core 2 Quads Q9650 @ 3Ghz
Asus P5P43TD motherboard
16 GB DDR3 of RAM
Nvidia Asus GTX680 TOP
Corsair 128 GB SSD (No hard drive)
Acer X223HQ LCD Monitor @ 1920x1080 HD
Windows 7 64-bit

I even test running all of them on my netbook Lenovo E135, AMD E2000 1.75Ghz with 8GB of rams and 128GB ADATA SSD, it runs well on 1366x768 resolution just like it did on my PC, the only issue I have is the saved game loading time in my netbook due to its processor speed and its small L2 cache memory.

So in my opinion, you don't have to have high-end spec computers to run TS3 with all its EPs SPs and mods, just follow the technical guide from MTS at the link above, it helps me a lot, (thank you MTS), the higher spec of your PC will only help to reduce the saved game(s) loading time, and yes the SSD also helps to reduce the lags a lot compares to hard drive with the same specs, the only lag and freeze I have is only when the game reachs 3.00 AM TS3 local time

PS: Once again thank you MTS for the technical guide you provided, it works great for me :D

High spec PCs don't just help with loading times, but also with general smoothness moving through the world, being able to run big and complex worlds with tons of lots and sims in them, to run big and complex lots with many levels and chock full of stuff and often more than 8 sims, and also just with the game looking a lot prettier. There are many PCs that can run the game okay at low resolution, low graphics settings, small worlds, small lots, few sims, etc... but if you're gonna build a PC to play games, it's usually worth going for something robust if you can afford it (or at least *snort* with a good foundation, and upgradable down the line) - not only does it help in performance, but it will mean your PC will meet or exceed the system requirements for other games for a much longer time before it's obsolete.

My understanding is that most of the NRAAS mods are now non-core, so they don't conflict with AwesomeMod? I could be wrong though. Anyway, I have AwesomeMod, MasterController, Overwatch, Traveller, and I think(?) ErrorTrap and haven't had problems. AwesomeMod comes with a tuning file when you download and the NRAAS mods are done in a way that lets you pick and choose which groups of features you want, so combined you can fine tune your mods pretty well

Awesomemod works well with all the Nraas mods I've tried, including Error Trap which is also a core mod. You do have to download the configuration file for it separately. Just Google "Awesomemod configuration" to find the setup/download page.

A few other things I run that I don't think have been mentioned so far...

nvidia Inspector(not associated with nvidia) I use this to limit my frame rates, mostly. It comes with built in presets for Sims 3 and a bunch of other popular games. The only other adjustment I've made to the preset is to turn FXAA on. This app is like a tool box for tweaking your games. Ohhh...and it's free!

I also run CleanMem which is a utility to free up memory that works well, I think I paid $4 for that one. It has an exclusion list that I use for games that are stable, but I don't trust EA, so I don't whitelist their exe files. It has a timer and a percentage setting. I'm set to clean memory every five minutes if I'm using 15% or more of my RAM.

And I use ellacharmed's cleaned Paradise world. I still get 1 or 2 unroutable sim's a day, but it's better than it was without it.

Edit: One other thing I use old nvidia drivers(314.22) because all later versions are crash prone...this is a known issue.

I'm late to pipe in, but an SSD really does make a big difference. The good news is, it's an easy upgrade down the road when finances permit. I just did that on a new gaming box where the SSD would have put me over my ceiling, so I held off, and just last week upgraded to an SSD. Setup was easy, and it came with cloning/migration software (Samsung SSD) and it went perfectly smooth. So it's fine to go with a nice SATA HDD for now, and think about upgrading down the road. I made the original HDD (hybrid SSD/HDD) into my D: drive for all my data files like audio, video, and photos, so no added burden on the SSD.

One item I might revisit on your buy list, however, is the power supply. A 430W PS is really not enough, especially if you add another HD and possibly add additional memory at some point in the future. Also, the GTX 770 requires 1 6 pin and 1 8 pin power connectors, and is spec'd to a minimum recommended system power of 600W to run. That 430W PS isn't going to cut it. The PS is not a place to skimp, and as they're not all that expensive to begin with (relative to everything else you're using) a well rated, well built PS is one place a decent investment will serve you well into the future. Corsair is a reliable PS supplier, I would just go for something with a bit more power.

Edit:


Not so sure about this as a known issue with all recent Nvidia drivers. I do recall a problem with one or two versions way back when, but I'm running on 337.88 (haven't updated to the most recent driver released last week) and it's perfectly stable. Personally, running with the most recent driver build makes the most sense to me. Unless, of course, a particular driver version has a problem, and you have to roll back one version while waiting for the next version to be released. But staying with really old drivers is generally not the best way to optimize performance, especially if you play games other than just the Sims series on it.

I'm thinking about buying a new tower as the one I have now is starting to get really tired. I've had it for 7 years this month which means it's probably closer to 8 years old, if not older.

I'm not looking for a heavy-duty gaming rig as Sims is the only game I play. I do not play with with all EPs and SPs as they often add stuff to the game that I do not want. For worlds I prefer custom versus EA, although I do like taking pics in EA worlds. The only other program I use all the time is Photoshop 7 as I refuse to 'rent' software from Adobe.

Can I get some thoughts on the specs for this tower?

The only issue I see here is the PSU. The minimum recommended PSU for the GTX 770 is 600W according to the nVidia website. So I'm not sure how well that will work.

It has integrated graphics. Granted, the AMD APU graphics are one of the stronger integrated graphics, but integrated graphics still isn't great for gaming.
I couldn't find any Sims 3 benchmarks for it, but here are benchmarks for it with different games at very low resolution. Most people say anything below 20-30fps is unplayable.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7032/...8670d-hd-4600/2
It's pretty weak compared to a separate graphics card in pretty much every game at lower resolutions, it'd be even slower at a typical desktop resolution of 1920x1080 or 1920x1200.

I'd look for something with an Intel Core processor and throw in a Geforce 750Ti video card.