slight oddity here. more like "***?" well, out of the wild blue, i decided to try out ts2 on the 2nd computer in our house. i was really suprised with the outcome seeing as the computer is much lower in specs than the main comp (specs below) and any other games ive tried have either choked on the 2nd computer or ran much slower than the main comp. needless to say, first load of ts2 put me in 1024x768 which i was never able to get on the main comp without considerable slowdowns. and i was also able to get some of the premium effects such as reflections and whatnot without the comp locking up unlike the main comp. so, end result is i might just pop back in the ts2 community once more now that i can play it without major headaches . i wont be too active atleast until i can get another computer since this one is used primarily as my web server and i pretty much need to disable all the unneeded services including explorer (this doesnt make it any less capable. i also have needed to do this on the main comp to get any decent playability out of it). but the extra computer shouldnt be too far down the road. Specs: ===== Main Comp: ----------- 2GHZ Celeron (P4 Based) 512MB PC3200 DDR RAM 60GB 7200RPM IBM Deskstar HD Intel 82845G Integrated graphics (64MB shared w/system RAM) 2nd Comp: ---------- 700MHZ-ish (some programs read around the 725MHZ mark) P3 512MB PC133 SDRAM 20GB Quantum Fireball Drive (dont know the rpm offhand) 64MB Radeon 7000 AGP =====
Its probably that Radeon card in your 2nd system that is helping ... Even though its not top of the range, pretty much anything is better than integrated graphics when it comes to playing games, especially as your integrated graphics controller is sharing your system memory... Myself, I am waiting to upgrade, my system is currently good enough to run the sims quickly (3.2 P4, 1024MB RAM, Radeon 9800 Pro), but I would still enjoy a bit more speed
VChat, glad to see you again! We've been missing a lot of our "older" community members. Please don't be offended because your post got moved: It seems that we have become more, ummm, selective about what topics go into what forum. But that in no way shape or form is meant to detract from input! Again, welcome back, thanks for the technical information (which is why I'm guessing this got moved) and I'm glad that your other computer was able to play TS2! Have you tried Uni yet? Or been too busy with your website?
nah. ive had uni for a while. just havent played it a whole lot due to aforementioned difficulties. on a side note, i started on a community lot which is basically going to be a replica of the sims park mall (including the arcade and theatre. although the theatre wont be in its true form as was depicted on the site)
well, the only problem i have right now is the computer doesnt seem to like the heat. after playing for maybe 10 minutes, the computer either locks up, or the vid card for some odd reason goes AWOL and the monitor reports the frequencies are out of range (and the tv flickers as well). of course, seeing as its in a really crappy and really cramped dekstop-style case and the cpu only has a heatsink on it, that surely cant help any. i have a big box fan in the window right behind the computer running on medium and the lowest the temp has gotten on this thing is 30C. it averages around 35/37
I credit this --> 64MB Radeon 7000 AGP That's probably the reason why it works relatively well. The other thing is your other CPU is a Celeron, which is probably one of the worst processors out there... .
well, good news here. my open house was this past weekend and i got $300 from friends/family as graduation gifts. i already spent $60 of it this past monday (went to the cleveland indians vs. red sox game and spent the afteroon in tower city. got NFSU2 for my DS and a DS case). anywho, first plans are a new motherboard and video card for this computer (the good comp downstairs). if i have money left over i will try and upgrade to a P4. should allow me to play TS2 more easily. and ebay should help with prices and whatnot
its where i got the current upstairs computer ($100 shipped) and the radeon 7000 ($25 shipped). been pretty good for me. i just make sure to do my research
well, got some pretty good deals on a new motherboard and video card: MSI P4MAM-V - $37.00 shipped. 128MB Radeon 9250 - $46.90 shipped this should atleast get me off the crappy intel graphics and into a playable point in TS2.
just wanted to update you all on the good news. i just got the new video card in today. since the motherboard wont get here till friday, i decided to swap the 7000 for the 9250 in the upstairs computer. now as ive said already, the upstairs comp runs realy crappy as it is even without any games or other resource intensive programs. couple things i noticed: 1) can now see the special event camera! 2) 800x600 medium graphics run very smooth 3) REFLECTIONS!! once i get this card in the main comp i can bet you it will run just peachy compared to how it runs with the onboard graphics. btw, ive got a small vid clip i did just now. pretty funny cuz all i was going to do was a "peeping tom" kind of moment, but out of the blue, Johnathan barges in the bathroom. then he decides to act silly and show off to his mom. edit: on a side note and going even more off topic here, since i will be moving all my sites over to a proper webhost and i can now play TS2 more, i will be reopening TSPM (although the 3d part will be held off due to certain conflicts).
got the new motherboard installed today with the radeon 9250. ran sims 2. medium settings at 800x600 runs smooth as silk. absolutely no slowdowns. and this is even with standard background apps going such as AV, Catalyst Control Panel, and explorer itself. im happy now
