Do I need a better graphics card? Just bought a new PC...Sims 2 is really slow. Called the shop, they say I need a better graphics card??? Spec: Packard Bell, Imedia 1308. Celeron D 341 Processor 2.93GHz, 533MHz FSB, 256kB Cache 512Mb DDR RAM 160Gb Hard Disk Drive Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer 64Mb Integrated Graphics
Thanks! Hi there... OK, define slow: During build mode and buy mode its fine. Loading the game initially is fine. Loading families into neighbourhoods and saving the game takes absolutely ages. But the worst is during live mode, seems to be a few minutes of OK play then a few minutes of pauses of 2-5 minutes, then it goes ok again, then back to the pauses....funny thing is, during the pause, the music stays on!
Hmmm ... you have an integrated Intel graphics set-up which is (at best) a compromise between cost versus performance. With 512MB ram you may well be running into trouble when playing The Sims 2 especially if you have the game set on the default graphics settings. Try lowering all the settings a notch (you may need to restart the game to see the effect) to see what improvement occurs. If it makes a big difference the next step is to tweak one settingat a time back up a notch until you find one that slows everything back down again. (This process can take some time so be patient). Other things to check out: Anti-virus and security software uses up a lot of system resources (especially RAM) Find out how well your 512MB is holding up by downloading the free Rambooster utility here ... If possible (actually YOU MUST) stop all anti-virus software before trying to run the game ... and obviously disconnect from the net. That will very quickly give you more RAM to play with. I know you say you have a new computer but did you defragment your hard drive before installing? Windows is not very smart and doesn't install itself in an ideal configuration ... you actually need to tell it to straighten up fly right. Windows uses some space on your hard disc as virtual RAM. The space is called the Page File ... see this post for all you need to know about making your page file as good as it can be When push comes to shove, however, if you wish to see the game running in all its high definition glory you will need to invest some bucks in a graphics card though please be aware that you would need to spend $100+ before you will get something that will let you see a noticeable difference.
My suspicion is something along the line of Mirelly's except this: 1) Integrated Video cards uses shared memory, meaning X amount of MB is allocated towards the purpose of video. This means it deducts it from your 512MB memory and allocates it strictly for the performance of your graphics. Therefore two steps: 1) Get a better video card. Get one that can be dedicated towards the purpose of graphics. AGP preferrably. I'm not sure how good Packard Bell nowadays as my first Packard Bell PC was a 60MHz Pentium....and it was also my last Packard Bell as well. 2) Upgrade your memory to at least 1GB. With Windows XP eating at least half if not more towards basic functions, adding more memory should help it maintain it's performance while reducing the time it needs to cache things on your hard drive as virtual memory.
