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anniebonnie Member
Posts : 126 Thanks : 32 Join date : 2011-07-31
| Subject: Video cards February 22nd 2012, 4:00 pm | |
| I got some donations form friends and family and I think I'll be able to get my video card, after all. I fould two here: *Geforce GTS 450 1Gb RAM. *GeForce GTX 550 Ti Does anybody have any of these vcs? What anybody tell me anything about them? Thanks |
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dachshundsr4me Member
Featured Artist : Posts : 718 Thanks : 211 Join date : 2011-10-05
| Subject: Re: Video cards February 22nd 2012, 4:45 pm | |
| the 1st one has better reviews online...that is about all i can tell you about them. |
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anniebonnie Member
Posts : 126 Thanks : 32 Join date : 2011-07-31
| Subject: Re: Video cards February 22nd 2012, 5:57 pm | |
| Thanks, hun. I think I'm getting it and some more ram |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
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dachshundsr4me Member
Featured Artist : Posts : 718 Thanks : 211 Join date : 2011-10-05
| Subject: Re: Video cards February 22nd 2012, 7:34 pm | |
| I have AMD Radion HD 4200 series....I like it...i have no problem either with it with my game. I just make sure i stay up to date on the drivers. |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards February 22nd 2012, 7:46 pm | |
| AMD is great and honestly a much better deal, I think. |
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dachshundsr4me Member
Featured Artist : Posts : 718 Thanks : 211 Join date : 2011-10-05
| Subject: Re: Video cards February 22nd 2012, 8:07 pm | |
| Well mine came in my computer already installed...came with it as a package deal but of course i bought my computer a year ago so i am sure that AMD has made a better model now. |
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Shyne VIP Member
Donor/$upporter : Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1773 Thanks : 583 Join date : 2010-09-28 Comments : *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* Penny.
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* Penny.
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* Penny.
| Subject: Re: Video cards February 22nd 2012, 8:51 pm | |
| I'm so glad you're getting a new card :D |
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anniebonnie Member
Posts : 126 Thanks : 32 Join date : 2011-07-31
| Subject: Re: Video cards February 24th 2012, 11:22 am | |
| YAY!!!! My geforce GTS 450 1Gb RAM is installed already!!!! I can't hardly hear ot working. I have to thank 3 of my friends and my cousin for it |
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dachshundsr4me Member
Featured Artist : Posts : 718 Thanks : 211 Join date : 2011-10-05
| Subject: Re: Video cards February 24th 2012, 12:37 pm | |
| - anniebonnie wrote:
- YAY!!!!
My geforce GTS 450 1Gb RAM is installed already!!!! I can't hardly hear ot working. I have to thank 3 of my friends and my cousin for it
Yay that is awesome...now its time to start making some more sims...=) |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards February 24th 2012, 1:23 pm | |
| Awesome! I'm so glad you were able to get a new card! |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 8th 2012, 7:34 pm | |
| Are the graphic cards mentioned above any better than the one I have? I have no idea what I'm doing but I need a new card I'm sick of my game's lag. My computer could handle a better card but ...well you know I dont have one....This is what I have: Nvidia Geforce 6150SE nforce 430 I've got about 4gb of RAM with 3.87gb of it still free and usable. That is enough for an upgrade isn't it? |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 8th 2012, 8:42 pm | |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 1:04 am | |
| Le Bumpeth again lol |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 2:02 am | |
| That's actually not a fully dedicated graphics card - that's an integrated chipset (Which is why it lists the specs of the processor in the name). This is sometimes referred to as having "on board" graphics because a portion of your processor is used to power your graphics. Ideally you want a dedicated card. Here are the general specs of what you have: Manufacturing process: 90 nm Core Clock: 425 MHz HT Bus = 2000 max Vertex Processors: 1 Pixel Pipelines: 2 Shader Model: 3 DirectX support: v9 Having a good processor is another really important aspect of being able to run the game quickly. I play with a Sony Laptop and also have an integrated chip on an i3 processor with "Intel HD Graphics." That's a step up from the chipset you mentioned, but it's really not designed for gaming AT ALL. I *push* it to the limits to take screenshots - and that's what you're seeing when I post pics. Realistically, I should not have any CC installed and run my game at low settings to get the smoothest play from the machine I'm using. Of course, I don't do that, because I'm awful and terrible and make my computer bend over backwards for me. :p But that's also why I've pretty much stopped gameplay altogether on the laptop and have only been creating sims for the past few months of play. The minimum specs to run Sims 3 well have really changed with the recent expansions - if you have any of them, especially Pets, I wouldn't suggest playing with anything less than 4 GB of ram. That's a bare minimum, though. So, yes, you technically have 4GB of ram - but your graphics card has to"share" this space instead of having it's own dedicated memory. It probably actually gets something closer to less than 128 mb of memory. The card I listed/reccomended (ATI Radeon HD 6770) is what my BF's gaming computer has - it's technically a mid-range card, but I think it's pretty excellent. It's a really good compromise. Because ATI's 7000 series is out - you can get a good deal on a card from the 6xxx series. NVidia is great, but you'll have to shell out more cash for the same specs of an ATI card, so I think if you're on a budget you should stick with ATI. From what I remember, Eva has an ATI card - 5950 or higher, I think, and she has terrific graphics. Just for reference, the 5950 does not differ greatly from the 6950 and the 7950, etc. Each year, they introduce an updated line of cards and there are obviously new features/upgrades, but they're essentially pretty similar. Another thing to keep in mind is your power supply. If you're going to upgrade your card, you should be safe with a standard 450-500 watts. This is mostly a problem if you have an older machine. Some people have rigs with 1000 watt power supplies - or sometimes multiple power supplies, but this is usually if they have more than one card installed.
Last edited by Ameenah on June 9th 2012, 3:04 am; edited 3 times in total |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 2:10 am | |
| Well I have a pretty sturdy processor not top-knotch but not super slow either when I looked at my system details it says I have this: AMD Athlom(tm) II X2 215 Processor 2.70 GHz I have no idea if those are good or is it bad? I know that on my Windows Index score says my processor is rated at a 6.2....lol but my gaming graphics is a 3.2 and my regular graphics are only a smidge higher at a 3.8 |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 2:17 am | |
| That's a dual-core processor which is ok - I think you can handle a graphics upgrade. Each card will list the specific requirements for the rest of your system. MTS has a nice guide, I think it is linked in another thread, I'll pull up the link. |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 2:19 am | |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 2:20 am | |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 2:30 am | |
| Thank you Ameenah you've been the most helpful lol Do you think the Radeon HD 6770 would run correctly? Or should I go a bit lower? |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 2:39 am | |
| No I think mine is older I believe it was bought in 2009 Someone else said that I wouldn't get the best performance since I have an older model. But it's only about 3 years old. |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 2:51 am | |
| Oh, that's not as old as I thought. Your processor and motherboard should be compatible with a better card. Your motherboard has 1x16 and 2x1 PCI Express slots, so as long as you don't get a crazy oversize card, it should fit. I'm just worried about the power supply. :/ |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 2:56 am | |
| I read that there were adapters to help the power supply? |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 3:03 am | |
| Yes, there are adapters, but...honestly, if your computer is from 2009, I think you should be ok! As long as you don't get a monster card, I think it can handle it. |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 3:07 am | |
| Thank you Ameenah! Hopefully this will definitely help me. |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 3:09 am | |
| I hope you can upgrade to an awesome card! :D :D I know how much it sucks to play on a computer that....just doesn't want to cooperate. Right now, my laptop sounds like it's about to take off into space, and I don't have anything but Chrome open....-___-. |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 3:10 am | |
| O.O why don't you borrow your Bf's computer lol |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 3:17 am | |
| That's a good question, haha...I use it sometimes! I feel bad because he's generally on it and I don't want to monopolize the time. I also JUST convinced him to try out Sims 3, so I have a completely untouched/vanilla copy on there. I know that with CC magic/other launchers you can run with mods/cc enabled and disabled - but I'm trying to get him comfortable with the game first! Oh, by the way, the processor coupled with the 6770 is a 6-core AMD Phenom that I think is 3.3 GHz. I'm not sure what the exact model is but I will pop on and check it sometime soon. I'm pretty sure the processor is a lot better than the card, so you don't need something quite that strong to run it. Eva's monster card is running on 2.67 GHz. |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 3:30 am | |
| I was on microsoft's site and it said the this version of graphics card was definitely compatible with a 64-bit windows 7 but never anything about the processor. |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 9th 2012, 3:40 am | |
| Your processor is compatible - but it might "bottleneck" a good card. And that's going to be true of just about any decent card. That's where things generally start to get expensive - there are some great cards at good prices, but often times you have to upgrade your CPU along with it. You can definitely install it, but if you get a nice card, you might not get quite the performance you want. In order to get the best performance out of a good card you might want to invest in a quad-core processor down the road (You have a dual core). If you go with Intel - you'd want an i7. If you stick with AMD, an X4 Phenom would be a good/affordable choice. |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 10th 2012, 8:27 am | |
| Hey, KK, I hope I'm posting this in time! *panics* XP I have Intel HD Integrated graphics and so does my sis on her laptop, which is a step up from mine. I have i3 Intel HD with 4GB and she has i5 Intel HD with 8GB. The problem I've had with it, especially since it's a laptop is major overheating which has caused damage to the "card" (which is just part of the processor) over time. If you want to get a laptop I would really strongly recommend looking for one with a dedicated card. Intel HD Graphics are really really bad. I'm just saying this from the experience of owning a machine with integrated graphics - I wish they would stop making computers this way. They are eager to sell these because they are a lot cheaper for companies to produce. Also, you cannot upgrade your graphics if you have integrated graphics without completely replacing your processor. Granted, laptops are notoriously difficult to upgrade in comparison to desktops, but this makes your purchase all the more important. You'll end up spending more in the long run. You can do fine with an i5 IF you have a dedicated card. That's the catch. An i5 with a dedicated card helping it out can run quite a few games. If the graphics are on board the processor, then it really does not run well. You actually would have to dial it down to medium to low settings for extended gameplay with Sims 3. You'll get a really bad frame rate, especially if you have any CC at all in your game. It might run it well at first, but the graphics will seriously degrade over time. And I'm not talking years, it's more like after a few months of play on the machine. Here's what an article on MTS says about integrated graphics: - Quote :
Some computers, particularly package deals which aren't designed for gaming, don't have a real graphics card. Instead, they have a chip on the motherboard which does the job of the graphics card. However, even the strongest of these chips are not as effective as a real card, and for gaming you really want to have a separate graphics card. Even if your computer seems to run okay with integrated graphics at first, it may not continue to be that way. What usually happens with computers trying to play The Sims games on integrated graphics is that things will work, although not perfectly, for a time. The longer you play the game the harder it is on your computer and eventually things work less and less well.
These are some of the problems that can/will occur with integrated graphics: - Quote :
Blurry clothes, skin and eyes on your sims Blurry textures on objects and on the ground Blurry reflections in mirrors Blurry/crunchy thumbnails in the Buy and Build catalogue Graphics may become distorted and textures may get strange patterns or holes over them. (Artifacts) Water in neighbourhood view (TS2) shows up as big blue blocks, instead of a smooth shoreline with waves and reflections Game crashes to desktop, the colors go weird and the resolution drops, and an error message tells you that your graphics drivers have stopped responding The computer still appears to be running but the screen goes totally black. The computer will not recover and must be crashed. Computer overheats and shuts itself down
Lenovo probably makes the most affordable laptops suited for gaming - their idea pad model - and they all have dedicated graphics cards. http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?action=init¤t-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087¤t-category-id=C46D71ACFD7C4475B8E490358F8CA8C3You want at least a 1GB cache on your graphics card, and all of the above have that. |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 10th 2012, 1:45 pm | |
| Yes, that's a much better deal! That's got a good quality NVIDIA card in it that's known to be stable for the game + all expansions. That laptop also has a good quad-core processor which will help run the game more smoothly.
Last edited by Ameenah on June 10th 2012, 1:47 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 10th 2012, 1:47 pm | |
| Yay! Then that is the one I shall get! Lol I was going to get the HD integrated graphics because that is what my sister has on her computer and her game looks awesome! But if this is an even better deal I'll go with this one |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 10th 2012, 1:49 pm | |
| Yay! The integrated graphics definitely work - I have 'em - but with a fully dedicated card you'll get nice graphics AND super smooth gameplay for the long run. |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 10th 2012, 2:07 pm | |
| So a dedicated card will last longer? I hope so lol there will probably be at least 2 more sims 3 expansions maybe more. |
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Ameenah VIP Member
Posts : 909 Thanks : 332 Join date : 2011-07-28
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 10th 2012, 2:21 pm | |
| Yep, a dedicated card is a lot more stable and will last longer! And if it ever needs to be replaced, you can upgrade it separately. You'll have a certain amount of memory that is reserved JUST for graphics, so you should get much better gameplay than on your current machine. The card that's included with the laptop you linked is definitely a solid card that has good reviews. So it should last you. When you have an on board card, you have to replace the entire CPU to upgrade which is a PAIN and sometimes not even possible. |
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KosmoKhaos Member
Top Poster : Featured Artist : Posts : 1492 Thanks : 406 Join date : 2011-12-04 Comments : Look into my eyes
Its where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
| Subject: Re: Video cards June 10th 2012, 2:25 pm | |
| Awesome! Lol this will be good. My mom tried to talk me out of getting a laptop but I keep trying to tell her I can use it for other things besides gaming lol. Most college students buy a laptop don't they? I won't be living with her much longer! I'm going on 20 and I want to be able to take a computer with me that will actually last in the long run. |
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