Video/Grpahics Card?

[hiii000p 0]

I bought the Sims 2 and installed two expansions on it. Whenever I try to play it, it takes a long time to start up and load familys. Sometimes during the game it becomes very slow and lags or it just freezes up complety.

I think i need a video/graphics card ( I dont know if theres a difference) but im not sure. My computer is a Dell Windows XP Home Edition. If someone told me where I could find out exactly what kind of card I already have.

P.S. Is it worth the cost because form what I know they start around 70$. And will it improve my entire computer performance?

Thanks for any help.

[Wilhelmus 1]

Install SiSoft's Sandra Lite and use it find out what gfx card (onboard / PCI / AGP / PCI-E) you got. Hardware->Displays and Display Adapters->Video Adapter.

 

Quote:

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Minimum System Requirements for The Sims 2

 

If you have a T&L capable video card with at least 32 MB of video RAM then you need at least:

 

* 800 MHz processor or better

* 256 MB RAM if Windows XP, Windows ME, Windows 98 or Windows 2000

* At least 3.5 GB of hard drive space

 

If you have a non-T&L capable video card (an Intel Extreme Graphics or a Radeon 7000/VE Series) then you need at least:

 

* 2.0 GHz processor or better

* 256 MB RAM if Windows XP, Windows ME, Windows 98, or Windows 2000

* At least 3.5 GB of hard drive space

 

Supported video cards (and the more video memory the better):

 

* ATI RadeonTM series (7000 or better)

o Radeon 7000/VE series (non-T&L; requires 2.0 GHz processor)

o 7200, 7500

o 8500, All-In-Wonder 8500

o 9000, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800

o X300, X600, X800

 

* Nvidia® QuadroTM series

o Quadro, Quadro2, Quadro4

 

* Nvidia® Geforce series (GeForce2 and better)

o GeForce2

o GeForce3, 3 Ti

o GeForce4, 4Ti, MX 420, 440

o GeForce FX 5200, 5600, 5700, 5800, 5900, 5950

o GeForce 6600, 6800

 

* Intel® Extreme Graphics (non-T&L; requires 2.0 GHz processor)

o 82845, 82865, 82915

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Quote:

And will it improve my entire computer performance?

Only in graphics calculation.

 

Get more memory, if possible.

1 GB should be enough in these days.

 

[hiii000p 0]

Thanks, Wilhelmus.

 

I have a ' NVIDIA GeForce4 Mx 420. '

 

If I went to a store like Circuit City, could they sort this out for me?

 

 

[DosFreak 2]

Hard to say. We have no idea what kind of computer you have. The fact that your using a GF4 MX definetly doesn't bode well....

 

Click on the link that he posted and give us your system specifications.

[hiii000p 0]

PROCESSER

Model: Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 2.00GHz

Speed: 1.99GHz

Performance Rating: PR2193 (estimated)

Cores per Processor: 1 Unit

Threads per Core: 1 Unit

Internal Data Cache: 8kB Synchronous, Write- Thru, 4-way set, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector

L2 On-Board Cache: 512kB ECC Synchronous, ATC, 8-way set, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector

 

MAINBOARD

Bus(es): X-Bus AGP PCI IMB USB i2c/SMBus

MP Suppot: 1 Processor

MP APIC: Yes

System BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A02

System: Dell Computer Corporation Dimension 4550

Mainboard: Dell Computer Corp.

Toal Memory: 255Mb DDR-SDRAM

 

CHIPSET 1

Model: Dell Computer Corp 82845G/GL/GV Brookdale Host-Hub Interface Bridge (A1-step)

Front Side Bus Speed: 4x 100MHz (400MHz data rate)

Total Memory: 256MB DDR-SDRAM

Memory Bus Speed: 2x 133Mhz (266MHz data rate)

 

VIDEO SYSTEM

Monitor/Panel: Plug and Play Monitor

Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420

Imaging Device: Dell Photo AIO Printer 962

 

OPERATING SYSTEM(S)

Windows System: Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Home 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)

 

 

 

I don't know if thats exactly what you need.

 

[DosFreak 2]

Hmmm, your RAM is pretty low. (Assuming your using a default DELL install then your probably already using all of that memory and a little more). It would be nice if you could get 512m or even 1gb of memory.

 

As for the video card there are tons of options.

 

You can get an ATI Radeon 9800, ATI Radeon X800+. Those should be pretty cheap nowadays.

 

or even a Nvidia Geforce FX or Nvidia Geforce 6800 video card.

 

These video cards are light years ahead of what you have which is pretty much just a GF2.

[Relic 0]

I would have to suggest an eVGA 6600GT AGP, cheap, and will kick butt compared to your current card, plus the warranty cannot be beat.

 

I had one of these cards(in my wife's system right now), overclocks like 90, plays pretty much everything, excellent bang for the buck.

[hiii000p 0]

Thanks dosfreak and Relic.

 

I couldn't find those exact ones at Circuit City.

 

Wheres the best place to buy one?

[tool_462 0]

Check out www.newegg.com or www.tigerdirect.com. Both of my favorite sites and I buy ALOT of computer stuff!