Hi, I really like the Sims 2 PC game. I was wandering if anyone knows if it is possible to get a PC (not including monitor) for £500 that can run the Sims 2 reasonaly well + all 7 expansion packs? If anyone knows if this is possible, can anyone recommend a place to buy one?
PC for Sims 2
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Novatech system with Vista Home Premium £330.00
LG 19" widescreen monitor £110.00
Logitech 2.1 X-240 Loudspeakers £30.00
Total £470.00.
That will play Sims 2 comfortably but will struggle with or not play lots of other latest games.
It is, however, a good all rounder home PC.
If you can afford another 1Gb of memory all the better.
In the future you may wish to upgrade the graphics card to something like an Nvidia 8800 512Mb GT.
Adding more memory and upgrading the graphics card in the future will enable you to play more modern games though if you're not bothered about that then disregard this advice.
You may also wish to buy a better mouse and keyboard than the ones offered with the system (this can be done from 'customisation' list).
LG 19" widescreen monitor £110.00
Logitech 2.1 X-240 Loudspeakers £30.00
Total £470.00.
That will play Sims 2 comfortably but will struggle with or not play lots of other latest games.
It is, however, a good all rounder home PC.
If you can afford another 1Gb of memory all the better.
In the future you may wish to upgrade the graphics card to something like an Nvidia 8800 512Mb GT.
Adding more memory and upgrading the graphics card in the future will enable you to play more modern games though if you're not bothered about that then disregard this advice.
You may also wish to buy a better mouse and keyboard than the ones offered with the system (this can be done from 'customisation' list).
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Tomothy said:
Only if it's a digital TV with a dedicated PC input (15 pin VGA).
If you have one of those and you can still spend £500.00, buy a higher specced computer. You'll probably get one with 2Gb of memory, a better grafix card such as an 8600GT and maybe even a bigger hard disk.
Check out the options at the site I've linked to above.
Tomothy said:
£16.22
If you ordered by phone I expect Novatech would fit it for you. I'm assuming the other 1Gb of memory in the machine supplied is the same make.
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Tomothy said:
It will improve performance and Vista really benefits from having a minimum of 2Gb RAM.
Tomothy said:
See my post above.
Assuming you have a digital TV with a PC input, you will need a DVI to VGA converter and a 15 pin VGA lead to connect from your video card to your TV.
Ask your supplier to advise and supply.
But as I said, only if the TV is digital and has a dedicated PC input.
There is a slight chance the video card fitted in the PC has an HDTV connection out, in which case you could plug in to the TV's HD input but I think that's unlikely as it's a budget card.
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Tomothy said:
That's a new one on me, haven't seen that before
What's the TV Make & Model?
It is this: http://www.it247.com/Product/26-M22...l2cat=MonitorsDisplays&utm_medium=TFTDisplays
I'm pretty sure from that description that it can
I'm pretty sure from that description that it can
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Yep, that'll do the job nicely 
Well, well, I never seen one like that before, you learn something every day eh?
You'll need a DVI to DVI lead.
In which case, after the loudspeaker system that leaves you £470.00 for a computer system.
In which case the one Here for £469.00 with Vista Home Premium is a very good machine indeed for the money.
If you wanted to spend just a little more, I'd suggest changing the Novatech mouse & keyboard for Logitech models. That upgrade shouldn't cost more than £20.00.
Also ask Novatech whether you get a full Windows Vista disc or just a backup disk. Full disk is desirable.
Of course, if you don't want to spend that much, select something lower down the scale, plenty of choice there.
Other Forum members here know of some good suppliers, perhaps they'd like to chip in with suggestions.
I never buy tailor made machines myself, always build my own (that's why I don't know many suppliers of built machines), but myself and others here have bought stuff from Novatech and they've been good.
Well, well, I never seen one like that before, you learn something every day eh?
You'll need a DVI to DVI lead.
In which case, after the loudspeaker system that leaves you £470.00 for a computer system.
In which case the one Here for £469.00 with Vista Home Premium is a very good machine indeed for the money.
If you wanted to spend just a little more, I'd suggest changing the Novatech mouse & keyboard for Logitech models. That upgrade shouldn't cost more than £20.00.
Also ask Novatech whether you get a full Windows Vista disc or just a backup disk. Full disk is desirable.
Of course, if you don't want to spend that much, select something lower down the scale, plenty of choice there.
Other Forum members here know of some good suppliers, perhaps they'd like to chip in with suggestions.
I never buy tailor made machines myself, always build my own (that's why I don't know many suppliers of built machines), but myself and others here have bought stuff from Novatech and they've been good.
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PS: GAME stores in the High Street are selling Sims 2 for £15.00 at the moment, just in case you don't already have the game.
Lots of expansion packs at reduced prices too.
Lots of expansion packs at reduced prices too.
Is this the cable that I will Need?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-DVI-...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1204203500&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-DVI-...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1204203500&sr=8-1
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That will fit your graphics card. And it will probably fit your TV/Monitor.
Double check and take a look at the TV just to confirm it is a socket there.
Double check and take a look at the TV just to confirm it is a socket there.
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Which machine did you decide upon?
If it comes with 2Gb RAM you don't need to add anymore.
If it comes with 1Gb RAM you want to add another 1Gb making a total of 2Gb.
2 sticks of memory are best as they will take advantage of dual memory mode if the motherboard supports it.
As I said in an earlier post, phone Novatech (or whatever supplier you've chosen) and ask them if they'll fit it for you prior to shipping.
If they won't, ask them if fitting it yourself will invalidate their warranty.
If it doesn't, it's very easy to fit, you just take the side off the case and push it into a slot.
If it comes with 2Gb RAM you don't need to add anymore.
If it comes with 1Gb RAM you want to add another 1Gb making a total of 2Gb.
2 sticks of memory are best as they will take advantage of dual memory mode if the motherboard supports it.
As I said in an earlier post, phone Novatech (or whatever supplier you've chosen) and ask them if they'll fit it for you prior to shipping.
If they won't, ask them if fitting it yourself will invalidate their warranty.
If it doesn't, it's very easy to fit, you just take the side off the case and push it into a slot.
I decided on the cheaper machine and I'll update the graphics card in the furture when I have more cash. I was thinking of upgrading the memory to 3GB, so is is best for me to buy 2 more lots of 1GB?
As you can tell I don't know much about PC's so this will probably sound like a ridiculous question, but does 2 x 2.0GHz processor speed = 4.0GHz processor speed?
As you can tell I don't know much about PC's so this will probably sound like a ridiculous question, but does 2 x 2.0GHz processor speed = 4.0GHz processor speed?
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Stick with 2Gb, there really isn't much advantage for adding more at the momemnt and chances are Vista 32 Bit won't recognise all of it anyway.
2 x 2Ghz processor = exactly that - 2 x 2Ghz.
2Ghz in paralell does not equal 4Ghz so the answer is no.
It's kinda like having two computers processing different data, they are both running at 2Ghz but nowhere is the figure 4Ghz reached.
2 x 2Ghz processor = exactly that - 2 x 2Ghz.
2Ghz in paralell does not equal 4Ghz so the answer is no.
It's kinda like having two computers processing different data, they are both running at 2Ghz but nowhere is the figure 4Ghz reached.
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Tomothy said:
Yes it is.
Best you'll get for the money, probably.
I think I'm gona go for this one: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?PC-1105
The reason is it has a better graphics card and it has 2GB of RAM already. It also has a bigger hard drive but that doesn't really matter to me.
Do you think this would be a better choice?
It's only an extra 70 from what I was going to get, so it will be an extra weeks wages for me.
2 and a half weeks before I can finally buy it
The reason is it has a better graphics card and it has 2GB of RAM already. It also has a bigger hard drive but that doesn't really matter to me.
Do you think this would be a better choice?
It's only an extra 70 from what I was going to get, so it will be an extra weeks wages for me.
2 and a half weeks before I can finally buy it