[shelleywa]

Hi everyone,

 

I used to be an avid gamer in the '90s and knew my specs and "tech talk" pretty well. Alas, life took over and I have been out of the game (no pun intended!) for a couple of decades. I just wanted to get up to speed with how things work now.

 

My Dad was my PC guru. he taught me a simple rule, "whatever the minimum system requirements are stated by the game developers, double it. Then your game will run smoothly". That advice served me well 20 years ago. How about now? What are "minimum requirements" these days? Can a game installed onto a machine with the minimum specs actually run WELL once you start playing it?

 

For example, I have played The Sims 1 and 2 to death. Now I want the third edition. According to systemrequirementslab, my laptop can handle Sims 3 easily! Yay! But I am dubious. The Sims 2 got a bit sluggish after I'd hammered it and had lots of families and expansion packs. Here's the Sims 3 minimum system requirements:

 

• 2.4 GHz P4 processor or equivalent.
• 1.5 GB RAM.
• 128 MB Graphics card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0.
• Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1.
• At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB of additional space for custom content and saved games.

 

My computer's specs:

Intel® Core™ i5-3210M CPU @ 2.50GHz

8.00 GB RAM

Intel® HD Graphics 4000 @ 1.8 GB RAM, with Pixel Shader 5.0

Microsoft Windows 10 (build 14393), 64-bit

270 GB hard drive space

 

 

I guess my main concern would be the processor. What do you guys think? And what is your general rule-of-thumb when it comes to "minimum requirements" vs. your own PCs specs?

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Hello Shelleywa,

 

Rule of thumb for me is aim for the recommended as opposed to the minimum requirements and only try playing modern games on computers that have a dedicated video card.

 

CPUs that also provide the graphics are not best suited for gaming, they may cope with low end games but anything more and they start to heat up which can lead to all sorts of problems, other things that can affect performance include the speed of both the RAM and the HDD + the internet quality where online gaming is concerned.

[phillpower2]

Hello Shelleywa,

 

Rule of thumb for me is aim for the recommended as opposed to the minimum requirements and only try playing modern games on computers that have a dedicated video card.

 

CPUs that also provide the graphics are not best suited for gaming, they may cope with low end games but anything more and they start to heat up which can lead to all sorts of problems, other things that can affect performance include the speed of both the RAM and the HDD + the internet quality where online gaming is concerned.

[shelleywa]

Hi Phillpower2,

 

Thanks for this. I looked for them originally but can't find the recommended specs for The Sims 3, only the minimum ones 

 

 

[phillpower2]

Best Answer

Hello Shelleywa,

 

I see what you mean, almost like the info is a major secret 

 

Best info that I could find was at Game Debate (GD Adjusted Requirements) here an answer to an OPs question by Williham Totland  here + a comment made by Rapitor also at the second link;

 

The sims 3 is poorly optimized, it doesnt matter how powerful your rig is. the more expansions you throw in, the less playable it becomes. However, it is a VERY RAM and CPU intensive game. I would suggest at least 8gb DDR3 RAM at the minimum and a quad core CPU if you want to go for this

 

 

You will note that it is only the "minimum requirements" that does not recommend an add on video card.

 

You are welcome btw 

[shelleywa]

Thanks Phillpower2! I think given this info that I'll leave it until I can afford either an upgrade to my laptop, or start my first dedicated gaming tower. Hmm... Now there's an entirely new discussion in itself... I will be back! 

[terry1966]

in my opinion your current system will run it fine.

 

your dads advice holds more or less true today and your current system is way more powerful than 2 times the minimum specs for that game.

 

the ghz speed of the cpu really isn't the way you compare cpu's of different architectures.

 

for example 

a p4 2.5ghz cpu (slightly faster than the minimum specs for that game.) only scores 245 points in passmarks benchtest. :- http://www.cpubenchm...2.50GHz&id=1068

where as your laptops i5 running at the same 2.5ghz speed scores 3791 points. over 15 times faster. :- http://www.cpubenchm... 2.50GHz&id=815

 

side by side comparison :- http://www.cpubenchm...=1068&cmp[]=815

 

Edited by terry1966, 04 January 2017 - 09:02 PM.

[phillpower2]

This reply not intended as an enter into a debate or in conflict to what terry1966 has post;

 

Minimum and maximum game requirements when actually available are provided to give an end user a guideline to which to work with, they will often be over and above what is in fact required, this is done intentionally by the software providers to give them some leverage, they may state that 2GB of RAM is required but do not say if it needs to be at least 1333MHz or1600MHz minimum and likewise the speed of the HDD 5400rpm or 7200rpm is not something that I have ever seen being mentioned as a requirement, games played via Steam are a different ballgame as the quality of internet service also needs to be factored in.

 

The crux of it is, follow any guidelines that are given else be prepared to be disappointed and have no recompense for any software that you purchase should it run poorly because your hardware does not meet the advised requirements.

 

FWIW: Add on video card providers will often overstate the output of the PSU required to support their product and likewise this is done to cover their backs and not ours.