The Sims 2 Graphic Support

I think I've found the laptop I want to drag with me through college, but I have to be sure that it'll play The Sims 2 pretty smoothly first. The Sims 2 system requirements' supported video chipset list does not include the video card in my chosen laptop (The Radeon Xpress 200M w/ 128MB dedicated DDR VRAM), but I've read it's just a watered down X300--which IS supported.

Sys Reqs: http://thesims2.ea.com/help/detail.php?help_id=21

It comes with an AMD Turion 64 2.0 GHz and 1GB DDR RAM and an 80GB 5400RPM HDD. This should be able to play the game anyway, but the hardware/graphic clearup would really solidify my decision. Thanks for your expertise, guys! I really appreciate it!

 

im going to say, yes it will play it. but this is not fact, as i dont have the SIMS 2 to test out on my similar setup. Perhaps someone around her can help you out.

 

We have a What Should I Buy FAQ you can fill out in the What to Buy forum - we can help you find a suitable laptop for your needs.

 

I have a SUPER TIGHT budget (less than $1200) and this laptop needs to last 4+ years. To top it off, it has to have a big name behind it (such as HP, Dell, Compaq) because it's not my money that will be buying it, it's my mom's . But, here's the What Should I Buy FAQ form:

General Questions

1) What is your budget? $1200 or less

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
15.4" screen--glossy preferrably
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen

3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook? Gaming (Sims 2, Final Fantasy XI), word processing, music and video playing, etc.

4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk? It'll be coming with me to some classes in college.

5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games? The Sims 2 and Final Fantasy XI and some older games (Diablo II, etc.)

6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like? I'd prefer something with a big name like HP, Dell, Compaq, etc. I know that some other smaller brands are better, but parents have trouble understanding that.

7) How many hours of battery life do you need? At least 3 hours.

8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person? No problem with that--just wanna see a picture of it.

9) What country are you buying this in? USA

Screen Specifics

10) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?

d. WXGA = Widescreen eXtended Graphics Array; 1280x768 or 1280x800; This resolution offers the same as XGA except that there is more horizontal real estate; 1280 versus 1024. Popular for movie viewing due to support for widescreen.

e. WXGA+ = Widescreen eXtended Graphics Array+; 1440x900; This resolution is offered on 17" widescreen notebooks and is comparable to WXGA in terms of text and icon size versus available screen real estate. Popular for movie viewing due to support for widescreen.

11) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? Glossy screen

Build Quality and Design

12) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? Mildly--an all black one is pretty dull

13) How long do you want this laptop to last? At LEAST 4 years

Notebook Components

14) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 120GB?
80 GB to 100 GB, but faster than 4200RPM

15) Do you need a DVD, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-R drive? DVD-R is a must.

Will that help? I'm really thinking about an HP Pavilion dv5000z (comes to $1197 after academic discount and instant savings) with

Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition
Processor AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-37 (2.0GHz/1MB L2 Cache)
Display 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
Graphics Card 128MB ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/Hypermemory(TM)
Memory 1.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x512MB)
Hard Drive 80 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
Primary CD/DVD Drive LightScribe 8x DVD+/-RW&CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer
Networking 54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster(TM)
TV & Entertainment Experience None
Primary Battery 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works/Money


The only problem would be the video card as far as I can see--but software rendering in the game is horrible so that's really important.

 

I'd try the Compaq V5000z, it's cheaper. Same thing as the HP dv5000z:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...resario/V5000_series&storeName=computer_store

You should consider upgraing the memory yourself aftermarket to save money. www.newegg.com is a great place; a 1GB stick of DDR333 PC2700 200-pin RAM comes out to less than what HP charges for 2x512MB - you can put the 1GB stick in the empty slot and have 1.25GB of RAM.

Yeah, the X200M isn't the greatest card, but it will do for the Sims 2.

Be aware that the 12-cell battery sticks out the back, makes the laptop a bit bulky.

 

I really was attracted to the Windows XP Media Center Edition--would there be any way to install that after market--I read on the Microsoft website that it's only for sale preinstalled on new computers . The Compaq V5000Z is really a lot less expensive--how can there be a $200 change in price between the two similarly configured systems?!

 

It all has to do with the marketing I guess, but they're the same notebook overall.

You can install Windows Media Center aftermarket, but it would probably be cheaper to go with the memory it requires (512MB - get a single stick) from HP and Media Center.

 

Thanks for your help. I'm going to order the laptop within a month--the V5000Z with XP Home--don't need media center I've decided. Thanks tons for the advice and info.

 

nice purchase, good luck!
pb,out.

 

Just thought I would mention, I have the go6600, and it struggles but can play the sims 2. I mean, everything is on max, everything. I get very little lag, well no lag, so I guess you could say it handles it BUT on my desktop, it had an Nvidia MX5 something and it could barely play it on low settings. But who knows. I actually have an x200m I could test it on if you would like. My sissies HP ze2000. Just let me know if you want me to test it, and I will.

 

My lappy only has the X300 and it runs the sims just fine.

 

Since college & sims 2 are my #1 requirements for my computer, I thought this might be a decent place to post this.

General Questions

1) What is your budget? I'd like to keep it to under $2500

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
or
d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen


3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Well, it will be a notebook for school, so I need it to have the basic Microsoft Office stuff, but I want it to play the sims 2 & also Side Meier's Pirate's game. I don't do any hard core like graphics editting or anything like that.

4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
Travelling (class, etc)

5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
Yes - See above (question 3)

6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
I despise Gateways. I kinda am leaning towards Dell, but that's mainly just because that's why my campus uses.

7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
Meh... I'm not going to be using this thing out in the woods... I should be able to find an outlet every 4 hours...

8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
No... if I buy it myself I want to see it just so I can talk to someone about my specific needs, but if I know what I need, what I want & how to get it, then I suppose I don't need to. I dunno...

9) What country are you buying this in?
USA

Screen Specifics

10) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?

Any I suppose. I just want my games to look good.


11) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Um... does it mean I'm dumb that I don't know why this would be an issue? Like, duh, I understand the difference between glossy & matte, but I don't forsee it being a huge issue?

Build Quality and Design

12) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
not so much.

13) How long do you want this laptop to last?
at least the next 4 years.

Notebook Components

14) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 120GB?
I think 80-100? Though I'm not really sure what I need...

15) Do you need a DVD, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-R drive?
Need, no. Would I use one if I had one, oh yeah.

 

Hi egirl - your post probably won't get a lot of attention here in the Graphics forum. What you should do is go to the What Should I Buy forum and create a new thread in there.

Chaz

 

I bought the HP dv5000z and this sucker runs The Sims 2 no problem in medium-quality settings. The entire setup was around $1400 and I got the 2.2GHz Turion ML-40 and 2GB of RAM--definitely overkill for the game but I wanted to be safe for future upgrades and such. It has a 15.4" widescreen display which may not seem too big but it's quite roomy. And it comes with (last time I checked) a free DVD burner upgrade (why not?!) and a maximum hard drive of 120GB--plenty of space even with the 8GB restore partition (which you CAN remove using the program itself). If you wanted an even bigger screen the dv8000z has a 17" screen--but lugging that around campus will NOT be fun; even this smaller notebook is quite heavy, especially with the 12 cell battery. But the screen on the 15.4" dv5000z looks really nice with The Sims 2. AAAND to top it off you get a free trial of MS Office, just to use until you buy a copy on campus for the lowered student price. Also, another high point of te dv8000 is that you can choose a dual-core Intel processor for about $300 more but can get a more powerful nVidia GeForce Go video card which would definitely provide extra power in The Sims 2, allowing full graphics capabilities I'm sure.