I think I know what you’re talking about. I think it’s here: backalleysims.com/famil… (by BobbyTH). I don’t have an account there so I can’t confirm, sorry.
elexissims replied to your post: Help?
Yes, it’s on Black Alley Sims, you need to register there to download.
muraisawesome replied to your post: Help?
Indeed you need to register. Here’s the direct link to that page though: backalleysims.com/famil…
winterayne replied to your post: After much thinking and seeing as my dashboard is...
I’m going to join in too!! It became Free To Play! Finally, i’ve been waiting all this months/years xD
Well I hope you can download it faster than I am. D:
vexed-owl replied to your post: After much thinking and seeing as my dashboard is...
I’ve downloaded it 8126347814 times because I get a stupid error that won’t let me login, I hope it works for you, I shall await for screenshots
It's not downloading in the first place. ;__;
ticklemerainbows replied to your post: After much thinking and seeing as my dashboard is...
nomnomnomnom Tera. I’ve been downloading since like, 10 this morning. It is currently 7:30 pm, haha. It told me I had 7 days left when it first started><
Holy shit. No way I'm letting my computer download this for more than a day. If I could pause it that would be a different story.
elexissims replied to your post: After much thinking and seeing as my dashboard is...
I hope you are getting the US version, I’m on Celestial Hills server right now :D
I think I got the EU version. XD
If I could torrent this or something I would create another account in the US site. Urgh. >_<
elexissims replied to your photo: Mhmm…I’m thinking of doing a DmC project for the...
I could join, but tbh I’m not a big fan of the new Dante, I find the old one to be much (MUCH) sexier, lol.
Anything you want to share related to DMC, mostly Dante. Be it new game or the original ones is more than welcome.
I was just thinking a small project because I didn't think others would be interested to join. I would be delighted if you want to share your talent! :)
Everyone can go to their local electronic store and buy a PC these days, but not everyone knows what one can actually get for the money one has. Usually the workers there will recommend one or another PC component for you, but in reality a bigger part of the Simmers won’t be aware of what they are actually buying. This guide will help you familiarize yourself with all the components and their functions, along with the brand and stats comparison. I’ve also included noob-friendly buying strategies for all the components, so everyone should be able to build their own rig without seeking help from professionals :)
I will be covering some recommendations for a build specifically for The Sims 3, as the title suggests it will be a guide perfect for Simblr people.
What you need to know
Budget - First thing you need to do before buying a new PC is decide how much you are ready to spend on it. There’s no recommended price, as everyone has different requirements for a new computer and it will highly vary between different people and their budget. Component prices can vary between the stores and countries, so keep that in mind too.
For the reasons above, I will provide percentages of your budged recommended for each component instead of the exact prices.
Laptops and Pre-Builds – I won’t be covering laptops and pre-built PC’s here for one simple reason – they are generally a bad choice for a gaming rig. Why? You can say that laptops are small and neat and awesome and what not, but the real life facts are solid:
- Most laptops have integrated components; usually their performance will be below even 5 year old non-integrated desktop components.
- Integrated components can’t be upgraded in the future.
- Laptops cost more than desktops.
Even if you are able to spend lots and lots of money on a laptop, it will NEVER be as fast and good as a desktop for the same price. Not even close. Not even an Alienware or anything else in the world.
Note: You can apply some of the strategies below for a laptop, but be ready to spend at least twice as much for a laptop with non-integrated components.
Let’s get started!
All the components are listed in the importance order they should be chosen. You should stick with it as they need to be compatible with each other!
1. Processor or CPU (Central Processing Unit)
Purpose - It’s basically a “brain” of your computer that does all the main work. The speed of your PC mostly depends on how fast your CPU can perform – how many calculations it can do in a certain amount of time. This performance is measured in GHz (gigahertz).
Brands and stats – There are two main CPU manufacturers in the market – AMD and Intel. Both have a great choice of processors for each price and provide amazing quality. AMD is a better choice over Intel in terms of price for consumer-level PC’s (everyday use and gaming).
All newer CPU’s on the market are multicore – 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 cores and sometimes more. The price depends on the number or cores and their clock rate (GHz). The higher number of cores and their clock rate is – the better.
Buying strategy – Since it’s the most important component of your new PC, you should be ready to pay as much as you can for it. Don’t try to cut your budget here, upgrading your CPU later will be expensive and may require upgrading other components as well! The suggested percentage for it is about 20% of your budget (for example 200$ in a 1000$ budget). Go to your local electronic store website and start looking for processors in this price range with at least 2-4 cores, the more the better. Once you found a few, start comparing clock rates (measured in GHz), whichever has the higher number is a better choice for you.
2. Motherboard (mobo)
Purpose – Motherboard, also sometimes called just a mobo, is the essential PC component that holds all the other components in your PC together. It serves as a “bridge” between your CPU, graphics card, storage drives and so on.
Brands and stats – Motherboard itself has no stats, but it serves a very important function – providing “communication” between all the other PC components and supporting additional expansion features.
There are a few main types of motherboards that you can choose from, but I would recommend sticking either with Micro-ATX or a standard ATX. The latter one has more possibilities for the expansion features (like adding a second graphics card), but is more costly.
There are lots of brands to choose from, but they aren’t as important as the features are, so there’s really no recommendation on that.
Buying strategy – Budget suggestion percentage – from 5% to 20% depending on the expansion features and socket type (CPU slot type).
Basically what you need to do is to take a look at the CPU you’ve chosen in step 1 (AMD or Intel) and see what’s written in the “socket” section of the description. AMD and Intel use different sockets, so you will need to choose a motherboard that has a compatible socket with your CPU. Usually all motherboard models have AMD or Intel compatible models, but the AMD versions are usually cheaper.
The second thing to look at is the expansion slots. If you aren’t planning on getting more than one graphics card or other high end features, you should stick with a fairly simple one and make it a good place to cut your budget.
3. Graphics Card or GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)
Purpose – As the name suggests, it processes all the graphical data and displays it on your monitor for your viewing pleasure. Game performance highly depends on your graphics card. A better graphics card means higher FPS (Frames Per Second) and better overall gameplay quality.
Brands and stats – There are two main brands – AMD Radeon and nVidia GeForce. Both brands provide great quality, but again AMD mostly offers better performance for the same price. There are multiple retailers for both manufacturers, such as Sapphire, XFX, Msi, Gigabyte, Asus, Club3D, Powercolor and others. The main difference is the cooler on the card.
All the graphics cards are separated into generations and classes. For both, Radeon and GeForce, the first digit in the model name is the generation. The second digit is the class which mostly determines the performance, the higher the better. The last digits (two for AMD and one for nVidia) indicate the performance in that class, again the higher the better. Most of the time an older generation card from a higher class will perform better than a newer generation card from a lower class.
Note: There are also multiple GPU technologies, either internal or external, called CrossFireX for AMD and SLI for nVidia. This allows you to have up to four cards installed on your PC. Dual GPU means that there are two physical cores on one graphics card and external means that you have several separate cards. To work properly, all the graphics cards in your system need to have the same processing unit, but it’s always best to get the same card. However, The Sims 3 does not support this feature.
Buying strategy - Recommended budget percentage is 20-30%. This is probably the most expensive component of all and you should get the best you can afford, because it gets outdated the fastest. Remember, the physical size of the graphics card is a good indicator of it’s performance, size matters :)
The best and simplest way to choose a graphics card is to go to your local electronics store website and search for cards in your price range. Then go to this website and compare their performance. There will be a lot of confusing numbers, but you should concentrate on Texture Fill Rate and Pixel Fill Rate, whichever card has higher numbers is the better card.
4. System Memory or RAM (Random Access Memory)
Purpose – It temporary stores your most recent data for quick access, reducing the loading times. It’s performance is measured in GigaBytes (GB) and megahertz (MHz). The number of GB means more storage and the number of MHz means faster access.
Brands and stats – There are A LOT of different brands, but it doesn’t really matter which one you pick. An average gamer won’t need more than 8 GB running at 1333 or 1600 MHz, especially for Sims 3. Depending on your motherboard, you can have up to 4 or 8 GB in one slot and determines what frequency (MHz) it can run at.
Buying strategies – Recommended budget percentage is 5% or less. RAM could be bought used as it has lifetime warranty and basically never goes bad. The best way is to decide how much RAM you want and look for the cheapest.
5. PSU (Power Supply Unit)
Purpose – As simple as the name sound, to supply power to your PC. The power of a PSU is measured in Watts.
Brands and stats – This is a very important component and should be high quality, because if it fails, it could take your whole system with it. It’s better to stick with known reliable brands such as Corsair, Seasonic, OCZ and some others. Do not buy the cheapest one!
Buying strategy – First thing is to calculate how much power your PC will need. This will depend on your components. The best way to do this is to look at the stats of the components you picked, the main parts that use power are the CPU and graphics card. Look at the descriptions for each and write down what they say about power consumption (Watts or W). Sum them up, add another 50W for hard drives, fans an other small bits and add another 200W for headroom. Depending if you’re planning on adding another graphics card, double the power consumption for the graphics card you wrote down. You should look for a PSU that has similar or higher power delivery to the sum you got.
The second thing to look at is power connectors, mainly your graphics card, which requires PCI-E connectors. There are two types – 6 pin and 8 pin (also called 6+2). You can look at the description for your graphics card for this information. Make sure that the PSU you’re looking at has enough of those connectors.
6. Storage
There are two main types of storage devices used – HDD’s (Hard Drive Discs) and SSD’s (Solid State Drives). The later one’s are faster and smaller, but also more expensive.
Buying strategy – It’s best to get a small SSD for your operating system, commonly used programs/games and a HDD if you need to store larger, less used files, such as movies. No matter what SSD you pick, it will always be much faster than any HDD.
Budget percentage varies depending on capacity. It could be anywhere from 10-30%.
Note: Never buy a used SSD as they have a much shorter life span than HDD’s and never get the cheapest one.
Recommended size and brands – For the operating system, some programs and a couple games, a 120-128GB SSD will be enough. Some of the best brands are Corsair, OCZ, Samsung and Plextor.
HDD the size depends on your needs. Two main things you should look for when buying a HDD, apart from the capacity you need, is speed (RPM) and cache (MB). The higher these numbers are, the better. If you install your games to the HDD, pick a faster one. For the brands I would recommend getting Seagate or Western Digital.
7. Chassis/Case
Purpose – It houses your system and provides cooling for the components.
Brands and stats – Most people underestimate the importance of the case. Your case should always be big enough and provide enough cooling options. For an ATX motherboard, look for a Mid Tower type case or bigger. Look for how many holes there are for fans and how many of them are included. Some of the best brands include fans and dust filters, such as Corsair, Cooler Master, Fractal Design and others.
Buying strategy – Measure your graphics card and make sure it fits in your case! Everything else should be simple enough. Included fans are a great bonus as good fans cost quite a bit of money. The things to look for are perforations in the front and top of the case, front for cool air intake and the top for exhausting hot air. There could also be perforations on the side panel, just make sure they have mounts for fans.
Recommended budget percentage is 5-10% or more.
8. Peripherals
Buying strategies – There really isn’t much to say about this, the best is to get what you like the most, depending on what’s left of your budget. For the monitor I would suggest getting something 21-24” with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. Keyboard, mouse and other things don’t really matter that much :)
Conclusion and general tips
Note that all of the tips above cannot be applied to everyone, we all have different tastes after all. Don’t start bashing me with a stick if you don’t agree with something, this is just a general guide :)
One thing that’s worth mentioning is that a balanced system is a happy system. For example, don’t buy a cheap CPU and the best graphics card, as the lower performing component will keep the others from performing at full potential and in turn slow down your entire system. Note that pre-built PC's and laptops usually are not very well balanced.
If you have any questions just ask :) However, I won't answer anon asks!
