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General discussion

New Compaq's Video Card Worthy???

Aug 8, 2005 4:29PM PDT

My wife has been beating me down about getting her a new computer for quite some time now. She is huge SIMS 2 gaming fan, and our old DELL Inspiron w/16MB of video memory and integrated graphics just won't do the trick anymore.

I came across a deal on a compaq/hp computer with an AMD 64 processer, 1GB RAM, and "128 MB integrated video memory." All I could get from the computer's hardware list and from the site is that it is a SIS product. It is also worth noting that there is one 8x AGP slot available.

Does anyone have any insight on whether this integrated video card is going to get the job done for a rather simple game like the SIMS? If it won't, is installing an after-market AGP video card a simple operation? Thanks.

Jon

Discussion is locked

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Should be fine...
Aug 9, 2005 4:07AM PDT

My newest computer (an HP) came with SiS Mirage2 integrated graphics (up to 128MB). Personally I thought the quality was fine when playing "basic" games which do not have intense graphics. However, for action-based games, watching DVDs, etc, I found the quality to be "acceptable," but noticably choppy and grainy. Thus, I bought a VisionTek Xtasy Radeon 9550 (128MB AGP 8x) graphics card from Best Buy. While it's only an "average" graphics card, the added clarity and increased frame rates were well worth the $48 (was on sale at half-price) I spent.

For a game like Sims 2, it should be fine. While it will look a LOT better than on your old system, there will still be room for improvement, though not readily noticable (SiS is pretty good at simulating a "real" graphics card...better than Intel, IMO). Just remember that integrated graphics use your system resources, so overall performance will be lower than with a graphics card. But, with 1GB of RAM, it shouldn't be that noticable either.

Hope this helps,
John

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Thanks John
Aug 9, 2005 9:27AM PDT

Thanks for the help; I'll go pick up that PC and check out some video cards.

-Jon

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Sims 2
Aug 12, 2005 12:03AM PDT

Your wife must have visited Simtropolis.com? 82,000 members strong and counting.
I design game graphics as of just recently, so I am not a "techspert" or anything.
Just needed to relay this; If she is really caught up with the Sims2, then you are gonna want that 128mb really soon! And no less is gonna do anymore. That is all I can actually say about it, but the games of tomorrow, always show up today instead. Be ready, My 17 yr old is never satisfied for long, before she wants a new high-end game.
I have 256mb PCI Express 1000mb ram and I am planning an upgrade to dual processors next as well as various others. Why? I know what's just around the corner for Sims and even I, am still in noobie shock over it.

Like I say above, This is new to me and just my opinionated advice.

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Ended up with a Dell...
Aug 12, 2005 12:41PM PDT

Thanks for the advice. We ended up getting a Dell with 512 MB RAM and a 128 MB dedicated video card. Hopefully this should hold us over awhile...

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YES! Dell is ....
Sep 24, 2005 5:49PM PDT

wise buying. Glad to see you are set to go! You got just enough there to make Sims2 enjoyable, she'll love it! Have her visit Simtropolis.com and check the Sims2 forums. There, she will find, advice, experiments and posting her own, Sims diary might be fun.
Dell is a hit with the big boys!
Co-worker and I, have convinced an entire industry, to transition to Dells and it's working! This from a publishing corp. that was using 100% MACS. 2 years now and the Dell servers are Sweet! Now they have Dell 8400's in our graphics department running Adobe In-Design, etc. If a billion dollar corporation, dedicated to MACS can be convinced to go PC and Dell exclusively; I am definitel sold!