How do I find out if the PC can run this game?

[MrsSnape]

DS1 has his heart set on The Sims 3 which comes out next month. Ironically, two days before his birthday. He's been wanting it since it was first mentioned about a year ago.

They have released the minimum spec requirements but its all foreign language to me, how do I work out if the PC will run it?

Can anyone help me?

[BlueSapphire77]

If it comes in PC format (dvd/cd) and you have enough memory on your pc, then it should run hope that helps!

[SlightlyMadScientist]

When you say foreign - I assume that you mean that you don't understand it - rather than it actually ebing in russian ?

[SlightlyMadScientist]

Roughly how old is your PC?

[MrsSnape]

PMSL yes its all in computer jargon, not Russian or Chinese etc

I bought the PC last year.

requirements are:

Windows Vista (Service Pack 1)
2.4 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
1.5 GB RAM
At least 6.5 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content
128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0

How do I know if I have all this?

[SlightlyMadScientist]

Right I am assuming that you have Vista as your PC is less than a year old...

Go to teh Start menu...right click on teh word "Computer". And then select properties.

You need to cehck that it says Vista (SP1) in the top part of hte box. If not you can download SP1 from Windows - so you can fix that.

I would post what it says under Processor here - so that someone can tell you whether it is appropriate.

You need a number bigger than 1500MB listed under Memory (RAM)

I would be shocked if you don't have 7.5GB of hard drive space - I have 166GB!

There is a way to check video cards....I am sure someone can help you with that too...

[SlightlyMadScientist]

RAM is probably the one that is most likely to let you down....

[RustyBear]

To check which video card you have, click the Start button and go to Control Panel. Under the Appearance and Personalization heading, select 'Adjust screen resolution' This gives you the name of your card. Clicking the Advanced settings button will give you more information.

If you google the name of your card + Pixel Shader you should be able to find out if it's OK

[CherryChoc]

Sorry if this is a bit resurrecting this thread out of the blue! Sims 3 release has been pushed back to June anyway so hope it is useful.

From experience with The Sims 2, you really need more than the minimum spec. The Sims 2 will run with the minimum spec as outlined on the website/game box, but it only runs with all the settings turned down to low and is very frustrating to play.

However having said that, I was 16 when TS2 came out and was just desparate to be able to play it at all, I didn't care if the graphics all had to be on low!

[nannynick]

As no one seems to have mentioned it yet... there is a tool called DxDiag which can tell you about some of the things inside your computer. It is part of DirectX, so should be on most Window's based systems.

If using XP:
Start, Run, Dxdiag

That might help those who want to see if they system will run Sims 3 when it comes out.

[nannynick]

Vista does have DxDiag...
Click the Start Orb, in the search bar type DXDIAG

[annemarie30]

You can try this site It checks your chosen game against your system and tells you if it will run or not.