The Risks of Running with a Bad Processor?

[xFezIsAFreakx]

I got a new laptop for my birthday a few days ago, and we got told that the laptop had the exact same specs as the one my Mum owns which I previously used to play The Sims 3. The one my Mum has has a decent graphics card that allows me to play on a mix of medium and high settings, as well as 4GB RAM which is alright and a really good processor that exceeded the minimum system requirements by far (I can't remember the exact number of ghz, but it was a lot more than the required amount). The game ran like a dream with really minimal lag - The only town that lagged was Union Cove because of the size.

So imagine my disappointment when it turns out this laptop doesn't actually have the same specs. Instead it has 6GB RAM and an even better graphics card that can run the game on all high settings, but the processor is the AMD Dual-Core Processor E450 that is only 1.65ghz which is below the minimum system requirements for the base game (2.4ghz). I'm really not happy. Starting up a new game is ok but my Legacy and Immortal Dynasty are both rather slow. I'm only on generation 2 as a teen for both of them so I'm not overly far on and the file size isn't huge. Haven't tried in my DecaDynasty but I really don't want to know what running Bridgeport will be like if I cant handle the other files. I reduced the settings to all low and the fps is still between 5-10 and goes up to a max of 15 if I'm lucky and playing a small household.

We're going to try and trade it for one like my Mum's laptop but were not sure if we'll be allowed, so in the event that we aren't, I've decided I'm just going to have to handle it because I've put way too much work into my stories to give them up. What I'd like to know is if having a bad processor and getting it to run a game it isn't recommended to handle will in any way damage my laptop? I know about the whole using-a-chipset-for-your-graphics thing.. Does anything similar happen with the processor? Will I have to look forward to anything else other than rather bad lag in my games?

It's really ironic that I have a sweet graphics card but a bad processor..

[Flynn Arrowstarr]

Hi, Fez.

Most places will allow you to return a computer within a certain time period, depending on where you bought the system. For example, WalMart allows computer returns any time within 45 days. Other places vary - 7-15 days seems to be the average if they allow returns at all.

For the game on a laptop, you'll want to make sure you have a "decent" processor such as a Core i5 or Core i7 for Intel, or a Dual/Quad Core AMD equivalent. The GHz value of the processor should be 2.0 or better, but it's not as important as having an nVidia or ATi Radeon card with 512 MB or better of dedicated video memory. Unfortunately, those laptops start getting close to the $1,000 range, so it depends on your budget.

As far as running on a slower than recommended processor, the game will run slow as you've noted, but the computer itself should be unharmed. It can take a lot of abuse to damage a computer.

Flynn

[xFezIsAFreakx]

Hi, Fez.

Most places will allow you to return a computer within a certain time period, depending on where you bought the system. For example, WalMart allows computer returns any time within 45 days. Other places vary - 7-15 days seems to be the average if they allow returns at all.

For the game on a laptop, you'll want to make sure you have a "decent" processor such as a Core i5 or Core i7 for Intel, or a Dual/Quad Core AMD equivalent. The GHz value of the processor should be 2.0 or better, but it's not as important as having an nVidia or ATi Radeon card with 512 MB or better of dedicated video memory. Unfortunately, those laptops start getting close to the $1,000 range, so it depends on your budget.

As far as running on a slower than recommended processor, the game will run slow as you've noted, but the computer itself should be unharmed. It can take a lot of abuse to damage a computer.

Flynn

Thanks, Flynn! I ended up just taking it back and getting a new laptop with a processor that runs at 2.2ghz and the game runs really awesomely with nice settings too.

[Flynn Arrowstarr]

That's good to hear.

Flynn