How much RAM do you have?

[PlatnumDymnd]

I am trying to figure out how much RAM I need to play my Sims game. I know the boxes have the system requirements but is that to run all the games preceding that release or just that EP or SP with the base game? I have a 4GB laptop and Supernatural uses 1.5 right Thomas? Then how can I expect the 14 other EPs, SPs, Worlds and downloads to run on the 2GB that's left (or less if people are using RAM for other stuff).

So, what Sim Stuff do you have on your computer and how much RAM do you have?

I have all the EPs, SPs, Riverview, Lunar Lakes, Union Cove and maybe 100 items from the store. I just did a factory restore on my laptop so no heavy software is running on it but Sims.

[Wiry]

I have 8gb of RAM, Ambitions, HELS, WA, Fast Lane Stuff, Supernatural, Showtime, and a few pieces of premium content.  I honestly don't think that laptop could handle it, although I've been wrong before.

[PlatnumDymnd]

Well this whole thing started with my game freezing when my Sim came back from Egypt. But I was in Union Cove so I thought it was a glich in the town. So now I am trying to test other worlds to see if I still get frozen. I never had these kind of issues until I installed supernatural. Actually I take that back. It was when I installed the patch. I had no choice. It kept saying that I needed to update in order to keep going. Anyway, its just started. Perhapa SN was the last straw.

[grimsoul]

Mines a older desktop with just 4 gig ram. I have all expansions and stuff packs except Diesel. All the towns from the store, all free items from the store, several purchased items from the store, A few patterns from here and all the patterns I've made and about 14 mods I run.
I've turned some of the in game settings down to low or mid way to keep the game running good.

[thesweetestpea]

4GB is the bare minimum for the game and all expansions as it stands. Make sure you're not running other RAM-eating applications at the same time as the game first. Shockwave and Flash, web browsers and iTunes/Media Player can overload RAM enough that the game won't have enough and you might not even know it. Other than that, I would suggest clearing your cache files out (if you need to, which you probably don't) and failing that, get your computer cleaned and/or upgrade RAM.

[sdhoey]

How do you know what processes or safe to end? I know explorer has to stay up.

[KJSinclair]

In all honesty, it is not just a ram factor, I had 3gb and all eps up to showtime, a lots of store items and about 2000 patterns and it ran smoothly once I installed a couple of 'clean up' mods.

Your operating system plays a role too, because although you have 4gb, how much of that is being used on idle processing, how much is being used to make your graphics card work and so on a so forth.

I am looking at getting a desktop and I have been looking at getting around 6gb ram, win7 is less resource hungry than say Vista, but Win8 is supposed to be far superior. I will also have dedicated graphics.

So it is a loaded question that is dependant on multiple factors.

I would say that 4gb is ample to run almost everything, whether it will be conducive to generational play, smooth or be ample to continue to add SPs and EPs remains to be seen.

Kindest Regards
KJ

[saltpastillen]

As regards to what the different programs are. On this page you get some help. I used it as a guide when starting to learn what my computer needed to function, and what I could go without.

[PlatnumDymnd]

In all honesty, it is not just a ram factor, I had 3gb and all eps up to showtime, a lots of store items and about 2000 patterns and it ran smoothly once I installed a couple of 'clean up' mods.

Your operating system plays a role too, because although you have 4gb, how much of that is being used on idle processing, how much is being used to make your graphics card work and so on a so forth.

I am looking at getting a desktop and I have been looking at getting around 6gb ram, win7 is less resource hungry than say Vista, but Win8 is supposed to be far superior. I will also have dedicated graphics.

So it is a loaded question that is dependant on multiple factors.

I would say that 4gb is ample to run almost everything, whether it will be conducive to generational play, smooth or be ample to continue to add SPs and EPs remains to be seen.

Kindest Regards
KJ

That's a good point on the Operating System. I currently have Windows 7 and I don't have any programs on the laptop yet. But before i did the restore I had several programs and everything still ran fine. However I had less EPs when I had Windows XP of course.

In regards to this particular issue with my game I am leaning towards it being something other than RAM. However, this issue prompted me to consider expanding my RAM to the maximum 8GB.

[Anushka]

Up untill few months ago I had only 2 gb or RAM and game was running OK, had some hickups in UC on normal settings but I had to lower game settings for CAW for minimum to be able to edit UC.
6 months ago I got 2 more so now have  4gb of RAM and 64bit system (Win 7, XP was great but almost nothing was compatible). I have all EP's and almost all SP's but no Store or other stuff installed but 4 mods. In some moments I drain my PC with Mozzila and youtube playing, Sims on window mode, at least one IM often with active voice conversation and few other applications in the background like hamachi, snagit, CCC, poweriso etc in some occasions I even had both Sims3 and Diablo3 active on my poor PC at the same time. And atm I am not having any antivirus installed but occasionally run the check with malwarebites and other usefull tools to make shore all is clean and safe.
Saying that it really puzzle me how my 4 years old system configuration (except new motherboard that is still average and not really making much if any difference) can handle all that without issues, while some awesome configurations are not handling just Sims3 very well. And to be honest, hardware available in Bosnia is certainly not in higher quality then in the rest of the world.

I do the regular maintainance of both system (with Glady Utilities) and hardware by vacuuming it lol but other than that I do nothing special (except for calling my PC with a name and occasionally cheering for it to do something right ). 

[Odie]

Anuska, I know why your computer loves you so much:

And atm I am not having any antivirus installed

An antivirus programm can be heavy to handle, so in a way it helps a lot when you don't have one (I wouldn't advise this though!)

I do the regular maintainance of both system (with Glady Utilities) and hardware by vacuuming it lol but other than that I do nothing special

This is very important, many people forget this

except for calling my PC with a name and occasionally cheering for it to do something right
 

But this is by far most the thing we should all do!!!


Now a little more serious...
If you have a choice when buying a computer for instance, I would also recommend 8 GB. But be ware that you'll always get less good use out of a laptop then a desktop, so on average a laptop needs a little more GB then a desktop to perform the same way. But 8 GB should be enough.

With every EP and SP the game gets bigger. After SN the game got too big for my laptop with 4 GB. I am really wondering how much more EP's and SP's EA thinks we should be able to have in 1 game... All this extra additions to a game can get a little messy I imagine. There is a reason why so many of use (and more each day) use mods. It's really a shame actually that there are so many problems with such an expensive game. But that's for another thread

PlatnumDymnd, I think I read that you just bought a new laptop, so buying one with 8 GB won't be an option. What also matters is how much bit is your system, 32 bit or 64 bit? A 32 bit system is limited to using only 2 GB. Therefor you need a 64 bit system for The Sims 3. This is something you can change by building up your laptop from zero again, but you can also do some adjustments on a 32bit system. NRaas explains this on his website. I am not sure if I am allowed to place a link, since that website is all about mods. (look in Game faqs, General issues)

Win7 is a good operating system, because it is less demanding then Vista.
Of course it also matters what kind of processor you have. Maybe it has trouble loading the game because of that? You say it freezes. But how long do you wait? I have to wait for 10 minutes sometimes. If another world isn't the problem, then it could be UC is too much foor your system right now. I doubt it is your sims, since you don't use cc. Have you built a very big house maybe? That could be the problem. Or no house at all? It can help if you have a small house then, so the game can load easier (maybe it has to know where the sim should go to on the lot). The neighbourhood has some very beautiful but huge houses. You could delete 1 or 2 and see if it helps.

You see, there are many things you can try. It just takes a lot of time, unfortunately

Oh, btw I have a desktop 16 GB RAM, Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q9400 2,66 GHz 64bit with Win7 (but I just got it and I didn't want to have to do that again soon )

[PlatnumDymnd]

Hi Odie,

No I don't have a new laptop. I did a factory restore so its like new. 

I have I3 with some high processor. And yep it is a 64bit. It came with 4GB and is expandable to 8GB. I was considering the expand to the 8GB this weekend but was not sure. I agree that I'm questioning how many more games EA will make as well.

Even with my current issue the game doesn't even take 5 minutes to load. Thank goodness because I am vert impatient. As you might have figured out already.

As for the current problem I took your advice and tried other worlds and it works just fine. I even went back to Union Cove and tried a different family and that works just fine. But when I used my custom family in the other worlds it again froze. This time as soon as I started to play!

Which is why I ruled out the RAM and the worlds.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

I have 4GB of RAM, and though I've been experiencing crashes lately, they are completely new since the patch so I'm pretty sure it's the fault of the patch and not my laptop. Especially as this also happens in my modded files. Mods such as Overwatch and ErrorTrap help the game run a lot smoother. Also, I too don't have an antivirus. Only reason is because I actually think they're a bit more trouble than they're worth, and getting the settings to run correctly so as to allow your laptop to run programs without being slammed against the firewall is tedious and sometimes quite difficult to do. I'm just careful with what I click on.

[Anushka]

Anuska, I know why your computer loves you so much..

Thank you, our love is mutual 

Oh, btw I have a desktop 16 GB RAM, Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q9400 2,66 GHz 64bit with Win7 (but I just got it and I didn't want to have to do that again soon )

Wow, I keep admiring configurations like that! Mine is Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E4600 2,4 GHz and my graphic card is ATI Radeon HD HD 4850 with 512 mb of integrated GDDR3 RAM (admit I overclock it and had to add cooling paste recently and used CCC heavily to adjust it well because of the overheat). It is really a great card that is probably doing a lot in running my game smooth as it does. One day, it will be upgraded of course, to handle all the future EP's - and some estimations are it may be up to 10 EP in total, but I can't swear on that. I am more concerned how will it handle future Sims 4 and I am looking forward to see how will new SimsCity work as that will be a good test.

Mods that I am using are only neccessary for CAW populating, debug enabler and master controller + cheats and storyprogression to track problems; porter and no cd.

Also, I too don't have an antivirus. Only reason is because I actually think they're a bit more trouble than they're worth, and getting the settings to run correctly so as to allow your laptop to run programs without being slammed against the firewall is tedious and sometimes quite difficult to do. I'm just careful with what I click on.

Even if I agree that this is not the safest way I find it more convinient for myself too, I know what I am clicking and am carefull enough while out of all antiviruses I love KIS which is just taking too much of my system. So just occasionally scanning my system with Malwarebites and trojan remover to make shore all is clear

[Laquanda]

I have Late Night and Generations. 4GB of ram