Will This HP Desktop Run Sims 3

[CassL]

Hello!

Will the card and the PC run Sims 3 + all expansions + CC smoothly? At least on medium settings?

http://store.hp.com/us/en/PDPStdView?catalogId=10051&urlLangId=-1&langId=-1&productId=1047674&storeId=10151

[MrsFlynn]

Yes, this desktop should have no problems running Sims 3 with all expansions and custom content at med-high settings.

However, you may run into the game not recognizing the dedicated video card. This shouldn't be a problem. The link below will help with that.

How-To: Get Sims 3 to Recognize a New Graphics Card
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=26753.msg446248#msg446248

Please note: With Sims 3, please keep in mind due to the game engine's quirks the game still suffers from micro-stutters and periodic slow downs. There is not a lot you can do to fix this.

Also the more content you add to the game, like custom content, game mods and store content the more the game will lag. This is due to the way the game handles additional content. Again, not much can be done to speed that up unfortunately. But it is far less noticeable on a desktop.

[CassL]

THANK YOU soo much!

What would I have to do to get high settings?

*Being greedy*

[MrsFlynn]

The GTX 745 might not handle full highest settings, due to it having the slower DDR3 memory. This is why I said med-high settings.

**Disclaimer: The desktop may need to be looked at by a computer friend or someplace like BestBuy's GeekSquad to see if it can be upgraded. As unfortunately some newer slimline desktops can't easily be upgraded.

I can't tell by the photos what type of desktop case it has. But if it's a regular case, all that may need to be done then is buy a newer video card, and a power supply (recommended links are below) to make sure the video card and pc parts will run well without frying anything and you should be good to go.

It's recommended to upgrade the power supply anyway. As the supplies that come with most budget gaming pcs are under powered for actual gaming. This can cause damage to the system due to over-stressing the power supply.

If it is found that it can be upgraded, recommended video card(s) and power supply:

EVGA GeForce GTX 750Ti SC 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card = Price: $109.99
https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-750Ti-Graphics-02G-P4-3753-KR/dp/B00IDG3IDO

EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB ACX 2.0+ = Price: $190.79
GAMING, Whisper Silent Cooling Graphic Card 04G-P4-3965-KR
https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Whisper-Cooling-04G-P4-3965-KR/dp/B01BX3FAWU

EVGA 500W Power Supply = Price: $37.05
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Continuous-Warranty-Supply-100-W1-0500-KR/dp/B00H33SFJU

At the moment we have GTX 750Ti in our desktops, and they do highest settings pretty well.

[CassL]

Okay.
Right now I have an Nvidia Geforce GTX 650 TI, and it's DDR5.
My power source is from Corsair and it's 750W.
I upgraded the computer because it could only handle 4G of RAM. Sims needs more and that's why it was crashing.

We just got an Envy Phoenix 810-470, but we have to mess with the BIOS to get it to recognize the card.
Havnt done it yet, but hopefully it fixes the issue.
Otherwise, I'll be looking for another computer.🙇

[CassL]

Don't know if this should be in another topic or not, but...

Before GTX 650 To is compatible with the HP Envy Phoenix 810-470, right?
 Someone said it was, we just need to turn off the Safe Boot on the computer but...

Is it really? Lol.

[MrsFlynn]

It depends on if you take the 750 watt power supply and will be putting that into the HP as well as the GTX 650 Ti. If that's the case you should be good to go.

[CassL]

Mrs.Flynn, has anyone ever told you you're a blessing to the world? Lol.

Thank you!!

[MrsFlynn]

Awe, shucks!! Thank you!! I'm hoping that works well for you!!

[CassL]

We're actually have issues with turning off the secure boot on the Envy Phoenix mentioned above.
After disabling Secure boot and enabling Legacy boot, it's supposed to restart and take you to a page where you enter a code to authorize the change.
We waiting for about ten minutes but the screen never appeared.... So we're at a loss.

Would you happen to know anything about this, since you're good with computers?

[MrsFlynn]

Hmm.. I'll have to have Hubby reply to this question. He can help answer this question better.

[Flynn Arrowstarr]

Hi. CassL.

The good news is you shouldn't need to disable Safe Boot in order to use the GTX 650 Ti. Here's why.

Safe boot is another term for a system called UEFI. What UEFI does (among other things) is to try and prevent certain changes to the startup sequence of your computer - such as the installation of programs called root kits. A side effect of this is that you can't install non-UEFI operating systems on the computer like Windows 7.

Legacy boot is the "normal" (sometimes labeled as fast) boot process. It's used by pre-UEFI operating systems like Windows 7 and is also supported by Windows 8 and Windows 10. It does not have the boot protections of Safe boot, but is far more compatible with older hardware and older versions of Windows.

Unfortunately the two modes are not compatible. The start up process is completely different between the two so if you disable Safe boot on your HP, you will be left with a computer that can't boot into Windows until you re-install the operating system. Sorry for the bold text, I just wanted to emphasize the implications of what you're trying to do.

If for some reason the GTX 650 Ti doesn't work with the Safe boot (and I can't think of a reason why not) contact the manufacturer of the card for a UEFI firmware update and that should fix the issue.

Hope this helps and happy Simming!

Flynn

We're actually have issues with turning off the secure boot on the Envy Phoenix mentioned above.
After disabling Secure boot and enabling Legacy boot, it's supposed to restart and take you to a page where you enter a code to authorize the change.
We waiting for about ten minutes but the screen never appeared.... So we're at a loss.

Would you happen to know anything about this, since you're good with computers?

[CassL]

What would simmers do without you guys? We would just sit here and cry! Thank you for the insight.

Yeah, my brother had to reinstall windows last night. Lol.
I hadn't read your replies yet, unfortunately, so we had to learn we need a boot CD the hard way.

The reason we wanted to try to disable Secure Boot is because the computer won't switch from the on-board graphics to the card. We tried installing the drivers directly from Nvidia, but it says there's no usable card.

I will try to find the manufacturer.

[MrsFlynn]

After re-installing Windows, did the card work or is it still not working?

[CassL]

No, there was no change unfortunately.

They've shipped it off to GeekSquad at BestBuys, as of today.
Don't know how much good that will do, but... Eh.
They said 3-5 days, so I'll let you guys know!

Thank you again for being so helpful!
You're really the light of the sims 3 world... Honestly. Thank you for your kindness!