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Sims runs and loads slowly on Pentium 4 3 GHz with DDR - WTF?

R

RalphTheCow

Golden Member
Where could the bottleneck be? 16X DVD-ROM Drive? Memory? Hard drive not being SATA? It just takes forever to load, and sometime slows down during gameplay, like if a helicopter or bus comes.

I didn't think about buying a full gaming rig just for the Sims. So I guess I screwed up?

There must be some tweaks I can do?

 
Dell Dimension 3000 out of the box with XP Home SP2, 15" Flat Panel, 512 MB DDR SDRAM at 400 MHz, P4 3.0 GHz (HT320 I think with 800 MHz FSB and 1 MB cache), 16X DVD-ROM, 80 GB Ultra ATA HD, Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2, plus loads of the usual software junk that comes preloaded, like a stripped down McAfee AV.

Oh, and I forgot to say it's Sims 2.
 
Maybe, but I think it's something else. Previously we had a 866 MHz P3 with 256 MB PC133 and an ATI Rage Pro, and when we upgraded to a GEForce, it played better but still loaded horribly. So the disc is basically the same in the new one, Ultra ATA, so I think that's the problem, although it may not just be the interface; I think it could be the way the software is written.

I followed the instructions and disabled the Anti-virus and all extraneous processes, and there were quite a few. But it made no difference at all. The bog is in loading the house data. During that time the video is doing nothing. It is nailing the hard drive the whole time, so it seems to me the problem is there. It makes many small hits on it, where I would think it should just get all the data in a couple huge reads. It acts like a system does when it's low on memory. I used to have some sort of utility that analyzed disc activity. I guess I'll head over to that huge sticked thread and look for it, unless someone here knows of it.
 
That's Dell bread and butter. They're selling points on Home-desktops are CPU core clock speed and RAM (used to be just CPU speed). They flash big numbers like !!!3.0GHz!!! and !!!512MB!!! and allow consumers to ignore other factors such as hard drive speed and, more important for most people who play games, graphics.
 
Originally posted by: Farmer
That's Dell bread and butter. They're selling points on Home-desktops are CPU core clock speed and RAM (used to be just CPU speed). They flash big numbers like !!!3.0GHz!!! and !!!512MB!!! and allow consumers to ignore other factors such as hard drive speed and, more important for most people who play games, graphics.
Click to expand...

Yep dell sells something like this most of the time

3 GHZ PENTIUM IV

512mb RAM

they dont list anything else usually in the ads and have to call to find out


POS Hard drive (but oh so quite) that is probably like 5400 RPMs or whatever they can get cheap

Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics (hey its from intel and it is extreme, it has to be good!) and dont forget it leeches off your system ram

pc2100 RAM (does not work that great in terms of performance with a high end Pentium IV)

god i hope i never have to buy a prebuilt computer
 
I used program HD Tach - my old computer comes out pretty poorly at 30 MB/sec average read time, where most other 7200 RPM Western Digitals come out around 40 MB/sec. It'll take me a while to test the new one. Does anyone here use Sims 2, and if so, can you tell me how long it takes to load Pleasantville? Thanks.

 
problem is the integrated, sims2 did the same to me, get a graphics that supports dx9, i got the fx-5900 pretty cheap, of course i'm selling it soon to get the 6600gt or better for other games. works fine for sims2 tho.
 
It's your video card period. Upgrade that and you'll see and feel a world of difference. Hd is minor compared to the amount of bottlenecking that integrated chip is giving you.
 
lol .. intergrated intel extreme ...

you can run all the hdtach, hard drive stuff you want .. it's your videocard. if you run slow, you don't replace the shoes.
 
>> This is assuming your motherboard has an AGP slot...

Uh-oh - probably not. How about a PCI video card - hopefully they still make them.
 
uhm I think ati stopped with radeon 9200 in pci and im not sure about Nvidia but hell anything would be better than intel extreme graphics.
 
>>Sorry dude. That machine isn't fit for anything more then web-browsing, email and solitaire.

So I'm assuming that means you can't deactivate the integrated graphics since you can at least still get PCI video cards, although I guess there probably is a big performance hit form AGP to PCI? Man, Dell has really gone downhill. My old 2000 Dell 4100, basically entry-level, came with an AGP slot. It's my fault for not reading the Sims box, but they should be more up front with the lack of upgradability. If I can't disable the onboard, I will at least give them some serious hell about this.
 
Bleh:

No, FX5200 is no way in hell worth the $50 or whatever it costs.

Dig out $300 some and get yourself a new mobo and a used/refurb 9700Pro, and you're set.

Unless, it wont fit in your case...
 
i suppose you can get a 9200 pci card, it would offer better performance than intel extreme... and you might be able to play sims at 800x600
 
From the Sims website:
------
Intel(R) Extreme Graphics (see note below)
82845, 82865, 82915

If you have a non-T&L capable video card, such as Intel Extreme Graphics or Radeon VE series, then you need at least a 2.0 GHz processor.
------

This should cover it. So can anyone tell me how long Pleasantview takes to load on their system?

Oh, BTW, the BIOS options for primary video are auto and onboard, so I'm hoping auto means check the PCI slots first.
 
Originally posted by: RalphTheCow
From the Sims website:
------
Intel(R) Extreme Graphics (see note below)
82845, 82865, 82915

If you have a non-T&L capable video card, such as Intel Extreme Graphics or Radeon VE series, then you need at least a 2.0 GHz processor.
------

This should cover it. So can anyone tell me how long Pleasantview takes to load on their system?

Oh, BTW, the BIOS options for primary video are auto and onboard, so I'm hoping auto means check the PCI slots first.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately PCI slots lack the speed of AGP and PCI-E slots. You probably won't find a PCI video card that will be much better then your integrated graphics.

However you can turn the graphic settings down for better performance.
 
Originally posted by: RalphTheCow
>>Sorry dude. That machine isn't fit for anything more then web-browsing, email and solitaire.

So I'm assuming that means you can't deactivate the integrated graphics since you can at least still get PCI video cards, although I guess there probably is a big performance hit form AGP to PCI? Man, Dell has really gone downhill. My old 2000 Dell 4100, basically entry-level, came with an AGP slot. It's my fault for not reading the Sims box, but they should be more up front with the lack of upgradability. If I can't disable the onboard, I will at least give them some serious hell about this.
Click to expand...


Dell has a bunch of models with AGP and PCi-e slots. Don't blame Dell because you bought the cheapest thing they had
 
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