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Field Researcher
Original Poster
#1 Old 19th Sep 2018 at 12:46 AM Last edited by Kunder : 19th Sep 2018 at 12:57 AM.

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, Free Time, Apartment Life
Default A new "sleeper" Simming machine discovered today.
The Lenovo T400/500 with RADEON GRAPHICS ATI mobility Radeon HD 3650. I came by this computer kind of by accident. Noticed it had the following hardware configuration:

T500.
Core2Duo, T9400cpu at 2.53GHz.
1gb/RAM.
1600x1050 display!
No battery/Hard drive, or charger. Caddy was there.
GMA 4500m on-board graphics (NO GOOD for playing Sims).
ATI Radeon 3650 graphics! (Surprise! I wasn't expecting that! Turns out it is pretty decent for playing Sims 2).

I paid $30 US dollars, + shipping for it off Ebay.
Computer turned out to be in nearly NIB condition, and flawless!

So, $50 total for machine.

$30 for 160gb Intell Solid State Drive.

$12 for a battery.

$8 for a 65 watt charger.

$7 for a Hard drive caddy for the optical drive bay.

$13 for a 320gb 7200RPM hard drive to put in the optical bay.

Ram would've been around $30, but I had two, 4gb sticks of DDR3 PC-3 1333 (use ONLY DDR3 PC3-1333 memory, as DDR3 PC3 12800 will not work in this machine. !) laying around doing nothing, so I used it in the machine.

A copy of Win7Pro.

Drivers can be downloaded from Lenovo's EOL (End Of Life) archive.

It's NEW configuration is now:
T500.
Core2Duo, T9400cpu at 2.53GHz.
8gb/RAM.
1600x1050 display.
GMA 4500m on-board graphics.
ATI Radeon 3650 graphics.
160gb Intel SSD.
320gb 7200rpm HDD.
Win7Pro.

I put this machine together and had it running in under an hour. Loaded Sims just for kicks, and found it automatically detected the family, but not the specific video, however the game plays as it should. Nothing in the settings are greyed out. I did go and change my .sgr files so it recognized the specific video chipset, but it didn't make a difference in gameplay. Ran fine.

So, for $120, I have a nice, capable Simming machine!

IF you decide to go this route, add another $30 for ram. Get your stuff from Ebay.

I would rate the difficulty of this project at 4/10 for a beginner. Just take your time.

If you DO decide to do this, I'll help you through it.

The one thing you want to make DOUBLE sure of, is that the machine comes with RADEON graphics!

Get Macrium Reflect, to image your SSD to the mechanical drive. Not only will this protect your Simmies, it will protect your computer, should your SSD fail. You can replace it, and pull the image from the mechanical drive, to the new SSD.

I highly recommend using an SSD for playing Sims2. It makes loading, and gameplay, SOOOO much faster!

I also recommend playing at 1280x800 resolution. with medium, and some high settings to play smoothly. You'll figure that one out yourself.

Good luck!
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Undead Molten Llama
#2 Old 19th Sep 2018 at 1:18 AM
I did something similar. When I buy a Simming machine, I always get an old model for cheap and then upgrade key stuff for TS2 purposes. My current machine is a refurbed HP desktop (I don't like playing on laptops) that I bought on Newegg for ~$100, including shipping. Out of the box, it would've played TS2 fine. It, too, has a Core2Duo processor (which is just about perfect for TS2); mine's 3.2GHz, I think. It came with 4GB of RAM, 64-bit Win7 Pro, and it had integrated graphics that would've run TS2 all right. But, I stuck in some more compatible RAM that I already had as well, so it's maxed to 8GB, as well as the 2GB NVIDIA GTX 750 video card from my old Simming machine, whose motherboard and PSU died from a power surge, but which miraculously didn't damage the video card. I'll probably get an SSD for it eventually, but for now I just have two HDDs in it, the 500GB one it came with and the 1TB one salvaged from the old machine, which also wasn't damaged.

I prefer NVIDIA video cards, though. I've had all sorts of problems with Radeon cards with other programs I use -- notably CAD -- and folks here have reported issues with the latest software for Radeon cards not getting along with TS2, so watch out if you update that. I just installed an NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti, mainly to get myself more texture memory, and my game is running and looking good. Newer isn't better for TS2!

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#3 Old 19th Sep 2018 at 1:41 AM
I would avoid Radeon cards like the plague. My issues with my new Radeon were so bad I had to go buy a new Nvidia and the guy who installed my Radeon had just ended his 4 weeks free replacement time! DH didn't tell me about that... instead of troubleshooting for a month, I should have said right away to toss that card and install a Nvidea.

Two things, one they put out driver updates that broke directX 9 games. The second is the model I bought AMD secretly downgraded and sold under the same name. So I have no idea if I had the higher spec card or the lower lemon. I am so disgusted that I will not be buying any Radeon cards ever again. This was my very first time trying them too lol.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#4 Old 19th Sep 2018 at 2:42 AM
Quote: Originally posted by iCad
I did something similar. When I buy a Simming machine, I always get an old model for cheap and then upgrade key stuff for TS2 purposes. My current machine is a refurbed HP desktop (I don't like playing on laptops) that I bought on Newegg for ~$100, including shipping. Out of the box, it would've played TS2 fine. It, too, has a Core2Duo processor (which is just about perfect for TS2); mine's 3.2GHz, I think. It came with 4GB of RAM, 64-bit Win7 Pro, and it had integrated graphics that would've run TS2 all right. But, I stuck in some more compatible RAM that I already had as well, so it's maxed to 8GB, as well as the 2GB NVIDIA GTX 750 video card from my old Simming machine, whose motherboard and PSU died from a power surge, but which miraculously didn't damage the video card. I'll probably get an SSD for it eventually, but for now I just have two HDDs in it, the 500GB one it came with and the 1TB one salvaged from the old machine, which also wasn't damaged.

I prefer NVIDIA video cards, though. I've had all sorts of problems with Radeon cards with other programs I use -- notably CAD -- and folks here have reported issues with the latest software for Radeon cards not getting along with TS2, so watch out if you update that. I just installed an NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti, mainly to get myself more texture memory, and my game is running and looking good. Newer isn't better for TS2!
I actually bought this machine to fix, and re-sell as a budget laptop. I didn't know that it had Radeon graphics. I usually avoid Radeon myself, but I figured was "What the heck, might as well give it a try", and it works GREAT. pleasant surprise! I didn't pick it specifically for anything. Luck of the draw, I guess.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#5 Old 19th Sep 2018 at 2:52 AM Last edited by Kunder : 19th Sep 2018 at 3:13 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
I would avoid Radeon cards like the plague. My issues with my new Radeon were so bad I had to go buy a new Nvidia and the guy who installed my Radeon had just ended his 4 weeks free replacement time! DH didn't tell me about that... instead of troubleshooting for a month, I should have said right away to toss that card and install a Nvidea.

Two things, one they put out driver updates that broke directX 9 games. The second is the model I bought AMD secretly downgraded and sold under the same name. So I have no idea if I had the higher spec card or the lower lemon. I am so disgusted that I will not be buying any Radeon cards ever again. This was my very first time trying them too lol.
Like I said, I didn't even know it had dedicated graphics. Even as I loaded Sims to the SSD, I was thinking this would be a train wreck. However, it turns out that the old 256mb Radeon chipsets, run Sims quite well on a laptop! My answer to the driver issue, is "If it ain't broke, don't "fix" it". Couldn't be truer in this application. I just won't update the driver, since the only game I'll have on this machine, is Sims 2, and maybe a few other older games. I won't NEED to update the driver.

The old ATI Radeon cards, and chipsets are far better for reliability, and compatibility for older games, than the newer Radeon cards, and chipsets. I wouldn't personally go purchase a Radeon card myself. I'm an nVidia man
This was a fortunate accident, and I do recommend this setup for someone on a budget.

BTW, This machine is nine years old, and in no imaginable way, obsolete. It most probably won't run "Skyrim" but it will play lots, and lots of older games, it will run the latest MS Office, It will run new enough, Adobe editing software, it will run anything the average person would want to run. It has excellent WiFi capabilities, and with the SSD, and 8gb/RAM, in all practicality, it's as fast as any new machine for general computing. PLUS, you don't really need to worry if you drop it. It's VERY tough! It's a superb machine for VERY little money.

I give it two thumbs up!
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#6 Old 19th Sep 2018 at 3:32 AM
Being 9 years old is probably why it plays Sims 2 so well. My last computer was 8 years old and played the sims very smoothly. Now even with everything that I tried to do to get something as good its been nothing but issues. Even now I have to delete thumbnails just to prevent pink flashing. It even played Skyrim on medium settings and Dragon Age Inquisition with a 2 core mod.

Not sure why you deleted that post, but I am replying to it. :D

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#7 Old 19th Sep 2018 at 6:20 PM
The game originally ran better with Radeon cards than NVidia - it was more compatible with the old Radeons. Not sure why but that's what the company always said. I had Radeons for years and, as it happens, have one now though I too tend to prefer NVidias for other games. When the time comes to separate my sims computer from the rest of my gaming habit, I'll probably send the current Radeon card with it.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#8 Old 19th Sep 2018 at 10:18 PM Last edited by Kunder : 21st Sep 2018 at 3:54 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
Being 9 years old is probably why it plays Sims 2 so well. My last computer was 8 years old and played the sims very smoothly. Now even with everything that I tried to do to get something as good its been nothing but issues. Even now I have to delete thumbnails just to prevent pink flashing. It even played Skyrim on medium settings and Dragon Age Inquisition with a 2 core mod.

Not sure why you deleted that post, but I am replying to it. :D
I just merged it in to the previous post. If you're having that much trouble with your Sims, let me know what processor, O/S, and graphics you have. My current Simmer has nVidia graphics, but I find Sims plays better on my 4thGen HD-4600 on-board graphics. You may have to do that. It works well enough, that I don't feel a need to try and run it on the nVidia, GT 730 graphics. I haven't really tried it. I can tell you that the nine year old Radeon graphics runs Sims EVERY BIT as well as my HD4600, in my 4thGen, T440p.

I haven't had any difficulty running Sims on any machine with REASONABLE graphics, since I learned how to set up my. .sgr files, I also have a really good understanding of the hardware, and how it interacts with software.

BTW, a "Simming" machine should be run with a minimum of :EDITED: 8gb/RAM, and NO SWAPFILE. Seems like The Sims 2, is designed to run a great deal from a swapfile, that actually slows the game down, and without one, will load itself in just the memory, making it run considerably smoother/faster. Yes, Sims only recognizes 2-4gb/RAM, but the rest of your computer needs the memory room to "breath" while Sims is running mostly from the RAM. Adding a SSD to the mix, makes Sims 2 load REALLY fast! I recommend having 8gb/RAM in any "Simming" machine, to give it room to operate all the needed background processes, while it runs Sims.

70% of problems running Sims, is due to the hardware, and it's configuration. Some machines just "Simmply" do it better than others .

My T440p is an i7 Quad Core, with a bunch of ram, and it hasn't given me any trouble at all running Sims, other than when you go into a Hood, the screen goes black, and I have to hit my "Windows" key, then it goes to the desktop, I then click the minimized sims thumbnail in the taskbar, then Sims immediately goes to the Hood. It might be either a graphics glitch, or a Windows glitch. Either way, it's not a problem. Truthfully though, Sims DO seem to run just a hair smoother on those old Radeon graphics. I guess you've figured out by now, that I'm keeping that old ThinkPad, T500 .

One of the reasons I got so excited about the T500 when I got it, is that I've been looking for a T400, or T500 with the Radeon graphics for under $100. And add to it, that it had the "Holy Grail" of displays for that series? for over five years! I was ecstatic! Especially for $30+shipping!

You can get them, and they're worth the $250 that those selling them are asking for them, but to get one for $50 with shipping??? BOOyah!!
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#9 Old 19th Sep 2018 at 10:49 PM Last edited by Kunder : 20th Sep 2018 at 12:01 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by maxon
The game originally ran better with Radeon cards than NVidia - it was more compatible with the old Radeons. Not sure why but that's what the company always said. I had Radeons for years and, as it happens, have one now though I too tend to prefer NVidias for other games. When the time comes to separate my sims computer from the rest of my gaming habit, I'll probably send the current Radeon card with it.
@maxon Affirmative, and I'll certainly take your word for that. Especially after seeing it in action for myself. You've been playing Sims, MUCH longer than I have .

I understand why there are compatibility issues though. I've written video games myself, back in the '80's-90's, I know, at THAT time, if you wanted a game to address specific video, code must first be written to address the video "generation", and then, the "type". I don't believe that has changed much, if any.

Sims wasn't coded to look for the newer "generations" of video chipsets. Thus you need work arounds. This is why you need to learn how to properly edit your .sgr files for Sims 2.

Editing your .sgr files is equivalent to an inefficient "patch". That's why The Sims 2 "native" video addresses, work as well, if not better than a newer "patched" video. Just an example:

On-board HD-4000 graphics are "technically" FAR better than Radeon mobility 3650 graphics, but the Radeon graphics are "native" to Sims 2, and it does't need to search through a "patch". It's a PITA to get on-board HD-4000 graphics, to run Sims 2 "cleanly", and almost impossible, to get on-board HD-3000 graphics to run it at ALL, without a LOT of help! If you have an i3 powered laptop, with HD-3000 on-board graphics... FUGGEDDABOUDIT, your SOL. You'll need at least a good, i5 to run it successfully. Even then, Sims will need lots of help.

Also, I do not like the way nVidia, and Radeon graphics interact with the modern hardware for gaming. The LAST thing I'm worried about is the battery life of my gaming laptop. I'm NOT going to be playing Sims 2 in a cave. That's what the laptops A/C adapter is for.

Modern computers are designed to conserve battery life. That's why you have the "U" (low voltage) designated processors,, Low voltage RAM, and SSD's (i.e., the T440 ThinkPads have Lower clock speed, "U" processors"). I don't own a T440, however, I own several model T440p ThinkPads. The difference is that my T440p ThinkPads, have QM (Higher voltage) designated processors. Much quicker, MUCH more efficient, and much higher clock speeds. That's why computers using the "U" processors, are quite a bit cheaper, than the high voltage processor. Features were removed from the "U" processors, to lighten them up. They cost less to manufacture.

SSD's are the best idea for computers since they were invented. PC3L (low voltage) RAM isn't an issue. for general application, and gaming, I haven't noticed ANY difference between 1.3volt, as compared to 1.5 volt RAM, for memory speeds. You just need to make sure that you don't use PC3 memory, in low voltage machines that are designed for PC3L memory, However, you CAN run PC3L in machines designed for PC3, as those will run both. You just don't want both PC3L, and PC3 in the same machine.

However, for CPU power, the "U" designated CPU's are inferior to, M, QM, or MQ designated processors.

Give me POWER! Not better battery life!

I'm sorry I got all "tecchy" here, but I hope I have cleared up some things.
Scholar
#10 Old 20th Sep 2018 at 3:38 PM
@Kunder



favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#11 Old 20th Sep 2018 at 11:10 PM
Well once I tossed the Radeon most of my issues stopped. I will show you on a thread exactly what was happening and not only to me.
This is a post by Loving-em http://modthesims.info/showthread.p...512#post5385512 They had the same exact issue, the game could not save. page 2-6 I post on my issues on that thread. Like I said tossing that Radeon and switching to the Nvidia solved 95% of my issues. A big part of my issues stemmed from getting a non-gamer computer tec to make my new computer. Lesson learned there.

This is what I have now and apart from the occasional pink flashing I am pretty happy with it. Many people in the sims 2 community are having pink flashing, many far worse than me.
Screenshots

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#12 Old 21st Sep 2018 at 3:25 AM Last edited by Kunder : 21st Sep 2018 at 4:13 AM.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#13 Old 21st Sep 2018 at 4:03 AM
@Kunder like this but replace the * with a /

[spoiler] text or picture here [*spoiler]

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#14 Old 21st Sep 2018 at 4:13 AM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
@Kunder like this but replace the * with a /

[spoiler] text or picture here [*spoiler]
NICE!! Thanx!
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#15 Old 25th Sep 2018 at 10:30 PM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
Well once I tossed the Radeon most of my issues stopped. I will show you on a thread exactly what was happening and not only to me.
This is a post by Loving-em http://modthesims.info/showthread.p...512#post5385512 They had the same exact issue, the game could not save. page 2-6 I post on my issues on that thread. Like I said tossing that Radeon and switching to the Nvidia solved 95% of my issues. A big part of my issues stemmed from getting a non-gamer computer tec to make my new computer. Lesson learned there
This is what I have now and apart from the occasional pink flashing I am pretty happy with it. Many people in the sims 2 community are having pink flashing, many far worse than me.
Good points here. Don't have a non-gamer PC tech build you a Sims 2 computer, or at least get someone who knows how to set up a gaming computer, and diligently listens to your needs. PC techs tend not to listen much to the end user.

To be honest though, the only time I've had pink flashing, was when I tried running Intel, GMA-4500 graphics, on a Lenovo R400 Thinkpad. Even Kiri couldn't help me fix that. I just decided that it's not a good graphics chipset to use.
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