Sims 3 on six core?

[pearlin]

i'm buying new pc for gaming, especially sims 3 and i'm thinking of buying some amd athlon x6 but i'm not sure if sims will be ok with this.did you try to play it on six core? or should i rather buy some quad core with lower fbs and frequency? thank you

 

[hunter315]

Athlon X6? Doesnt exist. The sims 3 will run perfectly fine on something like the Athlon II x2 250, sims isnt very intensive and doesnt take high level system to run. If you want a bit more power to run with something like the Phenom II 720 or the Athlon II x4 630 would provide some extra cores if you do some heavier multitasking and are still way more than you need for sims

 

[pearlin]

oh, my mistake..i wanted to write AMD PHENOM II X6 1055T BOX 125W (AM3), or considering MD PHENOM II X4 965 Quad-Core BOX because i'm not sure if sims will have no problems with more than 4 cores..i was thinking of buying 6cores because now is 2 or 4 cores sth like standard and in few years maybe six cores will be normal..so i want the best of course, if sims can manage it :-/

 

[hunter315]

It wont have a problem with it, windows does the managing of the cores, so if you have 6 cores but the program can only use two then the program only uses two.

If all you are planning on playing is sims then you are wasting your money on CPUs of that level, rather than building a system to last yourself into the future, if you buy a cheaper system that fits your needs every couple years you will spend just as much but will end up with a stronger system in the end.

 

[pearlin]

yeah, you might be right but i got money from my parents that i am supposed to buy a pc and in couple years i'm going to buy a laptop so now i'm trying to have the best i can with money i have. and is it the same on ubuntu? with wine of course..does linux manage the cores like windows?

 

[hunter315]

The operating system is in charge of all hardware management, core usage is assigned by the OS regardless of which OS you are using.

Whats your total budget for the system? If you need to use the full amount on a system now then a 1055T might be a good pick, but if you post your full budget and what you intend to use it for i can help pick out a good build for that budget.

 

[pearlin]

you're very nice i picked out already the most of the things after few days of searching on the web but i'm not very good in computers so it could be useful i think.
i got 700euro for everything-also lcd monitor, mouse and so on..
hdd:Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB HDD, Serial ATA/300 NCQ, 16MB cache, 7200 RPM
video cards: nVidia geForce gts 250
processor: the one i wrote
mb: e.g. MB Msi 760GM-E51 fsb 2,6ghz 4xddr3 1600
ramDRAM3 2x2GB Kingston HyperX 1600

 

[needsumhelplol]

Knowing the maximum resolution (or - if you don't know - the make and model) of the LCD would help us immensely

 

[hunter315]

Should be pretty good, the 965 tends to perform better in games than the 1055T, but will lose if you do multithreaded things like video editing/encoding. What you might want to do is get the 955 and a nice CPU cooler like the Thermaltake Frio or the Coolermaster Hyper 212+ and then overclock it some to get better performance.

 

[popaholic]

I say just go with an x4. For the sims 3 your gpu is going to make the difference.

 

[jaguarskx]

Buying a six-core CPU for games is a waste of money. Even 4 - 5 years from now most games will not use that many cores.

Stick with a x4 for "future proofing" and use the money to buy a more powerful card. Sims 3 is not very GPU intensive and I believe the game is designed to max out at 30FPS regardless how powerful your GPU is. A HD 5770 is more than enough for the Sims 3 regardless of the resolution.

If Crysis 2 is on your list then you may want to consider a HD 5850 especially if you are looking at a 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 monitor.

 

[Herr_Koos]

I vote you go for the X4, and rather spend extra on a better graphics card. The 250 is getting a bit long in the tooth.

 

[bcknee]

I have gotten the sims 3 to play relatively smooth on a single core processor so I don't think it requires a six core, I agree with mostly everyone else to buy a quad and get a better Video Card.

 

[needsumhelplol]

I have gotten the sims 3 to play relatively smooth on a single core processor so I don't think it requires a six core, I agree with mostly everyone else to buy a quad and get a better Video Card.

Yea with medium settings? anything above that i think it would struggle.

Seriously things can get pretty hairy if you turn the AA up at low resolutions even with a dual core.

So if you wanted anything but mid-low settings then a single core isn't really adequete.

ime it will play MID-LOW settings on a rig with slightly under the minimum requirements at about 30-55fps which imo is no fun :|

The reason the resolution of the moniter he intends to game on is important, is that while a 5770 would be ideal for about 1366x768, it would stuggle with, for example, full HD on full settings in this game; If i was building a rig to specifically play a game.. i'd want to play it at full settings and a fluid 60fps

For this reason if the moniter is above the stated resolution i would suggest a Phenom II x4 @3.2 paired with perhaps a GTX460

While the suggested graphics card is slightly over your original budget, the CPU i have suggested is just fine and pretty much makes up the difference
just 2kb tho

disclaimer; several patches have been released since i last played this game... some or all of this information may not be valid.. i am not responsible if your computer explodes / combusts / becomes sentient and enslaves humanity, etc, etc.