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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 13th Aug 2017 at 6:20 PM
Default Computers that do/don't run TS2
Sorry if this in the wrong area!! I didn't think it quite fit into help or anything like that.

So my laptop is giving out on me - the casing is cracked in a zillion places - and my father has offered to help me buy a computer. The only games I really play are the Sims series and emulators, so other than the requirements for my virtual college programs, I only really need my PC to meet the requirements for Sims games. I can find the minimum required specs for the Sims games, but the thing is, I currently have a Windows 8 Lenovo laptop that CANNOT run TS2. I'm serious - I've tried EVERYTHING, suggestions on this forum, suggestions from Games4TheWorld, suggestions from EA. No hope. Basically, before I buy a new PC, I want to be sure all the Sims games will run on it.

If your current/new-ish (Windows 8 or later) laptop can't run TS2, or if you've known of one that won't, will you post the name of it here so I don't wind up disappointed again? Or if you know of a current computer that runs TS2 particularly well, that would also be helpful.

Thanks in advance!
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 13th Aug 2017 at 6:31 PM
Just give your laptops spec and we will help you or work things out here. I have Lenovo laptop and it runs fine apart from (minor) graphical issues.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 13th Aug 2017 at 6:34 PM
Quote: Originally posted by SneakyWingPhoenix
Just give your laptops spec and we will help you or work things out here. I have Lenovo laptop and it runs fine apart from (minor) graphical issues.


Trust me, on a previous MTS account I went through EVERY possible solution, and nothing could work. The mods here and G4TW both said it was the strangest thing they've ever seen. No matter what modification was made to the way I was running it, the game would always crash on loading the neighborhood.

I'm purchasing a new laptop now and just asking others if they've encountered such an issue that can't be worked around so I don't run into another unfixable problem!
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#4 Old 13th Aug 2017 at 6:45 PM
Mm, thing is that's not gonna be caused by the model or make of laptop you have - it'll be something specific to your setup. It might be completely bloody impossible to work out what without completely wiping everything - OS, firmware etc. - and starting again, but it's not going to be a reproducible "Ah yes, Simovo SlimSim laptops can't run TS2 successfully" kind of thing.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Mad Poster
#5 Old 13th Aug 2017 at 7:14 PM
The games ability to run generally depends on your computer specs.

My specs
Windows 7
i3 2120 CPU @ 3.30 GHz
8 Gigs of RAM
1.3 Terra byte Hard drive
When I first bought the computer it had an Intel 4000 HD graphics chip, and I was having problems with Sims 2 (walls blinking black and pink, blue ground, and deformed heads in create-a-Sim). What fixed it was buying my Radeon HD 6670 graphics card with 2 gigs of its own RAM from Newegg.com and paying a local computer shop to install it. I can play Sims 2 and Sims 3 beautifully, but apparently according to minimum specs, it can't handle Sims 4. I'm not bothered by it, since I refuse to touch Sims 4 with a 10 foot pole.

I have a desktop, so I could pay the computer shop to install the graphics card but from what I understand one can't do that with a laptop. You will need to look for computer specs that can play what Sims games you want to play, just looking for a specific brand may backfire if it doesn't have the specs that you need.
Scholar
#6 Old 14th Aug 2017 at 1:03 AM
My laptop hates Sims 2 with a passion but I play it anyway. I wish Toshiba hadn't screwed me over. I asked for a gaming laptop. Didn't get anything close to it.

"Oh look, my grandchild is now an elder. They grow up so fast. Gee, I wonder when I'll finally graduate college." Sims 2
Mad Poster
#7 Old 14th Aug 2017 at 4:50 AM
In general (and people will argue with me, no matter) there are very few laptops capable of sustained game play in Sims 2. It has always been a hard game to play on laptops, and even for the newer models that are designed for it, the struggle is there.
Thus, I have a desktop:
HP-Pavilion
System Model: AY627AA-ABA a4313w
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Sempron(tm) Processor LE-1250, ~2.2GHz
Memory: 3072MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 2814MB RAM
Page File: 936MB used, 4691MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Display Memory: 1400 MB
Dedicated Memory: 249 MB
Shared Memory: 1151 MB
Current Mode: 1366 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: HP w1858 Wide LCD Monitor
Monitor Model: HP w1858
Monitor Id: HWP2835

Free Space: 414.6 GB
Total Space: 476.9 GB

Yes, the memory is a little weak, but it sure is an improvement over the last computer I had. This is also a second hand rebuild.

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#8 Old 14th Aug 2017 at 11:21 AM
That definitely used to be true but isn't any more. Budget laptops won't cope well, but you can easily get an inexpensive mid-range laptop which will be fine for TS2 as long as you're not cramming your game full of Nightcrawler hairs or something like that.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Scholar
#9 Old 14th Aug 2017 at 11:35 AM
Lenovo Thinkpad T420 here. A few years old, bought refurbished but works GREAT! I have had it a year now.

Paladins/SimWardrobes downloads: https://simfileshare.net/folder/87849/
Mad Poster
#10 Old 14th Aug 2017 at 1:49 PM
The main thing is, as far as I can see: a good graphics card (some laptops do have them).
A reasonable processor - personally I have the i-5, but there are a number of processors that will work well with sims 2.
Enough space; the laptop/pc is probably not going to be used for Sims 2 alone.
Enough memory (RAM) - even if the vanilla game uses only 2GB and without a patch, this does make a difference. I do recommend at least 8 gig.
Field Researcher
#11 Old 14th Aug 2017 at 3:54 PM
Avoid any notebooks or similar smaller laptops, they are usually made for one thing only and it ain't gaming. Preferably a good laptop should be in the price range around $600 or more. Less than that and you might get screwed performance-wise. Make sure that the laptop has a separate graphic card that is anything else than your regular Intel HD-intergrated card (those can in some cases literally melt if you play games that needs high performance). What to look for in a laptop as well, is similiar to what the desktop's hardware should be (see below).

I do however recommend getting an actual desktop, since they tend to have better hardware in general than your average laptop. In best case, I would recommend building one on your own but since not everyone are techy-savy enough for that I can understand it's not an option in most cases. Some companies have "Pick your parts and we'll build it for you" but still you would need some general knowledge on what to pick. When picking out a desktop to buy you need to be in the price range on around $600 or higher as well to make sure you get actual good hardware. As mentioned before; preferably i5-4XXX or higher (standard today is i5-6XXX) processor (or i7), a graphic card that's decent (in Nvidia GTX it should be 750 or higher preferably but no lower than 650, can't speak for AMD but google around), RAM-memory should be as mention preferably around 8GB.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 14th Aug 2017 at 4:04 PM
A desktop is my personal choice as well - and building your own does not mean you have to do everything yourself or pick your parts without solid advice.
Mine is a build-yourself-one - most IT companies here will help you to do that - and I, not being the most tech savvy person myself, am very proud to have learned how to replace parts all by myself. I would not dare to do that with a laptop though, and people who fix computers will tell you laptops are far more difficult to work on than desktops are when it comes to the hardware.
Scholar
#13 Old 14th Aug 2017 at 4:19 PM
Desktops are getting rarer than hen's teeth... And laptops are in general so powerful now that a desktop is not necessary. Another option are mini-PC's like my previous one, an Intense PC that I generously donated to hubby.

http://www.fit-pc.com/web/purchasing/order-intense-pc/

Paladins/SimWardrobes downloads: https://simfileshare.net/folder/87849/
Mad Poster
#14 Old 14th Aug 2017 at 5:09 PM
I much prefer desktops as well but we buy our own parts and assemble rather than buying a ready made unit. Whatever you do, pick one or the other - don't get one of those silly little mini desktops, they are worse than laptops for components!

Are there any gaming or IT companies near you which might sell their old machines? That's how we got our machines and then we upgrade the parts as and when.

I use the sims as a psychology simulator...
Lab Assistant
#15 Old 14th Aug 2017 at 5:23 PM
Here's my toaster laptop's specs:

Intel i5-4210U (1.6 GHz -- 2.5 GHz TurboBoost)

Intel HD 4400 Integrated Graphics

8 Gigs of RAM

1 TB HDD

It runs the game pretty well, but now that I have a considerable amount of CC, the game takes some time to boot up, so I usually have time to make a cup of coffee/tea, and take a bathroom break, and still have time to spare. Once in, though, it doesn't take that long of a time to open up neighborhoods. I'd say any laptop that's at least $550 will run the game for sure; integrated graphics cards still aren't worth anything when it comes to playing computer games, but they are able to hold their own when it comes to pretty archaic games (Sims 2, Garry's Mod, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, etc.)
Forum Resident
#16 Old 14th Aug 2017 at 10:02 PM
My laptop is my Sim-Machine. It's old with a low-end processor, and plays my game quite well -- as long as I keep less than 4 or 5 GB of CC in my Downloads (I had 8 GB and it lagged):

AMD Quad-Core 1.7 GHz
8 GB memory (recently upgraded from 4 GB)
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 video card
500 GB harddrive

This machine is great for Sims and watching Netflix -- but would be worthless for anyone who was a true "gamer."
Also should note that I keep a fan pointed at my Sim-Machine 'cause it tends to run hot, even though it's on a raised cooling platform.

So many things to learn; so few brain cells to process the info needed to learn things!
Shipwreck Island
Field Researcher
#17 Old 15th Aug 2017 at 6:58 PM
I will tell you a Laptop that you shouldn't buy: a Positivo Sim+ this is the worst laptop ever made the 3 years that I have had it were nightmares it always sucked. Mine released in 2013, it came with Win 8 but the only OS that is less laggy on it is Windows XP, but I had to upgrade to Win Vista and then Win 7. Both Vista and 7 lag so much, this laptop lags even when doing simple tasks like watching YouTube videos or watching Netflix. It also can only handle one task at time, if you try to do two things at the same even if both things are simple, like Browsing internet and listening music both programs will start lagging and crashing a lot. I still playing on this thing(And also my love for Sims 2 is bigger than the lag) because I don't have any other computer and I can't afford a new one. My grandma can afford a new one but she thinks that spending more than R$ 1000(A decent laptop in my country is R$1200) on any electronic besides TV is a waste so she refuses to buy a new computer for me. So I'm stuck with this craptop probably until I went to college because the only one besides my grandma that can afford a new laptop is my uncle and he refuses to give me presents just because two years ago I failed the 10th grade, so I guess that he will only give me good stuff when I went to College. Resuming buy anything but the Positivo Sim+
Scholar
#18 Old 16th Aug 2017 at 1:49 AM
My 2012 Toshiba Satellite refused to recognize several of the EP disks, and ran very hot while playing.
Forum Resident
#19 Old 16th Aug 2017 at 2:33 AM
Quote: Originally posted by BlueAlien
My 2012 Toshiba Satellite refused to recognize several of the EP disks, and ran very hot while playing.


Could the problem be the discs or maybe the disc drive?
My computer is a Toshiba Satellite A665 -- an A665-s6096 to be exact. (While shopping for RAM, I learned the A665 had many different configurations) I think I bought mine late 2010, though it may have been 2009. It's been a great little machine, but it does run VERY hot at times.

So many things to learn; so few brain cells to process the info needed to learn things!
Shipwreck Island
Undead Molten Llama
#20 Old 16th Aug 2017 at 6:06 AM
IMO, your problem is limiting yourself to a "current computer." See, TS2 is an old game. It can't fall fully in love with "current computers" primarily because most of them have multi-core processors. Such things didn't really exist when the game was in production. Dual-core processors were high-end at the time, and the game wasn't designed for high-end machines but rather for the average machine at the time. So it doesn't know how to talk to the new-fangled i3 processors and up efficiently and this can, in fact, cause the game to lag, sometimes pretty badly, or even crash, even on an otherwise high-end machine. Think of it as how you'd be if you were trying to communicate with someone in a language that you're not fluent in. You can do it, yes, but there'll be pauses while you find the right words to use and sometimes you'll mangle the grammar. Same thing for the game trying to "talk" to a multi-core processor.

Unfortunately, you can't find a single-core machine these days, but the game DOES do well, in my experience, with dual-core processors. So, if you're looking for a machine JUST to run TS2 and do other basic stuff (like internet browsing/streaming), NOT to play other, newer games or use newer processor-hog applications and whatnot, they're your best bet, IMO. I, too, do not like laptops for the game. Yeah, fairly inexpensive ones can handle the game now, and it's nice to sit on your couch and play...but then you also have this hot brick sitting on your lap while you play AND the monitor is small and...ugh. I run the game on an older-model refurbished desktop that has a 3.0GHz E8400 Core2Duo processor, 8GB of RAM, 64-bit Win7Pro, and a 2GB GeForce GT 730 video card. It runs TS2 with all EPs/SPs and about 8GB of CC flawlessly and does just fine with TS3 as well. (Dunno about TS4; I have no interest in it whatsoever.) If you want to see what my game looks like, there's a link to my Simblr in my sig that otherwise needs to be changed but the link to the Simblr is still good. I don't edit my pics at all, aside from cropping/resizing.

THAT said, if you MUST have a laptop for school purposes or space purposes or whatever, read no further. I can't help you with that as I haven't owned a laptop in years aside from my little netbook that I can take to work and fiddle with during downtimes. But if you can use a desktop instead... If you're comfortable with the idea of adding RAM and popping in a video card all by yourself (It's not hard) OR you know someone who can do it for you in exchange for a six-pack of their beverage of choice, my advice is: Buy a refurbished desktop with a dual-core processor, then add stuff to it. It's like buying a base-model car and then tricking it out with cool aftermarket stuff. It's easy to do with desktops.

Go to places like Newegg online that sell legit, authorized refurbs that come with warranties. (Mine, which I bought in April after my old dual-core Simming machine died as a result of a local large power surge, came with a 1-year warranty.) Look at refurbished full-size towers. (Don't look at mini ones. They're meant for business use, where physical space-saving is desired, and it's a pain to find expansion cards that will fit in them AND they all have very weak power supplies that you can't upgrade because of the size of the case.) You want a 64-bit operating system (So that you can make the game use more than 2GB of RAM so you can stuff your game and neighborhoods full of pretty CC without it crashing on you), and my opinion is that anything newer than Win7 is crap. You want the fastest dual-core processor you can get your grubby mitts on; it's processor speed that most strongly affects loading times. Don't even look at the i3-and-ups. From what I saw when I purchased my refurb, such machines will all come with at least 2GB of RAM (most had 4GB), a version of Win7 (most had 64-bit, either the Home or Pro version), and a decent-sized hard drive but will have onboard graphics. Which you probably don't want, although the newer ones can handle TS2 just fine. You just have to use the Graphics Rules Maker to make the game use it properly and don't go hog-wild with high-poly hairs and stuff. At most, such a machine will cost you about $130 or so.

So, find your "base-model" machine. Then buy extra RAM for it, if necessary, so that you have at least 4GB. (You might want more, maybe max out the machine, if you do other things on your computer while playing the game. Internet browsers are RAM-hogs, after all. That's up to you.) Then get a video card for it, if you don't want to use onboard graphics. You do not need a super-fancy card for TS2. The one in my machine runs TS2 on highest settings with no lag AND runs off the machine's 375W power supply just fine without taxing it even in stress tests. Mine has 2GB of RAM, and I wouldn't go with less than that if you want to run a game with a lot of high-poly CC. Be mindful of power requirements, though, as machines like this don't come standard with PSUs with a lot of juice. 300-400W seems pretty standard, for an older-model full-size tower, but you can find out the wattage of the PSU in the machine you're looking at by looking up info about it online while you're shopping. Choose a card that will work with it unless you're also willing to buy and install an upgraded PSU. (The item descriptions will tell you the PSU wattage required.) Such a card should cost you around $100. Maybe less, depending on what you get. You will likely need to use the Graphics Rules Maker to make the game recognize and properly utilize your shiny new card that's so new the game doesn't know how to use it.

So, if you have to buy extra RAM, you're probably looking at around $300 for machine + RAM + video card. OR much less if you don't have to buy RAM and/or decide to stick with onboard graphics. So, with all the money you just saved from NOT having bought a $600+ laptop, buy yourself a big freaking monitor and wallow in a wealth of pixels. Mine's 32". I wuv it.

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.
Scholar
#21 Old 16th Aug 2017 at 9:21 AM
Quote: Originally posted by SIMelissa
Could the problem be the discs or maybe the disc drive?
My computer is a Toshiba Satellite A665 -- an A665-s6096 to be exact. (While shopping for RAM, I learned the A665 had many different configurations) I think I bought mine late 2010, though it may have been 2009. It's been a great little machine, but it does run VERY hot at times.


Yes, older Toshibas had a disc problem. Lots of crashes. Not sure if they have managed to fix it now (probably) but in 2009 they definitely had issues with that.

Paladins/SimWardrobes downloads: https://simfileshare.net/folder/87849/
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#22 Old 16th Aug 2017 at 10:21 AM
@iCad

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Undead Molten Llama
#23 Old 16th Aug 2017 at 11:15 AM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
@iCad


Ah, don't get too used to me, I'm afraid. I have my hands full these days keeping up with Tumblr. I came over here to answer some messages I've gotten and saw this thread and...yeah.

But it's good to see, you, love! And now you've got a fancy green name and everything.

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.
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#24 Old 16th Aug 2017 at 12:54 PM
If you've bricked the graphics processor then an external monitor won't help, anyway.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Mad Poster
#25 Old 16th Aug 2017 at 12:59 PM
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