Need help building a computer to max out settings in The Sims 3

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Deshong

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May 11, 2013
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So I want to upgrade from what I have in my gaming laptop that runs TS3 not so great with all EP's/SP's/3+ GB of Custom Content & Mods/Most of the store content that's over 11 GB. The game definitely lags too much and has issues with error code 12 and crashing to desktop a lot more often then a few EP's/SP's ago. So the specifications of the current gaming laptop I'm using is:

Toshiba Qosmio x505-885
Win 7 64-bit
Intel Core i5 m 450 2.4 GHz
Nvidia Geforce GTS 360m
8GB RAM
500GB HDD


I'm not a PC gamer so I don't want anything overly expensive or top of the line. I just want to be able to run TS3 flawlessly using any capable but older and less expensive computer hardware. Okay so here is what I have planned so far...will those specs get me the results I want...little to no lag with maxed out settings? Any recommendations? Did I miss anything? Is all that even compatible, lol? First time building a gaming desktop so I'm not all that tech savvy.

NZXT Phantom 240 Gaming Case - White
http://www.amazon.com/NZXT-Technologies-Phantom-Chassis-CA-PH240-W1/dp/B00K8PLN4O/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1413405618&sr=1-1&keywords=nzxt+240

OS: Win 7 64-bit
RAM: 8 GB G.Skill Ripjaws X 240 pin DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428&cm_re=ram-_-20-231-428-_-Product

MOBO: ASRock z77 extreme 4
http://www.microcenter.com/product/387554/z77_extreme4_socket_lga_1155_z77_atx_intel_motherboard

CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K @ 3.5 GHz
http://www.microcenter.com/product/388575/Core_i7_3770K_35GHz_Socket_LGA_1155_Boxed_Processor

GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX 660 FTW w/ACX 2GB GDDR5
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Geforce-Dual-Link-Graphics-02G-P4-3063-KR/dp/B00FU4XG70/ref=cm_cd_ql_qh_dp_t

HDD: 1 TB Seagate Barracuda
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

PSU: EVGA 600W 80 Plus Bronze
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438014&cm_re=psu-_-17-438-014-_-Product

Asus 24x DVD-RW SATA optical drive
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Serial-ATA-Internal-Optical-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413416629&sr=8-1&keywords=optical+drive#productDetails

Budget is $1000 but willing to compromise to get the results I want (Great thing is if I ever do decide I want to play other PC games that are a lot more demanding I can always upgrade unlike my laptop which is very limited)

To add, the video cards known to be compatible and run TS3 with all EP's/SP's are found on this list here: http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:TS3_System_Requirements
 
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PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XtZjqs
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XtZjqs/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($137.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($73.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Constellation ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($248.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $820.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 12:26 EDT-0400
 
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Thanks for answering.

I didn't really change much from what I listed and the total is $914.25. That includes shipping and handling plus taxes and rebates.

I'm sure I remember there being 5 of those 3770K processors in stock for my area and the next time I checked it was 2. I still got 3770K because it's more powerful in performance than 4690K but of course the 660 which I also still got is less powerful than the 770 therefore costs less however is way more powerful than what I am currently using and the graphics are actually decent already in my laptop. Can't wait until the other parts get here so I can start even though I do feel a bit overwhelmed but I should be fine or so I hope, lol.


 
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That computer will run it quite well, but I don't believe there is any system that can run it "flawlessly", as the game itself starts getting so bogged down when you have a ton of relationships and custom content. I still had minor stutter/delay when moving the camera at times, only like 1 second, but noticeable (running from Samsung 840 EVO).
 
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True. TS3 is a difficult game to deal with even though some computers are more than capable of handling it. But I have heard a few say they have no lag or freezing or have never encountered error code 12/TS3 has stopped working type issues. Those people though seem to be extremely rare as it seems the majority have some sort of issue. Which first and foremost I believe the developers are at fault for most problems since the game engine/coding/programming is not so great and actually causes most of the glitches and poor performance of the game regardless of having a gaming laptop or desktop that exceeds minimum requirements. Also because there are no recommended system requirements for TS3, only minimum, it makes it difficult to know what exactly works best with TS3.
 
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Ok so everything has arrived and I have started building so right now I'm at the testing stage and have run into two problems.

1. I can't get anything to display on my computer monitor or hdtv. The computer powers on, the fans and everything appears to work.

2. The usb ports are not working when I plug in a usb mouse/keyboard.

So there either is something I'm doing wrong or I got faulty hardware which I don't know how to tell. Is it the motherboard and graphics card or one of them, something else?
 
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first things first.

make sure all of your stand offs are on the motherboard so it is not shorting out to the case. you can remove the motherboard from the case and use a work bench.

take out everything but the CPU and one stick of ram and plug the monitor into the motherboard. you have onboard graphics with that chip.

see if it boots that way.

you can just try using the onboard graphics first if you like

hopefully you will get to see it post and can get into the bios
 
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No, it doesn't boot up. But silly me thought that LED numerical display on the motherboard was the temperature but no, it's called dr.debug and gives information about any issues. Which it reads 53. So looking up that number in my manual says: Memory initialization error. No usable memory detected.

I did follow the pattern with A1/B1 slot or A2/B2 but although it's in the correct position it's not being read. The memory itself is bad or possibly incompatible since in the manual does say some dual sided memory will not work on that motherboard. And it is double sided cause I can see the black squares running along both sides. Hopefully that's the only issue but time will tell. I'll get a refund for it and pick a different memory module.
 
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Turns out the memory is fine and it was me...I didn't lock it in. Yeah I'm a newbie, lol. Great so I fix error 53 and now I get error 62 which states: Installations of South Bridge Runtime Services

So I look that up on ASRock's site and it says to clear CMOS or reset which I did and then got error A2 which is: IDE Detect. So the fix for that is disconnecting all IDE/SATA devices which I did. I don't know what that means when the graphics card is causing an A2 error cause when I plug it in via power supply PCI-E I get A2 error but when I unplug then reset it goes back to 62.

And now I have no idea how to resolve 62 again because clear CMOS or reset does not work. I have also tried removing one memory stick and leaving the other in B2 position but still nothing. There is something else I'm missing to troubleshoot or perhaps something is faulty. However at one point the USB ports were working and I could see both the usb keyboard/mouse light up. But even so, so far I have still not been able to see any visuals on the computer monitor. Of course it's because I have to fix these errors first I think which is preventing any picture from showing.
 
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I have now and the monitor reads:

Copyright (c) 2011 American Megatrend, Inc.
BIOS Date: 07/11/2013 17:42:27
Z77 Extreme4 UEFI P2.90
CPU: Intel (R) Core (TM) i7 3770K CPU @ 3.5 GHz Speed: 3500Mhz

UEFI Defaults have been loaded.
Press F2 or DEL to Run Seteup
Press F1 to Continue

B4 at bottom right-hand side

==========================

Dr. Debug displays code d7 which is: The Keyboard and mouse could not be recognized. Please try re-installing the keyboard and mouse.

After connecting the keyboard/mouse then code 64 shows which codes 61-91 means: Chipset initialization error. Please press reset or clear CMOS.

Also here is the ASRock site for codes and troubleshooting: http://www.asrock.com/support/faq.asp?id=334

Currently everything above is still displayed on the computer monitor.
 
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I made an educated guess that I was suppose to one by one reconnect everything to see if any one hardware component was causing an issue. So far so good. I even installed Win 7 as well. Right now everything is connected and working except for the video card that will not boot. The UEFI Utility manual says by default it's set at PCIE, which I confirmed when checking the settings. I want to put the graphics card in the PCI Express 3.0 slot. Manual says:

This card is PCI Express 3.0 Ready. Also backwards compatible to PCI Express or PCI Express 2.0. To utilize the additional bandwidth available with PCI Express 3.0, you need to be using a motherboard, CPU and BIOS that are PCI Express 3.0 ready. Duh...just remembered I forgot to connect the monitor to the graphics card now not the motherboard. Okay let me try that right now.

I do get picture when using the graphics card but when I try to check the name, it says standard vga adapter and this device cannot start (code 10) <---not on dr.debug, went into control panel > system > device manager. Also says this device is not using any resources because it has a problem.

PS: Oh yeah, which key opens BIOS?
 
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I'm skipping steps...but going back and doing what I missed I'm now done. Or at least all the testing that I'm aware of is done, drivers are installed. I just need to do wire management and set internet so I can update everything that's not at the current driver update.

Thank you so much for your help, time and patience. I really appreciate it. Now when I want to upgrade later in the future, I know the basics at least. But then again with my short-term memory who knows, lol.

Once I get everything set up completely, I'll like post back here to share pictures and tell how better the performance is compared to my gaming laptop.

Windows Experience Index states:

CPU 7.7
Memory 7.8
Graphics 7.9
Gaming Graphics 7.9
Hard Disk 5.9

Overall I'm happy with those scores.
 
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