Graphics Upgrade

How to upgrade graphics card for Sims 3?

I just bought sims 3 and the game is lagging, I have more than what the system specs wants except i need to upgrade my graphics card. I have a Windows XP but I dont know how to figure out which card would be compatible for my computer?

Public Comments

1. We cant help you if you dont give us any info.
2. Giiirrrl! I got the same problem!.. computer in good shape but not the graphic card. What im gonna do is go to best buy to buy a new graphic card.. they got one that WORKS for sims 3 about 65$ :) i'm gettin that one!
3. It depends on what Graphics Card you have. Goto [Control Panel] -> [Device Manager] -> [Display adapters]. Whats listed there is the make and model of your video card. I have a nVidia GeForce 7350 LE. For nVidia updates goto www.nvidia.com click on download drivers and use option 2 witch will auto matically fiid the update for your driver and then you can install it. likewise you can goto ati.amd.com for ATI video cards. another way to do this is to goto [Control Panel] -> [Device Manager] -> [Display adapters] then right click on your video card and then click update driver and then do an automatic search. FYI this doesn't always work and doesn't always locate the proper update, but will work in most cases. Hope this helps. If I knew what graphics card you had I could send you a link to the driver update, so if you still have trouble just let me know.
4. most graphics card are compatible with pretty much any motherboard, so buy some and if they work keep the one you like and if they don't, they should let you return them.
5. I first ran Sims3 with one nvidia 8800 gt.. And it was kind of slow so I just SLI'd it with my other 8800 to dual with it.. Doesn't change much.. But then I changed OS's (windows xp 32bit to windows xp 64bit) and now its fantastic.. No lag or anything. But it also has alot to do with how fast your Processor is and your ram.. (currently running a intel dual core 3.2 GHZ with four 1gb ddr3 2000's)
6. Here is a help article that will show you exactly what system specs and graphics cards are compatible with The Sims 3. http://www.cleartechinfo.com/Cant-Play-The-SIMS-3-Computer
7. You first need to find out what type of card slot you have. There are several kinds: AGP (advanced graphics port), PCI, PCI Express, PCI Express 16. My guess, based on the fact that you have exceeded the required specs is that you have an AGP or PCI Express slot. The second question is, what kind of graphics card do you have now. If you have a graphics card with a small amount of slow graphics memory, you're going to have issues where the graphics card cannot handle the game and it will try to draw resources from the CPU or RAM, creating a bottleneck. My best advice would be to determine the type of slot you have and the specs of your current card. If you have an AGP card. I would reccomend an ATI Radeon 3850 512mb GDDR3 or higher. In terms of PCI Express, A NVIDA GeForce 9400 512mb 128bit GDDR2 or comperable would do fine