So, with the impending release of The Sims 3, I’ve been carefully scrutinizing the hardware in my computer, and have come to realize that while it was sufficient a year and a half ago when I bought it (read: “good enough”), I am quickly outgrowing the system.
Which leaves me in a slightly uncomfortable position, having bought a pre-built Dell computer. They don’t exactly make changing hardware the easiest thing sometimes. However, it’s not under warranty or anything like that, so I’m just going to trust my previous hands on experience and have at it. Worst case scenario, my computer blows up. (…. wait, that would suck. umm…)
Anyway, I’ve already added more memory, an extra hard drive and added a FireWire port, which was easy.
Now I’m looking to replace the processor (mine doesn’t even meet the system requirements), which makes me nervous. Lots of little pins and stuff… if I have to replace the motherboard I might as well just build a new computer (which, I can’t, as much as I would love to). I’m looking to get the Intel E8400 (3.0 ghz dual core that runs circles around my current 1.7 dual core). It’s”cheap” but still good.
While I was looking at that, my buddy Shawn pointed out that my video card sucks. This is lower on my priority list (despite his protests) because while yes, it’s not the greatest video card on earth, it *is* on the list of supported video cards for Sims 3, while my processor is lacking in ghz. I do, however, want a new one because mine wasn’t that good when I bought it, so now it’s really subpar. I haven’t started looking too much at those yet; any suggestions? (nothing too fancy though; I do, after all, work a mediocre job :p)
These upgrades will also make the video-editing process not suck so much, and I may actually make more frequent use of my video camera
So now, mostly I’m crossing my fingers that the IRS is good to me and brings me a decent refund when I file my taxes. W-2’s take too long. /waits impatiently.
