I'm getting a new one in about a month or so.

I've been shopping around. I did find a nice one. HP with 8GB of ram. NVida GeForce9100 video card 256MB of memory. But, if I need it, I have access to 1.4GB more memory. The video card is integrated. 500GB Hard drive space.

I'm keeping that one on the back burner in case I find something better.

Forgot, it has an AMD chip. Can't remember what it's called, but it starts with a P.

You will need a 64 bit Operating system to be able to use more than 3Gb of RAM. Just throwing more RAM at it is useless, unless the programs you run can use it.

Onboard (intergrated) graphics is a bit slow, a dedicated card is a better solution.

The AMD chip would be a Phenom.

Ever thought about ordering the parts and building it yourself?

I started building my own in 2002, probably have built over a hundred since then.

I'm running Windows XP at 64bit now. My motherboard can hold up to 16GB of memory. If I wanted to get a video card, I can install a PCI-Express card. I've got a slot for that.

I don't know the first thing about putting a computer together. I can put memory in. I can install a video card. I can install disk drives. That's about it.

I didn't know that an onboard video card is slower. I learned something new.

Have a look at this page, it will give you an idea of where different graphics cards lie in the scheme of things, although it is not updated to the latest available.

That is about what I could do as well. My first build took 4 hours before I started it up and loaded the Operating System, I triple checked everything and then checked some more.

I run Vista 64 bit and there is no difference between 4Gb and 6Gb of RAM with the programs I run.

The latest Nvidia onboard is getting good, but still no where near a dedicated card.

If you can run 16Gb of RAM, your board can't be to old. If you don't know what it is use CPU-Z, install it and it will tell you which motherboard you have, then go to the manufacturer's site and see what you can update your CPU to for that motherboard. You might only need to update the CPU to something faster.

Thank you for all the information Russ.

No problem, I'm not just a pretty face.< ;)

Hey wanted to say thanks, Sugah. I just got some incredible walls, I feel like a kid in a candy store. I'd like to offer you a house as a thanks for the godies...hmmm... how about a lovely little vintage 1945? When I get it done I'll shoot you some pics and see if you want it, if not, I will put it at Tempted Sims or at Sapphire Sims since I design for both. And if this is in the wrong spot..just scoot her over somewhere else. ;)

Thank you so much, Martha. I'm glad you like my walls.
I've been meaning to get back over to Tempted Sims, but can not open the site on this puter. I can only visit on my secondary one for some reason.
Not sure why yet.

I will send you a PM about the little vintage house you'd like to offer to Sugah's Place.
How kind of you!

Sounds great, waiting to hear from you.

Martha, I am very happy to have received your lovely little abode as a gift submission to Sugah's Place and am looking forward to featuring it early next week.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it and am grateful.

Emily, remember these???
I just revisted our Roomies Adventure thread and had to share these Simsib moments in time with you.

That does bring back memories! Wow, our sims had a lot of fun in your game. I wish I had taken the time to make my simsibs as close as yours were. That was a fun time and a fun project. I really enjoyed when we all played the same sims together.

Remember how we could purchase a turkey in Sims 1 and when it came time to carve it, everyone and their brother showed up from the 'hood and applauded the chef?

Ha, that was a fun challenge! If I remember correctly, you had me marry a very attractive person in your challenge, Sugah.

--

Lately, I find myself not enjoying The Sims 3. For whatever reason, my serial code is not working, so I can't download anything from the website. I can't post my problem in the help forums of the website, because in order to do that, you need to have your game registered using the serial code, which isn't working! It's making me lose my mind, as if I wasn't already stressed enough!

The thing I miss most about The Sims 2 is, and this is a very weird thing to miss, but I miss memories. I don't know why, but I always liked looking at the memories that my sims used to have. I don't know, it made them feel more alive.

I also am not liking the way the sims looks in the Sims 3. It's really hard to make a good looking sim, because all of their faces look pudgy. I can't really make their bodies look good either. It's really nice to be able to fully customize everything, and this is a great thing about the game, but it's getting very tiring after playing it for so long. Ugh!

(sorry to bump this thread)