New Laptop, Still No Sims 3!

[kcrossno]

I ordered a new laptop and received it YESTERDAY. The main reason for ordering it besides for schooling purposes was to play the Sims 3. Well everything was working fine at first and then I was trying to put paint on the Sim walls and it blinked on and off black about 5 times. I then got a blue screen and then my computer restarted. Now everytime I try playing I get the blue screen after about 30 minutes or it will exit the game and tell me that my graphics card has quit working!! I am so stumped. My computer is a Dell Inspiron N7010. The service tag is 7J41BM1. Please help! 

[Joey]

Hello,

I looked up your system on Dell.com. I could not find full specs on it, only driver downloads.

Can you post the following specs please?
- Do you have Windows 7 32 or 64-bit? (maybe Vista?)
- What CPU do you have?
- How much system RAM do you have?
- What graphics/video card does your laptop have?

If you are unsure how to check these specs the tutorial below will show you how
http://www.cleartechinfo.com/How-To-Lookup-Windows-Computer-System-Information-Speccy

[kcrossno]

Operating System
   MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
CPU
   Intel Core i3 350M  @ 2.27GHz   54 °C
   Arrandale 32nm Technology
RAM
   4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 532MHz (7-7-7-20)
Motherboard
   Dell Inc. 08VFX1 (U2E1)
Graphics
   Generic PnP Monitor @ 1600x900
   Intel(R) HD Graphics
Hard Drives
   488GB Hitachi Hitachi HTS545050B9A300 (IDE)   36 °C
Optical Drives
   HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GT10N
Audio
   Realtek High Definition Audio

[Joey]

Hi Kimberly,

Thanks for posting your specs. The Core i3 CPU and 4 GB of RAM do very well running The Sims 3. The bottleneck I see on your system is the Intel HD Graphics card. The Sims 3 is very taxing on that card.

Perform all of the following steps to solve your problem...

1. (I have seen many Sims 3 problems fixed after fully updating Windows)
Fully update Windows 7 using Microsoft Windows Update. In case you need it I created a step-by-step video tutorial that is at the end of the article linked below:
http://www.cleartechinfo.com/How-To-Update-Windows-7-Microsoft-Windows-Update

2. (Even though your PC is brand new sometimes large companies like Dell may just throw in an old graphics driver for your system that may be outdated for games like Sims 3)
Download and Install the latest video card drivers for your Intel HD graphics card at the link below:
http://dell.to/aNVeYq

3. Restart your PC

4. Open up The Sims 3 game. Go to the settings/options. Adjust the monitor resolution to the lowest setting, also adjust all the graphics settings to the lowest. Now play the game and try to put paint on the walls
Does it give you the same error?
If not then go into the settings/options again and set the resolution 1 notch higher and set the graphics settings a tiny bit higher. Then play again and see what it does.
You can keep on repeating the process of raising your graphics settings until the game is too laggy/slow for your taste or it freezes or blacks out.
The reason for the lowering of the graphics settings is because the Intel HD graphics card cannot handle too much graphics on the screen in most games like The Sims 3. When you spray paint on the wall it just freaks out and goes haywire because it is graphic information overload.
I am also hoping step 1 and 2 also helped your specific problem a bit

[kdawg]

Hi i wanted to buy Sims 3 for my girlfriend but dont know anything about pc gaming or requirements. One thing im concerned about is if she has an adequate graphics card.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i3+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Dark+Navy/9963892.p?id=1218202473277&skuId=9963892

This is her laptop^^^. It is brand new but ive heard that built-in graphics cards dont work too well with gaming. I'm not even sure what kind of graphics card it is even after looking at the specs on the link, thats how much i know about this subject. lol. Please let me know what you think about this laptop and its gaming/sims 3 capabilities.

[kdawg]

If the garphics card isnt adequate, can i swap it out for a new one? how much is it for a decent one. and is putting a new one in a laptop something i should be able to do myself?

[Joey]

Hello kdawg,

I am sorry to say that the Intel UMA is not a compatible graphics card for the Sims 3. And like most laptops the graphics card is not upgradeable.