[thechat] dumb PC question from a Mac user

[William Anderson]

Elfur Logadóttir wrote:
> The short version:
> 
> Start > control panel > system > device manager > look under display adapter

Or the short, short version: right-click on a blank part of the desktop
(i.e. not on an icon), click Properties, click Settings.

Example, my main PC says "Display: 1. Dell 2007WFP (Digital) on NVIDIA
GeForce 7600 GS", so I have a GeForce 7600GS video card hooked up to a
20" LCD.

Note that PCs (like Macs) have two kinds of video card: an actual
expansion card, which plugs into a slot on the motherboard (current
types are AGP and PCI Express), or is a bunch of chips soldered to the
motherboard.

If the machine is a year old or less, it should be fine for playing any
of The Sims games: the important part for games of that level is usually
the operating system.  Windows XP SP2 or newer, and updated with all the
latest goodies from Windows Update.  That should ensure the latest
version of DirectX (the Microsoft 2D/3D graphics API) is installed.

If the machine is more than a year old, it *may* be OK; any more than
2-3 years old, possibly not in the respect that the game will likely run
and install, but play very slowly and jerkily.  Get someone with PC
savvy to check it out :)

HTH.

-n