Do I have enough space and memory on my 6 year old Macintosh to play The Sims 3?

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Level 1

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Do I have enough space and memory on my 6 year old Macintosh to play The Sims 3?

I've heard that The Sims 3 requires more GB and a stronger, more upgraded RAM. Knowing my computers system memory shown above, if I install The Sims 3, will it run smoothly? If not, what should I do to clean up my computer in order for the game to play smoothly without big problems?

Here is all the information on my macintosh computer:

Model Name: iMac

Model Identifier: iMac5,1

Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo

Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz

Number Of Processors: 1

Total Number Of Cores: 2

L2 Cache: 4 MB

Memory: 1 GB

Bus Speed: 667 MHz

Boot ROM Version: IM51.0090.B03

SMC Version (system): 1.9f4

Serial Number (system): QP64814UVUW

Hardware UUID: 00000000-0000-1000-8000-0017F2C4139D

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8), Will the Sims 3 run smoothly?

Posted on Nov 24, 2012 2:56 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Nov 24, 2012 3:50 PM in response to RileyUrso

You really need to add more RAM - to at least 4GB.

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Answer 2

RileyUrso Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 24, 2012 8:58 PM in response to Klaus1

Thank you so much for replying back so prompt. 🙂 I figured I needed to upgrade RAM. Do you have any idea where I can buy a new RAM for cheap? If not, no worries.

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Answer 3

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Nov 25, 2012 1:22 AM in response to RileyUrso

Don't go for 'cheap'. Decent RAM costs little these days.

Google for OWC and Crucial.

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Answer 4

dphoeb

Level 1

3 points

Nov 25, 2012 9:25 AM in response to Klaus1

Klaus,

This is Phoebe Darlington of Portraits in Pencil in the USA. My 22 yr old daughter is a recent college graduate with a mountain of school loans with a 2008 Mac laptop OS 10.5.x she got as a freshman. It is antiquated and I'd like to upgrade it for her but can't afford to get her a new one. Can we essentially rebuild hers by getting additional ram from Crucial and upgrading the OS or do we need to take it to an Apple store and have them update it before we add more ram? Any recommendations? I'd appreciate your feedback. Many thanks, dPhoeb

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Answer 5

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Nov 25, 2012 2:50 PM in response to dphoeb

Hi Phoebe!

Installing more RAM is the easy part, that can only speed up her Macbook. As for upgrading the OS from Leopard would depend on the exact specifications of the Macbook and whether it can actually handle Snow Leopard 10.6, and this is independant of the RAM question.

One thing to consider is: can the present Macbook do what she needs? If the answer is yes, then leave it as it is - except for more RAM. Is the hard drive big enough to contain whatever applications and files she needs?

Start by checking if it can run Snow Leopard:

Requirements for OS X 10.6 'Snow Leopard'

http://support.apple.com/kb/SP575

If yes, investigate whether the applications she currently has will run on Snow Leopard and, conversely, if any new applications she might need can run on Leopard or if they require OS 10.6 or above.

OS 10.6 Snow Leopard is once again available from the Apple Store:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

Once it is running Snow Leopard You can also purchase the code to use to download Lion from the same number (Lion requires an Intel-based Mac with a Core 2 Duo, i3, i5, i7 or Xeon processor and 2GB of RAM, running the latest version of Snow Leopard), or you can purchase Mountain Lion from the App Store - if you can run that:

http://www.apple.com/osx/specs/

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Answer 6

dphoeb

Level 1

3 points

Nov 25, 2012 4:28 PM in response to Klaus1

Thanks Klaus! I'll have her look into it. She's in Virginia and I am in New Jersey but she'll be home for the holiday so it may have to wait until then. Thanks loads for the detailed instructions.

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