Steve.......

Just so you know , it takes a Very , very low end computer to play around on one of these sims. I have a couple computers here , one for gaming type stuff and one for just my office stuff. Now up to about 6 months ago , i only had my office gaming computer. I built that thing 5-1/2 years ago and it cost me about $1800.00 way back then. It's not worth more than probably $200.00-$300.00 now. And that old computer pushed G 3.5 at 80-90 frames per second! My new one i have here , which isn't top of the line but does even better is getting about 120 FPS with everything set on high on the video card. here are the specs of my old computer........


AMD athlon XP 2100 cpu
MSI GeForce TI-4600 graphics card
creative audigy gamer sound card
2- WD 40 Gig HD's
2 DVD players....not even burners
MB Soyo Platnium KT 333


Now looking at those specs.....you could get on craigs list and probably pick one up for cheap. Also...if your computer is to slow to even play one of these sims......it's time for an upgrade anyways. I don't see how it could run much of anything. If you know much about gaming on computers , you know that some of the newer games out are very , very demanding on a computer. Such as Half life 2 , F.E.A.R. , Bioshock , battlefield 2142 , and i'm not going to even mention Crysis! The best gaming computers out there are the ones you build , or have built from the ground up , but just about any new "big name computer" wouldn't have a problems running a sim.


Now this is a touchy subject for some. I hear guys complain all the time about their computers bogging down when trying to run a certain game , and can't understand why it's doing it. They get pissed about it.......but the truth is......there is NO FUTURE proofing your computer. If all the developers kept the games playable for old computers......

1.) there would be no reason to upgrade

2.) we would all still be playing games on our comadore 64 machines

3.) we would all still be stuck back in the stone age without progress.


Ads far as myself......I dig upgrading my computer every few years , at a few pieces at a time. every time i do it , it opens up a whole new world for what my computer can do. For instance.....the new DX 10 upgrade with Vista compared to the DX9 in XP. The DX 9 is still out performing over the newer vista DX 10.......but it won't for long. Give it about another 6 months to a year , and DX 9 will start to fade into the distant future.


As long as your specs are even close to my old computer , you'll have no probelsm running the game. BUT...make sure you know what your buying if you decide to buy. My 6yr old crappy computer out performed my buddies new dell he just got 6 months ago. ( for playing games anyways )


hope that helps.