Will a PCI (not PCI-e) card work for The Sims 3

Question

My daughter bought The Sims 3, but her video card wasn't supported. So we need to upgrade.

Unfortunately, her XP machine only has a PCI slot and NOT a PCI-e slot. They say a NVIDIA GeForce 9400 is supported, and that card comes available for both PCI and PCI-e.

I have been told that PCI is too slow for games like this.

Does anyone know if the PCI version of the card will allow the game to work?

We don't care if it is a bit slow and she has to wait a few seconds now and again, but will it at least work fast enough to make the game playable?

By the way, her computer is an HP Pavilion a1020n upgraded to 1.5 GB RAM.

Answer 1

The PCI bus constitutes a veritable bottleneck, PCI graphics cards just do not perform as well as their AGP or PCIe counterparts. they're also rather expensive compared to the same card with an AGP or PCIe interface. but then, The Sims 3 isn't really a demanding game, so you may use a PCI video card. actually, the GeForce 9400 is an overkill for The Simms. :)

Answer 2

Looked up the system, and the motherboard:

http://forums.techguy.org/hardware/445841-asus-ptgd-la-pci-e.html

Looks like they removed the PCIe to save on manufacturing costs (probably a total of $1) I'd pull the old motherboard out and replace it - boards like that should be pretty cheap, and you'll probably find that the cost of the board + a PCIe video card is less than a PCI video card on it's own.

Answer 3

If it says it is supported, and you can get one that fits PCI, Drivers permitting, I see no reason why it wouldn't work.

Answer 4

The video card should do fine. But I'd still be concerned. If the computer doesn't consider and PCI-e slot as important, it's just not likely to do well full-screen 3D games in general.

Answer 5

HIS has just released a passively cooled PCI video card with DX11 capabilities.

Though its performance should not be taken seriously, it would surely run Sims 3.