So Sims 3 is saying I need shader model 2 at least to play. Yet I have Direct X 9c installed.

What’s going on here this should be the only thing that’s missing from starting up the sims 3. I have the minimum amount of requirements and a little extra, basically just the ram is still only 2gb, but sims 3 won’t start

 

https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/System_requirements

the integrated video cards are listed here, do you have one listed?

https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001307.htm

how to tell how much video ram you have, I only have 96mb which would not be enough since it requires 128 mb of video ram

 

Well it turns out I don’t have enough vram only 64mb. I can play San Andreas though.

 

I ran Sims 3 on my XPS 210 and it ran with some Stutters, but it was fine on my end (Using a Intel G965). The only problem that I have with the game is I can't get Custom Content from thesims3.com to work due to the Page not loading (which blows as I wanted to play with LGR)

 

Pixel shader has nothing to do with Direct X. For old motherboards with single core CPU you need at least a GeForce 5200 for pixel shader 2.0 support or at least GeForce 6200 for pixel shader 2.0/3.0 support.

 

Here are the The Sims 3 System Requirements (Minimum)

• CPU: Pentium 4 processor or equivalent
• CPU SPEED: For XP 2.0 GHz Pentium 4 processor or equivalent; For Windows Vista and Windows 7 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 processor or equivalent
• RAM: For XP 1 GB RAM / Windows Vista and Windows 7 1.5 GB RAM (For NVIDIA ION computers, the game requires at least 2.0 GB RAM)
• OS: XP SP2 / Vista SP1 / Windows 7
• VIDEO CARD: 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0 [Nvidia GeForce 6 series or better (GeForce 6100 and 7100 cards are not supported), and all NVidia G, GT, GTS, and GTX video cards. ATI Radeon series card 9500 series or better, and all ATI X, X1, and HD video cards; Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA): GMA 3-Series, GMA 4-Series]
• TOTAL VIDEO RAM: 128 MB
• PIXEL SHADER: 2.0
• FREE DISK SPACE: At least 3.5 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games

The Sims 3 System Requirements
https://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/requirements/the-sims-3/10845

 

I tested The Sims 3 on this computer:

CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2400+
MBD: ASUS A7V400-MX
RAM: 512MB DDR
GPU: See below
OS: Windows XP Professional

The Sims 3 works?
GeForce 4 Ti 4600: No. Needs Shader Model: 2.0
GeForce 5 FX 5900: Yes
GeForce 6 6200: Yes

NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti 4600 AGP
RAM: 128 MB
Pixel Shader: 1.3
Vertex Shader: 1.1

NVIDIA GeForce 5 FX 5900 AGP
RAM: 128 MB
Pixel Shader: 2.0a
Vertex Shader: 2.0a

NVIDIA GeForce 6 6200 AGP
RAM: 256 MB
Shader Model: 3.0

Desktop Graphics Card Compatibility and Recommendations
https://modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:System_Requirements/MTS2_Recommendations