As the release of the Sims 2 is getting closer, the system requirements are going to be closer to the real thing as well. Maxis has updated the system requirements on their site, and now they say an 800 Mhz processor is the minimum, whereas previously 'just' 600 Mhz was said to be required. As for graphics cards, a little has changed as well. It's no longer said that the Radeon 7xxx series need at least a 2.0 Ghz computer, and the Radeon VE series is now supported as well (which does require a 2.0 Ghz or faster processor). The latest Radeon cards, the X300, X600 and X800 have also been added to the list. Finally, the Intel Extreme Graphics 82915 card is now also supported, but as it doesn't have T&L that does also require a 2.0 Ghz processor. As always, the better the hardware, the better the game will run and look. That makes the entire list look as follows:

If you have a T&L capable video card with at least 32 MB of video RAM then you need at least:

• 800 MHz P3 processor or better
• 256 MB RAM if Windows XP, Windows ME, Windows 98 or Windows 2000
• At least 3.5 GB of hard drive space

If you have a non-T&L capable video card (such as Intel Extreme Graphics or Radeon VE Series) then you need at least:

• 2.0 GHz processor or better
• 256 MB RAM if Windows XP, Windows ME, Windows 98, or Windows 2000
• At least 3.5 GB of hard drive space

Supported video cards (and the more video memory the better):

• ATI Radeon™ series (7000 or better)
  • Radeon VE series (Non-T&L - requires 2.0 GHz processor)
  • 7000, 7200, 7500
  • 8500, All-In-Wonder 8500
  • 9000, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800
• Nvidia® Quadro™ series
  • Quadro, Quadro2, Quadro4
• Nvidia® Geforce series (GeForce2 and better)
  • GeForce2
  • GeForce3, 3 Ti
  • GeForce4, 4Ti, MX 420, 440
  • GeForce FX 5200, 5600, 5700, 5800, 5900, 5950
  • GeForce 6800
• Intel® Extreme Graphics (Non-T&L - requires 2.0 GHz processor)
  • 82845, 82865, 82915