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I’m more excited than anyone because I’m going to have my computer built before it comes out. Yes, I’m building my computer on my own being that I’m good at it. Anyway, hopefully the graphics card my boyfriend is going to let me use is good and have a good pixel shader. Instead though of sitting here hoping, I looked up the specifications for it.

XFX 6600GT graphics card:

Specifications | Performance

• Graphic Bus – PCI Express | AGP 8x
• Memory Interface – 128-bit | 128-bit
• Memory Bandwidth – 16.0GB/sec. | 4.4GB/sec.
• Fill Rate (texels/sec.) – 4.0 billion | 4.o billion
• Verticles per second – 375 million | 375 million
• Memory Data Rate – 1000 MHz | 900 MHz
• Pixels per clock (peak) – 8 | 8
• RAMDACs – 400 MHz | 400 MHz

CineFX 3.0 Shading Architecture

• Vertex Shaders
  • Support for Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Vertex Shader 3.0
  • Displacement mapping
  • Geometry instancing
  • Infinite length vertex programs
• Pixel Shaders
  • Support for DirectX 9.0 Pixel Shader 3.0
  • Full pixel branching support
  • Support for Multiple Render Targets (MRTs)
  • Infinite length pixel programs
• Next-Generation Texture Engine
  • Up to 16 textures per rendering pass
  • Support for 16-bit floating point format and 32-bit floating point format
  • Support for non-power of two textures
  • Support for sRGB texture format for gamma textures
  • DirectX and S3TC texture compression
  • Full 128-bit studio-quality floating point precision through the entire rendering pipeline with native hardware support for 32bpp, 64bpp, and 128bpp rendering modes

64-Bit Texture Filtering and Blending¹

• Full floating point support throughout entire pipeline
• Floating point filtering improves the quality of images in motion
• Floating point texturing drives new levels of clarity and image detail
• Floating point frame buffer blending gives detail to special effects like motion blur and explosions

Intellisample 3.0 Technology²

• Advanced 16x anisotropic filtering
• Blistering-fast antialiasing and compression performance
• New rotated-grid antialiasing removes jagged edges for incredible edge quality
• Support for advanced lossless compression algorithms for color, texture, and z-data at even higher resolutions and frame rates
• Fast z-clear
• High-resolution compression technology (HCT) increases performance at higher resolutions through advances in compression technology

UltraShadow II Technology

• Designed to enhance the performance of shadow-intensive games, like id Software’s Doom 3

Advanced Video and Display Functionality

• Dedicated on-chip video processor
• MPEG video encode and decode
• WMV9 decode acceleration
• Advanced adaptive de-interlacing
• High-quality video scaling and filtering
• DVD and HDTV-ready MPEG-2 decoding up to 1920x1080i resolutions
• Dual integrated 400 MHz RAMDACs for display resolutions up to and including 2048 × 1536 at 85Hz
• Dual DVO ports for interfacing to external TMDS transmitters and external TV encoders
• Microsoft® Video Mixing Renderer (VMR) supports multiple video windows with full video quality and features in each window
• Full NVIDIA® nView™ multi-display technology capability

Advanced Display Functionality

• Dual integrated 400MHz RAMDACs for display resolutions up to and including 2048×1536 at 85hz
• Dual DVO ports for interfacing to external TMDS transmitters and external TV encoders
• Full NVIDIA® nView™ multi-display technology capability

Advanced Engineering

• Designed for PCI Express x16
• Support for AGP 8X including Fast Writes and sideband addressing
• Designed for high-speed GDDR3 memory
• Advanced thermal management and thermal monitoring

NVIDIA® Digital Vibrance Control™ (DVC) 3.0

• DVC color controls
• DVC image sharpening controls

Operating Systems

• Windows XP
• Windows ME
• Windows 2000
• Windows 9X
• Macintosh OS, including OS X
• Linux

API Support

• Complete DirectX support, including the latest version of Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0
• Full OpenGL support, including OpenGL 1.5

So I guess all in all this is a good graphics card to start off with. I will be upgrading to a better one though. I’ve read really good ratings about this graphics card. I’m just glad the Pixel Shading is up to par for The Sims 3 PC game. Anyway…I would like to discuss some things about The Sims 3…

There are a lot of people crying about the game being the same as The Sims 2. Well um, its not exactly supposed to be a whole different game, its basically an expansion for it. People are mentioning how the Sims on the game still talk and eat, sleep, and learn the same way. Well how can you notice that from a few videos? It was one person saying that all the Sims in the game are going to be fat. She’s just stupid in my opinion. Others are saying how the game is still the same you just don’t have to stay in your house or around your house all of the time. Well thats not true, on The Sims 2 you could take your pet out and go to the park with your pet. Well on the Nintendo Wii version it was an option.

Anyway, the personalities and other new features to this game is going to be awesome…

Create over a million unique Sims and control their lives. Customize everything from their appearances, to their personalities and even the home of their dreams. Then, send your Sims out to explore new locations around town and to meet other Sims in the neighborhood.

The Sims 3 includes exclusive extra game content and robust online features, available only after you register online with an authentic copy of the game. Download a complete second town filled with intriguing Sims and secrets to discover. Get $10 Worth of SimPoints to customize your game with additional in-game items from The Sims 3 Store. Choose from hundreds of game items to enrich your Sims lives.

Expand your game with exclusive content & share creations with other players at TheSims3.com!

• At launch on June 2, register your official The Sims 3 game to get an exclusive second town.
• Receive $10 in FREE SimPoints to shop for exclusive in-game items from The Sims 3 Store.
• Create and Share Sims, houses, movies and more on The Sims 3 player exchange.

The official The Sims 3 includes exclusive extra game content & robust online features – available only after you register online with an authentic copy of the game.

Unlock a second town, exclusively available for you to download & expand your game.
Riverview is a complete town set in a countryside, that’s dotted with farms and nestled by a winding river. This seemingly sleepy little town comes with an entirely new set of inhabitants with secrets for you uncover.

Get $10 Worth of SimPoints to customize your game with additional in-game items from The Sims 3 Store.
At launch on June 2, The Sims 3 Store will include hundreds of all-new, exclusive items for you to download into the game. The Sims 3 Store will feature a variety of new outfits, hairstyles, furniture, home décor, and architectural items to customize your Sims appearance & houses in all-new ways. Each month, The Store will release additional, never-seen-before themed items.

Unleash your creativity & share content with other players at TheSims3.com:

The Exchange: The new & improved version of the popular Exchange highlights featured player created items, most popular downloads, powerful search and browser capabilities, and gives you the ability to see what others are recommending.

Create a Movie and Create a Story: New easily accessible tools inspire creativity and let you create movies and stories and then show them off or share them with friends. Show off your movies with the Create a Movie Tool by embedding them on external sites or with an email link back to the movie on TheSims3.com.

My Page and My Studio: Create your very own profile page and manage all your creations on one page – Movies, stories, Exchange objects. Use your profile page to blog space to post news, customize it with your personal avatar, track favorites and more. You can make friends with other The Sims 3 players and easily share content across a number of social network sites.

Control your Sims’ Destinies!

• Face short- and long-term challenges and reap the rewards.
• Your Sims can pursue random opportunities to get fast cash, get ahead, get even, and more.
• Choose whether or not to fulfill your Sims’ destinies by making their wishes come true. Will your Sims be thieves, rock stars, world leaders? You decide!

There’s more to your Sims’ lives in The Sims 3. Enjoy the challenge of short-term and long-term goals and then reap the rewards! Based on personality traits, skills, and career choice, your Sims have short and long term Wishes that provide constant, fun challenges—things to do and achieve. You have the ultimate freedom to choose whether (or not!) to fulfill their destiny, giving them lifetime happiness and rewards!

Will your Sim attend the right training exercises, salute the right military personnel, and skyrocket from a lowly Latrine Cleaner to a high-flying Astronaut? Will they hit the sports stadium, impress the talent scouts, and make winning plays that catapult them from a Rabid Fan to Sports Legend? Maybe your Sim will perfect their guitar skill, headline concerts, and be worshiped by legions of fans who propel them from the life of a Roadie to Rock Star status. Your Sims’ destinies are up to you!

Customize Everything!

• Design and build your dream house and decorate it to fit your Sims’ personalities.
• Customize all your Sims’ possessions from clothing to furnishings or even their car.

Design and build homes with complete freedom to customize everything from your Sims home, to their furniture, clothing and more. Enjoy infinite possibilities to stylize your Sims belongings with the all-new Create-A-Style tool. Customize the colors on your favorite patterns and apply them to any object you like. Give your Sims a plaid television set to match their plaid shirt. Or a striped sports car that matches the walls of their home. Create custom Styles that can be applied to virtually any object. Customize details on your Sims belongings right down to the rims on their car! Will you choose a classic, rustic, or chic Style for your Sim? The possibilities are endless for creating the home of your Sims’ dreams.

Explore New Locations!

• Explore the ever-changing neighborhood—and take your Sims to meet friends in the park, go on a date at the bistro, visit neighbors’ homes, converse with less-than-savory characters in the graveyard, and more! Who knows what might happen?
• Admire the natural beauty of the beach, the mountains, and more.

Take your Sims out of the house and visit new locations including the gym, bistro, graveyard, beach ,and more. Every Sim has a unique personality including your Sims’ neighbors, co-workers, and friends. Your Sims can meet their new neighbors on a brisk morning jog; visit their best friend’s home for a dinner party, take the family out for a day of sun in the park, or even meet their hot new love interest for a romantic sunset picnic on the beach. Cultivate life-long friendships and stormy rivalries. As you explore your Sims’ surroundings, who knows what might happen!

The neighborhood itself has a personality, created in part by the unique personalities of the Sims. Will you create a soccer mom who lives with her family in the suburban subdivision not too far from town? Or a wealthy businessman who owns a spectacular mansion in the hills overlooking the sea? The choices are yours and you can change the neighborhood into whatever you want it to be.

Create any Sim you can imagine and give them unique personalities!

Create millions of different personalities with traits such as evil, artistic, kleptomaniac, clumsy, insane, romantic, and more.

• Influence the behaviors of your Sims with the traits you’ve chosen. Will you create a neurotic romantic with a heart of gold, or a geeky super-genius with an evil streak?
• Create any Sim with easy-to-use design tools that allow for unlimited customization of facial features, hair color, eye color, and more.
• Fine-tune your Sims’ body shape from thin to curvy to muscular.

Create any Sim you can imagine and give them unique personalities. The all-new Create a Sim is easy to use and more powerful than ever, letting you completely personalize your Sims.

Create millions of different personalities based on the all-new Personality Traits system. Combine unique personality traits to populate your neighborhood with interesting Sims. Will you create an idealistic, creative dreamer who relishes taking risks thanks to his daredevil streak? Will you make an insensitive, drop-dead gorgeous socialite who neglects her romantic side and whose deepest secret is that she is actually a certified genius? It’s entirely up to you.

Fine-tune almost every feature on your Sims face; customize their hair color, eye color, skin tone and more. It’s never been easier to make Sims that are thin, full-figured, muscular, and everything in between!

So for those who go around on the The Sims 2 website and cry in the forums that you won’t be getting the game because the Sims still pet their pets the same way they do or they make a mess the same way they do then okay, fine so be it. But don’t try and ruin it for everyone else that’s looking forward to the game. I also don’t know if the game is coming out on the 2nd, the 5th or the 15th, I’ve seen these three days every where. I guess it depends on where you reside. Maybe The Sims 3 comes out on the 2nd in the U.S. who knows but I guess we shall see huh?

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