Alright, thanks for clearing that up. I feel slightly pedantic for pointing it out really.

I guess your right about the price in all likeliness , and AMDs integrated graphics are definately the better option right now.

@op Sims 3 looks within reach

http://www.sims3.info/the-sims-3-faq/

In short:

1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo

2Gb ram

intel GMA X3000 IGP

Wow. I feel slighty taken aback by your... let's say non-supportive remarks.

Well, added 5 expansion packs to The Sims 2, mostly stuff packs. The other was Apartment Life.

I also bought SimCity 4.

It is absolutely, unequivocally...

a crash fiasco.

I literally cannot spend half an hour without this game crashing on me. It is not a graphics problem as you nay-sayers would say. No, it runs smoothly and perfectly. Then...

Kablooey!

I see that familiar turtle swimming in front of me. What the-? I haven't even made one-twentieth of my city yet and it just dies.

Since it isn't connected to the internet yet (it will be later today), no teachnical support. I couldn't find a decent answer on this computer, except for download the latest patch, and I'm not sure if that would solve the problem.

Since you are all so INCREDIBLY knowledgable about computers, tell me what the OBVIOUS answer is.

I will try to give you constructive criticism for your choice of gaming PC.

1) It's a Dell according to your first post:  Dell has horrible support.  Whenever you call their support, you end up getting someone in India.  In fact, Dell has reached a settlement about their false advertising with thier "award winning" support http://kohd.com/news/local/79452 .  You should check up on that, you may be able to get some money out of that settlement.  Also, Dell tends to make thier computers with proprietary parts, meaning it is harder for you to get replacement parts when you need them.  Lastly, Dell tends to make computers out of "sub-par" parts.  There is nothing you can do about this problem, so I will move on.

2) Celeron processor:  Celerons are the budjet version of the Core2Duo.  Celerons are fine for office PC's but don't do well when it comes to gaming.  If I know what model of Dell computer it is, I can tell you which Core2Duo processors you can replace the Celeron with.

3) Integrated graphics:  I know the other posters mentioned this, but Integrated graphics are not desirable for gaming.  You would have been better getting very weak integrated graphics for less money  because you are going to replace it with a PCI-express card anyway.  I hope you do have a PCI-express slot (they look like PCI slots but much longer).  Your best bet would be getting an Nvidia 9800 gt or likewise product.

4) Windows Vista: Vista does have DX10 at least, but it does not make up for how much it slows down your computer over XP.  The other problems such as incompatability issues and annoying pop-ups (UAC) makes it not desirable.  I know you did not have much choice on the issue since all new (non-atom) computers come with Vista, but you may see if you can get a Windows XP license from a friend.

5) 10/100 Mbs LAN and 320 GB HDD: These are minor issues, but odd.  Any new computer nowadays should have 10/100/1000 Mbs Networking Card.  Also, the 320 GB HDD is a little overkill for a gaming PC.  You probably will never use 120 GB of storage space.  You probably could have gotten by with an 80 GB HDD.  320 GB is a waste of money.  You could get a 10/100/1000 Mbs PCI or PCIexpressx1 card if you need faster netwoking.  You might as well keep the 320 GB HDD since you can't send it back for money.

Not to be mean, but it is apparent you did not consult a knowledgeable tech nor did you do adequate research before making this purchase.

Now for you SimCity 4 problem. 

You say you want the obvious answer, but that is difficult without knowing more about the problem.  You say it goes "Kablooey!" and alse "it dies".  These are not acceptable symptoms.  Some better examples would be "it froze", "it is unresponsive", "the video scrambles", "the screen becomes blue with white text".

If you can give me clearer symtoms with more data about when it happens, I may be able to help you.  My first suggestion without knowing more is to make sure your graphics drivers are up-to-date.  Also, you may need to run Vista update. 

I would also note that, according to the system requirements, Vista is not listed as a compatable operating system for this game: http://compsimgames.about.com/od/simcity4/qt/requirements.htm .  This is an older game, and Vista was not around when they made it.  Vista is notorious for incompatability issues with old software.  One way to get around this is to right click on the .exe file that runs the game and click properties.  Under properties, you should find compatability mode somewhere.  Set it to run under Windows XP.  This may solve your problems.

Another problem may be the NVIDIA 7050 Intergrated Graphics itself.  Performance isn't everything: If the game wasn't designed to work with integrated graphics, it may be crashing due to an errors, even if the game was running smoothly.  You may even find out that EA does not support the 7050.  You can solve this possibility by getting a dedicated graphics card.

You can test your system for manufacturers defects with this program: http://www.passmark.com/download/bit_download.htm just to be sure.

You can try this: http://simcity.ea.com/help/help.php
or the "email us" on http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/utility.php?p_sid=omwPwgoj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=

In closing, I will say that you asked our opinion about your computer purchase.  A lot of us did not approve of the purchase and said so.  You can not really complain about us being "non-supportive" if we do not support your purchase and you asked our opinion.

Honestly, the specs are very average.

I have a 2008 HP Laptop that has better specs:

AMD X2 at 2.2GHZ

4GB of RAM

320GB HDD

Bluetooth

And an integrated ATI Radeon 3200 HD, with HDMI output with a 15" monitor.

Fingerprint reader, bluray player, illuminated keyboard, integrated webcam and mic, touch sensitive multimedia keys, remote control, wireless N, flash memory card readers, 3 USB 2.0.

All for a modest price of $800 dlls. at Best Buy.