I could just download some really small game files for it like Pac-Man and DSig Dug and let the kids have the old compy. The one I am going to buy is for courses I am taking, 25% off through the college site for what I am looking at. Its a basic Toshiba laptop but I am going to make sure it has at least 2GB.
I should think an older game like SimCity4 shouldn’t be too taxing. I am also looking at MS Flight Simulator
Buy a 3-4 year old machine (Look for first generation dual core processor) should run SC4 quite well.
A first generation dualcore processor, motherboard, 2GB RAM, 7900gtx or radeon x1600 video card, shouldn’t be more than about $300-400. Would run it great. Make sure you hunt down windows xp, don’t put vista on it. If you must have a new OS, use Windows 7.
SC4 can tax a computer handily on large, robust cities. The computer I recommend will handle it.