Forum Discussion

Re: Laptop Purchase for Sims 2 UC and Sims 4

@SerenitySims101  Excess heat will shorten a the lifespan of computer hardware, but the components will do everything possible to protect themselves.  That's why I keep mentioning thermal throttling: it's not that your laptop would likely be damaged by excess heat, it's that the heat would cause the CPU and GPU to downclock so they don't become damaged, and you'd see the results in performance.

A 1650 Max-Q should be able to run all Sims 4 packs together on ultra graphics settings.  Whether that extends to your custom content depends not so much on the amount of cc you have installed as the type.  High poly (high resolution) items take more resources to render than EA-made items.  The more of these items are in camera range—not just installed, but actually being rendered—the higher the demands placed on the graphics card.

It's therefore difficult for me to predict whether a Max-Q card would be fast enough for you, or even whether a 1650 ti would be fast enough, since there is some extremely high poly cc floating around.  I can only tell you how much performance, roughly, you'd gain or lose depending on the choice.

Having said that, it sounds like peace of mind might be the most important consideration here.  If you're already worried about hardware temperatures, there's a good chance you'll keep thinking about it while you play, and that might impact your enjoyment of the game more than turning down one or two graphics settings to high.

Regardless of which laptop you choose, you can help limit the workload of the components, and therefore limit the temperatures to some degree, by capping in-game framerates to 60, or maybe 72 if you happen to have a 144 Hz monitor.  (Fewer frames rendered per second means a lower workload.)  This process is quite simple once you have the laptop in front of you; if you need help with the process at that point, feel free to ask.

8 Replies

  • @puzzlezaddict Thank you so much for all the help you provided me! I think with taking all things into consideration, and as you said with having a peace of mind, I'm going to go ahead and get the MSI laptop. I believe the laptop is 120 hz, but I'll have further confirmation once I have it and I'll come back with any questions regarding capping in-game framerates.
  • @puzzlezaddict Hi, it's been a while but I wanted to thank you again for helping me with the purchase of my laptop. I bought my gaming laptop a while ago and now that I have it, I wanted to learn more about how to go about capping the in-game framerates (I was not sure if it was okay to continue this thread to ask or start up a new thread). I also installed the sims 3, so if there is a way to cap those framerates as well, I would gladly appreciate learning more about that.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
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    4 years ago

    @SerenitySims101  Asking here is fine, as would be starting a new thread.  Sims 4 has a default fps limit of 200, and enabling vertical sync (fullscreen mode only) will cap framerates to the refresh rate of your monitor.

    For Sims 3, things get more complicated if you have a laptop with dual graphics, which is what you were considering last year.  The usual Nvidia Control Panel settings don't apply to most of these laptops, so you'd need to use another tool instead.  One popular one is RivaTuner Statistics Server, which is lightweight and easy to use.  Choose TS3.exe (Origin install) or TS3W.exe (disc or Steam install) from the menu, highlighted in blue; enter the limit you want, usually the refresh rate of your screen (red box); and choose whether to allow RTSS to start with Windows (yellow box), in case you don't want to have to remember.

    Another option is to use D3DOverrider to force vertical sync.  This tool is built on RTSS's resources and only works with older games, but that does include Sims 3.

    https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/84-d3doverrider/?changelog=32

    Sims 2 is said to not need an fps cap, but I don't actually own it and can't test myself.  Still, it's not described as causing any issues with overheating graphics cards.

  • @puzzlezaddict Thank you so much for the instructions and yes, so far I haven't noticed an issue with the Sims 2 overheating. I'm not entirely sure if my graphics card is dual (I have a gtx 1660 ti for the HP Omen 15-en0013dx).

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
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    4 years ago

    @SerenitySims101  You do likely have dual graphics: the 1660 ti and the graphics chip integrated into the processor.  A few processors don't have their own graphics, and a few laptops disable the integrated graphics by default, but both of these are the exception.  It's still best to check though: hit Windows key-X, select the Device Manager, and expand the Display adapters section.  If you see two entries, that means you have two GPUs.

    In any case, for Sims 3 at least, please check in-game to make sure fps is capped wherever you want it.  Hit crtl-shift-C and enter "fps on" without quotes, and you'll see a number in the upper-right corner of the screen.  (Use "fps off" to make the number disappear.)  You may see some fluctuation, but the important thing is that framerates never go above the limit.

  • @puzzlezaddict Yeah, I see two entries (AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti). So if I am understanding correctly, I will download the RivaTuner program and go through your instructions and make sure I enter 144 (I determined my refresh rate in my settings) where you have highlighted red on your screenshot? And do you recommend I still use D3DOverrider or will just using the previous instructions suffice to have the fps cap?

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
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    4 years ago

    @SerenitySims101  Yes, you're understanding correctly.

    Whether you use RTSS or D3DOverrider, or both, depends on how you play and what you want to accomplish.  There are two separate features here: vertical sync, enabled by D3DOverrider, and a simple fps cap, imposed by RTSS.

    Vertical sync caps fps to the refresh rate of your monitor and also helps prevent graphics glitches like screen tearing, but it only works in fullscreen mode.  So if you were going to play in windowed mode at all, ever, you'd want to set up a manual fps cap whether or not you enabled vertical sync.  If you were never going to play in fullscreen mode, it would be pointless to enable vertical sync.

    Personally, I both enable v-sync and set a hard fps limit because I play in fullscreen mode but occasionally switch to windowed mode when I want to use another program.  (Sims 3 doesn't like players alt-tabbing in fullscreen mode, although whether it reacts badly is kind of hit or miss.)  But that's my own preference.  You could play in fullscreen and only use RTSS, and as long as you don't see any graphics glitches (screen tearing, flickering, stuff you'd definitely notice), that could be sufficient.

  • @puzzlezaddict Thank you for all the help, based on your advice, I think I'll stick with only RTSS for now seeing as I barely play in window mode, but I will keep the other program in mind if that changes in the future!