Re: The best laptop to play Sims 4 with all packs and mods/cc

Hi would you be able to help me find a laptop for around £400 max... i need it to run the sims 4 and my expansions. i don't mind refurbished ect...

Thanks in advance.

@Jxxob98  Even including refurbished laptops sold from regular stores, there aren't a lot of good options for around £400.  The best one I saw is actually from Amazon, and shipped from the U.S.; it's apparently £408 including import taxes, although you'd want to double-check the pricing from your end.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Evoo-14-1-Ultra-Slim-Notebook/dp/B08KTV2F47

This is the kind of laptop that should be able to run all current packs together on medium graphics settings, and although its hard drive is small, 256 GB is still more than enough space for all your Sims 4 content, plus however many smaller apps like browsers you'd want to install.  Other similar laptops are £430 and up from U.K. stores, for example this one:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1959318

https://ao.com/product/81w000bsuk-lenovo-ideapad-3-laptop-grey-81279-251.aspx

If you don't want the one from Amazon and really want to stay at or under £400, the best available new laptops have somewhat weaker hardware.  In terms of the processor and graphics chip, this one is the best overall option, but the issue is that its hard drive is very small.  128 GB is enough for the game and all current packs, and most likely all future packs as well.  But if you have a large custom content collection, or you want to store other data on the laptop, you might run out of space.  Additionally, this laptop has only 4 GB RAM, although you could add another 4 or 8 GB for around £20 or 30.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-3-14-laptop-amd-ryzen-3-128-gb-ssd-grey-10209091-pdt.html

Other than that, these laptops all have the same hardware: an even slower processor than the one above, and the same 4 GB RAM, but they do have a 256 GB hard drive.

https://www.box.co.uk/M413DA-EK159T-ASUS-VivoBook-14-M413DA-EK159T_2954893.html

https://www.box.co.uk/NX.A0WEK.004-Acer-Aspire-3-A314-22_2958145.html

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/lenovo-v14-ryzen-3-3250u-4gb-256gb-ssd-14-inch-full-hd-windows-10-home-lapt-82c6005guk/version.asp

https://www.laptopoutlet.co.uk/lenovo-v14-14-full-hd-laptop-amd-ryzen-3-3250u-4gb-ram-256gb-ssd-14-1080p-full-hd-integrated-amd-radeon-graphics-windows-10-home-grey-82c6005guk.html?___SID=U

The first one (the Asus) would not support a RAM upgrade, but the Acer would, and I believe the Lenovo would as well.

If you're willing to buy on Ebay, your options get a lot better.  Of course, there's some risk involved as well.  Let me know if you'd like to see some options, and I'll take a look.

Hi! I’m looking to buy a new laptop today and just found your replies on this thread and you seem so much more knowledgable of what I’d need that any Argos staff would be. I’m gonna start of by saying I want to be able to run the Sims 2 (Ultimate), Sims 3 (with most of its packs), the Sims 4 (with most of its packs) and GTA V on my new laptop. I’m not really that tech savvy so sometimes I get lost in the talk and zone out which ha happened in my endeavour to find a new gaming laptop in the last 24 hours aha! I’d say my budget is 1k but could stretch further as I’m not really sure what I’m looking for ideally I’d be brand new cause I prefer warranty but wouldn’t mind if you offer any other options but yes ideally brand new. I’d want to be able to play these games smoothly with the highest settings ☹️(( I just want to play my games well and that’s literally it so I’m open to spending more £ if needed.  Thank you so much if you do reply it’ll make any week x

@LeeLee00  Are you willing to wait a couple weeks for a pre-order to arrive?  The Nvidia 3060 mobile is a huge step up from the 2060 and 1660 ti, and I'm seeing one option for £1,000 that's due in February 8:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/gigabyte-g5-nvidia-rtx-3060-16gb-15.6-240hz-i5-10500h-gaming-laptop-lt-0cx-gi.html

While this laptop is too new to have reviews yet, Gigabyte generally makes high quality products, including laptops.  I would guess the major drawback of this model is a short battery life, but you wouldn't want to play on battery power regardless, so that's not a concern as far as performance goes.

To be clear, you don't need an Nvidia 3060 for any of the games you list, even on ultra settings.  The only benefit you'd likely see is if and when you download a more demanding game, for example the next GTA.  Since the option is about to be available though, I figured I'd mention it.

If you don't want to wait or don't care about playing newer games on ultra settings, these laptops are both high quality and would run everything you listed on ultra with some room to spare:

https://www.box.co.uk/81Y6005SUK-Lenovo-Legion-5i-15_2938435.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/hp-pavillion-15-ec1009na-nvidia-gtx-1660-ti-16gb-15.6-fhd-amd-ryzen-7-4800h-gaming-laptop-lt-04y-hp.html

https://www.box.co.uk/1L6F7EAABU-HP-Pavilion-Gaming-15-ec1009na_2958259.html

The difference between the second and third is the extra memory (+£50), which, while not strictly necessary, does help if you enjoy multitasking while you play.  You could also upgrade either of the first two to 16 GB for about £30; it doesn't take more than removing the bottom cover and inserting a memory module into a slot.  The Lenovo has an excellent battery life as well, much better than most gaming laptops.

If these aren't quite what you're looking for, please let me know what details matter to you, and I'll do another search.

Hi @puzzlezaddict ! I am here to ask the same questions everyone else has, pretty much! I've read through all the responses here, so I'm sort able to pick up what you're putting down.

I don't care too much gaming seriously. I'm more of a console gamer, so the most my laptop sees is Sims 4 and more recently, minecraft. I'm not big on mods for either, or custom content. My current laptop – a mid-2012 MacBook Pro – has basically gone kaput. It takes hours to do anything, even day to day school work, and gaming on it is basically impossible. Whatever I choose in the future, I would like it to be able to handle my schoolwork as well as Sims 4 and possibly minecraft, but I'm not looking to pay the 1400 I had to cough up for the MacBook 

If at all possible, I'd like to stay at/under 700 USD. Some of the ones I've looked at were the Asus Zenbook 14 (which I see you've recommended), the Lenovo Yoga 6, and the Lenovo Ideapad S340. I've also looked at the MSI Modern 15 but it seems to have little to no reviews in the gaming department.

I was wondering if you could take a gander at them and let me know if any of these would be a good match for what I'm looking for. I don't really know anything about the high-low-ultra settings talk I've seen happening in this thread, but if it's any help, I'm not hardpressed for the best specs. Just something that can power me through university with some light Sims 4 play in it's spare time. I'm also open to any other recommendations you may have. Thank you so much!

Computer Links:

Lenovo S340: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-ideapad-s340-15-touch-screen-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-3700u-12gb-memory-512gb-solid-state-drive-abyss-blue/6426703.p?skuId=6426703

Lenovo Yoga 6: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-yoga-6-13-2-in-1-13-3-touch-screen-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-8gb-memory-256gb-ssd-abyss-blue-fabric-cover/6427161.p?skuId=6427161

MSI Modern 15: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-modern-15-a10m-455-intel-i5-8gb-memory-512gb-ssd-black/6437744.p?skuId=6437744

@Clovekay  Among the three you linked, the Lenovo Yoga (second link) is the best as far as Sims 4 is concerned because it has a significantly faster graphics chip than the others.  The graphics chip will be the limiting factor in determining performance, so the other hardware is secondary.  Having said that, it should be more than fine for schoolwork and other basic tasks.

How soon do you need this laptop?  I found one from HP that can be customized to include an MX450 graphics card, one that should handle high graphics settings without trouble, although ultra may be a stretch.  It would take a month to ship though.

https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-pavilion-laptop-14t-dv000-touch-optional-1s961av-1

Adding the MX450 (+$120) and upgrading the screen (+$30) would put the cost at either $690 or $700, depending on whether you believe the initial product page or the customization page.

If you want something right away, this Zenbook is also worth considering.  Its MX350 is not as fast as the MX450, but it's faster than the graphics chips in any of the laptops you linked, and having a dedicated graphics card would also take some of the load off the processor while you played.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-zenbook-14-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-mx350-256gb-ssd-light-gray/6403819.p?skuId=6403819

This is all assuming you want something lightweight for school, as opposed to a bulkier gaming laptop that could handle ultra graphics settings.  If you're interested in one of those, let me know.

And if you have more questions, please feel free to ask.

@puzzlezaddict Thank you so much! You would be correct to assume that I want something lightwieght, as I don't really have any desire to do gaming other than sims. If the Zenbook has the better graphics though. the price difference between that and the Yoga 6 is only $50 so I'd rather go for the Zenbook. And I could have it now to do schoolwork since my Mac is essentially out of commission. Thank you so much for your help again!