@thiswebsitesux What currency are we talking about? $1,200 U.S. is more than enough for a great gaming PC, at least for Sims 4, and it's enough in CAD and usually AUD too. In any case, I'd be happy to list some good options for you. Just let me know if there are any other details that matter to you, for example other programs or games you want to run or extra storage you need for some other purpose.
U.S. currency. Sorry I should have mentioned that. 🙂 basically only Sims. I don't really play any other games. Thank you so much!!
@thiswebsitesux There are lots of good options for under $1,200, sometimes well under that price. I'm excluding the cheapest ones because while they're okay, you'd be making some compromises that you don't need to, and these aren't much cheaper than the cheapest models in the next-higher tier of machine. I figure it's worth paying an extra $100 or so to upgrade the processor and graphics card; even if those upgrades aren't strictly necessaary, you might notice a difference in performance now and will probably notice in a year or two. Still, if you want to see those cheapest options, just ask.
And just to be clear, all of the computers below should run Sims 4, all packs included, on ultra settings, with plenty of room to spare. The game itself has issues and will slow down here and there, but that's unavoidable on even the most powerful gaming machines.
On that note, this is the first very good option, at $950. It's not exceptional, but it should do just fine and is the cheapest model with this hardware that I saw and would feel comfortable recommending.
This one is only slightly more expensive and has a slightly faster graphics card, plus the same hardware otherwise. I don't think you'll ever need the extra power for Sims 4, but if you plan on upgrading in the future, this one's components should make that easier. (Cyberpower uses the same types of components that people buy when building their own computers, as opposed to OEM components that are often lower quality and usually less interchangeable.) The downside is that you don't have a physical store to go to if you have a small issue that an on-site tech could resolve. It's a trade-off.
https://www.amazon.com/CYBERPOWERPC-Xtreme-i5-11400F-GeForce-GXiVR8060A11/dp/B09DHP9M9G
This one has a significantly better processor than the ones above; this won't matter now but could in a few years if you were looking to upgrade. The graphics card is the same as the second one above, and the other hardware is the same as well. Whether the faster processor, including its ability to keep up with a hypothetical significant upgrade down the line, is worth an extra $100 to you depends on what your plans for the computer will look like in a few years.
https://www.newegg.com/cyberpowerpc-gm61000-gamer-master/p/N82E16883230668
Finally, this one has a significantly faster graphics card than the others, plus 16 GB RAM, which is nice to have if not strictly necessary. (On the other hand, memory is cheap and incredibly easy to install: you could upgrade any of the others for under $50 and about five minutes of your time.) It has the same processor as the first two. I don't actually think you need the extra graphics power, but I figured I'd mention it as an example of how far $1,100 can go.
https://www.newegg.com/abs-ali564/p/N82E16883360194?Item=N82E16883360194
If you'd like to see more options, let me know what you're looking for. And if you have more questions in general, please feel free to ask.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I'm thinking the third one is probably the best option for me. Thank you for being so detailed. I am honestly so excited right now!
Actually one question - do you think NXZT computers are up there as well?
@thiswebsitesux If you're talking about NZXT custom-built PCs, the build quality and the quality of the components are high. However, the prices are also quite high. The lowest I could get the price of a custom configuration was over $1,400, excluding one very cheap graphics card that's actually quite bad in many situations.
The prebuilt options are better, but still, this is the only one I'm seeing that's worth mentioning and is still in your price range:
https://nzxt.com/product/the-starter
It's $1,100 and compared to the other $1,100 option I linked, it has a slower graphics card and otherwise the same hardware. A 3050 is absolutey still more than fast enough for Sims 4 and always should be, but the 3060 is about 35% faster. The 1660 Super is about the same speed as the 3050, and the 2060 is faster by a notable margin. So even assuming you'd get a bit more performance out of the NZXT model compared to the others (due to the higher build quality), you'd be paying a premium for a very small improvement over the 1660 model, or you'd be sacrificing performance vs. the 2060 and even more vs. the 3060 without saving any money.
In case it's not clear, I'm not talking about the quality of the hardware included in these builds, other than the one point about the HP Omen possibly using an OEM component or two. The hardware in the others should all be more or less on the same level—you might get something slightly better or slightly worse because the build company got a good deal on one component or another, but that's both random and often impossible to verify until you actually have the computer and can look inside. Even then, the component quality is all going to be within the same range; it's just that some parts are a little better than others, as in any other industry.
The difference I'm referencing is basically the care with which the computer is assembled, both on the hardware and software side. That doesn't mean that a given computer will have issues while another will not; it's more about the little details and how thoroughly the system was tested before being sold. These details can mean nothing in the end, or they might mean a few percentage points of extra performance from the higher-quality build. Here again, it's impossible to say until you can see for yourself.
On the other hand, if the most important thing to you is that the computer is built to the highest standards and that you have the best customer support, then a company like NZXT is a better option than buying from a traditional store. I can't really decide that for you—it's your money after all, and your game that will be running on one of these computers. I will say that in terms of real-world results, the statistically better outcomes happen when buying the better hardware; even if you're not getting every drop of performance out of that hardware, you're still significantly ahead of the best possible version of the next tier down. But that only matters if performance is the most important thing here.
Anyway, I know that was long, but it's been an interesting topic over the last 18 months as the market for some components has been in chaos. Reasonable people can disagree. Regardless of what you decide, you'll be getting a computer that runs Sims 4 beautifully and will hopefully make you happy for a long time.
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@thiswebsitesux Thanks for the dxdiag. Whether I would personally recommend upgrading this computer depends on its power supply, although you may come to a different conclusion. The processor should be able to handle Sims 4 on high settings, maybe ultra, but looking at the benchmarks, I'm not convinced that ultra is a reasonable expectation. You'd also see more slowdowns, or more severe ones, than you would with a newer CPU. But how much that affects someone's enjoyment of the game varies greatly from person to person. The RAM and storage are good enough.
With an adequate PSU, you could drop a decent used graphics card into this computer, something that would run Sims 4 on ultra settings (if the CPU can keep up) and that you could probably find on Ebay for around $150. If the power supply isn't enough to handle the load, you'd need to get a new one (maybe $80) but also re-wire the power cables, which is simple if you know what you're doing... but if not and you'd need to pay someone else to do it, that might cost another $100, give or take, at a local shop.
The other relevant questions here are how long you want to keep this system before upgrading and how long you can reasonably expect it to hold up. Motherboards start failing after about six years, but they can also last for a decade or longer. (A new board for this system could still be cheap, in the $60 range, but at that point you're rebuilding the entire computer.) The processor in this computer is over five years old, although that doesn't mean that the other hardware is that old or that it's been in use that long. So in terms of how long this will last, it's really difficult to say.
If you'd want to upgrade in a couple of years regardless, then things become easier: spending $150 for a used graphics card now is probably worth it, and spending twice that to also add a new PSU and have someone install it is probably not. Then again, it's not my money, and you may have other things you'd want to do with your computer budget that would make an intermediate cheaper upgrade preferable to buying a new system right now.
So the first thing to do is find out what power supply is in this computer. The easiest way is to simply look at it: the PSU is where the power cable plugs in. Look at the side of the unit to find its specs—I'm interested in manufacturer, wattage, and rating, i.e. Corsair 750W 80+ Gold. Let me know what you have and I'll figure out what graphics cards it could support.
In your position, assuming the PSU is sufficient, what I'd do if I could is borrow a graphics card from a friend and install it, then see how Sims 4 runs. You might see enough issues that you're still interested in a new system, in which case you'll have found that out before spending any money. Or you might decide that performance is good enough for your purposes and that buying a used GPU is the way to go. Either one is a reasonable approach.
Thank you again for the quick and thorough response. I think I found what you are looking for. I found Power T3chnology EP-400PM. At least, I hope this is right. 😶
@thiswebsitesux That looks right, specifically that this is a 400W power supply with no rating. That's not necessarily a bad thing for a low-end system, but after a few years, I wouldn't necessarily count on it to be performing at full capacity. More importantly, it looks like the unit does not have a cable that could supply supplementary power to a graphics card, so you'd be limited to GPUs that draw all their power from the PCIe slot. In terms of modern cards, you'd be looking at an Nvidia GTX 1050 (regular or ti) or some models of 1650 (check the specs of the card or look for a connector on the card), or the slower GT 1030. None of these draw enough power to overwhelm this PSU even if it's starting to lose some of its capacity.
If you have access to one of these cards, there's no harm in testing one out. And they're not that expensive either, at least used. So maybe it's worth taking a flier on a used 1050 ti on Ebay and seeing where that gets you. Otherwise, you're looking at a new PSU and a graphics card along the lines of a GTX 1060; the processor couldn't really take advantage of anything higher than that.
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