Best PC to run the Sims

@puzzlezaddict - I agree with what you say, standard non-gaming laptops like this Lenovo B5400 simply are not suited for gaming, unless it's very lightweight games.

There is a problem with laptops that people usually forget, and that is that they are very prone to overheating if/when they're forced to run games or other programs they're not made to handle. If a laptop is running on a very high temperature for months or years, it's potential lifespan will most likely be shortened considerably, maybe even cut in half.

I have two older low end laptops myself, and I haven't bothered to install anything more than the base game on any of them, because they seem to have enough to do with running that alone.

I also have a few Asus gaming laptops, and they're able to run the whole TS3 (=all EPs, all SPs and everything from the Store) pretty easily. But after I bought myself a good gaming desktop I mostly use the laptops only for lighter stuff like office programs, internet, watching videos etc.

@SuzyCue72 Yeah, excess heat will definitely shorten the life of just about any computer if it's not allowed to dissipate. Given the close confines of any laptop, it's not surprising that can be complicated to build a decent cooling apparatus. But most gaming laptops, not the one mentioned but proper ones built for the increased demands of modern games, can actually cool themselves quite well with a bit of help. Elevating them and letting air circulate underneath can do wonders.

I ran the Anno 1800 beta on my MacBook Pro 14,3 (yes, I know, not a gaming machine, but it does great, and even runs Windows when I ask) on the default high settings with no evidence of lag or other performance issues. I put books under the corners, and while it ran hot, it didn't give me any reason to worry. On the other hand, if I'm sitting on my couch browsing the forums with the laptop in my lap, and I decide to load TS3 to check something, the fans get loud before I even hit the intro movie.

Of course, all the air circulation in the world won't help if the heat isn't being dispersed from the core components quickly enough, nor will the best cooling setup possible fix performance issues if those components can't keep up with the demands being placed on them. It's too bad that there really isn't a good way to run TS3 on lower-end systems, at least not with the more demanding packs. On the other hand, it's precisely that goal (among other things) that led to TS4, so the tradeoff doesn't really seem worth it.

Random Question, but I recently purchased a pc for under $600 (USD) which has the AMD Ryzen 5 1400 processor and AMD Radeon RX 570 for graphics. Is that good enough to run both sims 3 and sims 4? If not, what should I upgrade my processor/graphics card to? thank you in advance.

@cometeomycota It sounds like you got a really good deal. Your processor and graphics card will currently handle ultra settings for both games comfortably, even with all current packs installed. Future TS4 packs might raise the requirements enough that you'd need to dial back a few settings to high, but that's just speculation at this point, and it's probably more likely that your card will always be fine.

One thing you'll want to do for TS3 is use an app to lock in-game frame rates to the refresh rate of your monitor. TS3's fps limiter doesn't work (TS4's is fine), and without an outside tool doing the job, your card will generate excessively high fps. Aside from the excess workload, this can cause graphics glitches and heat your card more than necessary.

The first tool to try with an AMD card is RivaTuner Statistics Server. It's very straightforward to use, but if you'd like instructions or a couple of screenshots, feel free to ask. Be sure to pick the right executable for the game: TS3.exe for a patch 1.69 (Origin) install, but TS3W.exe, with the "W," for a patch 1.67 (disc or Steam) install.

If you did want to invest a bit of money in your computer, upgrading to 16 GB RAM from the 8 GB it likely has would be a good choice. Neither game needs it, but more memory will help with multitasking (especially while you're playing, but also in general). It's more a quality of life upgrade, and a matching 8 GB RAM stick might cost you $40.

@puzzlezaddict Thank you very much!! I have been so nervous that i wouldn't be able to run either game. I will definitely get an app to lock in the rates, thank you for telling me that, because i had no idea that the ts3 fps limiter doesn't work. when I get my pc (later this week hopefully ^^) I'll install both and will definitely pm you if i need any help. Thanks again :) !!!

"puzzlezaddict;c-17237084" wrote:

One thing you'll want to do for TS3 is use an app to lock in-game frame rates to the refresh rate of your monitor. TS3's fps limiter doesn't work (TS4's is fine), and without an outside tool doing the job, your card will generate excessively high fps. Aside from the excess workload, this can cause graphics glitches and heat your card more than necessary.

@puzzlezaddict - No, it sure doesn't, never has, not for me anyway. I've always wondered why it's even there since it's totally useless...

Hi guys, So I am a Mac user and I've been playing The Sims 4 on my MacBook Air early 2015. And a few weeks ago and a day before The Catalina OS came out, I was experiencing issues with Safari telling me I had no disk space when I tried to download something. I had my 2TB external WD passport hooked up to my laptop so I thought it was very strange that this was giving me that issue. I immediately called Apple Support and the girl suggested id upgrade to Catalina OS to see if that fixes the no disk space error.. thinking it would of worked it ended up ruining how I had my external drive tied to my game so I tried to fix it by trying to move the documents folder to my drive. And It ended up accidentally replacing my Electronic Arts/Mods folder. So I tried to re install Origin and I kept getting this error message saying, Origin can not install games here because the destination folder is not mounted. I tried changing my home directory to my external, I tried clicking on choose another folder all it would was spin the color wheel and then nothing else happened. I finally reached out to EA Help through twitter and on the phone. All they kept saying was move your Electronic Arts folder to your desktop and I wasn't wanting to do that.. due to very low storage on my Mac itself.. anyways I am wanting to purchase a new PC because my Macbook isn't cutting it anymore.. I need something under 1000$ comes with keyboard and mouse, but something that still offers good enough storage for a lot of cc/mods etc. I tend to download cc daily.. I like to use a mix between alpha and maxis match cc. So id like something with a good graphic card like the NVIVIA GTX 1050 or 1060 whatever can go on ultra/high settings. and meets EA's requirements as well as compatible with ALL EP's and GPs except Vampires, Realm of Magic, Strangerville, Outdoor retreat. as well as most if not almost all the SP.

@Cornelias - Afraid this isn't the TS4 section of the forum, this is TS3. As you haven't even mentioned wishing to play that version (Mac or PC, either way), perhaps this would be better off posted on a TS4 forum board?

This might be an even better place:
https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/ct-p/the-sims-4-en

@Cornelias - There is a member here, @puzzlezaddict, that might be able to help you, either here or at the Answers HQ. If I understand it correctly she's a longtime Mac user, and also has experience from Windows (via bootcamping her Mac), and The Sims 3 and 4.

If you look a bit further up in this thread you can see that she helped the OP with finding a suitable computer for both Sims 3 and 4.