Can I run the game smoothly?
Okay, I’m sorry in advance for these really stupid questions, but: I recently got a new computer that’s specifically for gaming. My old computer ran Sims 4 fine, but it lagged a bit. And I could ne...
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Yes, your monitor's refresh rate is the rate at which it can transition from the previous image (frame) to the new one, measured in Hertz (rate per second). So frames per second and Hz are the measuring the same thing. There's no point in having fps is higher than the monitor can display, since you'll never see it, so your graphics card would be working to produce those extra frames with no benefit to you.
But there's nothing wrong with lowering fps below what your card can handle. Many people notice a subtle difference between 60 fps and something higher, although other people don't. So it's really up to you whether capping your framerates at 144 is worth it. You can try that and 60, and also 72 (half the monitor's refresh rate works well, but I'm guessing it also supports 60 Hz, as most monitors do), and see whether you like the way the game looks at the higher rates. A 1660 ti can easily handle running TS3 at 144 Hz at a resolution of 1920x1080, but there's no reason to have it that high if you can't tell the difference.
As to whether the game itself will run better... probably not, or not by much, as long as your laptop itself isn't overheating. (At higher temperatures, your hardware will throttle performance a bit to protect itself, but this shouldn't be a concern for you, given your specs. Still, if you'd like to download an app or two to keep an eye on temps, let me know.) TS3 is so poorly optimized that you'll see fps drop into the 20s or even lower on some lots, especially those with many objects and/or visual effects (think of World Adventures tombs), no matter how powerful your card is. But that's the game itself not performing well and has nothing to do with your system settings. Most of the time, it runs beautifully with high framerates. Still, you can always play around with the settings if you think performance could be better. The important thing is that as long as fps is capped no higher than 144, your card will be fine, and you can focus on playing.
But there's nothing wrong with lowering fps below what your card can handle. Many people notice a subtle difference between 60 fps and something higher, although other people don't. So it's really up to you whether capping your framerates at 144 is worth it. You can try that and 60, and also 72 (half the monitor's refresh rate works well, but I'm guessing it also supports 60 Hz, as most monitors do), and see whether you like the way the game looks at the higher rates. A 1660 ti can easily handle running TS3 at 144 Hz at a resolution of 1920x1080, but there's no reason to have it that high if you can't tell the difference.
As to whether the game itself will run better... probably not, or not by much, as long as your laptop itself isn't overheating. (At higher temperatures, your hardware will throttle performance a bit to protect itself, but this shouldn't be a concern for you, given your specs. Still, if you'd like to download an app or two to keep an eye on temps, let me know.) TS3 is so poorly optimized that you'll see fps drop into the 20s or even lower on some lots, especially those with many objects and/or visual effects (think of World Adventures tombs), no matter how powerful your card is. But that's the game itself not performing well and has nothing to do with your system settings. Most of the time, it runs beautifully with high framerates. Still, you can always play around with the settings if you think performance could be better. The important thing is that as long as fps is capped no higher than 144, your card will be fine, and you can focus on playing.
