Question About Computer Specs

That computer is overkill, by a large margin, for Sims 3. It's not a bad thing by any means; I'm just saying a much less powerful (and less expensive) system would still run all Sims 3 content plus a giant pile of cc on ultra graphics settings.

One thing I'd be careful of with that particular computer is where you sister buys it. The company iBUYPOWER has a history of selling defective computers and dragging out the return process until the window has closed for a refund. Maybe it's better now, but I still wouldn't buy anything with that name on it unless it came from Best Buy or another physical store that would take responsibility for any necessary repairs.

If you or your sister wants help picking out a computer, or just a few good options as a starting point, I'd be happy to look around. Just list her budget and country, as well as any other considerations that matter to her.

P.S. Asking lots of questions isn't a problem. People here answer because we enjoy it.

"puzzlezaddict;c-17445522" wrote:
That computer is overkill, by a large margin, for Sims 3. It's not a bad thing by any means; I'm just saying a much less powerful (and less expensive) system would still run all Sims 3 content plus a giant pile of cc on ultra graphics settings.

One thing I'd be careful of with that particular computer is where you sister buys it. The company iBUYPOWER has a history of selling defective computers and dragging out the return process until the window has closed for a refund. Maybe it's better now, but I still wouldn't buy anything with that name on it unless it came from Best Buy or another physical store that would take responsibility for any necessary repairs.

If you or your sister wants help picking out a computer, or just a few good options as a starting point, I'd be happy to look around. Just list her budget and country, as well as any other considerations that matter to her.

Thank you so much! The place it's being sold is on Best Buy, but I actually didn't know that the company sells defective computers - I assume she doesn't either, so I'll tell her.

It would be lovely if you had any recommendations for computers that would run all of that on ultra settings! She has a budget of up to $1,500 and wants a graphics card that would obviously be able to handle the game with all the expansions, as well as one of the more powerful processors. She's in the United States. If you have any recommendations, that would be amazing, the less expensive the better, obviously :D

I didn't meant to suggest Best Buy was selling defective computers, at least not on a regular basis, just that defective systems are bound to happen here and there. What matters is how the company handles it, and also its typical build quality. Where iBUYPOWER is a dicey proposition, or at least it was, is when people order directly from the company and happen to get a system that has some problem the buyer can't solve alone. But going through Best Buy, or another physical store, or Amazon for that matter, gives people a layer of protection.

At any rate, I think I saw the model your sister was considering, and she can do better for her money. I'm not sure exactly what she wants, so I'll list a few examples to give you and her an idea of what's out there. Some relevant questions:

• What does your sister have in mind with "one of the more powerful processors"? Some overkill is good when it means doing individual upgrades in four or five years rather than having to buy an entirely new computer. But she'll probably never benefit beyond a certain point.
  
• What resolution does your sister want to use while playing, and what framerates would she like to see? Sims 3 looks great in QHD (2560x1440) and on a monitor with a high refresh rate, but she'd need a somewhat faster graphics card than if she was looking to maintain 60 Hz at 1920x1080.
  
• How much storage does your sister want, or if she doesn't know, what else would she like to store on this computer?
  
• Would your sister rather save some money and do a simple upgrade or two herself, or pay more to get all the features she wants right out of the box? This isn't about any serious messing around, more like installing extra RAM or a second hard drive if necessary.
  

To give you an idea, this ($680) is the kind of computer that would run Sims 3, all packs included, on ultra settings, at 60 fps on a typical 1920x1080 monitor. Its processor is stronger than necessary, but still mid-tier; it has only 8 GB RAM and a single 500 GB SSD, enough to handle Sims 3 but maybe not other tasks she has in mind.

https://www.amazon.com/SkyTech-Blaze-Gaming-Computer-Desktop/dp/B07RG8KM2C/

This one is $800 and has a significantly stronger processor, a significantly faster graphics card, and 16 GB memory:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gamer-master-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-7-2700x-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1660-500gb-ssd-white/6385375.p?skuId=6385375

The above is pretty cheap for its hardware. From what I saw, systems with a faster graphics card (total overkill for Sims 3 unless you sister wants 144 fps in QHD or something) and otherwise similar hardware are well over $1000. This one is exactly the same as the previous one except for the graphics card that's about 50% faster.

https://www.amazon.com/Skytech-Blaze-Gaming-Computer-Desktop/dp/B0825FG29B/

An extra $100 gets an even stronger processor and twice the SSD storage:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/clx-set-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-7-3700x-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2060-960gb-solid-state-drive-black-rgb/6360496.p?skuId=6360496

There are a lot of options in between these, depending on which details matter to your sister. If you let me know what she'd like, I can check other sites for more systems as well, unless she'd prefer to go with Best Buy. Regardless though, she should be able to get exactly what she wants for a lot less than $1,500.

"puzzlezaddict;c-17445883" wrote:
I didn't meant to suggest Best Buy was selling defective computers, at least not on a regular basis, just that defective systems are bound to happen here and there. What matters is how the company handles it, and also its typical build quality. Where iBUYPOWER is a dicey proposition, or at least it was, is when people order directly from the company and happen to get a system that has some problem the buyer can't solve alone. But going through Best Buy, or another physical store, or Amazon for that matter, gives people a layer of protection.

At any rate, I think I saw the model your sister was considering, and she can do better for her money. I'm not sure exactly what she wants, so I'll list a few examples to give you and her an idea of what's out there. Some relevant questions:

• What does your sister have in mind with "one of the more powerful processors"? Some overkill is good when it means doing individual upgrades in four or five years rather than having to buy an entirely new computer. But she'll probably never benefit beyond a certain point.
  
• What resolution does your sister want to use while playing, and what framerates would she like to see? Sims 3 looks great in QHD (2560x1440) and on a monitor with a high refresh rate, but she'd need a somewhat faster graphics card than if she was looking to maintain 60 Hz at 1920x1080.
  
• How much storage does your sister want, or if she doesn't know, what else would she like to store on this computer?
  
• Would your sister rather save some money and do a simple upgrade or two herself, or pay more to get all the features she wants right out of the box? This isn't about any serious messing around, more like installing extra RAM or a second hard drive if necessary.
  

To give you an idea, this ($680) is the kind of computer that would run Sims 3, all packs included, on ultra settings, at 60 fps on a typical 1920x1080 monitor. Its processor is stronger than necessary, but still mid-tier; it has only 8 GB RAM and a single 500 GB SSD, enough to handle Sims 3 but maybe not other tasks she has in mind.

https://www.amazon.com/SkyTech-Blaze-Gaming-Computer-Desktop/dp/B07RG8KM2C/

This one is $800 and has a significantly stronger processor, a significantly faster graphics card, and 16 GB memory:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gamer-master-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-7-2700x-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1660-500gb-ssd-white/6385375.p?skuId=6385375

The above is pretty cheap for its hardware. From what I saw, systems with a faster graphics card (total overkill for Sims 3 unless you sister wants 144 fps in QHD or something) and otherwise similar hardware are well over $1000. This one is exactly the same as the previous one except for the graphics card that's about 50% faster.

https://www.amazon.com/Skytech-Blaze-Gaming-Computer-Desktop/dp/B0825FG29B/

An extra $100 gets an even stronger processor and twice the SSD storage:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/clx-set-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-7-3700x-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2060-960gb-solid-state-drive-black-rgb/6360496.p?skuId=6360496

There are a lot of options in between these, depending on which details matter to your sister. If you let me know what she'd like, I can check other sites for more systems as well, unless she'd prefer to go with Best Buy. Regardless though, she should be able to get exactly what she wants for a lot less than $1,500.

Thank you so much! I sent her all of those options and told her to take a look. I think she had a high budget just in case. So far I know the one from Amazon looks good, I'm just wondering that with the GTX 2060, is that one of those graphics cards the game wouldn't recognize? Because I know how this game works with recognizing graphics cards, haha.

"puzzlezaddict;c-17445883" wrote:
I didn't meant to suggest Best Buy was selling defective computers, at least not on a regular basis, just that defective systems are bound to happen here and there. What matters is how the company handles it, and also its typical build quality. Where iBUYPOWER is a dicey proposition, or at least it was, is when people order directly from the company and happen to get a system that has some problem the buyer can't solve alone. But going through Best Buy, or another physical store, or Amazon for that matter, gives people a layer of protection.

At any rate, I think I saw the model your sister was considering, and she can do better for her money. I'm not sure exactly what she wants, so I'll list a few examples to give you and her an idea of what's out there. Some relevant questions:

• What does your sister have in mind with "one of the more powerful processors"? Some overkill is good when it means doing individual upgrades in four or five years rather than having to buy an entirely new computer. But she'll probably never benefit beyond a certain point.
  
• What resolution does your sister want to use while playing, and what framerates would she like to see? Sims 3 looks great in QHD (2560x1440) and on a monitor with a high refresh rate, but she'd need a somewhat faster graphics card than if she was looking to maintain 60 Hz at 1920x1080.
  
• How much storage does your sister want, or if she doesn't know, what else would she like to store on this computer?
  
• Would your sister rather save some money and do a simple upgrade or two herself, or pay more to get all the features she wants right out of the box? This isn't about any serious messing around, more like installing extra RAM or a second hard drive if necessary.
  

To give you an idea, this ($680) is the kind of computer that would run Sims 3, all packs included, on ultra settings, at 60 fps on a typical 1920x1080 monitor. Its processor is stronger than necessary, but still mid-tier; it has only 8 GB RAM and a single 500 GB SSD, enough to handle Sims 3 but maybe not other tasks she has in mind.

https://www.amazon.com/SkyTech-Blaze-Gaming-Computer-Desktop/dp/B07RG8KM2C/

This one is $800 and has a significantly stronger processor, a significantly faster graphics card, and 16 GB memory:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gamer-master-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-7-2700x-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1660-500gb-ssd-white/6385375.p?skuId=6385375

The above is pretty cheap for its hardware. From what I saw, systems with a faster graphics card (total overkill for Sims 3 unless you sister wants 144 fps in QHD or something) and otherwise similar hardware are well over $1000. This one is exactly the same as the previous one except for the graphics card that's about 50% faster.

https://www.amazon.com/Skytech-Blaze-Gaming-Computer-Desktop/dp/B0825FG29B/

An extra $100 gets an even stronger processor and twice the SSD storage:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/clx-set-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-7-3700x-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2060-960gb-solid-state-drive-black-rgb/6360496.p?skuId=6360496

There are a lot of options in between these, depending on which details matter to your sister. If you let me know what she'd like, I can check other sites for more systems as well, unless she'd prefer to go with Best Buy. Regardless though, she should be able to get exactly what she wants for a lot less than $1,500.

Also about the questions:
1.) I don't know, think she means a strong processor that would be able to run the game smoothly. Of course the game always lags, but she probably just wants it without a lot of the stuttering. Also, isla paradiso! lol
2.) She probably wants it at a high resolution, but I'm not sure what the max resolution the 2060 graphics card could handle is.
3.) I think she wants to be able to play Sims 3 & 4 at the least on the computer. She plays Sims 2 on her laptop with no problems I believe.
4.) I think she wants to immediately pay more and not have to do the upgrades, but I'll check to make sure.

"xLunaSimsx;c-17446101" wrote:

Thank you so much! I sent her all of those options and told her to take a look. I think she had a high budget just in case. So far I know the one from Amazon looks good, I'm just wondering that with the GTX 2060, is that one of those graphics cards the game wouldn't recognize? Because I know how this game works with recognizing graphics cards, haha.

Any modern graphics card you buy today (including RTX 2060) Sims 3 will not recognize because the game is no longer being patched to add these cards. Rest assured, the game will still use the card. There should be no problem... The only important thing is to make sure when your sister gets everything set up, to turn on vertical sync in the graphic cards control panel. Vertical sync locks framerate to whatever the monitor can put out. Sims is not a game that will benefit from extra frames and letting those frames run wild often causes issues so we always recommend vertical sync for this game.

Besides that, you can go the extra mile and add the card manually to the games list of recognized cards but it's not really necessary unless there are issues.

"SimplyJen;c-17446453" wrote:

"xLunaSimsx;c-17446101" wrote:

Thank you so much! I sent her all of those options and told her to take a look. I think she had a high budget just in case. So far I know the one from Amazon looks good, I'm just wondering that with the GTX 2060, is that one of those graphics cards the game wouldn't recognize? Because I know how this game works with recognizing graphics cards, haha.

Any modern graphics card you buy today (including RTX 2060) Sims 3 will not recognize because the game is no longer being patched to add these cards. Rest assured, the game will still use the card. There should be no problem... The only important thing is to make sure when your sister gets everything set up, to turn on vertical sync in the graphic cards control panel. Vertical sync locks framerate to whatever the monitor can put out. Sims is not a game that will benefit from extra frames and letting those frames run wild often causes issues so we always recommend vertical sync for this game.

Besides that, you can go the extra mile and add the card manually to the games list of recognized cards but it's not really necessary unless there are issues.

Thank you so much! I'll be sure to let her know that. I didn't know vsync was required :)

Definitely check what monitor your sister wants to use. An Nvidia 2060 (regular, not Super) should be able to maintain 144 fps, or very close to it, on a 2560x1440 monitor in Sims 4 with all packs installed, at least in most worlds. (It would have even higher fps in Sims 3, although as @SimplyJen mentioned, that would need to be manually capped no matter what card your sister ended up getting.) There's not much practical point in having framerates that high—90-100 fps would likely look just as good. But for the times when fps drops, the extra speed of the GPU might help her not notice.

A 4k monitor might be a challenge, but a 2060 should still be able to maintain 60 Hz or very close in Sims 4. I don't even know how Sims 3 would run at that resolution, or if she'd want to play with such small UI, but it would be simple enough to adjust the in-game res to whatever she wanted.

If your sister is planning on getting a monitor with a refresh rate of 60 Hz and or a resolution of 1920x1080, then a 2060 would be a waste of money, and even a 1660 might not be worth the price tag. Even if she likes the idea of a faster GPU, the monitor wouldn't allow her to benefit.

For the processor, all of the ones mentioned are much stronger than any Sims game needs or could ever use. There's some lag and stutter in both TS3 and TS4, for the usual reasons that the games are poorly optimized in a variety of ways.

The reason to get an overly powerful CPU is for a few years down the line, when there's a new game she wants to play, or some other demanding task she wants her computer to handle. A new processor usually means a new motherboard, which in turn means you're basically rebuilding the entire computer. Getting a stronger CPU means it would support the faster graphics card she might want later on, so she wouldn't have to get an entirely new system. On the other hand, she might prefer to save some money now and get a new computer only when she knows what she'll want to do with it.

"puzzlezaddict;c-17446804" wrote:
Definitely check what monitor your sister wants to use. An Nvidia 2060 (regular, not Super) should be able to maintain 144 fps, or very close to it, on a 2560x1440 monitor in Sims 4 with all packs installed, at least in most worlds. (It would have even higher fps in Sims 3, although as @SimplyJen mentioned, that would need to be manually capped no matter what card your sister ended up getting.) There's not much practical point in having framerates that high—90-100 fps would likely look just as good. But for the times when fps drops, the extra speed of the GPU might help her not notice.

A 4k monitor might be a challenge, but a 2060 should still be able to maintain 60 Hz or very close in Sims 4. I don't even know how Sims 3 would run at that resolution, or if she'd want to play with such small UI, but it would be simple enough to adjust the in-game res to whatever she wanted.

If your sister is planning on getting a monitor with a refresh rate of 60 Hz and or a resolution of 1920x1080, then a 2060 would be a waste of money, and even a 1660 might not be worth the price tag. Even if she likes the idea of a faster GPU, the monitor wouldn't allow her to benefit.

For the processor, all of the ones mentioned are much stronger than any Sims game needs or could ever use. There's some lag and stutter in both TS3 and TS4, for the usual reasons that the games are poorly optimized in a variety of ways.

The reason to get an overly powerful CPU is for a few years down the line, when there's a new game she wants to play, or some other demanding task she wants her computer to handle. A new processor usually means a new motherboard, which in turn means you're basically rebuilding the entire computer. Getting a stronger CPU means it would support the faster graphics card she might want later on, so she wouldn't have to get an entirely new system. On the other hand, she might prefer to save some money now and get a new computer only when she knows what she'll want to do with it.

Ah, okay, I understand. Thank you, you're so insightful, so thank you!
My sister has a question, what would happen if she were to get a monitor with a 144hz refresh rate but that was 1920x1080?

I know someone who plays Sims 4, all packs included, on a 1920x1080 monitor and has a factory overclocked 1660 ti (ROG Strix OC), and her fps tends to average around 120 while she plays, although it's as high as 190 in ideal conditions. Framerates will drop when there are a large number of sims around, or on certain lots, or in certain worlds. Part of this depends on the speed of the graphics card, but part is due to the way the game is programmed and can't really be helped.

As a practical matter, it's unlikely your sister would notice the difference between say 90-100 fps and 144, although the difference between 60 and 144 is obvious to some people. So a monitor with a high refresh rate may well make a difference to her. But there's no real need to get a graphics card that would run TS4 at the full 144 Hz. The game will look just as good at 100 fps or so, and framerates will drop significantly on occasion no matter what card someone has.

A 1660 Super is pretty much exactly equal to a 1660 ti, and the factory overclock mentioned makes a card a maximum around 4% faster. A non-OC 1660 Super or ti is about 16-17% slower than a 2060 regular and about 15% faster than the regular (not Super or ti) 1660, which is around 28% faster than an AMD RX 580.