https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Gaming-Windows-i7-9750H-G5590-7679BLK-PUS/dp/B07R7XCZD7&ved=2ahUKEwiy3PrE_oPqAhWgRzABHa95D4YQFjAAegQIAxAC&usg=AOvVaw366O4P3UWW1Ofs5RMRIhXpThanks for any ideas or suggestions in advance! Megan

That laptop should be over the top capable of running the entire game (meaning all EPs) with as much store content as you want. With a 256 GB SSD though, you will need to decide if you want the game installed on that and your user Documents folder, and hence your TS3 user game folder, on the SSD or on the much larger regular hard drive. The game benefits from being on an SSD but it will run fine either way; some players can work with 256 GB but others find it too restrictive after a while, keeping in mind that it's best to reserve at least 35 GB of free space for Windows to work with on the volume from which the operating system is running. Larger SSDs are available, but they do tend to drive the price up significantly.

@havanesefluff - The game with a few EPs should run pretty well on that one on medium to lower graphics settings in game options, but what would be holding things back is that it does not have a dedicated graphics card. The heaviest of the EPs (Pets and Seasons) may be too much for it; players' expectations vs. experiences will vary on mid-range laptops and it can be difficult to predict them.Generations should be okay, it's one of the lighter ones on impact. Roaring Heights is a store world, not an Expansion Pack, and should be fine.

@havanesefluff - Between a MacBook Air having much weaker hardware (they are meant to be lightweight and portable, not really for heavy game programs) and the Mac version of the game being crippled as it can only utilize 2 GB of RAM unlike its Windows counterpart that can use almost twice that, you're already looking way ahead of where you are now and the Inspiron linked to will provide a much better experience.Laptops with dedicated cards of sufficient strength will run higher, but your budget should allow for something better than integrated graphics only. Calling in someone with more finely tuned shopping skills. :) @puzzlezaddict

@havanesefluff Are you committed to getting a Dell? Most Dell gaming laptops in your price range only come with a small 256 GB hard drive. While that's enough for Sims 3, your user data, and plenty of small apps like browsers, it might not be enough if you decide to install other large games too, or store a large amount of data like a music or photo collection. Of course, those kinds of files can go on an external hard drive, but you'd want games on the internal drive, and regardless, it's more of a hassle to deal with an external drive in addition to the laptop.If 256 GB is enough, then this $700 laptop would do well—its Nvidia 1650 should run all Sims 3 content on ultra graphics settings, minus the two (water and high detail lots) that the game engine itself doesn't handle well.https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/gaming-laptops/new-dell-g3-15-gaming-laptop/spd/g-series-15-3500-laptop/gn3500edfrsThis one ($860) is the same laptop except with a significantly faster graphics card (a 1660 ti). That wouldn't make any difference to Sims 3, but it would help if you planned to play other more demanding games in the future.https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/gaming-laptops/new-dell-g5-15-gaming-laptop/spd/g-series-15-5500-laptop/gn5500eejvsThis may actually be a better deal than the one above, with a graphics card (an AMD 5600M) that's a bit slower than the 1660 ti but still much faster than the 1650. It also only has a 256 GB SSD, but for $750, you'd have plenty left over to ask Best Buy to upgrade the hard drive, if you wanted, and maybe the memory while they were at it, although you could do that yourself too. The processor is also significantly stronger than the one in the other two models, which won't matter to Sims 4 either but does help with CPU-heavy games, for example Cities Skylines, Planet Zoo, or Anno 1800.https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-g5-15-6-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-8gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-5600m-256gb-solid-state-drive-red-print-grey/6409419.p?skuId=6409419This laptop is $900 and has a 1660 ti. Its processor is a bit weaker than the one in the first two laptops but still good enough for Sims 3. It also has a 512 GB SSD.https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-g3-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1660ti-max-q-512gb-solid-state-drive-black/6350872.p?skuId=6350872There aren't a lot of websites out there selling current-generation Dell gaming laptops; the only other options I could find in this price range were older models on Amazon from third-party sellers. If you're willing to look at other vendors though, there are plenty of good options out there. Just as an example, this Lenovo is $800 and has a 1650 ti, which is a bit faster than the regular 1650; and a 512 GB SSD.https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-gaming-laptops/IdeaPad-Gaming-3i-15%E2%80%9D/p/81Y4001JUSIf you'd like to see other options as well, let me know what details matter to you, and what other manufacturers' laptops you'd be interested in buying. Dell makes high quality laptops for the price, but so do a few other companies.

@havanesefluff The single most important component in determining how well a given computer will run Sims 3 (as with most games) is the graphics card. Although the processor matters too, the GPU will be the limiting factor here. And the Inspiron doesn't have a dedicated card at all. Its integrated chip could certainly run the first few expansions, including Late Night and probably Generations, on lower graphics settings. But if you ever wanted to add a more demanding pack, not just Pets but maybe Seasons, or Island Paradise, or possibly even something in the middle like Supernatural or University Life, the Inspiron might have serious trouble handling it. And if you're planning to keep this laptop for several years, it wouldn't hurt to futureproof for what you might want to do down the road.The other consideration is the cooling. While modern laptops of any strength should be capable of cooling themselves properly when possible (i.e. if you're not playing in bed with the laptop swaddled in the blankets), models like the Inspiron don't usually have the kind of cooling that would support even moderate gaming. What hardware does when it starts to overheat is it downclocks to lighten the load and reduce temperatures, throttling performance in the process. I don't know how good the Inspiron's cooling is relative to other laptops in its class. But it could easily run hot enough while you're playing that its performance wouldn't even match the best case scenario for its hardware. That's often what happens when people try to play Sims 3 on this kind of laptop, although others manage don't see significant side effects and can still play well on lower settings.If you had less money to spend, I'd say get a laptop like the Inspiron—the same hardware can cost below $500 from other manufacturers—and see how it goes and which packs you can run reasonably well. But for $900, the G3 is a much better choice. It may last longer too, since you won't be subjecting it to loads it's not designed to handle.By the way, Late Night isn't exactly corrupted in macOS, it just doesn't install correctly. This isn't a difficult problem to fix, but your new computer will make it a moot point. Besides, the best solution is playing in Windows instead, where all the issues related to trying to play in macOS just disappear.

Would this Dell computer run Sims 3 with most EPs and store cc? (2020)

26 Replies

Maddiearmour
5 years ago
Hiya, thanks again for your help! So, I went with an i7 and a RTX 2070 Super graphics card. You can imagine the nightmare I'm currently having in trying to get the game to recognise the card!

At present I'm having the grey map issue (zoomed out on map view it's grey/white, within a household the graphics are just terrible). I'm also stuck on the lowest graphics settings, likely because my card isn't recognised. Stuck in a bit of a vicious circle at the moment! I've tried the numerous steps to get the game to recognise the card, but I'm clearly doing something wrong. It doesn't help that there are no RTX cards listed (given the age of the game), so I'm trying to edit one of the GTX inputs.

Any help would be hugely appreciated, but I know this game is terrible at the best of times! Also, I have my base game installed on C:/ and one expansion pack installed on D:/ - do you think that could be an issue?

Thanks!
igazor
5 years ago
I don't really think getting your card formally recognized is going to solve any of these problems, but I can take you through that process. Please put the original two sgr files back into place and I will open up a PM session so we can proceed from there. The simplified method I use is card specific and we don't want to confuse other players with what for them would be incorrect instructions.

What kind of installation is this, entirely Origin (not disc) driven? Having the base game installed on one drive and an EP on another is not a great idea, and I didn't even think that would be possible. Having the TS3 user game folder in Documents on a different drive from the game install is fine if this is necessary, but not splitting the program install like that.

Usually the Game Options not sticking is a sign that the Options.ini file in your TS3 user game folder has gone bad and needs to be deleted. It would be better at this point to dump (delete) the entire user game folder and let the game spawn a new one on its next launch so that would include the Options file. But I would strongly suggest first uninstalling, cleaning the registry with Piriform's CCleaner (the free version is fine) or an equivalent tool, and reinstalling so that the game and its EPs are on the same drive as each other.

We also have to talk about getting the fps capped for that graphics card before going very far, but let's get the installation squared away first.
SuzyCue72
5 years ago
"m16857;c-17605006" wrote:
Hiya, thanks again for your help! So, I went with an i7 and a RTX 2070 Super graphics card. You can imagine the nightmare I'm currently having in trying to get the game to recognise the card!

At present I'm having the grey map issue (zoomed out on map view it's grey/white, within a household the graphics are just terrible). I'm also stuck on the lowest graphics settings, likely because my card isn't recognised. Stuck in a bit of a vicious circle at the moment! I've tried the numerous steps to get the game to recognise the card, but I'm clearly doing something wrong. It doesn't help that there are no RTX cards listed (given the age of the game), so I'm trying to edit one of the GTX inputs.

Any help would be hugely appreciated, but I know this game is terrible at the best of times! Also, I have my base game installed on C:/ and one expansion pack installed on D:/ - do you think that could be an issue?

Thanks!

@m16857 How's it going with your grey/white map issue, and the graphics settings stuck at lowest? Does the map look like this, or something similar?

https://i.imgur.com/M2UbKNe.jpg
zeroboys008
5 years ago
I hope this is ok to post here!! I'm interested in getting a laptop that can easily run Sims 2 (all expansions) & Sims 3 (most likely 5-6 EP's) with lots of CC for both games.

This is the laptop i'm looking at right now - https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-gaming-laptops/IdeaPad-Gaming-3i-15%E2%80%9D/p/81Y4001FUS

Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i (15”):

Processor
10th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-10300H Processor (2.50 GHz, up to 4.50 GHz with Turbo Boost, 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 8 MB Cache)

Memory
8 GB DDR4 2933MHz

Hard Drive
256 GB PCIe SSD

Graphics
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 4GB

Storage
Up to 512 GB PCIe SSD
1 TB 5400 RPM HDD + 256 GB PCIe SSD

Ports/Slots
2 x USB 3.2** (Gen 1)
USB-C 3.2
HDMI 2.0

There's a more expensive laptop with better specs that i'm also interested in but wanted to check first if this one would be adequate. I have very basic knowledge about computer specs so i really appreciate any help!! thanks in advance :smile:
zeroboys008
5 years ago
please disregard my comment above!!
eeverett2017
4 years ago
> @igazor said:
> I don't really think getting your card formally recognized is going to solve any of these problems, but I can take you through that process. Please put the original two sgr files back into place and I will open up a PM session so we can proceed from there. The simplified method I use is card specific and we don't want to confuse other players with what for them would be incorrect instructions.
>
> Usually the Game Options not sticking is a sign that the Options.ini file in your TS3 user game folder has gone bad and needs to be deleted. It would be better at this point to dump (delete) the entire user game folder and let the game spawn a new one on its next launch so that would include the Options file. But I would strongly suggest first uninstalling, cleaning the registry with Piriform's CCleaner (the free version is fine) or an equivalent tool, and reinstalling so that the game and its EPs are on the same drive as each other.
>
> We also have to talk about getting the fps capped for that graphics card before going very far, but let's get the installation squared away first.

I checked for an options.ini file in my sims3 folder and nothing could be found. I'm running Windows 11 on a new Lenovo Legion t5i tower. Obviously Sims3 cannot understand what a GEFORCE GTX 1660 Super NVIDIA graphics card is. I have the issue as the screenshot posted above, however I cannot see the lot signs I can only see the interface in the bottom left-hand corner. Create-A-Household works fine. Every time I attempt to apply Game Option changes and restart the game, Sims3 has forgotten all of my settings. Even if I don't restart, I'll save options then check and it will be as if any setting change I made was now unmade. I would really appreciate some help as I would hate to return the digital download through Origin. Running high end loft stuff, late night and supernatural expansions. XOXOX

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Would this Dell computer run Sims 3 with most EPs and store cc? (2020)

26 Replies

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