Should I return the laptop I just ordered for sims 3?

If the goal is to play Sims 3, then yes, you should return this laptop. It's not really capable of running much more than the base game and maybe an early expansion or two. (Stuff packs would be fine.) With a 128 GB hard drive, you won't have much space for anything aside from the game itself and Windows, and the 4 GB RAM is going to be a serious limitation as well, with Windows possibly taking half of that and the graphics chip needing to borrow much of the rest. The graphics chip itself isn't great either, although it's not terrible for that price range.

If you'd like help picking out something that might work better, please let me know your preferred budget as well as any other considerations that matter to you. Or, if you can go to $600, this one should be able to run all your packs on mostly ultra graphics settings without any issues:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/915598119

The hard drive is still small, but it's manageable. If you want more storage, this one is $650:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/574675577

If you'd rather not spend that much, your options are more limited. The way Sims 3 is programmed, thin and light laptops don't handle its most demanding features all that well even under the best circumstances. So you could get something that would probably struggle with Pets and Seasons, although outcomes do vary to some degree; or you could get a used gaming laptop on Ebay or the like.

Thank you so much @puzzlezaddict for your information. I’ll be returning it and looking into the options you sent as well. since i’d like to play with all the expansions lol! :) :)

Out of the box, so to speak, new Win 10 systems tend to require .NET 3.5 activation (it's installed but not necessarily activated) and DirectX 9 installation. TS3 requires both of these, the later versions of .NET and DirectX are fine to have as well but not what the game requires at startup.

1 - Go to Start Menu > Settings > Apps > Programs and Features (on the right) > Turn Windows Features On and Off. You can also get there by way of doing a search on Control Panel, then sort by name (small or large icon) and Programs and Features > Turn Windows Features On and Off. Look for .NET 3.5, it should be listed at or near the top, and check the box if it is totally unchecked (a white square). Don't worry about the two submenu items, also don't worry about .NET 4.8 just under it as they run independently of each other. If 3.5 needed to be activated, this might take a while (minutes, not hours) and then you will need to reboot your machine.

2 - You can download and run the DirectX 9 installer directly from Microsoft. There is no need to uninstall anything first.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109 This can be a little fussy, though. Many users find they need to first create a new folder (just about anywhere, the Desktop should be fine), download the installer and all of its content to that new folder, then look for the file called DXSETUP.exe among all the others. Double-clicking that will actually run the install. Then delete the folder and its contents as it would no longer be needed.

Does the game then launch? If not, then we would have to look at any security/anti-virus systems that came pre-installed on it to see if they are getting in the way.

"igazor;c-17987511" wrote:
Out of the box, so to speak, new Win 10 systems tend to require .NET 3.5 activation (it's installed but not necessarily activated) and DirectX 9 installation. TS3 requires both of these, the later versions of .NET and DirectX are fine to have as well but not what the game requires at startup.

1 - Go to Start Menu > Settings > Apps > Programs and Features (on the right) > Turn Windows Features On and Off. You can also get there by way of doing a search on Control Panel, then sort by name (small or large icon) and Programs and Features > Turn Windows Features On and Off. Look for .NET 3.5, it should be listed at or near the top, and check the box if it is totally unchecked (a white square). Don't worry about the two submenu items, also don't worry about .NET 4.8 just under it as they run independently of each other. If 3.5 needed to be activated, this might take a while (minutes, not hours) and then you will need to reboot your machine.

2 - You can download and run the DirectX 9 installer directly from Microsoft. There is no need to uninstall anything first.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/dow...ls.aspx?id=8109 This can be a little fussy, though. Many users find they need to first create a new folder (just about anywhere, the Desktop should be fine), download the installer and all of its content to that new folder, then look for the file called DXSETUP.exe among all the others. Double-clicking that will actually run the install. Then delete the folder and its contents as it would no longer be needed.

Does the game then launch? If not, then we would have to look at any security/anti-virus systems that came pre-installed on it to see if they are getting in the way.

THANK YOU! SO MUCH!! you’re a genius.
I followed your directions and it worked. @igazor
I’m so happy I could play my favorite game in the world now. Thank you thank you so much <3
you have a heart of gold.

To be fair, the .NET activation requirement has been there for ages. The need for a DirectX 9 install is kind of new and it's @puzzlezaddict who taught me to check players on new systems for that one. I just happened to wander in here and see that you were having trouble before she did. You're most welcome, hopefully you can enjoy your game now! :)

I'm not puzzleaddict but i can let you know what worked for me, while you wait for her expert answer. I play in a Lenovo Legion 5, Ryzen amd 4700h, nvidia gtx 1650i. It came with 8gb ram but i added 8gb more. It has a ssd, that makes the game load in just seconds. I play with all eps, sps and a lot of store content.

@puzzlezaddict I bought the lenovo laptop but unfortunately the sims 3 won’t open ? I downloaded everything on origin but when i click play the launcher never appears :'(

@puzzlezaddict hi, I’ve seen your great responses on MANY threads while I was trying to get sims 3 to run on my MacBook. I’ve officially given up trying to do that, and just want to get a gaming laptop to plats only TS3. Do you have any recommendations for something that will run it with eps (world adventures, late night, seasons & high end loft stuff) plus maybe some cc down the road? Any suggestions are SO appreciated as I just don’t know what will work!

@HannahLucaSims3 Sorry for the late reply. I can certainly help you pick out a new laptop if you want. Just let me know your budget and country as well as any other details that matter to you. It's also important whether you want the computer to be able to run Pets: some very new non-gaming laptops can run most Sims 3 packs fine but are right on the border of what Pets would require.

If you'd rather shop yourself, an Nvidia 1650 can run all packs together on ultra graphics settings. The newer 3050 is somewhat faster and not much more expensive, and the older 1660 ti (same age as the 1650) is even faster than that, but it's overkill for Sims 3. Any processor that accompanies one of these cards would be more than strong enough. For RAM, 8 GB is fine, especially if you don't plan on multitasking while you play. For storage, 512 GB would be nice, but you can certainly fit Sims 3 and all its associated content on a 256 GB drive if you're careful and especially if you're only using the laptop for gaming.

If you do find something you like, feel free to link a product page for a second opinion.

These are my laptop's parameters: AMD Ryzen 5 4600H, 16 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 and 512 GB SSD drive.
TS3 with all EPs runs really smoothly