Looking for Laptop to run Sims 4 w/ mods smoothly 2021
Hello,
I am looking for a Laptop to play the sims 4 with all expansions and mods. I need suggestions, maybe hear about your experience with your laptop, some advice on what specs to look for (keep in mind i am a tech noob), anything...
I already asked a similar question but turned out the laptop I had my eyes on is out of stock and would take months to deliver.
So now I am lost... again...
context:
I used to play on a 2015 mac, but it died, never had a windows before this is all new.
I live in Germany and my budget is 1300€ MAX, for that price I am looking for something that would last.
Looking for something mostly to play the game smoothly with expansions, packs, mods and cc. That is the priority.
Preferably not too big, so i could play from the sofa or the bed, that would be the best.
Bonus questions from what I have researched:
I have heard that people had problems with RTX graphic cards, is it true?
Intel core or Ryzen something? What’s the difference?
Is 16 Gb Ram really better for loading screens?
What the hell is gsynch vsynch?
what is laptop mode, could I play on a laptop without that? Heard it creates problem w/ cc’s
so far it looks like i7, 16gb ram and a gtx 1660 ti, or some rtx is great, is that correct?
More importantly I would love to hear your experience with your laptops on similar contexts.
Thank you for your patience.
A huge overwhelmed tech noob that struggles making decisions.
@L-imperatrice-93 Sims 4 is not going to grow to the point that a currently new i5 would struggle to run it. Sims 5, if and when it shows up, probably wouldn't either, unless perhaps it releases packs for seven years as Sims 4 has, but by then you'd need a new laptop anyway. If you want to play other games that are more CPU-heavy, for example Cities: Skylines or Planet Zoo or something that's released a few years from now, then an i7 or Ryzen 7 would be a better choice.
The most important component in determining how well a computer will run Sims 4 is the graphics card, but again only up to a point. Once you get past a 1660 ti (the laptop 2060 is only a bit faster), you're not going to get much benefit unless you absolutely have to run the game at 120 or 144 fps. If the graphics card is at or above that level, then the next most important thing would in theory be the processor, but like I said, an i5 would similarly be more than sufficient. After that, having 8 GB RAM is crucial, but 16 GB only makes a difference with multitasking; the SSD will only help with load times.
The game lags sometimes, that's just what it does. It shouldn't lag all the time, more like a few brief moments before it recovers. On the kind of hardware we're talking about and that you can afford, you absolutely should not have persistent lag or slowdowns. Even a 900€ gaming laptop would meet that threshold.
Whether you need a cooling pad or fan will depend on the laptop you buy: some run hotter than others, even with the same internal components. Once you have the laptop, you can run a couple of simple tools to monitor CPU and GPU temperatures and decide for yourself.
The Omen is a good choice, rated about as highly as the Lenovo overall but with different strengths. The Lenovo runs a little cooler and a lot quieter, but the temperatures at least might be due in part to the Omen's stronger processor. If you want a useful comparison between them, you can scroll down to the rankings by category in these articles:
The reviews were originally written in German, by the way.
