Re: UHD 620 vs AMD Radeon Vega 8

The Dell Xps is on sale for $750 right now. I would to spend less than $800, ideally $700. I've done a lot of research and it doesn't seem like there are many options with what I'm looking for (less than 15" screen, less than 3 lbs, 256+ SSD, it's primarily for a master's business program) with a better graphics card. I've seen the Acer Swift 3 recommended a lot but it's quite heavy.

Medium settings is fine, I just don't want the horrible lag with my current laptop.

Considering these factors, would one of these seem like the best option? 

@Dannirossb  Strange, the Dell site lists the laptop at $1310.  I wonder if the one you're seeing is used?  At any rate, it's not a huge deal.  I think a Radeon Vega 8 is a bit better than an Intel 620, although the gap isn't large.

I did find one better option, an Asus VivoBook priced at $700.  It has an Nvidia MX150, a better card than either of the others.  This is a 14" model, with a 256 GB HDD, 8 GB RAM, and a processor that's good enough for TS4.  The only criterion of yours it doesn't meet is that it weighs 3.2 pounds.

https://www.amazon.com/VivoBook-i7-8550U-GeForce-NanoEdge-Display/dp/B07B7VFTN9

If the weight really is an issue, I can look again, but I don't think there's a lot out there under 3 lbs that would be suitable for gaming, even if the game is TS4 and the settings are on low.

Cnet was adverting back-to-school tech deals and said there's a promo code which can be used at checkout that brings the price down to $750.

 I watched a video of someone using mostly medium settings, with a few high for sims 4 with the UHD 620 graphics and an i5 processor, it looked fine to me...Perhaps compared to gameplay with a better graphics card the FPS would look really low.

Thanks for the link, that looks pretty good. I think I saw someone on Reddit say "I don't normally recommend this because many people send them back" something along those lines, I can't remember exactly. I'll check out some reviews. I think my current laptop is 1.87 lbs, so that's not too much heavier.

I don't want to bother you but a lot of the appeal of the Dell and HP computers I was looking that was the reputation behind the brand, plus I know the XPS 13 is considered to be one of the best of it's size (for school and multipurpose use). But it would suck if a year or two down the road I started having poor gameplay due to the graphics chip... I don't know if you think that's possible?

@Dannirossb  Dell computers are good quality, if usually somewhat overpriced.  They're certainly worth buying if you can get a good deal though.  HPs are not gaming computers and often don't hold up when running even moderately demanding games.  I can't give you any kind of stats, but I've seen plenty of HP laptops that should be able to run Sims 3, based on the specs, and yet aren't performing up to expectations.  Anecdotal evidence on other games seems to back this up.

Asus has a good reputation as well, although its products do also occasionally have issues.  The reviews I saw for this model seem to say it's what you'd expect, except that the battery doesn't last as long as you'd want.  But for $700, there are going to be some compromises, and I personally would prefer to work around the battery than have to deal with lower performance from the other hardware.

On the subject of TS4 specifically, the biggest improvement in performance will come from a dedicated card.  Yes, an Intel 620 will run the game.  It will probably run the base game on medium settings, perhaps with a few turned up to high, as you saw.  But once you start adding the newer expansions to the mix especially Seasons and (from the current complaints) Island Living, performance will drop off unless you turn down the graphics.  That's also true if you have a lot of the older packs—while the individual demands of each are smaller, the cumulative impact is significant.

If you really don't plan on adding much to the base game, you might be fine with a 620 or a Radeon Vega 8, but otherwise, having an MX150 will make a noticeable difference.  There are probably other available models with an MX150 or 250, although I didn't see one for less than $800 when I looked, at least not with a <15" screen.

Ah man that's disappointing. I have Get Famous and Seasons right now, was hoping to acquire a couple game packs and the newest expansion eventually...

I guess I'll do some searching, maybe I can find a sale on something with an MX150. The screen size seems to difficult to find though.

Thanks so much for your advice :D