Which laptop will be able to run the Sims 4 with all packs + CC?
@EricaJMH I've moved your post to the Sims 4 general discussion section.
Building a computer yourself is cheaper some of the time, but not always, and usually not in your preferred price range. For example, I priced the components in this model:
Without a case, which is a pain to pick out, the total is $670, and that's with the most bargain-basement components. You might do a bit better if you watch carefully for sales, but it's unlikely—the only details that would probably change are which components are cheapest. For $670 plus maybe $40 for a case, you'd only be saving about $40 by building the system yourself. And that doesn't include a keyboard and mouse if you don't have the ones you want already.
More importantly, if you happened to mess up the build somehow, you wouldn't have a store to fall back on for warranty-covered repairs. I'm not saying it would happen, but it's something to consider.
And just to clarify, while
i5-9400F < Ryzen 5 3600 < i5-9600KF (for gaming)
Nvidia 1650 Super < AMD RX 580 < 1660 Super
all of those components would be more than good enough to run Sims 4, all packs included, on ultra settings, now and in all likelihood for the entire duration of the game. If you like to use high poly (high resolution) custom content, the 1650 Super is more than fine for now but might not be in a couple years.
As far as monitors go, you can hook up any reasonably modern monitor to any new-ish graphics card. There's no such thing as an AMD or Nvidia monitor. What I think the reference was to is the concept of Freesync (AMD) and G-sync (Nvidia), monitor technologies that help prevent graphics glitches and screen tearing. (The monitor waits to receive the full frame from the graphics card before displaying it.)
However, a) you can accomplish basically the same thing with software installed on your computer, b) such monitors are more expensive, and c) many Freesync monitors work with both AMD and Nvidia, negating the higher price for monitors that use Nvidia's G-sync. Most importantly though, having a Freesync or G-sync monitor likely won't make any difference at all to how you experience playing Sims 4. If you were planning on playing first person shooters or other extremely demanding games where framerates matter, it would be a different story. But for Sims 4 alone, these monitors would be a waste of money.
