Help Deciding What to Do.

@candiecoatediv  I totally understand wanting to see something before you buy it (and I would never buy clothing before trying it on first).  However, that limits your options to a significant degree. I went back over Best Buy's list of laptops with strong enough graphics cards, and there were only two that were reasonably priced.

This is the "budget" option, at $1,000.  It still has the 1660 ti, a processor that's more than good enough for Sims 4, and a 512 GB SSD.  You'd need to add extra RAM, but Best Buy should help with that.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-g3-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1660ti-512gb-solid-state-drive-black/6350872.p?skuId=6350872

This one has a better processor and 16 GB RAM already installed, for $1,200:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-g3-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1660ti-512gb-ssd/6350873.p?skuId=6350873

Amazon is great about returns if you buy directly from Amazon, or if you get the "fulfilled by Amazon" tag, so there's much less of a risk than if you bought from another website.  These are options I've mentioned before, but I did another search, again for laptops sold only by Amazon, and these are the best options for your money.

The Acer Predator Helios I mentioned before is $1,000 for an Nvidia 1060 and an 8750H processor, or $1,200 for the newer 1660 ti and 9750H.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-Overclockable-Aeroblade-PH315-51-78NP/dp/B07CTHLX8C

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-i7-9750H-Keyboard-PH315-52-78VL/dp/B07QXLFLXT

In either case, drop one of these solid state drives, either the 500 GB or the 1 TB version, into the user-accessible slot, and you're good to go.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K8A29CS/?tag=pcpapi-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K8A29E6/?tag=pcpapi-20

The over-the-top option, no upgrades necessary and an unreasonably strong graphics card, is the same Aorus I linked earlier (with an 8750H).  The newer version comes with a 9750H but no secondary hard drive, although you could add one if you wanted.

https://www.amazon.com/AORUS-15-W9-RT4BD-i7-8750H-GeForce-2666MHz/dp/B07MW6DT1F

https://www.amazon.com/AORUS-15-SA-F74ADW-i7-9750H-GeForce-Samsung/dp/B07QVRVP85

And once again, the customizable option is from CyberpowerPC; the model with aa 9750H and a 1660 ti starts at $1,200 for a 512 GB SSD.  If you want to see what Cyberpower laptops look like, Best Buy will probably have a couple available, since the store sells them as well.  Those aren't the actual models you'd want though—they're still a bit overpriced and often have only a small SSD.  Here's an example though:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-tracer-iii-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1660-ti-512gb-solid-state-drive-black/6350582.p?skuId=6350582

Actually, if you could get Best Buy to match Cyberpower's price, it would be a great option.  Otherwise, save the $170 and order from Cyberpower directly.

https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Tracer-III-15V-VR-300

About the fan:  Yes, any computer that's working hard will need to cool itself.  That's just how it is.  Most in-depth reviews will include decibel levels for fan noise, and of course the laptops will be much quieter when running at lower speeds.  But the alternative is that the hardware doesn't get properly cooled, which could damage it beyond repair.

I'm sure your Mac's fans are running while you play, but you might not hear them because they're quiet.  That's one of the benefits of a MacBook Pro.  If your new laptop's fan is running too loud, elevate the laptop a bit while you play, and it should cool faster.  But it does need to cool itself.

@puzzlezaddict 

Wow! Thank you for the info. I just got back from returning the laptop. it was hard to do because the game looked and played amazing. In regards to buying and swapping out or upgrading harddrives and RAM, I thought that voided out the MFR warranty? I talked to Best Buy about the Acer I posted in which I would need to upgrade to 16gb and they said their geek squad can do it for $40 under their memory installation services. Whether I can get the RAM from them or have to purchase it somewhere else then bring it in to install I'm not sure because they were closed by the time I was done with my return. 

I can say that I know I don't want to have to spend $1000 or more on anything just to have to put in more money for upgrades. That's not what I am looking to do. What is the best processor I should be looking for? I already know I want at least 16GB of RAM and at least 500GB SSD. I saw some laptops which had both HDD and SSD. I am not familiar with them and really want to stick to just a SSD. 

I saw the Cyberpower but am not familiar and did not know if they were good laptops. I think I will look into that one and see if they will pricematch or order direct from the Cyberpower website. 

I'm looking at this one on Newegg may be one that you posted already. 

https://www.newegg.com/rog-strix-g-black-asus-rog-strix-iii-g-gl531gu-pb74-gaming-entertainment/p/N82E16834235208?Item=N82E16834235208

I think this is the one I am going to get. 

@candiecoatediv  I don't know if Best Buy's offer to upgrade the RAM for $40 only covers computers bought in-store, or any memory you buy from them.  The Acer you linked has an Nvidia 1650, which is why I didn't suggest it.  Unlike memory and hard drives, you can't upgrade the graphics card.  You can check any particular model if you like, but adding RAM almost never voids the warranty.

The reason I linked the Acer Predators, with their small SSDs, is that they're specifically made so you can add your own secondary drive.  I think that's also why the laptops come with just the small drive—the company figures users would prefer to pick the size and manufacturer.  And it doesn't void the warranty to add a secondary drive to this particular model, unlike with some other laptops.  Since you seemed to like the idea of a 1 TB SSD, and you could buy one for $100 (making the total cost still cheaper than other options), I thought it was worth considering.

If that's not what you want to do though, Cyberpower's laptops are definitely good options.  And again, it would cost $50 to go from a 512 GB SSD to the 1 TB version, which Cyberpower does for you before it ships (also covered under its warranty).

By the way, a secondary mechancal drive (HDD) is great for massive storage without a massive price tag, like if you wanted to store a movie collection or you did photography as a hobby.  A mechanical drive is slower than a solid state drive, which is why you always want Windows on an SSD if possible.  But other files (and many programs) will be just fine on an HDD.  Still, if you don't need the extra storage, there's not much point in paying for it.  The reason I linked the Aorus is it's cheaper than other options with an Nvidia 2060, and you don't have to use the HDD if you don't want to.

In terms of processors, there are too many on the market to cover, but most laptops have one of only a few models.  Here's a summaary, from weakest to strongest:

AMD Ryzen 5 3550H < AMD Ryzen 7 3750H < Intel i5-8300H < Intel i5-9300H << Intel i7-8750H < Intel i7-9750H

The 8750H is significantly better than the next one down; the other gaps are smaller.  It's best to avoid any U-series processor (names like i7-8550U or Ryzen 5 2500U), especially if you want to play Sims 3 as well, but then you're not likely to see those processors paired with a 1060 or 1660 ti.

The cheapest overall options are still the ones I originally listed from newegg, but I figured you weren't interested in buying from that site.

@puzzlezaddict 

I did end up buying from Newegg but I think i need to cancel my order because I just noticed it's 120hz and not 144hz. But everything else looked to be in the right range for what I am looking for. Is there going to be a big difference between the two? I didn't even realize it until it was too late. 

@candiecoatediv  I sincerely doubt you, or anyone really, could tell the difference between 120 and 144 Hz.  A lot of people can't even tell the difference between 144 and 60.  I wouldn't worry about it at all.

If you want to link the laptop, I can look it over for you.

@puzzlezaddict 

Here is the one I purchase. 

https://www.newegg.com/rog-strix-g-black-asus-rog-strix-iii-g-gl531gu-pb74-gaming-entertainment/p/N82E16834235208?Item=N82E16834235208

I can still cancel my order. In reading online it doesn't sound like there's much difference. 

@candiecoatediv  That's a great laptop, although I still think it's a bit overpriced.  (Of course, it's your money.)  The only one that might be a better option, at least for what you want, is this MSI:

https://www.newegg.com/black-msi-gl-series-gl73-8sd-297-gaming-entertainment/p/N82E16834155231?Item=N82E16834155231

You'd have to add more RAM, but for $400 cheaper ($450 once you factor in the rebate), it seems like a great deal.  The processor is only a bit weaker, still more than powerful enough for everything you'd want to do—you could even run TS3 and TS4 at the same time if you were so inclined, not that that seems like a reasonable thing to do.

The other thing to consider is that the exact same specs in the Cyberpower laptop are $200 cheaper.  They'd even be $30 cheaper at Best Buy.  In terms of quality, these laptops are all pretty close, including the screens.

@puzzlezaddict  I received my laptop almost two days ago and I’m quickly regretting my decision. Yes my game plays great but I have ran into one problem after another with Windows 10. It absolutely will not let me open up or access my external hard drive to transfer files. Flash drives no problem but not the external. I read all over online about this issues and all recommendations to fix it without having to download a ton of programs cease to work. All I’ve been able to do it create a new volume to add stuff but not open up my old files. Secondly, for the last two hours I’ve been trying to transfer over CC I downloaded from my downloads folder into the mods folder to be tested and for 10 items it says it’s going to take more than one day. So I stopped the copy process and tried just one file and it’s been stuck on 77% for over twenty minutes. Is this real life? How are people functioning with this many issues? Any suggestions? This is extremely painful and I’m thinking of returning the laptop strictly based on the performance of Windows 10. 

@candiecoatediv  Sorry, I missed this post earlier.

There are a few different issues with Windows 10 that you should be aware of.  You already addressed the cc problem, but OneDrive could still be a headache if you don't configure it to your liking.  It will usually upload your Documents folder by default, and with it the contents of your TS4 game folder.  If it tries to sync while you're playing, it could cause lag or even crash the game.  I disabled mine at startup and never looked back, but turning off the automatic sync function I linked in the other thread would work as well.

My guess is that your external hard drive is formatted for macOS, and so Windows can't read its files.  External drives that support both operating systems are more expensive (although maybe not if you bought an Apple-branded one), and many file formats still don't convert from one OS to another.  If you want to transfer your saves to your new computer, it may be easier to upload them to iCloud, which has a Windows version as well.  Or you could upload them to a free filesharing site (e.g. Mediafire); you can usually get a couple gigabytes worth of data for free.

There's a reason so many people pay a premium for a Mac—the OS is much easier to use without having to do much research.  It will get easier though.  Windows 10 is less fickle than previous versions, and more flexible in many ways than macOS.  If you keep learning, and take notes on what you've figured out how to do, you'll get there.

Thank you! The ONLY HD is a Windows that I’ve had for a long time. When I switched over to Mac initially I never had an issue accessing my Windows files. I can still access the files via Mac but not the other way around. I’ve since moved all my files over to my MacBook. I’m now trying to figure out how I can access the entire external hard drive as now it will only let me access 127gb or 320gb when I set up the new volume partition. It’s completely empty but I want to be able to use it. How do I disable the one drive permanently? 

I will try that with the EHD and see if it help. As for the One Drive it’s never opened on startup so I didn’t realize that it could possibly be running. But when I went into One Drive it was ticked to open when logged in to Windows so I un-ticked that part. 

@puzzlezaddict  Update: I ended up checking to make sure the drive was empty and reformatting it. Thank you so much for your help!! 

@candiecoatediv  I'm glad to hear it worked, and I hope using Windows gets easier for you as time goes on.  If not, well, you know where to find us.