@sims929292 If you want to see the upgrade options for the Acer, this is a very thorough guide:
(Click on "Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance" in the Contents list.) And yes, you'd need to take off the bottom panel. It's not complicated but does require a little patience.
For another SSD, that depends on whether you'd be adding an M.2 drive or a SATA. Samsung is the gold standard of SSDs, but its products are more expensive. Something from WD or Crucial would be more than fine for everyday gaming use.
For RAM, you want to match the speed and timings of the existing module. The easiest way is to order an identical stick by the listed product number, but you can also look up the module's specs and find something equivalent. Your user manual will probably also list recommendations. Memory is easy to make well and usually comes with a longer warranty than the expected life of your laptop, so if you buy from a reputable manufacturer, you should be fine.
The Acer is somewhat loud though. You're not going to find a gaming laptop with no fan noise at all—that's just not feasible with the amount of heat generated by running games. Legions are quieter and have less annoying fans in terms of whine; I'd probably go with one of those if my top priority was low noise and I didn't want to spend $1,500. There are also steps you can take to limit heat, and therefore fan speed, for example capping in-game framerates. But please understand that you WILL hear the fans running while you play.
Hello @puzzlezaddict I read that the 11th Gen Intel chip is out now, and that people should buy a laptop with the new chip in it instead of the old 10th Gen Intel chip. I went on Best Buy's website and found the same Acer laptop that we were talking about but now it has the new 11th Gen Intel chip in it. What are your thoughts on that? How will this new upgraded Acer run TS4?
Another question: I know Windows 11 is coming out in a few months. Will the new Acer laptop be able to upgrade to Windows 11? There's a site detailing the system requirements needed to upgrade to Windows 11 but with my lack of computer knowledge I can't be sure if it can upgrade or not. Do you think it will be able to?
Thank you for any help!
Acer laptop with new 11th Gen chip: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-nitro-5-gaming-laptop-15-6-fhd-11th-gen-intel-core-i5-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1650-8gb-ddr4-256gb-ssd/6462659.p?skuId=6462659
Site with Windows 11 system requirements: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-specifications
(Also I read this on another site - it meets these requirements right?) "From the looks of it, major Intel Core processors such as i3, i5, i7, i9, etc., are supported, but you must be running an 8th-Gen (released in 2018) or above CPU to install Windows 11, which is a shocker. Basically, if you have an Intel processor below 8th-gen, you won’t pass the Windows 11 compatibility test." It's an i5 with 11 gen, right? So it's able to upgrade?
@sims929292 As far as Sims 4 is concerned, getting an i5-11400H rather than an i5-10300H won't make a noticeable difference. If you'd like a newer processor anyway, this Acer looks fine and is based on a design that works well, although I haven't seen reviews of this specific configuration yet. I can have a look if you really like the Acer in particular but want to be thorough, or I can look for other options if you're interested.
Windows 11 also requires that a certain security chip be active; google TPM 2.0 if you're curious. Any new-ish computer should have the chip, certainly any that also has an 8th-gen or newer Intel processor, but it may not be activated. You can do that yourself, provided the option exists within the BIOS, but some laptop BIOS configurations don't allow for many user adjustments. However, I'd expect most laptop manufacturers to release a BIOS update to make their recent products compatible with Windows 11 if they aren't already.
The short answer is, I would expect this laptop to support Windows 11 out of the box or be updated to support it, but it's not an absolute guarantee, just highly likely. You could also visit a Best Buy that has one of these on display and check whether TPM 2.0 is enabled: if it's in the display model, it would be in yours too.
@puzzlezaddict I had no idea about the TPM 2.0 chip. I saw it on the system requirements but skimmed over it since I didn't know what it meant. Thank you for your detailed response!
I went to Best Buy yesterday. I asked an employee if there was an Acer Nitro on display. There wasn't and he said that Acers are not good gaming laptops. He suggested I try a different brand.
I've decided to splurge and go over my budget and consider a more powerful gaming laptop. https://www.costco.com/msi-ge76-raider-gaming-laptop---11th-gen-intel-core-i7-11800h---geforce-rtx-3060---144hz-1080p.product.100763831.html
What are your thoughts on that one? How would TS4 run on it? Ultra settings with no problems? Is it overkill for TS4? How much better than the Acer Nitro is it?
@sims929292 The Best Buy sales rep is either misinformed or making an assumption about what you want that isn't in evidence. I wouldn't recommend a Nitro to run demanding games because its specs don't go past a certain level. But it's perfectly capable of running Sims 4 on ultra settings, and in fact the Nitro is in many cases the only good budget option for a gaming laptop. Better models can often be ~$200 more for essentially the same hardware while only giving a couple percentage points' increase in performance.
Anyway, it's a moot point if you're looking to spend more money. I think you can do better than the Raider though. Since we've been talking about Acers, this one has the same graphics card, a processor that's more than fast enough and runs cooler, and is much cheaper. You wouldn't need the extra storage for Sims 4.
This laptop isn't perfect by any definition: for example, the battery life isn't good and the screen could be better, but the point is that you don't need to spend as much to get the same performance. But the MSI's screen isn't an improvement, and in-game performance, at least for games like Sims 4, doesn't have much room to improve.
This is an example of a higher-quality laptop that's still cheaper than the MSI. It runs cooler and quieter than the others and has very good performance in gaming. It does only come with 8 GB RAM, but you could upgrade that relatively cheaply and still come out ahead.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1617923-REG/lenovo_82ju006dus_legion_5_ryz7_5800h_8_512.html
To be clear, you don't need to spend this much money on a laptop for Sims 4. A 1660 ti or 2060 would be a bit of overkill; a 3050 would still be more than fine. (As an example, here's a high-end laptop with a 3050 ti.) If you're going to splurge though, you might as well get your money's worth. And if you don't like the options available now, keep in mind that laptops with 30-series GPUs are still being released, so you might find something better in a week or two.
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