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amspectrum's avatar
amspectrum
Seasoned Newcomer
25 days ago

Are these laptop specs ideal to run Sims 4?

I'm looking to get a new laptop soon and the highest demand that it would need to go through is running The Sims 4.

I do have a very large mods folder that I am looking to cut down (size and poly count). (I would like to have a little wiggle room if I have a few files that have a higher poly count (up to 13-20K poly count) I have a few expansions, game packs, and stuff packs. I am looking to get more DLC in the future. I want something that will run the game efficiently, has decent enough size for DLC and CC, and decent memory to still do other things in the background.

Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 7535U 4.5 GHZ or AMD Ryzen 7 7735U 4.7GHz 

Memory: 16 GB DDR5-4800 MHz RAM  (1x16GB) (I would prefer 16 GB RAM since I have 8GB currently and running The Sims and Google Chrome together is a struggle)

Internal Storage 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD

Graphics: AMD Radeon 660M or 680M Graphics

1920 x 1200 screen resolution

6 Replies

  • amspectrum​  I would expect this hardware to be able to run Sims 4 on at least high-ultra graphics settings before you factor in high poly custom content.  You might be able to get away with ultra, depending on which packs you have installed and how smooth you want gameplay to be.  The 680M tha comes with the 7735U is clearly a better choice, but if the price is higher than you'd like, the 660M is still good enough for high-ultra settings before factoring in cc.

    Your high poly cc will of course increase the demands the game places on your hardware, but it's often the sheer amount of cc that's on the screen at once.  So if, for example, you have a few hairs you love, but your sim will only wear one at a time, that's going to make less of a difference than if the sim is wearing a high poly hair and top and shoes and you also have a high poly couch in the living room.  Still, this hardware should allow you to play on at least high graphics settings even with a reasonable amount of cc, like, say, not an entire 60x60 lot stuffed with cc items.

    The the one small concern I have about this laptop is the 1x16 GB RAM configuration.  2x8 GB would be better from a performance standpoint, although this only makes a difference for certain kinds of tasks.  I'm not actually sure how much of a difference it would make to Sims 4: I believe some, but it's hard to quantify.  So if you can find a 2x8 GB option, get that instead.

    If you're curious about the concept in general, look up dual-channel vs. single-channel RAM.

  • amspectrum's avatar
    amspectrum
    Seasoned Newcomer
    22 days ago

    Thank you so much for your feedback. You make a good point about the high poly cc and the amount of it that's on screen. I recently moved cc out of my mods folder that is above 10k out of my mods folder, but I do have some higher poly items that I don't want to part with. As long as I don't have too many on screen at once, I should be good. I'll keep that in mind.

    In regards to memory, thank you for pointing how dual channel is better than single channel. For the laptop I am considering, it is not allowing me to customize to 2X8GB. My only option for the processor and graphics card I selected is 1X16 GB

    This is what I'm looking at by the way, https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-probook-465-16-inch-g11-notebook-pc-p-a3rm4ua-aba-1 

    I know it mentions business, but I like how I can customize it. I may look at other HP options based off your recommendations. 

  • amspectrum's avatar
    amspectrum
    Seasoned Newcomer
    22 days ago

    I am also considering this one.  7730U instead of 7735U for processor, integrated graphics, and 2X8GB memory instead of 1x16 https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-pavilion-laptop-15-eh3047nr

  • amspectrum​  The 7730U has a significantly slower graphics chip than the 7735U, and for Sims 4 at least, that's more important than the memory configuration.  So between the two, I'd go for the 7735U despite its 1x16 GB RAM.

    This one has a graphics chip that's about as fast as the 760M and 2x8 GB RAM:

    https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-pavilion-plus-laptop-14-ew1010nr

    The site doesn't list the RAM configuration, but this model is listed elsewhere as NOT having an empty slot for a memory upgrade, so I'd guess it's 2x8 GB rather than 1x16.

    If the screen is too small for your taste, this one has the same processor and graphics chip:

    https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-envy-laptop-17t-da000-17-a19crav-1

    And this one's a bit more expensive, but its 860M is equivalent to the 780M.  The site doesn't list this model's RAM configuration either, but at the listed speed, I'd expect it to be soldered and in all likelihood to have multiple memory chips rather than just the one.  And it's so fast that 1x16 GB might not be such a terrible thing either.

    https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-omnibook-x-flipngai-16-ar0047nr

    This one's graphics chip is even a little faster than that, as is its RAM.  And it also has a higher-resolution, brighter, prettier (OLED) screen:

    https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-omnibook-x-flipngai-16-as0047nr

    These are just the good options I found on the HP site for under $1,000.  If you'd like me to look elsewhere, for comparison's sake, I can do that too.  And if you have more questions, about these or in general, please feel free to ask.

  • amspectrum's avatar
    amspectrum
    Seasoned Newcomer
    6 days ago

    Thank you so much for your recommendations!!! I really appreciate it. I was going to go with the HP Envy you recommended, but it is unfortunely no longer available. I'm looking at this one as a comparable. Would this work with what I am looking for? 

    https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/ConfigureView?langId=-1&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&catEntryId=3074457345621192322&urlLangId=&quantity=1

  • amspectrum​  That actually looks like the same model, just maybe relisted.  It at least has the same internal hardware, and the screen is the same size and resolution, so it would be equally good.

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