Hi, I’m looking for recommendations for the best affordable PC to solely play sims 4 on.
Have a budget of around £500, £700 max. I have a lot of cc and mods.
I know nothing about computers and when I try to google it, I struggle to understand it all. Scared to buy the wrong pc too.
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
Elmayy Sorry for the late reply; I've been away from the forums for a while.
If you'd still like help, please let me know whether you'd want a laptop or desktop, specifically a gaming PC, specifically not a gaming PC, or it doesn't matter. £700 or maybe a little less could get you an entry-level gaming machine, something that should run all current Sims 4 content on ultra graphics settings. I could find something in the £500 range wouldn't have gaming hardware but should be able to handle high settings if not ultra. And if you want a desktop, does this budget need to accommodate a monitor, or do you have one already?
Please also let me know if there are any other details that matter to you, for example screen size for a laptop, or extra storage.
Hello, thank you for replying!
Looking for a desktop pc, not fussed if it’s a gaming one or not, just want it to run sims well and last me a while. Budget is for desktop only as I have a monitor - although will be replacing it, that will be separate budget.
It will only be used for Sims 4 and to occasionally create my own journals, haha. I am happy to spend my max budget so long as I get something which is worth the money.
Elmayy If you want to keep the price down, what do you think of this one?
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7271416?clickPR=plp:1:27
It's listed as a gaming PC but isn't really because it doesn't have a dedicated graphics card. However, the integrated graphics chip is fast enough to run Sims 4, all current packs included, on high graphics settings. Whether adding your custom content means you'd need to lower the settings a bit depends on how demanding the cc is.
You could also find a used low-end graphics card and slot it in, now or later. For example, a GTX 1650 would run the game on ultra settings and might only cost £50 or so. Before buying anything, you'd need to open the case and see whether there's a PCIe power cable coming off the power supply. Without one, you'd need to get a graphics card that does NOT require a supplemental power cable. Some 1650 and RTX 3050 models do, others don't; most 1050 and 1050 ti models don't. The box would specify either way.
The above system also has a bundle option, but I would absolutely not recommend it. You'd pay an extra £130 for a monitor that's likely not worth nearly that much, and I could find you a high-quality one for probably £100-110, depending on what exactly you want.
If you'd prefer a system with a graphics card already installed, these are the cheapest I found, both with an RTX 3050, which can easily run the game on ultra settings:
https://www.currys.co.uk/products/medion-erazer-recon-e45-gaming-pc-amd-ryzen-5-rtx-3050-1-tb-ssd-10271490.html
https://ao.com/product/ao22218-cyberpowerpc-ao22218-desktop-black-95917-253.aspx
The first one has the advantage of 16 GB memory, but this is less important for a system with a dedicated card since the GPU will have and use its own video memory rather than borrowing from RAM. The second one likely has a higher build quality, comparing the two companies, but then again if you live near a Currys store, you could get help there for any issues, so it's less of a concern. And RAM is cheap, so you could upgrade later if you wanted—a matching 8 GB module might cost £30 or so.
There are other computers with an RTX 3050 that cost a bit more, but nothing with a better GPU for under £700. So these are your best bet right now if you do want a proper gaming PC.
If you have more questions, please feel free to ask.
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