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Malvina_J's avatar
Malvina_J
5 years ago
Solved

Best gaming laptop Sims 4 - November 2020

Hi all, I know this has been asked many times but as we all know the tech world moves quickly and I am in need of some advice and recommendations 🙂 I am thinking of buying a laptop to play The Sim...
pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    5 years ago

    @Malvina_J  A 1650 ti is fast enough to run all current Sims 4 packs together on ultra graphics settings.  It may or may not be good enough for ultra settings by the time the game is out of development; we don't know how demanding future expansions will be.  A 1660 ti is about 40% faster in gaming and should always be more than fast enough for anything Sims 4 could possibly produce; a 2060 is a bit faster than that.

    So yes, you'd be sacrificing performance by getting a Zephyrus with a 1650 ti, and I think the models with a 1660 ti are significantly more expensive.  But that's to be expected.  It's not easy to fit powerful hardware and an adequate cooling solution into a compact chassis and keep the whole thing lightweight; doing so will raise the price no matter which model you're considering.  You can see the same pattern in pricing in the Dell Inspiron line vs. the G3 or G5 models I linked earlier.  There's a reason typical gaming laptops are 2-2.5 kg and have a 15" or 17" screen.

    As to whether the sacrifice is in the "wrong" place, that's entirely your call.  You're the one who's going to be using the laptop, and you're the only one who can say what your priorities should be.  If you're concerned about getting max performance, or being able to play other more demanding games, then maybe you should seriously consider a bulkier laptop.  If Sims 4 is your priority and you don't mind turning some graphics options down to high in a year or two, the Zephyrus might be perfectly fine.  Where you choose to direct your budget is up to you.

    By the way, I have a MacBook Pro with a graphics card that wouldn't even keep up with a 1650 ti.  I love my Mac for other reasons and willingly put up with the shortcomings in gaming.  If not for the current nonsense with the M1 ARM CPUs and the strange design choices coming out of Apple these days, I'd be convinced that my next laptop was going to be a Mac as well, and even so, I'm only wavering.  So I do think design and portability are valid priorities.  They're just not going to be equally valid for everyone, and I can't tell you what the right answer is for you.

Malvina_J's avatar
Malvina_J
5 years ago
@puzzlezaddict the only thing that is holding me back from ordering the Zephyrus is the fact that the graphics card is Nvidia 1650 Ti and not the 1660 Ti or RTX 2060. Do you think I should be concerned by that, considering it is a more expensive computer and there are others with "better" graphic cards for less. I know graphic cards are really important, but that it's also not the only thing that matters. I just don't want to later realise that I've made sacrifices in the wrong place.
puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
5 years ago

@Malvina_J  A 1650 ti is fast enough to run all current Sims 4 packs together on ultra graphics settings.  It may or may not be good enough for ultra settings by the time the game is out of development; we don't know how demanding future expansions will be.  A 1660 ti is about 40% faster in gaming and should always be more than fast enough for anything Sims 4 could possibly produce; a 2060 is a bit faster than that.

So yes, you'd be sacrificing performance by getting a Zephyrus with a 1650 ti, and I think the models with a 1660 ti are significantly more expensive.  But that's to be expected.  It's not easy to fit powerful hardware and an adequate cooling solution into a compact chassis and keep the whole thing lightweight; doing so will raise the price no matter which model you're considering.  You can see the same pattern in pricing in the Dell Inspiron line vs. the G3 or G5 models I linked earlier.  There's a reason typical gaming laptops are 2-2.5 kg and have a 15" or 17" screen.

As to whether the sacrifice is in the "wrong" place, that's entirely your call.  You're the one who's going to be using the laptop, and you're the only one who can say what your priorities should be.  If you're concerned about getting max performance, or being able to play other more demanding games, then maybe you should seriously consider a bulkier laptop.  If Sims 4 is your priority and you don't mind turning some graphics options down to high in a year or two, the Zephyrus might be perfectly fine.  Where you choose to direct your budget is up to you.

By the way, I have a MacBook Pro with a graphics card that wouldn't even keep up with a 1650 ti.  I love my Mac for other reasons and willingly put up with the shortcomings in gaming.  If not for the current nonsense with the M1 ARM CPUs and the strange design choices coming out of Apple these days, I'd be convinced that my next laptop was going to be a Mac as well, and even so, I'm only wavering.  So I do think design and portability are valid priorities.  They're just not going to be equally valid for everyone, and I can't tell you what the right answer is for you.

  • Malvina_J's avatar
    Malvina_J
    5 years ago
    @puzzlezaddict Thank you again for your insight and knowledge. I gave it some more thought and decided to choose the Zephyrus G14 with AMD Ryzen 7, 16 GB RAM and Nvidia 1660 Ti. Even though it cost more it felt like a better investment that would last me longer.

    Thank you for your help!

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