Best Gaming Laptop?

@AllyyC  The site you linked lists one laptop that's overkill for all the games you listed, plus four that would run TS3 badly, especially with all packs installed.  (TS4 performance would be better, but I doubt any of those models would handle the highest settings very well, even before you started adding cc.)  The requirements for playing Minecraft on the highest settings are equal to or a bit below those of TS3, although Minecraft is much more playable on weaker systems.

What kind of budget do you have?  I looked around a bit and found several models in the $800-900 range that would handle all of these games just fine.  Or you could pay a bit more to futureproof your computer; TS4 may benefit from stronger hardware by the time all packs are released.  If you list your budget and country, I can try to find something that works for you.  Please also list anything else you'd like this computer to do.  It sounds like you definitely want a laptop; do you need a lot of storage, or a larger screen, etc.  Or, if you're not ready to buy yet, you can come back and let me know when you are.  Sales change quickly, so it's always best to wait until you're ready to make a purchase.

@puzzlezaddict 
800-900 would be fine, I don’t necessarily WANT cheap but everyone loves to save money, especially since this time it’s gonna be up to me to buy the laptop. And I live in the US.  It’s not that I necessarily REALLY want a laptop, but that’s just kinda what I’ve always had so it’s just become the default in my mind and vocabulary. An actual PC/computer would be great too but those can be a lot pricier and I feel like they’re more confusing (only cause you can build them yourself and change so many things even though I know you don’t have to, it’s just another thing that I imagine when I think of them.) If they aren’t pricier or more confusing then I’d be happy to hear those too!

 

Thank you so much for your help so far too!

@AllyyC  A desktop will be cheaper than a laptop if you don't include the monitor, and it will come with stronger components.  Yes, there are more variables, but prebuilt desktops are, well, pre-built, just like laptops.  If you did end up going with a custom desktop, I could pick out the hardware for you, provided you told me what kind of performance you wanted, and how much you were willing to spend.

On that note, there really are too many options out there to list.  So if you could answer a few questions, it would help narrow things down, and I could start looking for the best models for you.  So:

• What kind of budget are you working with?  Of course I'll try to save you as much money as possible, but spending a bit more will get you better parts, obviously.  So it would help to know where the line is.
• Do you want a better graphics card to futureproof your computer?  Specifically, an Nvidia 1050 ti is perfectly fine now, as is the new 1650.  Do you want the next card up (a 1060), which would ensure that you'll always be able to run TS4 on the highest graphics settings?  Or even something a bit better?  Or is a 1050 ti or 1650 enough?
• What are your storage needs?  If you're only planning to run those three games, you'd be fine with a single 512 GB drive, but if you have a lot of music, movies, photos, etc., you may want 1 TB, or potentially even more.
• Would you be comfortable getting a desktop and finding yourself a good monitor?  This isn't something I'd want to pick out for you because a lot of it comes down to personal preference, how you like the look of a particular monitor.  (You can always go to Best Buy and check out the different brands.)

Once I know what you want, I'll be able to start looking for the best options.  And, of course, if you have questions about any of the details, please feel free to ask.

I am so sorry I didn't reply! 

Um for budget, upwards of 1000, maybe even going a bit beyond that would be okay. (I don't know too much about computers so idk what prices are ACTUALLY high and low)

 A higher graphics card would be nice but isn't needed.

Once again, storage isn't too big of a priority but I would HATE to fill it up and be stuck. So higher would be great but is also not needed.

Getting a desktop would be something I would take into consideration but that also would make my price point vary as well since I'd need money to go to the monitor.

I am sorry this was so blunt, I have no idea how to make it seem nicer and smoother, I am trying to not sound mean but I don't know how that's going. Thank you again, SO very much, it means a lot that you are trying to personalize this as I was thinking I would get a very broad answer, it means a lot that you are going out of your way to do something so tedious :D !

@AllyyC  No worries about the late reply; you're welcome to come back whenever you have time.  And you're not being blunt, either, just straightforward about what you want and what details you're not sure about.  That actually makes things easier for me.

I started looking at laptop, and it's hard to find good options in the range of what you're looking for.  There are plenty of cheaper models with weaker graphics cards, but with your budget, you can do better than an Nvidia 1050 ti, and you may want to for the sake of futureproofing.  The issue is that the 1060 is starting to go out of stock (one site is sold out of it entirely), and the newer 1660 hasn't started to come down in price.

Anyway, here are the best laptop options, if you want to see what's currently out there. This one is the cheapest, at $1050, but a $150 rebate card brings the total down to $900 in the end.  Its disadvantages are its 1060 3 GB, which may not quite be strong enough by the time TS4 has finished its run; and the fact that its solid state drive is too small for games.  You'd need to install everything on the slower HDD, which wouldn't make a difference to TS4, but you would probably notice the slow speed with other apps.

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16834154829?Item=N82E16834154829

This one has the weakest processor of the bunch (still fine, but not the same as the others) and the strongest graphics card.  Its SSD is larger (256 GB), so you could install a couple of programs there and keep all spare files on the HDD.  You'd still need to be careful to manage your SSD storage though.  It's $1100.

https://www.newegg.com/gold-steel-asus-tuf-gaming-tuf505du-eb74-gaming-entertainment/p/N82E16834235196?Item=N82E16834235196

Or you could get the same model as above, for the same price, but with a single 512 GB SSD instead.

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16834235193?Item=N82E16834235193

This MSi is on sale for $1150, plus it has a rebate card for an additional $100 off.  It has a 256 GB SSD, a 1 TB HDD, and a 1060 6 GB.

https://www.newegg.com/rgb-a-cover-aluminum-black-msi-ge-series-ge63-raider-rgb-011-gaming-entertainment/p/N82E16834154812?Item=N82E16834154812

I checked a few other sites, and the prices are higher for the same specs, at least right now.

———————————————————————

For a desktop, on the other hand, you could do much better for your money.  There are too many options to list everything, but here's an overview.

If you're comfortable adding a couple of parts yourself, when you want them, then this would be a great budget option, at $650.  It has an an AMD Ryzen 2600 processor, an AMD 580 4 GB graphics card, and a single 500 GB SSD.  Unlike with laptops, it's easy to add a second hard drive to a desktop, whenever you decide you need it.  A quality 1 TB HDD might cost you $50; a 1 TB SSD might be $110.  RAM is also very easy to add, so you could get an additional 8 GB stick for $40-50, depending on the model that comes in the computer (you'd have to match it exactly, but that's what Amazon is for).

https://www.newegg.com/p/1VK-005B-000E1?Item=1VK-005B-000E1

The same computer except with an Nvidia 1660.  The RX 580 4 GB version has benchmarks equivalent to or slightly below a 1060 6 GB, depending on the game.  A 1660 is the newer and slightly better version of the 1060 6 GB.  TS4 will never need any more power than a 1060 6 GB, so this only matters if you plan to play other games.

https://www.amazon.com/SkyTech-Blaze-Gaming-Computer-Desktop/dp/B07RHBLV7F

This is a similar model as the one above (the processors are equal), except it comes with 16 GB RAM and a 1660 ti, which is somewhat stronger than the non-ti variant.  The upgrade is a good deal, but only if better card matters to you.

https://www.amazon.com/SkyTech-Legacy-Mini-Computer-Desktop/dp/B07PJMD5GX

Just in case you want a really powerful card, you could get a model with a 2060 for $1000.  Again, it won't make any difference to TS4, but you might have other purposes in mind, now or later.

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16883230424?Item=N82E16883230424

The other possibility is to customize your own computer.  (I could pick the parts for you if you wanted.)  It's not always cheaper, but if you want to get the RAM and drive space preinstalled, it might be worth your money.  For example, $875 would get you:

• an AMD Ryzen 2600 processor (the same as or equal to the others listed above)
• 16 GB RAM
• an AMD RX 580 8 GB, which has benchmarks equivalent to an Nvidia 1660
• a 1 TB solid state drive
• liquid CPU cooling and a 600W Gold certified power supply (if you're not interested in the details, both will take great care of your computer)
• an option to add more storage, if you want it, now or later

I know this is a lot of information, but hopefully you'll get a sense of what you want.  And, of course, feel free to ask more questions about any of the details.

Hi, I'm back again, as you can see. First off, I don't know why I didn't say thank you after what you sent me. I think I must have forgotten but I didn't mean to just ignore you like that. Second, I've been talking with a friend of mine who has always done a good job with computers. She sent me all of her specs, besides her monitor, and I was wondering if you could by any chance go over them and see if I'm missing something or if there are cheaper alternatives for the same performance?

Also please note, I live in the US, my friend lives in Australia and on the last two items I failed to find the exact ones besides through an AU website so that's why I have "?" as the price for the last two. I also don't need the exact items but she also was very ecstatic to tell me how well it worked so I was just using her setup as a base. As most of this is very confusing to me, I don't know what the last two items are for(or any for that matter but as the last two are missing American links, those are all that matter at the moment) so I can't look up alternatives and even if I could, I worry that it wouldn't be a very good one.

• Deepcool Gammaxx 400 CPU Cooler
• Price: $19.99
• Link: Amazon
• Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64bit OEM DVD
• Price: $99.99
• Link: Best Buy
• Cooler Master 650W MWE 80+ Bronze Power Supply
• Price: $73.49
• Link: Amazon

~note: there are some with lower W but I don’t know how much it affects it in the long run~ || This is mainly a note to self but I feel like it should stay in this forum|

• Deepcool Tesseract SW Mid Tower Blue
• Price: $49.99
• Link: Amazon
• Intel Core i7 8700 Six Core LGA 1151 3.2 GHz CPU Processor
• Price: $299.99
• Link: Best Buy
• Crucial MX500 500GB 3D NAND SATA 6Gbps 2.5” SSD 560MB/s 510MB/s
• Price: $59.99
• Link: Amazon
• ASUS TUF H310-PLUS Gaming LGA 1151 ATX Motherboard
• Price: $86.43
• Link: Walmart

This is where I can't get things in America. When I look up the names, things will appear from different parts of the internet however they aren't the same and I'm not even sure if they're supposed to do the same thing.

• Silicon Power 16GB(8GB x2) DDR4-2666 MHz UDIMM(Dual Kit)
• Price: ?
• Link: Umart
• Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 Windforce 6G OC Graphics Card
• Price: ?
• Link: Umart

I'm sorry to come out of the blue again and I'm sorry for not thanking you before, thank you :D

@AllyyC  It's fine to drop in when you get a chance; don't worry about it.

Also:

https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-geforce-rtx-2060-gv-n2060oc-6gd/p/N82E16814932115

https://www.silicon-power.com/web/product-DDR4_288PIN_Unbuffered_DIMM_Dual_Channel_Kit

I can't find a 2x8GB kit of 2666 MHz Silicon Power RAM; the closest is a single 16 GB stick (2666 MHz) or a 2x8 GB 2400 MHz kit.

https://www.newegg.com/silicon-power-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820301386

(This is a stupidly long Amazon link and I don't feel like finding the short one.)

It's probably just an issue of the brand not having a big presence here, but it doesn't matter—you could pick pretty much any compatible memory kit, and besides, you can do better than 2666 MHz these days, if you want.  RAM is certified up to 3200 MHz, and you can enable an extreme memory profile in BIOS with a couple of clicks.

Anyway, everything you listed plus the graphics card woul run you $1050, plus whatever you decided for RAM.  There are a few things to consider here. 

The first is the CPU cooler.  An 8700 isn't going to overheat the way some other models would, but you might want to spend a bit more on liquid cooling just to be safe.  If nothing else, you've bought yourself a bit of breathing room and some peace of mind.  Not everyone wants to constantly monitor temperatures.

The second is the case.  It looks okay to me, but I'm not an expert at the actual building process.  If you've never done it before, it can be difficult to work with some cases (and some motherboards) to fit everything properly.  Your friend can tell you more, but if this is a do-it-yourself project, make sure it's not overly complicated.

Finally, how much is it worth to you to not have to build it yourself?  If you're interested in a custom build, I can configure a system for you.  It's too late for me to play around with it now, but I will in the morning if it's something you'd like to see.  Let me know, and tell me how much you care about matching your friend's specs exactly.  For example, it would probably be a bit cheaper to go with an AMD processor, or you could get a better one for the same price.  And I don't see the same GPU listed, but you could get an overclocked MSI 2060 instead.

I'm happy to look in the morning, or if you'd rather build the system yourself, go over the parts again when I'm not half asleep.

I don't necessarily want to match her, I just worry about doing things myself and then being disappointed with the outcome, so that's why I just used everything she had as I knew it would work. A custom build would be cool though!

Just on an extra note, a lot of these words don't make sense to me so sorry if I end up looking over it or sounding stupid. And, with liquid cooling, what about the possibilities of it leaking? And that isn't something I'd have to keep up with, right? Cause I feel like I'd fail to notice when it need maintenance...  

@AllyyC  Any computer you buy will need maintenance.  You'll need to clean the case fans for sure, and the air cooler's fan(s) as well eventually.  Liquid cooling doesn't need to be maintained the same way, although in either case, you may need to reapply thermal paste eventually.  (This would be the case for any desktop, no matter who built it.)  You can ask your friend about maintenance if you want to get a sense of how it goes.

Yes, the disadvantage of liquid cooling is the possibility of leaks.  Personally, I think the trade-off is worth it considering how much more efficient it can be when compared to air cooling.  But this may be a case for ordering a custom computer rather than building one yourself.  For example, the site I'd recommend, CyberpowerPC, has a three year guarantee for labor (one year for parts), so if someone installs the cooler incorrectly, you're covered.

https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/company/warranty.aspx

Feel free to ask me about hardware as well.  It can get a bit complicated though, so if you want the short version, I can just pick you the best hardware for your budget.  (I don't feel comfortable picking out a monitor though, since everyone's taste is different, so leave yourself some room for that.)  Or you can tell me one or two parts that you absolutely want, and I can build around that.  For example, maybe you want an overclocked graphics card, or maybe you're fine with a cheaper version.  On that subject, you don't need a 2060 for Sims 4, but you may want one for other reasons.

Let me know what you're looking for, and I'll poke around and see what I can find.

That all sounds cool but that's where the problem begins (mainly for you as I'm sure explaining isn't a lot of fun), I don't know what some stuff you're talking about is. Like an overclocked graphics card?

Also, that website is really cool, so thanks!

https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer-Dragon

I found that on the website and the price stood out to me, (I know I sound really cheap but I still live with my parents and no matter if it's my money or not, my parents like to know WHAT I'm purchasing and my dad always tries to get things for extra cheap :/ ) But how well would that work? Or is it missing something that's expensive and would therefore bump the price up by a long shot?