BEST PC FOR SIMS 4 HELP

@puzzlezaddict Hey, just another person asking for pc recommendations unfortunately. I was looking through posts and recommendations but I wanted to ask for my specific circumstances just to be safe. I had hoped to buy a custom pc, but I'm feeling a little too confused and ill equipped to even choose proper parts. I thought it was important to prioritize power and storage over everything but from what I've read about parts and components and brands, I have a feeling I'm going to get something wrong.

Ideally, I would be able to run the sims smoothly (or about as good as it can get) with half of the packs and roughly 15gb of cc (though i might get more in the future). I'd also want to be able to have other games like Minecraft or steam indie games, while being able to use it daily for regular school work. I'm willing to spend between 3-4k (and i am living is the US). It doesn't have to be that amount, but I just want something that can get the job done. I'm trying to figure out specs and components but I'm really lost, especially if I have o think about how they might work together. (It would also be great if it was on the quieter side rather than a loud fan T_T)

Thanks anyway for posting so many recommendations.

@Li1acL0ser  Do you want to build your own PC, or order a custom build from a system integrator?  Both are viable options.  Both are also going to be more expensive than a prebuilt system, at least in the "runs Sims 4 on ultra settings plus some extra power" category.  But the difference doesn't have to be large, and you don't need to spend even $2,000 if you don't want to.  Sims 4 wouldn't use the extra power beyond what you could get for... maybe a ~$1,400 custom-built PC; I'd have to check current prices.

For noise, an AIO CPU cooler and extra case fans should be more than enough.  An AIO cooler has a pump and radiator rather than a fin stack and fan, and extra case fans mean hot air is moved out of the case more efficiently.  Both are easy to add to a custom order, and extra fans are cheap.

Whatever you're looking for, I can help with it.  Just let me know.

@puzzlezaddict Sorry for the late reply, I've just started my major assignments for the semester. Thank you for the CPU recommendation! I've unfortunately come to the conclusion that I'm not equipped for a custom PC, at least not yet. I don't think I'm knowledgeable enough in this area to create a balanced setup. In the meantime, I would appreciate some help in choosing the right prebuilt PC for the gaming and schoolwork I plan to do on it. I don't know if my storage and CPU preferences would make that harder when looking for a prebuilt but I'd appreciate even getting pointed in the right direction. I appreciate it! 

@Li1acL0ser  I'd be happy to pick out a prebuilt PC, but I want to reiterate that you could order a custom build as well, and the company would assemble it for you.  As noted, it's somewhat more expensive than a prebuilt system, but not alarmingly so, and the advantage is you (or I) could choose exactly the components you wanted: extra storage, a beefier power supply, extra case fans, really whatever you want.  Since it's built to order, you wouldn't need to do any more work than you would with a prebuilt PC.

Think of a custom build like a menu with anywhere from a handful to two dozen choices to make, depending on where you order.  You're not cooking anything; it's being presented to you on a platter, for an extra fee.  And you don't need to learn what all the little details mean if you don't want to; that's why I'm here.

This is not to say I think this is the better option, and it's not for most Sims 4 players.  But since you listed a couple of upgrades that matter to you, and your budget can accommodate a custom-build-related surcharge, I want to make sure you know this is a viable option.

Take your time in responding.  I'll be around whenever you're ready to figure this out, whichever direction you decide to go.

@puzzlezaddict Thank you so much for your time and patience! I started researching and I found the term 'bottlenecking', which was what I've been afraid I'd end up doing. I feel like I'm getting some understanding of what certain things are supposed to do and compatibility a bit. I was on an intel website so it's expected that they directed me to their CPU recommendations. I don't know if it's safe to assume their fastest CPU to date is the best choice, the Intel Core i9 14900K. If so, I'm left wondering about the hardware, like the case, the motherboard, and how much ram is 'the sweet spot' since I don't know how much and how fast I need it (I've only been on a few PC builder sites but I'm seeing mostly DDR5 if that changes things).

I started thinking more about the case not only because bigger ones offer more opportunities with hardware, but also because I saw they had cooling support listed (240mm or 360mm). I remember the recommendation you gave me in terms of CPU cooler, it was a liquid coolant and extra fans, I just don't know how many or how much I need and which case I'll be needing considering that. I don't know if the Intel Core i9 is over doing it. 

Thank you for helping me out!

@Li1acL0ser  The 14900K is definitely overdoing it.  I understand you're worried about bottlenecking, but the thing is, most games (including Sims 4) use much more GPU power relative to CPU power.  Couple that with the fact that processors are cheaper than graphics cards for the same relative power, and a $300 CPU can keep up with the demands of a $1,600 GPU in most games without any real bottleneck.

The motherboard is an important choice but not a difficult one because there are lots of good options.  Since you're building for the first time, get an ATX board, as they're large enough to give you room to maneuver.  They also tend to have more slots for future upgrades, which is nice to have even if you'll probably never use most of it.  The overclockable boards aren't necessary here but also sometimes only marginally more expensive than their alternatives: Z790 vs. B760 for Intel or X670 vs. B650 for AMD.

For the RAM, speed is good, especially for an AMD CPU, but timings are more important, especially for DDR5, which is what you want to get.  Look up "first word latency" and find the lowest number that's not too expensive.  It's relatively cheap and easy to make quality RAM, which means there's a lot of it out there.  So don't overthink this; just get something reasonably-priced from a name brand: Corsair, GSkill, Kingston, etc.

For the CPU cooler, you need only one, and a quality unit with a 240mm radiator is sufficient.  That's not to say don't get a 360mm radiator, only that you don't need to limit yourself to those options.  I can help you pick one out if you like, or you can do your own research, in which case I'd suggest starting with a Corsair 240mm option as a baseline and comparing others' performance to that.  Good coolers aren't cheap but also shouldn't be more expensive than the motherboard.

For the case, get one with ATX support and support for whatever radiator you want to use and you'll be fine.  Get however many fans fit in the case, aside from the radiator, which will come with its own and which you should use with it.  So you might only need 3 more fans, and the case may include those.  Between the AIO cooler and radiator and the extra fans, you should be able to keep noise to a reasonable level, although you may need to play with the fan curves a bit.  But that's a project for after you've built the PC.

Keep asking questions if you want, and remember that there's no one right answer.  Sims 4 doesn't need a lot of power either, for example an i5-12600K would run the game as well as anything else out there.

@puzzlezaddict With your comments in mind, I chose the AMD Ryzen 7-7800X3D as a more cost effective option. I've heard it's great for gaming but not so much as an all rounder. I'm not sure how true that is or if it even applies to the kind of work I'd be doing as a digital media major. I also decided on an MSI PRO B650-VC motherboard, mostly because it was on the cheaper side. I think the CORSAIR iCUE LINK H100i 240mm Radiator will work for me, I've mostly been checking reviews and PCPartPicker so I just stuck within the guideline you gave me. I know the video card isn't as important, but I'm wondering how big a difference 12gb would make from 8gb considering I'm already seeing a significant price increase. More or less the same thing with my primary hard drive, whether 1T is more than enough already. Other than that, I feel like I'm zeroing in on what I want now. 

Thanks again 🙂

@Li1acL0ser  The 7800X3D is the second-best CPUs for gaming (to the 7900X3D) but is not the second-best for professional work.  It's not bad at all; the point is that its gaming performance outpaces its other abilities and its overall slot in the AMD lineup.  So it's a very reasonable choice.

For the graphics card, the video memory won't make a difference above 4 GB, but newer games can use more than 8 GB, and a professional-level workload will likely benefit from the additional VRAM as well.  What GPUs are you looking at right now?  And are you willing to buy a used card for the moment, possibly upgrading later?  I can go over the options in whatever price or performance range you have.

For your primary drive, a terabyte is plenty of storage, and it's easy to add more now or later.  Remember that even if you absolutely need all the speed you can get for other workloads, you can always transfer the files to the SSD beforehand, perhaps while you're doing something else if it'll take a while, and move them back to whatever secondary drive(s) you have when you're done.  Sims 4 won't benefit from any extra speed beyond a SATA SSD, and that's true of most games.

@puzzlezaddict I made a response to this a few days ago, but it seems it didn't go through unfortunately T_T. But I actually didn't even realize that I'd need a GPU other than the one integrated in my CPU. How would that work? Would it be something I purchase separately? I've been using CyberPowerPC as the basis for my build but I don't see any options for GPUs, rather just graphics card options. Now I'm a little confused with the difference between the graphics card and the GPU, I know I've seen it explained quite a few times before, but mainly so now that I actually have to choose a GPU. I had thought choosing a specific GPU was only an option when you explicitly choose a CPU without an iGPU.

I had been looking at the MSI GeForce RTX 4060 VENTUS 2X 8GB graphics card. I'd looked at the RTX 4070 and there's at least a $200 difference on CyberPower, but it seems that the RTX 4070 is more compatible? The 4060 didn't seem like a bad option compared to the other prices for the memory it offers. I'm not too sure what my price range is even supposed to be for a graphics card, which is why I was going for one of the cheaper ones I could find. Though it seems the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12GB would be the ideal choice for my CPU? 

In terms of storage, would you then recommend a secondary hard drive? I was pretty on the fence about it and then eventually decided it was unnecessary, mainly because I saw a mention of it creating more noise. If a terabyte is plenty, should I still get a secondary hard drive? I don't fully understand their function yet. Is getting a secondary drive just the same as getting more storage?

@Li1acL0ser  A graphics card is a type of GPU (graphics processing unit).  The term GPU covers anything that does graphics processing: discrete cards like the Nvidia RTX offerings, iGPUs like what you see integrated into most processors, and graphics chips that are part of a system on a chip (SoC) like in ARM Macs.

An RTX 4060 is overkill for Sims 4 and always will be.  Some very new games can max out the 8 GB VRAM (video memory), but whether that matters to you depends on whether you're going to play those games, and when.  You could also wait a couple years and upgrade the GPU if and when it becomes necessary, i.e. if you notice a newer game isn't running the way you want and its online documentation suggests it would improve with 12 or 16 GB VRAM.

In case you're not aware, VRAM cannot be upgraded—it's soldered to the PCB (printed circuit board) of the graphics card, and the card's software wouldn't recognize more memory even if you did manage to physically add it.

And to be clear, VRAM is not a direct reflection of the speed of the graphics card.  More VRAM goes with faster GPUs for sure, but the chip itself determines the speed for the most part.  Some GPUs have extra VRAM to make them look more attractive (and drive up the price), but as an example, the standard RTX 4070, with its 12 GB VRAM, is faster than the 4060 ti with 16 GB VRAM.  Video memory is cheap for Nvidia to add, so it added another 8 GB (about $20 worth) to the 4060 ti and increased the price of that variant by $100.

Don't overthink this.  You can always swap out the GPU if you need to, or want to, for whatever reason.  The only limiting factor, on this level of system at least, will be whether the power supply can support a newer card, and unless you're thinking of getting next generation's $1,200 GPU, that's not really a problem either.