Gaming Laptop suggestions (NO MACS)
@livnatlgame I don't personally own a gaming laptop, so I can't describe what the experience would be like for you. I can ask around if you want. But I do like to talk about hardware and go pretend shopping, so here's what I can offer.
I'm guessing these prices are in U.S. dollars based on how much you paid for the Mac, but please let me know if this isn't the case. At any rate, an HP Pavilion gaming laptop (as opposed to the non-gaming models) is probably going to be the best in terms of build quality, but the Nitro and TUF lines are reasonably close, so it wouldn't be worth going over budget just to get the Pavilion. I'd avoid the Aspire unless you're getting a really good deal—it's Acer's tier below the Nitro, and while it's fine, you're not going to get quite as much performance out of the components as you would with one of the others.
I'd also consider an HP Victus, the replacement for the gaming Pavilions, and a Lenovo Legion. They're both high quality lines, and the Legion in particular is quite frequently the best "budget" (under $1,200 or so) laptop on the market.
To be clear, all the laptops I'm listing can run all current Sims 4 content on ultra graphics settings with some room to spare, and I would guess they'll likely run all future packs on ultra settings too. We don't know what those packs will look like; I'm just going on the long-established pattern. So the key here is not how well a given laptop will run Sims 4 so much as what other details matter to you.
These all have an Nvidia RTX 3050 ti and are around the same price. They should all perform within a few percentage points of each other in running Sims 4.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1707358-REG/hp_63u66ua_aba_core_i5_12500h_8gb_512tb.html
If you're looking for something light, this is a reasonable alternative: it weighs 3.3 lbs rather than the 4.5 and up of most other gaming laptops:
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-SFX14-41G-R1S6-Creator-LPDDR4X-Backlit/dp/B093TK1PXF
I also saw configurations of the Asus TUF and HP Victus with a 3050 instead of a 3050 ti. The non-ti variant is around 8-10% slower in gaming but should still have no trouble with ultra settings. The TUF in particular is much cheaper (right now), so it's worth considering.
[unnecessarily long Amazon link]
Finally, this is the cheapest laptop with the faster RTX 3060, and it's also a very good option overall. (And it's 3.5 lbs as well.) You absolutely do not need a 3060 for Sims 4, but since it's currently (barely) within your preferred budget, I figured I'd mention it.
If you'd like a second opinion on a particular laptop or laptops, go ahead and post some links. And if you have more questions in general, please feel free to ask.
