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clionamarie's avatar
clionamarie
4 years ago
Solved

Ireland - Laptop for The Sims 4?

Hi there! I've tried to research the best laptop to get in order to run The Sims 4, but there's so much varying advice out there and I really want to make sure I get the best laptop I can within my b...
pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    4 years ago

    @clionamarie  Whether to get a gaming laptop or not is definitely a matter of personal preference.  I for one would get a gaming laptop, but I care a lot about being able to play on ultra graphics settings at high framerates.  You may care too, or you may think the game looks great on medium-high settings and that it's not worth €200 to upgrade.  I'd suggest checking out a few YouTube videos comparing Sims 4 settings so you can see for yourself.

    The framerates are a different matter, especially because you can technically raise the graphics settings on a slower computer and still play like that if you don't mind the stutter.  Do you notice when play gets a bit choppy?  Again, you can check out videos, especially ones that say hey look at how Sims 4 slows down on my very expensive gaming PC, I can't believe EA hasn't fixed it, etc.  If you want to play on ultra settings while the game is as smooth as it can be, then a gaming laptop is absolutely worth the price premium.  If you find you don't care so much, then save the money.

    For the gaming laptops themselves, I'd definitely go with the HP Pavilion over the IdeaPad if they're close to the same price.  You'll get a little more performance, a slightly better build quality, and probably a screen that's a little nicer to look at.  That's not to say the IdeaPad is a bad option, just that it's usually the budget option for people who are straining to buy a gaming laptop at all.  (It's also for people who buy a new gaming laptop every 2 years, but that's a different matter.)  So if you can get something else for the same price, that something else is usually the better option.

    If you decide you want a non-gaming laptop, there are really a lot of options aside from the ones I listed, so I'd still suggest going to the store and asking about other models with the specs I listed.  I could have linked 20 laptops that were pretty much the same and a little more expensive, but that's too many to sort through and also a waste of time for you if your local stores don't have most of them in stock.  But the task becomes much easier when you can ask the store "what models do you have with X processor?"

    And again, it's really best to look at the laptop screens themselves if you can.  Manufacturers take shortcuts with cheap laptops, and some of those shortcuts are trivial to many people but matter a lot to others.  For example, maybe the screen is very pretty but it's just too dim for you, while someone else intends to play with the lights off and won't care.  I can't tell you what you want or even what to ask for, just that in looking at the screens themselves, you might decide you have a strong preference for features that don't come across on a website's product page.

    As long as the hardware inside the laptop is good enough, and it will be if you get a laptop with the components I listed, in-game performance will be fine.  So you can focus on anything else that matters to you.

puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
4 years ago

@clionamarie  I checked all the stores you listed, and none of them have gaming laptops available for under €900.  Argos does list a few models that you can "reserve," whatever that means, and that's worth looking into if you'd like to play on ultra graphics settings.  Any of these would more than be able to handle anything Sims 4 could throw at them.  (Sorry about the long links; the site doesn't want to let me shorten them.)

https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9519657/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%252C%2BPCs%2Band%2Bphones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7Ccat_50000560%7CLaptops%7C50000564.htm

https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/4745880/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%252C%2BPCs%2Band%2Bphones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7Ccat_50000560%7CLaptops%7C50000564.htm

https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/4468978/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%252C%2BPCs%2Band%2Bphones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7Ccat_50000560%7CLaptops%7C50000564.htm

https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9599646/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%252C%2BPCs%2Band%2Bphones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7Ccat_50000560%7CLaptops%7C50000564.htm

https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9511600/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%252C%2BPCs%2Band%2Bphones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7Ccat_50000560%7CLaptops%7C50000564.htm

https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/2002484/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%252C%2BPCs%2Band%2Bphones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7Ccat_50000560%7CLaptops%7C50000564.htm

I'm not sure any of these is an actual option though: it may be that once the laptops are back in stock, their prices will be higher; or it may be that these particular models won't come back ins stock and will instead be replaced by basically the same laptops but with different SKUs and higher prices.  Given that at the other stores, prices are gaming laptops are over €1,000, I would be surprised if these were viable options.  Still, you can always ask.

The best non-gaming laptops have graphics chips that would run Sims 4 on medium-high or high graphics settings, depending on your playstyle and how smooth you want the game to feel.  These laptops start under €600, and you wouldn't see much of an improvement, if any, even in the €900 range.  That's because the limiting factor will be the graphics chip itself, and the fastest graphics chips available in a laptop are not particularly expensive.

As examples, these three have the same processor, and therefore the same graphics chip (it's built into the processor), and they both have 500 GB storage.  Their in-game performance should be pretty close to equal; the only possible difference would be some small tuning adjustments that each manufacturer makes.

https://www.currys.ie/ieen/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-aspire-5-a514-54-14-laptop-intel-core-i5-512-gb-ssd-silver-10212836-pdt.html

https://www.currys.ie/ieen/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-5ipro-14-laptop-intel-core-i5-512-gb-ssd-grey-10225064-pdt.html

https://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9499478/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7COffice%252C%2BPCs%2Band%2Bphones%7C14418968/c_2/3%7Ccat_50000560%7CLaptops%7C50000564.htm

There are quite a lot of laptops with identical hardware and that would therefore have almost identical performance, so you could choose based on screen size or even aesthetics without worrying about how Sims 4 would run.  And if these particular models aren't available in nearby stores, you could just ask to see other models with the same hardware.  The important details are the processor and the storage: while you would likely be fine with a 256 GB SSD since you're only playing Sims 4, 512 GB should mean you never have to worry about clearing out space.

As for the processor, an Intel i5-1135G7 and a Ryzen 7 5700U should be pretty close to equivalent in in-game performance, with an i7-1165G7 being a little faster.  It's not enough faster to be worth an extra €300 though, definitely not a reason to spend your entire budget just to improve performance by a few percentage points.  Any laptop made by Asus, Acer, Lenovo, HP, or Dell should be fine as well, but I'd stay away from the others, which often have less-than-stellar support for their products.

Since you're going to a physical store, I'd highly recommend looking at laptop screens while they play videos as well.  You might find, for example, that you like how Asus laptop screens look but not Lenovo screens, even when those screens are supposed to be the same quality.

In terms of where to shop, Currys and Argos clearly have the best prices, so I'd start there even if the laptops I linked aren't available near you.

  • clionamarie's avatar
    clionamarie
    4 years ago

    Firstly, thank you so so much for the research you did for me and for your reply. I know I was asking a lot, wanting specific stores checked so I appreciate your time and effort more than I can even explain. So honestly, thank you!

    I've checked the Argos links for the gaming laptops, and there's actually two of them which are available and in stock in my local store. Link number 4 (the Lenovo IdeaPad) and link number 5 (the HP Pavilion). Would you recommend one over the other? Or would it just be personal preference between the two?

    (BTW just because I know of personally be curious if it was me, Argos is a store in the UK and Ireland that is basically a warehouse with tills. It doesn't do online shopping, or even normal in person shopping. So you can check the stock online and if it's available in your store of choice, you can reserve an item and they will put it on hold for you for about 48 hours. Otherwise you go in store and look through a catalogue and check the stock on a little stock checker. So all stock is always in the warehouse part and never on display)

    • puzzlezaddict's avatar
      puzzlezaddict
      Hero+
      4 years ago

      @clionamarie  Whether to get a gaming laptop or not is definitely a matter of personal preference.  I for one would get a gaming laptop, but I care a lot about being able to play on ultra graphics settings at high framerates.  You may care too, or you may think the game looks great on medium-high settings and that it's not worth €200 to upgrade.  I'd suggest checking out a few YouTube videos comparing Sims 4 settings so you can see for yourself.

      The framerates are a different matter, especially because you can technically raise the graphics settings on a slower computer and still play like that if you don't mind the stutter.  Do you notice when play gets a bit choppy?  Again, you can check out videos, especially ones that say hey look at how Sims 4 slows down on my very expensive gaming PC, I can't believe EA hasn't fixed it, etc.  If you want to play on ultra settings while the game is as smooth as it can be, then a gaming laptop is absolutely worth the price premium.  If you find you don't care so much, then save the money.

      For the gaming laptops themselves, I'd definitely go with the HP Pavilion over the IdeaPad if they're close to the same price.  You'll get a little more performance, a slightly better build quality, and probably a screen that's a little nicer to look at.  That's not to say the IdeaPad is a bad option, just that it's usually the budget option for people who are straining to buy a gaming laptop at all.  (It's also for people who buy a new gaming laptop every 2 years, but that's a different matter.)  So if you can get something else for the same price, that something else is usually the better option.

      If you decide you want a non-gaming laptop, there are really a lot of options aside from the ones I listed, so I'd still suggest going to the store and asking about other models with the specs I listed.  I could have linked 20 laptops that were pretty much the same and a little more expensive, but that's too many to sort through and also a waste of time for you if your local stores don't have most of them in stock.  But the task becomes much easier when you can ask the store "what models do you have with X processor?"

      And again, it's really best to look at the laptop screens themselves if you can.  Manufacturers take shortcuts with cheap laptops, and some of those shortcuts are trivial to many people but matter a lot to others.  For example, maybe the screen is very pretty but it's just too dim for you, while someone else intends to play with the lights off and won't care.  I can't tell you what you want or even what to ask for, just that in looking at the screens themselves, you might decide you have a strong preference for features that don't come across on a website's product page.

      As long as the hardware inside the laptop is good enough, and it will be if you get a laptop with the components I listed, in-game performance will be fine.  So you can focus on anything else that matters to you.

      • clionamarie's avatar
        clionamarie
        4 years ago

        Thank you again for all of your help. I went for the HP gaming laptop and I absolutely adore it! I have barely looked up from it since I got it 😂 Thanks again 😊

  • clionamarie's avatar
    clionamarie
    4 years ago

    Of the non gaming laptops, the Lenovo IdeaPad is the one available at my local store. 

    So if it was you, which of the three would you go for? The standard non gaming Lenovo IdeaPad for €600 or the gaming Lenovo IdeaPad or the gaming HP Pavilion for the €800. Is it worth spending the extra €200 to get a dedicated gaming laptop? I'm very happy to do so if it is. I'm just a total technophobe so I genuinely haven't a clue which to buy. I don't even have wifi at home, that's how much of a technophobe I am 😂🙈

    In terms of appearance or weight of the laptop etc I really don't have a preference. And I would only really be playing The Sims at home, so battery life isn't massively important to me either as I'd likely have it plugged in anyway while playing. 

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