Is this a fine graphics card?
I was wondering if the Intel® Iris® Xe card can handle the sims 4 and all the packs at around medium to high setting?
Forum Discussion
@puzzlezaddict I see that you're likely the best person to ask for laptop recommendations. My daughter's laptop is on the fritz and it's time for a new one. She has Sims 4 and most of the expansion packs.
Knowing this, between these two, which would you recommend? I like the Costco one because it has more power, but it has a GPU instead of a dedicated graphics card like the one from Target.
If it were you, which one would you grab between the two? I'd love to stick around the $400 - $500 range, so if you think there's a better one out there, let me know that too.
I really appreciate it!
@JaxsonFam Neither of these laptops has a dedicated graphics card, and you're not going to see one in the sub-$500 range outside of the used market. But that's fine, the integrated graphics chips in these two laptops can run Sims 4 on medium-high to high graphics settings. The one in the Acer is a bit faster, but only by a few percentage points; it's not enough of a difference to justify choosing the Acer if you otherwise like the HP better.
Between the two, I'm not sure which one I'd pick. They're both fine and should run Sims 4 about the same, so I'd probably check out the keyboards and screens up close, if possible, and make a decision based that. I don't expect that either one would be bad; it's more about subjective preferences.
If neither of these is exactly what you want, let me know what details matter to you, and I'll have a look around. Those details could be screen size, weight, really anything, even what stores you'd prefer to use.
Or, if you're satisfied with the two you've found, that's fine too. You're not going to see anything better in terms of raw performance in your price range, at least new, and these will run the game fine as long as your daughter isn't set on using ultra settings.
@puzzlezaddict Thank you so much for the help! My daughter doesn't need anything super advanced as long as she can play Sims 4, Minecraft, and Planet Zoo (she plays that one on Steam). She'll be a happy camper. Personally, I'd like to make sure she gets one that is a little more durable because she's hard on her things at times. She might use the google suite for school, but otherwise, she really only plays those three games, with a majority of her gaming coming from Sims.
In terms of screen size, likely 15.6 or higher. I'm also keen to find one with a battery that will last a while without needing to replace it. Other than that, I just want something as basic as possible that will run those games for her.
If you think there's one that is better than the HP or Acer I linked, let me know. I'm not loyal to any retailer, so as long as they ship in the continental US, I'm good!
Thanks again!!!!
@JaxsonFam Honestly, I have no idea how you could find out the theoretical lifespan of a battery in a new laptop. Even older laptops can have wildly varying results, and the newer models will have improved batteries that don't necessarily correlate to what was available five years ago. What I can tell you is that battery care matters a lot, and it'll probably make more of a difference in the long run than the exact battery you've chosen.
The consensus in battery care is that it's best to keep the charge between 20-80%, or 25-75% depending on who you ask, as much as possible; and to run it from 100% to zero (or close enough) about once a month. There are plenty of free third-party apps that allow the user to set a maximum charge level if the laptop doesn't have such a tool built in, and using one is probably the single best thing you could do to make sure the battery lasts as long as possible. Your daughter will want and frankly need to play Sims 4 with the laptop plugged in for performance reasons as well as the fact that the game is a huge power draw, so having the battery sitting at 80% while playing will be a lot healthier than allowing it to charge to 100% and stay there.
If you're looking for laptops with a longer battery life, the only examples in the sub-$500 category also have lower-end hardware that would run Sims 4 poorly, if at all. Premium batteries come in premium-priced laptops: think MacBook Pro or Surface or $1,200 laptops with $500-level hardware. The best cheap examples I could find in a relatively short search are these two:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1737072-REG/lenovo_82hu0158us_ideapad_flex_5_full.html
https://www.acer.com/us-en/laptops/aspire/aspire-5-intel/pdp/NX.KHJAA.001
The last two are a bit more than you wanted to spend, and I'm not sure whether the battery life is worth the investment to you. The first one only has a 14" screen, also not what you were looking for, but I wanted to mention it because even if the manufacturer is exaggerating (very likely), it still has an excellent battery, and 16 GB RAM, and it also has a touchscreen if you're interested in that.
I will say that looking again, I'd avoid the HP laptop you linked because of its screen, which is okay but not great compared to other similar models. You can do a lot better in your price range, including the Acer you linked, or any of these with mediocre batteries:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/531869839
If you have more questions, please feel free to ask.
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