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CosmopolitanIce's avatar
CosmopolitanIce
7 years ago
Solved

Laptop Purchase Advice

Hey guys, not sure if I'm posting in the right place but I need some laptop help!  I'm desperate for a new laptop and it needs to be able to run Sims 4 smoothly, preferably with expansions included....
pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    7 years ago

    @CosmopolitanIce  I found quite a few options that would work for you.  Some of them don't have financing (as far as I could see), but I'm not sure whether you'd need it on a less expensive computer.

    All of these options have the same processor: an Intel i7-8750H.  There's a significant gap in performance between this one and the next one down (an i5-8300H), and a big gap in price to the next one up (an i7-8850H).  Laptops don't offer a whole lot of choice, but the i7-8750H will handle TS4 and multitasking quite well.

    This is the cheapest high quality laptop I found, at £900.  It has an Nvidia 1050 ti, which will easily run all TS4 packs on the highest settings.  It also has the advantage of both a 256 GB SSD and a 1 TB SSHD, which will be much faster than a mechanical hard drive.  And it has 16 GB RAM at 2666MHz.

    https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus-tuf-fx504ge-nvidia-gtx-1050-ti-16gb-15.6-fhd-i7-8750h-gaming-laptop-lt-26q-as.html

    If you like adding a lot of demanding custom content (like high poly count hairs), and/or you want to future-proof your laptop, you may want an Nvidia 1060 6 GB.  The 1050 ti is more than fine for now, and it seems extremely unlikely that any official TS4 content would ever be beyond its capabilities (even on high settings), but it's your call.

    This is the cheapest model with a 1060.  It only has 8 GB RAM, so it might be difficult to multitask while playing.  It also has a small 256 GB SSD, which would make Windows start up quickly, but might run out of space quickly.  It would probably be better to install TS4 on the larger HDD and redirect Documents there as well.

    https://ao.com/product/fx504gmen150t-asus-laptop-black-59693-251.aspx

    For a bit more, you could get essentially the same laptop as above, but with 16 GB RAM.  (This is the same model on both sites, for comparison's sake.)  The screen is also larger, if that makes a difference to you.

    https://ao.com/product/fx705gmev101t-asus-laptop-grey-62515-251.aspx

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-FX705GM-EW019T-Bezel-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B07HH5XR8K?th=1

    You could pay a bit more money and get some more impressive features, like an Nvidia 1070 or a large SSD, but those aren't necessary.  There's nothing you'll ever want to do in TS4, even with cc, that a 1060 wouldn't be able to handle.  And TS4 doesn't benefit from being run off an SSD, unlike other games.

    If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
7 years ago

@jjrose310  This actually looks like a very good time to ask, at least for the type of performance you're looking for.  The custom options don't look great, but I found a few prebuilt options that would work well.

Given your preferred budget of "under $1000 if possible," I didn't include the cheapest options with 8 GB RAM and a single (very slow) mechanical hard drive.  I can look for those too, but I figured you'd want the ability to multitask that 16 GB RAM gives you, plus at least a small solid state drive for running Photoshop.  With a 256 GB SSD, you'd still need to install TS4 on the larger HDD, but that wouldn't affect the game's performance.

These models all have an i7-8750H processor, since it's significantly more powerful than the next level down (an i5-8300H), and the next level up (an i7-8850H) is much more expensive, at least right now.  The 8750H will handle TS4 and Photoshop, as well as almost anything else you'd want to do.

This is the least expensive good option, at $950, and it comes with a $100 rebate card.  It has an Nvidia 1050 ti for a graphics card, which will handle all of TS4 on high settings.  If you like lots and lots of custom content though, the 1050 ti might not quite keep up with the load on the highest graphics settings, depending on whether you tend to download the most demanding items.  (They're called high-poly count items, and they take more resources to render than other items, both EA and cc.)

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834155111

This one is $1050 but comes with a $150 rebate card.  Its 128 GB SSD is actually too small for much more than Windows 10, but it has the advantage of an Nvidia 1060, which will do better with both high-poly cc and Photoshop tasks.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834154829

This one has a 256 GB SSD and an Nvidia 1060 6 GB, which will take anything TS4 custom content creators can throw at it, likely for the entire run of the game.  Its SSD is also faster than the others, although it might be hard to tell the difference in Photoshop, and of course it won't affect TS4 at all.  It's on sale on both Amazon and newegg; while Amazon is a bit cheaper ($1000 vs. $1030), you should check whether newegg charges tax in your state.

https://www.amazon.com/i7-8750H-Processor-GeForce-Gigabit-Windows/dp/B07F6K21HJ

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834235064&ignorebbr=1

If none of this is what you're looking for, please let me know.  And of course, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    7 years ago

    @jjrose310  I'm only finding scattered reviews of this particular company, not enough to say for sure either way.  The problem with these third-party sellers in general is that they buy surplus and do their own upgrades, and they don't always do a good job.  Some companies have been known to mess up and break the computer (or have it break a few weeks into use).  There are stories of a company doing something ridiculous like stuffing a piece of styrofoam into the laptop to make the parts fit together.  If I had a choice, I'd never buy one of these products, especially because I don't have the skills to repair a laptop myself.

    If you're looking for a large SSD and are willing to spend a bit more money, let me know and I can look further.  (I set a cap of $1100 in my earlier searches.)  But again, TS4 doesn't play any better on an SSD, and you can run Photoshop off a 256 GB drive; you'd just need to move your extra files to the larger HDD or an external drive when you weren't using them.  In terms of upgrades, the Nvidia 1060 is probably the better way to go for what you'd like to do with this laptop.

  • jjrose310's avatar
    jjrose310
    7 years ago

    Thank you @puzzlezaddict , that’s what I was worried about. I don’t mind pushing the budget a little if I get something that will be reasonably better.

    So, under $1500, the closer to 1k the better.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    7 years ago

    @jjrose310  Honestly, there aren't any laptops with a 512 GB SSD with the other specs (and price) you're looking for.  The extremely high-end ones start at over $2,000, and customizing an Alienware would be about the same, once you added in the 16 GB RAM.  The only cheaper laptops with a large SSD are most definitely not built for gaming and wouldn't be able to handle TS4.

    The truth is, with a 256 GB SSD and a 1 TB HDD, you'll be able to do whatever you want on the computer.  Managing two drives is very easy once you have everything set up, and there's no drawback to having TS4 installed on the HDD.  However, the 1060 6 GB is definitely going to improve your performance, both for the game and for Photoshop.  Even if the prices were the same, it would be much better to buy a computer with a small SSD and a 1060 rather than a large SSD and a 1050 ti.

    I wish I could find you exactly what you want, but the brands that make good gaming laptops just aren't producing the configurations you're looking for, at least not right now.  And it's almost impossible to predict when that would shift, so if you did decide to wait, it might be quite a while before you saw what you wanted.

  • jjrose310's avatar
    jjrose310
    7 years ago

    That is just what I needed to hear! I’m not familiar with having dual drives, I currently only have a 1t hdd, but if it isn’t too hard to figure out the two then that makes it easier to find something!

    im looking at a few right now... do you have any thoughts on these? They have basically the same specs, but is One better than the others or are they all about the same?

    https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834235064&ignorebbr=1#fullInfo

    https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834235077&ignorebbr=1#close

    https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16834154812

    https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834316433&ignorebbr=1

    i really appreciate all of your help @puzzlezaddict !!

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    7 years ago

    @jjrose310 These models are all basically the same computer, plus or minus a couple of small details.  Putting aside the sales, these four are basically the same price, minus the requisite MSI markup.  I will say that Acer gaming laptops aren't always the best choice—sometimes they handle their workload fine, other times not.  The Predator line is usually fine though.

    The first is the one I linked before (the one that's cheaper on Amazon unless newegg declines to charge tax).  The second one has a slightly bigger screen than the others, but I don't know that 17.3" is going to be so much better than 15.6" unless you really like large screens.  The laptop itself is also larger and weighs more, if that makes a difference.

    The refresh rate is also a bit higher in the second computer, but you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between 120 and 144 Hz.  Even a 60 Hz screen would be fine for TS4; the only games where a higher refresh rate helps are those that depend on reaction times, mostly first-person shooters.

    The third model has a faster HDD than the others, but it's the only one with a SATA SSD instead of PCIe.  (The second link doesn't specify, but ASUS's site lists that model with a PCIe.)  PCIe SSDs are 3-5 times faster than SATAs.  So there's a tradeoff, but personally I'd prefer the faster primary drive and live with the slower HDD.

    The first two models also have faster RAM than the others.  (Again, I have to go by the ASUS website's listed specs.)  There's only a small performance difference between 2400 and 2666 MHz RAM; you might or might not notice at all.  All four models have room for you to add memory if and when you want to, so that's not an issue either.

    The bottom line is, all of these computers are pretty much the same, and they'd all handle TS4 and Photoshop very well.

  • jjrose310's avatar
    jjrose310
    7 years ago
    Perfect! Thank you so much! You made this so much easier!

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