laptop recommendations for sims 4 - affordable
hi!
im looking for any tips/info/recommendations as i’m looking to get a new laptop that would function for my needs as a uni student (basic stuff like word/powerpoint - nothing crazy as i’m in a degree that is based on essay writing and reading sources) as well as my love for gaming (which is mainly the sims 4). i will clarify that i am typically an avid cc/mods user when i play (noting that my mods are nothing crazy just basic stuff like mccc or visual CAS addons). my current laptop, which was purchased just before i started uni, is just not functioning great and has already had some repairs which were covered by the subscription warranty we had for it and it is very slow to use no matter what i use it for at this point, even without loading up the sims for weeks. my biggest fear is it failing me in the middle of a semester and i simply cannot fulfil my coursework without a laptop always available for use.
i don’t have a great budget as a full time student who does not want to have to beg for too much off her parents, which i know is not ideal or exactly something i can control as i know gaming laptops or even laptops that run games smoothly do not come cheap at all but am looking for the most budget friendly picks! any help would be appreciated, like tips of what to look for as i am someone that is completely clueless about tech stuff or just straight up recommendations that would suit me. thx 🙂.
(note, i am from the UK)
@evagee21 Don't worry about the late reply. I'm always around to help people troubleshoot when they're ready.
For this system, your dxdiag lists a number of generic Windows errors, so I'd suggest running a couple of basic checks of your Windows system files:
- Hit Windows key-X
- Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
- Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes, and enter
- The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here
- After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key-X again
- Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator)”
- Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes, and enter
- Post the message you receive here
Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the box to check for updates. If any install, restart again afterwards.
As for a newer computer, you could certainly do somewhat better than this one: better processor and graphics chip, faster drive. The better CPU and iGPU don't mean anything like ultra graphics settings, but medium-high settings should be fine (and you can play with them until you get something you like). Additionally, the computer would feel faster and more responsive in general when Windows is installed on a solid state drive rather than the mechanical drive in your current laptop. This affects Sims 4 loading times but not necessarily regular gameplay; that's almost entirely about the CPU and GPU.
The next upgrade to consider is getting 16 GB RAM rather than 8, which while not strictly necessary will help somewhat with Sims 4 and a lot with multitasking. But there aren't usually many options with 16 GB for £400 or less. I did find one that's a good choice in this price range overall, capable of medium-high graphics settings. Its screen isn't great, but that's the only obvious downside.
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/6798062?clickPR=plp:1:85
If you're okay with buying a used product (albeit one that comes with a warranty), these two have equivalent hardware and prettier screens:
These laptops have the same hardware as the ones above except only 8 GB RAM, which is okay as long as you're not running anything else while you play Sims 4. In this category at least, going from 8 to 16 GB memory doesn't help much with the in-game performance when nothing else is running, and not at all with the graphics, so this detail is more about multitasking and future use.
https://www.laptopoutlet.co.uk/lenovo-ideapad-slim-3-82xr004euk.html
The other similar laptops I could find were all £400 or close enough, and you'd be better off getting one o fthe 16 GB laptops at that price.
Below the tier above with 8 GB, you could still see an improvement over your current laptop, but it would be somewhat smaller, and maybe not significant enough to be worth spending £300 or so. In that case, I'd suggest waiting until Black Friday sales, when something suitable might drop in price by £50 or so and be a more reasonable purchase. It's also entirely possible that the currently-available laptops will be discounte the next time a new generation becomes available, which is hard to predict but does happen with some frequency.
If you have more questions, about these or in general, please feel free to ask.
