Laptop specs to run Sims 4?
I’m buying a new laptop and am hoping to spend under $500 CAD. I have access to Staples, Best Buy and Walmart. Can anyone give me suggestions on what to buy to run the Sims 4 plus expansions etc?
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4 Replies
@etoerien I'm sorry to say this, but you're not going to find what you want for that budget. I'm not totally familiar with the Canadian market, but in the U.S., a laptop that can run all Sims 4 packs on high settings now would cost $700, maybe a bit less if you get lucky with a sale.
Below $600, the strength of the hardware drops off precipitiously, and by $500, you're not even getting a dedicated graphics card. The best integrated cards can usually run the game on medium settings now, but performance will fall off as more packs are added. Just as important, most of those computers don't have adequate cooling to handle TS4, and extreme temperatures can be a drag on game performance (not to mention possibly damage the system). I wouldn't think that you'd be happy with the performance of any laptop in that category.
If you can spend more, I'd be happy to look for something that would work. If you'd prefer to look around yourself, you'll want at least an Nvidia 1050 ti or AMD Radeon RX 560 for a graphics card. But not all laptops with that card have strong enough processors or good cooling. I can look over any model you find, if you want, or if you'd prefer, I can write out a more full set of specs to look for. But unfortunately, no strong enough system is going to be available for $500 CAD.
Thank you so much for the detailed reply. I’ll definitely follow your advice and buy something better. I would love your help to find a better laptop. If you look at what is available on staples.ca what would you recommend?
@etoerien I looked at all the sites you mentioned (as well as a couple more), and staples.ca seems overpriced with not a lot of selection in the category of laptop you want.
The cheapest computer that would run TS4 on ultra settings now is this Asus, at $900 from Best Buy Canada. It has an AMD Radeon RX 560X graphics card, which is equivalent to an Nvidia 1050 ti. Its hard drive is hybrid, not a solid state drive (SSD) like the specs say, but that's still a good deal—hybrid drives are significantly faster than traditional mechanical drives (HDDs), and significantly cheaper than SSDs. This does only have 8 GB RAM, but you could add more later if you wanted.
While an AMD 560 and an Nvidia 1050 ti would both run TS4 on the highest settings now, that probably won't be true in a year or two, especially if you're looking to play with all current and future expansion packs. (High settings, instead of ultra, would likely always be fine.) But laptops with an Nvidia 1060, which is what you'd need to guarantee ultra settings, are much more expensive.
I did find one on amazon.ca for $1066 from a third-party seller, although I'm not sure you want to take that risk. The computer itself should be fine, with an older processor equal to the one above, and 16 GB RAM. On the other hand, it only has a single 256 GB hard drive, so you'd need to add a second one yourself. It's very easy to do on this model.
Otherwise, the next best option would be $1324, which may be a lot more than you're interested in spending. Just for reference though:
https://www.amazon.ca/CYBERPOWERPC-TSVR2400-Notebook-i7-8750H-Mechanical/dp/B07C7T6LVS
Edit: I remembered finding a very reasonably priced Dell laptop in the U.S. recently, so I checked out Dell's store. While it doesn't have the same model I was looking for, I did see this one, for $1000. It has a better processor and graphics card than the first one I listed, although the Nvidia 1650 isn't on the level of the 1060. But it might be a good compromise in price.
Wow thank you so much for putting in the time to research this for me!! I’m going to look at these online when i get home from work
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