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TheShuberts8816's avatar
TheShuberts8816
New Novice
6 months ago
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Need Advice: Best Cheap Laptop to Play Sims 4

Hello! I am looking for some advice on the best budget friendly laptop can buy that will mainly be used to play The Sims 4 with Mods / Expansion Packs and maybe Minecraft. I am not extremely computer...
hardware
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    6 months ago

    TheShuberts8816  The second laptop's performance in gaming is maybe 15-30% better, but that varies wildly depending on the game and the settings (and on the source of the data).  If you like playing at higher graphics settings and/or higher framerates, and the extra money isn't an issue, then the second one is the better choice.

    On the other hand, if you just want something that will run your games without crashing, the first one is fine.  As noted, it should run Sims 4 on at least medium-high settings, and while Minecraft has lots of modes and modifications that make it more demanding, the base game's requirements are so much lower than the capabilities of either chip, you should be fine with the first laptop as long as you don't get too ambitious with the add-ons.

    This really is a matter of your priorities.  There's no objectively best answer, just what you want out of this laptop and how much you're willing to pay.

puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
6 months ago

TheShuberts8816  If you want to keep the price down, this is the cheapest laptop I found in this particular performance tier: capable of running all current Sims 4 content together on medium-high to high graphics settings; and with 16 GB RAM, which while not strictly necessary, is very helpful for Sims 4 and general use:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-vivobook-16-wuxga-laptop-intel-core-i5-1235u-with-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-silver/6593118.p?skuId=6593118

This one's processor and graphics chip are a little faster, not a completely different category but worth considering if you want to get a bit more performance for a somewhat higher price:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-vivobook-16-16-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-with-16gb-memory-1tb-ssd-indie-black/6542092.p?skuId=6542092

This one is significantly faster than both of the above, maybe 70% faster in gaming than the second.  I don't have a lot of data on this chip but would expect it to be able to handle high-ultra if not ultra settings.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-envy-2-in-1-14-2k-touch-screen-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-glacier-silver/6571087.p?skuId=6571087

If you like it, I would cross off the second option, since this one's hardware is clearly better and it's only $20 more, and choose between this and the first based on whether the upgrade is worth the price increase.  But perhaps the screen is too small or some other detail is a problem, in which case the second option is a viable alternative.

I did check a bunch of other sites, including Amazon, and didn't find anything equivalent to the options above that was as cheap (and in the case of Amazon, from a trustworthy seller).  But if none of these work for you, let me know why, and I can do another search.  In the category of the $400 laptop in particular, there are a lot of similar options for more like $450.

If you have more questions, about these or in general, please feel free to ask.

TheShuberts8816's avatar
TheShuberts8816
New Novice
6 months ago

puzzlezaddict Thank you so much for all of your help and the options!!  In terms of a personal preference, I do prefer having o e with the number keypad. I think just from my job and everything prefer having that on a laptop than one that doesn't. I know the 3rd option didn't have one but the first 2 options did. So of the first 2 options would one be better for playing the Sims and maybe game like Minecraft? Again, thank you so so much for your help!!!

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