Need help with choosing a laptop/PC
Hi everyone!
I'm looking into buying a new laptop/PC to play Sims 4 and am both overwhelmed by the choices and confused about the specs, so I would really appreciate some help.
I'd play with all expansion packs and some mods and CC. I would not play any other games or use the computer for anything else (I have a separate one for work and another one for personal use), I do not make CC, edit videos, or stream. All in all, I'm a run-of-the-mill player who would like to have a smooth experience while playing.
A laptop would be preferable, as I'm usually playing while laying in bed. My budget is max 1000 USD and I live in Hungary. Some popular retailers are emag.hu and mediamarkt.hu.
A free DOS unit is OK for me, I would manage to install an OS & drivers but it would be even better if it came with Windows already installed 🙂.
I'm not completely opposed to getting a PC, but then a screen & keyboard & mouse would have to fit in the budget as well.
Thank you so much in advance!
@vaniquertamere I do think this laptop would be better, and the price is quite reasonable for the expected difference in performance. The 1660 ti is a lot faster than the 1650, although Sims 4 won't use all that speed most of the time. The real benefit is in making the game's inevitable slowdowns a bit less drastic: if framerates drop by 40% for whatever reason, it helps if the initial fps is higher.
The Omen is the kind of laptop I recommend when people have a bit more money to spend, although Omens are usually overpriced compared to other options with the same hardware. It looks like that would also be true of this one were it not on sale. The one thing to be careful of is heat: Omens do run somewhat hot, not in a dangerous way but enough that you'll want to make sure it's cooling itself properly. Playing on a hard flat surface should be enough, but if not, get a laptop tray or cooling pad.
There are actually a number of options between your previous budget and the price of the Omen, if you're interested in a bit more shopping. These two have an RTX 3050, which falls between the 1650 and 1660 ti in terms of performance.
A 3050 ti is a bit faster than a 3050 but still not as fast as a 1660 ti, so I'm not sure whether these two are cost-effective. Depending on the cost of a Windows 10 key, and you could of course buy a cheaper one that comes with an old install medium and create your own installer, these may be less expensive than the one you've linked:
The nice thing about the Pavilion is that it comes with 16 GB RAM, which is convenient if not strictly necessary. All the other laptops can be upgraded if you want though.
Finally, this one's RTX 3060 is even faster than the 1660 ti. You really don't need the extra power; I'm just mentioning it because I saw it and it might be around the same price as the Omen once you factor in the Windows 10 key.
But really, if the Omen is what you want, go ahead and buy it. I'd expect it to run Sims 4 beautifully with no significant issues outside what the game itself is responsible for.
