New desktop specs- is it ok for Sims 4?
My current laptop is old, but high specs. It is starting to struggle somewhat with overheating and lagging and takes forever to load up sims 4. Im aware that playing with all expansions plus some CC puts it under considerable strain.
I need a new computer. This one physically is falling apart and has had plenty of bashes over time. I now own a samsung note phone and intend to upgrade to the latest note 10 model soon, and enjoy using the dex feature that allows me to use my phone as a laptop when docking it to charge, connecting it to a screen that hangs over my bed. Im also considering investing in a samsung S4 or S6 10" tablet which will allow me to do the same with the tablet, and turning the tablet landscape also initiates dex mode. With all my pc files being backed up on onedrive and a microsoft 365 membership i can acess all my pc files and office programmes through dex easily and so in many ways it would make my laptop completely redundant for day to day use.
The one thing i can't do with Dex is play the sims and other pc games like city skylines and planet zoo (dont own it yet but interested!). The main time i play sims or other games is in my bedroom at night, and so replacing my laptop with a desktop seems like an economical option. I dont have any money to replace my laptop at present (or to buy a tablet) and this has been a major factor for why i've kept my laptop going as long as i have (7years).
A family friend is having his work desktop replaced by his employer and is offering me his old desktop computer for only £70. I have a monitor screen i can use with it. It will have to be wiped and reset when i take ownership, which means i will have to obtain an upgrade to windows 10 (seems to cost around £40 through amazon at the moment), i have a copy of office and spare licences to install it on to the desktop.
What i would love to know from you all is, is this desktop going to be capable of playing the Sims 4 with all expansion packs installed. If so, is it going to be a case of only meeting the minimum specs and struggling to function or is it going to be able to play it without any significant trouble. Could it be upgraded to improve it's performance, if so what would you deem essential upgrades and what would be recommended for ideal performance? I think my main concern is probably regarding the hard drive- would you recommend getting a solid state drive and would i be able to have 2 hard drives running on this unit side by side (to retain it's current 1TB hard drive) or would it be a case of choosing one or the other? Finally cooling systems- is this going to be ok, or something that can upgraded in it's current housing or do i realistically need to be looking at a completely different desktop tower with a specialist cooling system?
Please bare in mind that i have virtually no money to work with. So im not looking for a best thing since sliced bread, but im hoping that this pc might just be what i need to answer my prayers! Is it worth the £70 and a couple of hundred pounds investment over time to get myself a desktop that is able to cope sufficiently with the sims?
This is the computer/specs:
Acer Veriton X6630G - SFF - 1 x Core i7 4770 / 3.4 GHz - RAM 8 GB - HDD 1 TB - DVD SuperMulti - HD Graphics 4600 - GigE
https://business.currys.co.uk/catalogue/item/P179597P?fbclid=IwAR1IVJMhKMQ8EMe-lmX49e5qa1Z-M9H3WLxlUtrwpLoJoSSbAyZNX1S4JbI
https://www.acer.com/datasheets/2014/4871/X6630G/DT.VGNEK.002.html?fbclid=IwAR2WNtDjI3urYHA_U17zECY0QmVgasPB2STkWS1GliPSivxryG9vA-mIf_k
@annalephant This desktop isn't going to run Sims 4 very well as-is, but it's not actually a terrible setup. The processor was pretty strong when it was released and is still good enough for the game now. 8 GB RAM is enough, and while a computer will load Windows and installed apps more slowly on an HDD, the game will still run fine on one. (This is all assuming that the hardware is in reasonably good shape overall.)
The real issue is the lack of a dedicated graphics card. The integrated Intel 4600 should certainly run TS4, but not very well. The new medium-level cards that would run the game on high or ultra settings aren't particularly expensive these days: in ten minutes of looking, I found a few good options in the £110-120 range. There are low-end new cards that are even cheaper, although they wouldn't run the game on ultra graphics settings.
You'd also need a stronger power supply to support the card, unless you went with a low-end card, but you could get one that was good enough for £35-40. You would however need to be comfortable disconnecting the old cables and connecting the new ones. It's not overly complicated, but it does involve opening up the case from a few different angles and maneuvering the correct cables to the correct places.
Used cards can be much cheaper, even into the £50 range, you're willing to go to Ebay. But that's a risk of course—even if the card works now, you don't know that it will hold up over time. Still, I can poke around there to see what your options are, if you want. You would probably still need a new power supply though.
The other consideration is whether the card would fit in the case. If you have access to the computer, you need to measure the length over the PCIe x16 expansion slot from the left edge of the case to wherever there's something else in the way. The cards in the category you want aren't usually that large, but some cases can be quite compact inside. If you're not sure how to do this, I can try to find a diagram or something. But even if I could find a spec sheet on this Acer that listed internal dimensions, I'd still recommend measuring yourself, just to be absolutely sure.
Let me know if you're interested in any of these options, and I can link you a few decent choices. The bottom line is, you could probably make a good Sims 4 PC out of this system, if you're willing to do a couple of upgrades yourself.
P.S. You may be able to update to Windows 10 for free. In most cases, there's no charge for upgrading from Windows 7. So it's worth looking into, at least.
