PC recommendations for Sims4 + Future
Hello!
I am looking to purchase a new PC that’s around $1000 and am in the US but wanted some advice since I’m not suuuuper familiar with gaming PCs. My main concern is having enough storage to play all the packs plus mods/ CC as well as the ability to multitask for work/school. I would like to future proof a little bit if possible so I can use the PC for future packs/ Sims 5 etc. I found a couple of options but I am not sure if they are good as I don’t know a lot about computers.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/skytech-gaming-shiva-2-gaming-desktop-intel-core-i5-12400f-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-500gb-nvme-ssd-white/6537313.p?skuId=6537313
As for the monitors, I have an old Dell( 2407wfp 100-240v 50-60 hz 2A) and a 2 monitor system ( asus va27e version va27ehe 1.5 A) that I use for work but am not sure which would be better?
Any help or advice is appreciated. Thank you! 🙂
@parisinspring All of these are more than fast enough to run Sims 4, all current packs included, on ultra graphics settings, and in all likelihood all future packs too. I obviously can't promise that, but based on how the developers have managed to keep the game's demands from increasing too rapidly so far, that pattern will probably continue.
Sims 5, when it comes along, will probably not be more demanding than Sims 4 at launch if you go by previous releases and the fact that Maxis doesn't want to exclude a large portion of its fan base. Beyond that, it's pure guesswork, then we're also talking about at least four years down the line or so. At that point, you may want to get a new graphics card, or a whole new computer; it's impossible to predict this far out.
In terms of relative performance, the limiting factor on all three of these PCs, at least as far as Sims 4 is concerned, is the graphics card, which (as mentioned) is more than sufficient now and likely always will be by a reasonable margin. The 6600 XT is a bit faster than the 3060, but the gap is small, and I personally wouldn't go with an AMD GPU for Sims 4 because I've seen a few small annoying glitches that appear only on these cards and don't get fixed for a while. But it's not a bad choice by any stretch.
The second computer's processor is a lot faster than the other two, but there are diminishing returns for that extra power as far as Sims 4 is concerned. The first one is the two-years-newer version of the third one. You could upgrade the first computer's processor to the model in the second one, or an i5-13600K, down the line, if you needed extra power; the third could be upgraded too, but only to another 10th- or 11th-gen Intel processor. So you're not locked in either way, and these CPUs almost certainly get cheaper as they're replaced by newer, faster models down the line.
Anyway, these are all very good choices, and I'm not seeing anything that's obviously better at a similar price on the Best Buy site right now. So choose whichever one you like based on price and the details above, and you'll be fine.
The monitors are both fine, and very similar, so pick the one you like looking at better. The one major difference is that the Dell is significantly brighter; it also has a bit more vertical space on the screen. The brightness may well make a difference if you're playing in a well-lit room, but in the dark, you might not care or even want to dim the Dell's screen a bit.
Otherwise, when two monitors have such similar specs, the "better" option can come down to highly subjective criteria. It's worth testing both in Sims 4, with the Asus set to a 75 Hz refresh rate, for comparison, and seeing what you enjoy more.
