Re: Help!- Unsure of Laptop Graphics Req for Sims
@lovelife14 There are plenty of options for well under $1,500 that would run Sims 4 a lot better than the laptop you linked. In any case, the limiting factor is the graphics card, as in, the game will run as fast as the card can manage to render it. An Intel UHD 620 is really only capable of medium graphics settings at best, unless you either don't install all the demanding packs or you lower the in-game resolution.
In terms of your options, you could get a lightweight portable laptop with an Nvidia 1650, capable of running all Sims 4 packs together on ultra settings. The 1650 might not be quite fast enough for ultra settings by the time the game is out of development—we don't know how demanding future packs will be. But it should still always be able to handle a mix of high and ultra settings.
In between are the MX cards, entry-level dedicated graphics cards that you often see in ultraportable laptops. The cards are slower than gaming GPUs but still significantly faster than integrated cards. As an example, the MX350 is about half as fast as a 1650 but more than three times as fast as a UHD 620. So they're a significant improvement over an integrated chip even if the laptops that have them aren't proper gaming systems.
I looked on the Lenovo site and didn't see much available that's both lightweight and has a decent graphics card. If this one weren't sold out, it would be a great deal for $830:
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-t-series/t490/p/20N2S3H700
But I'm not sure it'll get restocked, especially since its an older model. Other than that, this much more expensive laptop is the next best option, in either configuration:
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x1/thinkpad-x1-extreme-gen-3/p/20TK001EUS
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x1/x1-extreme-gen-2/p/20QV0007US
Lenovo does have some very nice gaming laptops—the Legion series is highly rated and not overly expensive. But the laptops are bulky and start over 5 lbs, so that's probably not what you had in mind.
If you're not set on a Lenovo though, there are plenty of good options with Nvidia 1650s in the $1,000-1,300 range. Some of them come in various configurations or can be customized, if you happen to want more RAM or storage or would rather save money and get the basic setup. Since I'm not sure whether any of these are what you want, I'll just list them and you can take a look; let me know if you have more questions about the specs.
https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-spectre-laptop-15t-eb000-191b0av-1
https://store.asus.com/us/item/202006AM240000001
There are also plenty of options with MX cards, for example these:
https://www.newegg.com/silver-asus-vivobook-s512fl-ph55-mainstream/p/N82E16834235284
https://www.newegg.com/silver-asus-ux431fl-eh74/p/N82E16834235318
https://www.newegg.com/carbon-gray-msi-modern-14-a10ras-1031-mainstream/p/N82E16834155432
https://store.asus.com/us/item/202002AM070000015
I didn't check all the sites, since I wasn't sure whether you'd rather stick with a Lenovo, and if not, what category of laptop you'd want. But if there's something specific you have in mind, let me know what that is, and I'll do a more thorough search to see what else is out there.
And of course if you have more questions about any of this, please ask.
