@moughs That depends. Are you ready to buy now, or are you going to wait? What's your budget, and what country are you in? Are there any other details that matter to you, for example screen size or weight or the ability to play other games?
Country: USA
Budget: $900-$1100
Screen Size: 15-17 inches
Preferred RAM: 16GB-32GB
Storage: 512GB -1TB SSD
Hello, thank you for your response. I plan to wait a little longer, but I still want to have something in mind when I'm ready to make a purchase. My main goal is to play games like The Sims 4 and similar titles. I'm not particularly interested in playing games like GTA, Valorant, Fortnite, etc. I mainly plan to play The Sims 4 at home and wouldn't mind a medium-sized laptop. My priorities right now are a good GPU, good screen quality, and sufficient RAM. That's pretty much it for now. I apologize if this seems a bit scattered. (I'm not sure if I'm being too ambitious or not specific enough, I just want to stop playing on my MacBook 😫. And I'm sorry if this isn't very clear.)
@moughs If you're not buying right now, there's not much point in talking about specific options. Prices will change quickly, and inventory will change too; the best option one day is usually not one of the best a few weeks later. But general guidelines are more stable.
The single most important factor in determining how a game runs Sims 4 is its graphcis card. In your price range, you'd be looking for an Nvidia RTX 3060 or 4050, both of which are overkill for the game but give you room to absorb more depending future packs, high poly custom content, or perhaps a future game. Sims 4 wouldn't get any noticeable benefit from a faster card than that.
Any processor paired with one of these GPUs is going to be plenty fast. Almost all of them come with 16 GB RAM and at least 512 GB storage, with 1 TB being less common but not difficult to find. RAM is cheap and very easy to upgrade though, so if you see your otherwise-perfect laptop but it only has 8 GB, consider buying more memory and installing it yourself or having it done for you. Storage is upgradable too, with most gaming laptops having room for a second drive.
There are plenty of quality gaming laptop models out there: Lenovo Legion, HP Victus, Asus ROG (most types), some others depending on the year and the exact configuration. The "best" one depends on the price—a laptop might be a great option at $1,000 but not at $1,200—and your personal preferences. So think about whether you'd prefer a 15" or 17" screen, whether you want a number pad, and any other features that matter to you. And when you're ready to buy, let me know, and we can go over specific models.
