Re: The best laptop to play Sims 4 with all packs and mods/cc

@laforea  I think Razers are excellent laptops, not perfect but definitely worth their status as a premium product.  But the Stealth models with a dedicated graphics card start at $1,600, and that's for a significantly slower card than the MSI.  So it's not overkill at all, it's paying extra for a smaller laptop.

https://www.razer.com/gaming-laptops/Razer-Blade-Stealth-13/RZ09-03102E02-R3U1

You could save a little by getting a used model, but that's a risk, even if it's refurbished by Amazon Warehouse.

https://www.amazon.com/Razer-Stealth-Ultrabook-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B07X4BLSR8

The 15" models are similarly expensive, although at that price point, you'd get a 1660 ti.  Or you could save some money and get an older model from a third-party seller, but that's a risk as well.

https://www.newegg.com/black-razer-blade-15-gaming-entertainment/p/2WC-001W-000U4

And yes, a 2013 MacBook Air would have a lot of trouble running Sims 4, mostly because of the integrated graphics chip, and probably partly because of weaker cooling.  (When hardware starts to overheat, it throttles performance to protect itself.)  Even the current Airs don't run Sims 4 all that well, although they'd do better than yours.

For the MSI, or even the Razer, I'm not sure you can expect it to work well for anywhere near ten years.  You might get lucky, but laptops don't typically last that long.  Many of them fall apart mechanically, or some component breaks, often but not always because of the laptop contstantly getting bumped as it's moved around.  Even without that though, technology is improving enough that there's probably no computer out there that will still be fast enough for what you'd want to be doing in eight or nine years.

If you're still playing Sims 4, that's one thing, but there will probably be a Sims 5, or a competitor, and meanwhile regular apps will keep getting more demanding as hardware improves.  The reason computers "slow down" as they age is not so much that their components slow as they age, it's that everything else is so much faster, and uses more RAM, which also runs at higher speeds.  For example, a good computer in 2010 might have come with 4 GB of 1066 or 1333 MHz RAM, and now the standard is 8 or (much better) 16 GB at 2666 MHz or higher.  Processors and graphics cards have improved even more.  Obsolescence is unavoidable.

Having said that, the MSI or one of the Razers should be very good at what you want it to do for quite a while.  And you can upgrade the memory now or later: RAM is cheap and easy to install yourself, whenever you happen to decide you want more.

Hello,

I was hoping you could help me. I'm considering options for laptops for uni and I would also like to play the Sims 4 with it. Weight and battery life are my main issues  as I commute to uni daily (before COVID). 

I only have the base game and I am only looking to buy a few of the packs and probably no CC. I don't need much.

This is the one I was thinking of:

Microsoft Surface Book 3 (13.5)

• Has up to 15.5 hours of battery life
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics card
• 16 GB RAM and SSD storage
• A screen size of 13.5 inch

I'm looking for confirmation that this is good or other recommendations of computers that are cheaper but equally as good. I'm Australian, so it would have to be available here.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

@rlysmalldragon  That laptop could run all current Sims 4 packs together on ultra graphics settings, although that may not quite be true by the time the game is out of development.  So it's a good choice on that front, although more expensive than necessary for the performance you'd get.  The Surface line is definitely overpriced compared to other laptops with the same internal components.

If you're looking for a long battery life and a small laptop though, I'm not sure you'd do better.  Most gaming laptops have weaker batteries, because playing games on battery leads to poor performance.  And I only know of two true gaming laptops that are smaller than 15".  One of them starts at $4,000 Australian, which is a lot higher than the exchange rate would suggest.  This is the other, in a couple different configurations:

https://www.mwave.com.au/product/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-14-120hz-gaming-laptop-ryzen-7-16gb-512gb-1650ti-white-ac33641

https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/Laptops-&-Notebooks/Gaming-Laptops/83788-GA401IU-HA031T

I don't know how the prices compare to the Surface; certainly, the Zephyrus is more expensive for its small size.  Its battery life is supposed to be excellent, although maybe not as good as the Surface.  (I can look it up later if you want.)  But these are real gaming computers, and relatively light even with their powerful hardware.

Let me know if you're interested in more details, and I'll dig up some reviews.

@puzzlezaddict thank you so much for your reply.

I think I will go with the Surface Book 3, even though it is overpriced. It's battery life is better and I am eligible for a student discount which helps!

Zephyrus is a very beautiful laptop and it's specs are really good. I looked into the battery life and it's great for a gaming laptop but there is a 4-5 hour difference.

Which configuration would be best for the Sims? I wouldn't want to spend too much so your input would be great.

Again, thank you for helping! 🙂

@rlysmalldragon  Do these all have at least an Nvidia 1650?  That's the most important consideration here.  If they do, then even the lowest-tier configuration would be fine for Sims 4.  I'd prefer the second one though, for the extra memory and the stronger processor.  While neither is necessary for Sims 4 itself, they'll make multitasking easier and faster.  The only benefit to the third and fourth is the extra storage—you don't need more than 16 GB memory—and for that price, save some money and get yourself an external drive with a lot more capacity.  I'd have to look up prices in Australia, but you could probably get a 1 TB external HDD for something around $100.

By the way, not that it matters all that much, but the battery life on the Asus is actually better when idling or browsing the web, at least now that Asus has apparently made some adjustments.  Of course it's worse under load, but that's to be expected of more powerful components, and anyway you wouldn't want to play games on battery.  Here's my source, if you're curious:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/We-retest-the-Asus-Zephyrus-G14-battery-life-and-now-it-s-over-two-times-longer-than-before.469441.0.html

For comparison, the battery life is towards the bottom of this in-depth review of the Surface:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Surface-Book-3-13-5-review-Microsoft-convertible-is-slowly-getting-old.477543.0.html

The Surface is a very good laptop though, so it'll do quite well for what you want out of it.

@puzzlezaddict thank you for your help! 

Only the ones with Intel i7 processor have Nvidia 1650. I agree with your choice and I will get the second one.

Do you have any recommendations for external drives? From a quick google search there seems to be quite a range in pricing, is this something I need to be wary of?

Seriously, you have helped me so much, thank you for your time!

🙂

@rlysmalldragon  All external mechanical hard drives (HDDs) from reputable vendors are pretty much the same.  I wouldn't go for a bargain-basement version, but the regular ones aren't going to be much different.  Companies like WD, Sandisk, Seagate all produce reliable and cheap drives in any size you'd want.

You could also get an external SSD if you wanted.  But unless you're going to store and run applications from it, there's not much point.  Data transfer to an HDD is still fast enough that you wouldn't need to worry about copying files back and forth; it's only when there are constant reads and writes (as with apps running) that it starts to slow down enough to affect how you use it.

If you do want an SSD, now or later, make sure it has the correct connector.  It shouldn't be an issue, but it's always best to double-check before buying something.

hi! i saw that you were giving great advice and was wondering if you could help me, if it wasn't too much trouble? i'm looking into buying a new laptop because of university and i'd like to also play the sims 4 with it. i was thinking about buying the lenovo ideapad s340 but don't know if the graphic card (Intel UHD Graphics 620) is good enough?

@cryclara_  Sims 4 will run on an Intel UHD 620, but not all that well.  You might be able to play on medium settings, or maybe low-medium, depending on a few different factors.  In this category of laptop, the other hardware matters too: I've seen plenty of models with a 620 and a very weak processor, or only 4 GB memory, or a hard drive that's effectively too small.

So there may be better options for you.  If you post your budget and country, as well as any other details that matter to you, I can have a look around and list a few models worth considering.

thank you for helping me! 

my budget is 800€ max but can go a bit more if it's worth it and i'm from Portugal.

i will be using it mostly for university and will probably be carrying it everywhere, so i was trying to stay away from gaming laptops because they are very bulky most of the time.

i also saw an Asus VivoBook X512UF (it has 1tb of storage and a NVIDIA GeForce MX130 graphic card) and because it was advertised as being good for games, was considering it as an option.

@cryclara_  A laptop with an MX130 will be better than one without a dedicated graphics card, but not by a particularly large margin: the MX130 is really the lowest-level dedicated card available, at least among those that you'd be able to find in new laptops.  The 1 TB hard drive is probably (check to make sure) a mechanical drive (HDD), which would load everything from Windows to many apps significantly slower than a solid state drive.  Everything would run fine once loaded though.

You could do better on both fronts though.  I found a number of laptops with either a single 512 GB solid state drive or a combination 256 GB SSD/1 TB HDD, so you'd have plenty of storage.  (512 GB is enough for most people.)  And there are stronger graphics cards available too, even in the class of lightweight laptops you want.  For the MX series, the fastest card is an MX350, but an MX250 or even 330 would also do okay.

As a reference, the 250 is a few percentage points faster than the 330, and both are around 50% faster in gaming than the 130.  (I don't see any good Sims 4 benchmarks for these cards; this is an average of games that did get tested.)  The 350 is almost twice as fast as the 130.  That's the difference between medium and high graphics settings, or low-medium and medium-high as Sims 4 gets more demanding.

There aren't that many laptops available with an MX350, but I did find one for €700.  It has a 512 GB SSD and weighs 1.8 kg; it seems to have a relatively thin profile too.

https://www.worten.pt/informatica-e-acessorios/computadores/computadores-portateis/portatil-acer-aspire-5-a515-55g-51ja-15-6-intel-core-i5-1035g1-ram-8-gb-512-gb-ssd-pcie-nvidia-geforce-mx350-7222387

If you don't like that particular laptop, this one has an MX330 and a 256 GB SSD/1 TB HDD and is about the same size.  It's available on several sites for €650.

https://www.radiopopular.pt/produto/portatil-asus-f512jp-50am3sb1#

https://www.worten.pt/informatica-e-acessorios/computadores/computadores-portateis/portatil-asus-vivobook-f512jp-50am3sb1-15-6-intel-core-i5-1035g1-ram-8-gb-1-tb-hdd-256-gb-ssd-nvidia-geforce-mx330-7163466

https://www.fnac.pt/Computador-Portatil-Asus-VivoBook-F512JP-50AM3SB1-Computador-Portatil-Computador-Portatil/a7703696

This is an alternative with a single 512 GB SSD and otherwise the same specs:

https://www.globaldata.pt/computadores/portateis/portatil-asus-vivobook-156-f512jp-i5-8gb-512gb-mx330-w10-f512jp-50bm3sb1

I think I saw a few options with an MX250 as well, but not for cheaper than the Acer with the MX350.  Still, if you'd like more options, feel free to ask.  And if you see a laptop you like and want a second opinion, just link it and I'll take a look.

Hello. I've been looking into getting a gaming laptop for a while now as my current laptop (four year old Surface Pro 4) is currently struggling with Sims and the packs that I have, plus all of the CC that I am downloading (overheating, screen glitching, etc)

I've looked into a few different laptops and your advice to others has really helped. I was looking at the Lenovo Legion 5 (15") and wondered if you would recommend this? I see it has some great reviews for gaming, and I am only looking to use the laptop for Sims 4 (I have a few packs but would like to not be restricted by my laptop, and be able to get new packs as and when I would like) and CC, as well as general browsing, light use of photoshop etc. I am in the UK, and I would ideally like a laptop £800 and less, and preferably somewhere that offers finance options (which Lenovo does!)

Weight isn't an issue for me as I only use my laptop at home. I mainly just want something that will have a good amount of storage so I don't need to worry about space, and good graphics so my game won't lag and the screen won't glitch!

https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-5-series/Lenovo-Legion-5-15ARH05/p/88GMY501444 

@gumbieghoul  The Legion definitely gets good reviews, and this seems like a good laptop.  The one issue though is its small hard drive: 256 GB is enough for Sims 4, but maybe not enough to also hold your Photoshop projects.  You could use an external drive for overflow of course, but that's not as convenient as having a larger internal drive.  It looks like you can add the second hard drive of your choice without too much trouble, so you could always wait until you're running out of storage as well.

If you're not sure how much space you'd need, you can check the free and total storage of your current computer.  Open a File Explorer Window and click This PC to see the stats of each drive.

By the way, if the financing works on this site, this Lenovo, also £800, would be the better option.  It's mostly the same except for its higher quality screen.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lenovo-legion-5i-nvidia-gtx-1650-8gb-15.6-fhd-ips-144hz-intel-i5-10300h-gaming-laptop-lt-00j-lv.html

If you do want more storage right away, there are plenty of gaming laptops under £800 with a 512 GB SSD.  It looks like Currys offers financing too, and any of these three would do fine:

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/asus-tuf-fx505gt-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i5-gtx-1650-512-gb-ssd-10208029-pdt.html

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-16-1-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i5-gtx-1650-ti-512-gb-ssd-10207028-pdt.html

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-g3-15-3500-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i5-gtx-1650-ti-512-gb-ssd-10206288-pdt.html

The 1650 ti in the last two is a bit faster than the regular 1650, maybe by 5% or so in games.  The 10300H is a bit stronger than the 9300H, but that won't make a difference to Sims 4.

If you'd like me to look for other options as well, I can do a more thorough search.  But it looks like the entry-level Legion generally comes with a single 256 GB SSD, and you'd need to pay more for extra storage.

@puzzlezaddict thank you for the fast response. I think if I am going to spend the money, I would definitely prefer to get a laptop with a big enough hard drive so that I didn't need to worry about it later on. 

I checked the storage on my current computer, and it says I have 87.2 GB left of 236 GB. I'm not sure if that's much? Like I said I only really have Sims 4 + some packs, CC and Photoshop installed on here (minus what came on the laptop) I also have a lot of photos and artwork stored, so perhaps I need to take that into consideration too, unless I look to store them on a separate hard drive once I sell this computer. 

I like the look of the Asus you linked, and have seen it on this website:

https://www.box.co.uk/FX505GT-BQ008T-ASUS-TUF-Gaming-FX505GT-BQ008T_2940903.html 

I think it is the same as the one you mentioned, but its a bit cheaper on this website (any experience with Box.co.uk?) and the Paypal finance plan isn't as harsh as Curry's 24.9% APR. I did notice that the SSD is 256GB compared to the one you linked which was 512GB though. Do you think taking less GB is worth it for the £100 saving, or would I just be giving myself trouble later on down the road?

@gumbieghoul  Box is fine as a retailer.  You don't get the premium customer support you might expect on other sites, but then again if you did have an issue with your laptop, you'd be dealing with Asus and not the retailer.

For £650, the Asus is definitely worth the price.  Given that you have 87 GB free on your current 256 GB hard drive, it seems like you wouldn't run out of space on a new 256 GB drive right away.  This particular model has an empty drive bay that would take any 2.5" drive.  And Asus makes it easy to add a second drive:

https://laptopmedia.com/highlights/inside-asus-tuf-fx505-disassembly-and-upgrade-options/

Prices fluctuate a bit, but when you're ready, you could likely find a 1 TB HDD or a 500 GB SATA SSD for around £60, and install it yourself.

@bellalala93  That article isn't terrible, but it does have a bit of... let's go with "somewhat inaccurate information."  The last three laptops would be fine for Sims 4, although you might want more than 256 GB storage for other reasons.  And they may or may not be the cheapest good options, depending on current sales.

I can look for other options too if you want.  What country are you in, as in, what currency is that $1,200 limit?  Let me know, and I'll see what else is out there.

@bellalala93  You can get an excellent laptop for Sims games, and in general, for £1,200 or less, or even under £1,000 depending on your preferences.  In your price range, the best graphics card is an Nvidia 1660 ti.  It's overkill for both Sims games, but running Sims 4 on ultra graphics settings may require more power than the next cards down (an Nvidia 1650 or an AMD 5500M) in a year or so, depending on how demanding future expansions turn out to be.  The next card up, an Nvidia 2060, is only a bit faster, but it's usually significantly more expensive.

If you're willing to wait a month or so, this HP is a great option.  It's available for pre-order on a few different sites; the lowest I saw was £950.  In addition to a 1660 ti, it has 16 GB memory; a 512 GB solid state drive, which is more than enough for both Sims games and all the custom content you could download; and a processor that's more powerful than either game could ever possibly use.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/hp-pavillion-15-ec1009na-nvidia-gtx-1660-ti-16gb-15.6-fhd-amd-ryzen-7-4800h-gaming-laptop-lt-04y-hp.html

If you'd rather buy right now, there are still plenty of good options.  This Lenovo is also £950.  While its processor is weaker than the one in the HP, it's still more than fine for Sims games.  The laptop has only 8 GB RAM, which, while technically enough for either game, is less than ideal if you like to multitask.  But you could add another 8 GB for probably £50, and I believe without breaking the warranty.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lenovo-legion-5i-nvidia-gtx-1660-ti-8gb-15.6-fhd-ips-144hz-intel-i5-10300h-gaming-laptop-lt-013-lv.html

https://www.box.co.uk/81Y6005SUK-Lenovo-Legion-5i-15_2938435.html

Interestingly, you could get the same laptop except with an Nvidia 2060 for £1,000.  You'd never need the upgrade for Sims games, but if you're thinking of playing other very new games at some point, the 2060 may be the better choice.

https://www.box.co.uk/81Y600DLUK-Lenovo-Legion-5i-15_2953873.html

This Asus is £1,000 with the same specs as the HP you could pre-order, except for the (easily upgradable) 8 GB RAM.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/asus-tuf-blue-a15-15-6-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-gtx-1660-ti-512-gb-ssd-10205355-pdt.html

Another option with a 2060 is this HP, at £1,100 for pre-order or £1,150 now.  It has 16 GB memory and otherwise the same specs as the Lenovo.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/hp-pavillion-15-dk1024na-nvidia-rtx-2060-16gb-15.6-144hz-fhd-intel-i5-10300h-gaming-laptop-lt-04z-hp.html

https://www.box.co.uk/1L6F0EAABU-HP-Pavilion-Gaming-15-dk1024na_2958257.html

There are a number of other gaming laptops in the £1,000 range, all fine but not as highly rated as the ones I listed.  The one other noteworthy model is the Acer Nitro 5, which has the best battery life of the laptops in this class.  Battery life is never going to be great with a gaming laptop, since the hardware draws a lot of power and people should always play with the laptop plugged in anyway, but if you want a model that does better than its competitors, the Nitro 5 is a good option, in either the 15" or 17" chassis.  This one also has the best gaming processor of any I've listed here, if that matters to you.

https://www.box.co.uk/NH.Q7PEK.002-Acer-Nitro-5-AN515-55-764B_2934864.html

https://www.box.co.uk/NH.Q8JEK.001-Acer-Nitro-5-AN517-52-75Z3_2934867.html

If you're curious what £1,200 would get you, this is a high quality laptop, with excellent performance for its hardware.  (You definitely don't need to spend that money on an upper-tier model; I'm just including it for comparison's sake.)  Gigabyte laptops get the most out of their components in terms of game and application performance, and they have excellent cooling too.  This particular one doesn't have a great battery life though, and you may not want a 17" screen.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/gigabyte-aorus-7-nvidia-gtx-1660-ti-16gb-17.3-ips-144hz-i7-9750h-gaming-laptop-lt-0a6-gi.html

I know this is a lot of information, but given your budget, you can get a laptop that does really well in the categories that matter to you.  If you have more questions about any of this, please feel free to ask.

@bellalala93  That's strange, all the links are working for me.  But anyway, in order:

Overclockers: HP Pavilion 15-EC1009NA (1660 ti, 16 GB, 4800H)

Overclockers: Lenovo Legion 5i 15IMH05H (1660 ti, 8 GB, 10300H)

Box: Lenovo Legion 5i 15 81Y6005SUK (same as above, now £900)

Box: Lenovo Legion 5i 15 81Y600DLUK (2060, 8 GB, 10300H)

Currys: Asus Tuf Blue A15 550340 (1660 ti, 8 GB, 4800H)

Overclockers: HP Pavilion 15-dk1024na (2060, 16 GB, 10300H)

Box: HP Pavilion 1L6F0EA#ABU (same as above)

Box: Acer Nitro 5 NH.Q7PEK.002 (1660 ti, 8 GB, 10750H)

Box: Acer Nitro 5 NH.Q8JEK.001 (same as above, 17" screen)

Overclockers: Gigabyte Aorus 7 SA-7UK1131SH (1660 ti, 16 GB, 9750H)

If you're having trouble finding the specific laptops, each of these sites allows you to search by graphics card, and then you can sort by price and look for the model that matches.

@puzzlezaddictSorry again I've found this one too https://www.ebuyer.com/960410-asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-ryzen-5-8gb-512gb-ssd-gtx-1650-14-ga401ih-bm057t?wgu=267255_162949_15987086232804_37acd338ff&wgexpiry=1606484623&utm_source=webgains&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=60869&utm_campaign=Future%20Publishing%20Ltd_162949 how would this be? Should I be looking specifically for a GTX or is rtx good also? I'm specifically wanting to be able to do work on it too which I failed to mention before and someone listed this as good at multitasking. I don't play Sims all the time like most I'll go a day playing a few hours then might not play for a few days but when I do play I use all expansions and packs 

@bellalala93  The one you linked has an Nvidia 1650, as opposed to the 1660 ti in most of the laptops I linked.  A 1660 ti is 40-50% faster for gaming than a 1650, and your budget can accomodate one easily, so why not go for the extra power?  So I'd skip the one you linked and go with something else.

For multitasking in general, all you really need is 16 GB memory, since the processor in any new gaming laptop will be strong enough to handle a number of tasks simultaneously.  And you can upgrade the RAM in any gaming laptop easily enough, so it's not a big deal to get a model with 8 GB, especially if it has everything else you want and is a lot cheaper than the alternatives.  If you're planning on doing graphic design or something else demanding though, the equation changes.

Do you get discounts for anything from PC World, or just Dells and Acers?  I did look at Currys too, but the options I saw weren't as good for the price as on other sites.  On the other hand, a big discount makes it worth a second look, and there are definitely some laptops worth considering there.  Please let me know whether it has to be a Dell or Acer though.

Acers are generally fine but not as highly rated as other gaming laptops, although there are exceptions, and some Acers have benefits like excellent battery life that may matter to you.  Dell makes quality products but is not as highly rated on application and gaming performance when you consider the strength of the internal components.  On the other hand, if you're getting a 1660 ti, you won't need its power to be maxed out, or even close, so shaving a couple percentage points of performance off the top may not matter at all to you.

And what do you want to know about desktops?  What I said about laptops and multitasking applies to them too, although there are also non-gaming desktops where other hardware needs to be considered.