Re: What computer is best for the Sims 4 including packs, mods, and cc?

Hello, I have the same question. My spending limit would be 1,00 and I am looking for a laptop that would be good for playing sims. 

@2exgobitrf4o  I take it that's a thousand, not a hundred, but what currency is it in?  Prices vary somewhat from one region to the next, and inventory varies more widely than that.

Additionally, do you have any other requirements or preferences for this laptop, for example screen size or weight?  If not, that makes it simple; if so, just list what you want and I'll try to work with it.

Hi I was just wondering if you could help me pick a desktop PC to play the sims 4 on. I am from Australia and was hoping to keep my budget below $1500 (this includes a monitor and pc tower). I only need the pc to run the sims 4 (including mods and cc), to do university work, and store photos and videos. I dont need anything to flash, as i Just currently play on a 2015 macbook air. I just want the game to not take so long to load, and have a good graphics and not to much lag. 

@MillieRW  For $1,500 AUD, you can get a PC that will run all current Sims 4 content on ultra graphics settings with some room to spare.  I found a number of options that are very similar, with all of them being in the same general performance category: graphics cards capable of ultra settings, processors that can more than keep up with the GPUs, 16 GB RAM (not critical but great to have), and at least 500 GB storage.  Any of the ones below is a great option, so if you like one better than the others for subjective reasons, go ahead and get it.

Having said that, this is the best option in terms of price and performance, with an AMD graphics card that's a little faster than the Nvidia card in most of the other options:

https://www.mwave.com.au/product/mwave-katana-gt-gaming-pc-amd-ryzen-5-radeon-rx-6600-ac69195

Other good and reasonably-cheap options:

https://www.centrecom.com.au/karuza-taurus-v3-core-i5-12400f-rx-6600-gaming-pc

https://www.umart.com.au/product/g3-core-ryzen-5-5500-geforce-rtx-3050-gaming-pc-55484-74136

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/lenovo-5i-gaming-desktop-core-i5-16-512gb-rtx3050-lnt100daau

https://www.umart.com.au/product/g3-core-intel-i3-13100f-geforce-rtx-3050-gaming-pc-55433-68454

https://www.centrecom.com.au/karuza-altair-core-i5-12400f-rtx-3050-gaming-pc

The first one has the same slightly faster graphics card.  The second one's processor is a bit slower than the others, but still more than good enough, and it's also cheaper.  But you should be happy with any of them, so just pick whatever you like.

For the monitor, there are far too many good options to list that still fit in your budget.  So to start with, what do you think of this one?

https://www.mwave.com.au/product/msi-pro-mp243x-238-100hz-full-hd-1ms-spk-eye-care-ips-business-monitor-ac61546

It has an IPS panel, the highest quality in terms of color and viewing angle; a 100 Hz refresh rate, which will look and feel smoother than the standard 60 or 75 Hz; a 300-nit brightness that's usable in a reasonably well-lit room; and the standard 1920x1080 resolution that's within the abilities of the graphics cards in the computers I listed.  It's not necessarily the best option out there, but it's significantly cheaper than anything equivalent on any of the websites I've checked.

If you don't like it, that's totally fine; the point is to let me know what it is about this monitor that doesn't work for you so I can find something that fits your needs better.  That will drive the price up, from what I can see, but there are still lots of sub-$200 options, and at least a few of them should match your preferences.

Hey thanks so much for the help. The monitor looks great. Just for some comparison was wondering if you could suggest some pcs for under $1000. As I would only be playing the sims 4 I don’t want to be spending more then I need and not use all the functions it can provide.

@MillieRW  This is the only gaming PC I found for under $1,000:

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/lenovo-ideacentre-gaming-5i-desktop-core-i5-8-512gb-gtx1650-leicgm5ii5

Its GTX 1650 Super is a downgrade from the RTX 3050 or RX 6600 in the other options, but it's still capable of running Sims 4 on ultra settings.  It also only has 8 GB RAM, but upgrading that should only cost $30-40 if you do it yourself, and it may not be necessary for a couple of years.  I could list options for $1,000, but the ones I saw have the standard 1650, not the Super, so they're a downgrade in that respect. Between that and how much of an upgrade the ~$1,100 options are, I'd suggest you not bother with those options at all.

The thing is, there aren't many gaming PCs available right now that are exactly as good as Sims 4 needs to run on ultra settings.  The GTX 1650 (regular or Super) is a few years old, and its replacement, the RTX 3050, almost two years old now, is significantly faster.  On the AMD side, the low-end RX 6400 is, frankly, a bad product, and fortunately not commonly found; AMD hasn't released the entry-level GPU in its current 7000-series yet.  And its older 5000-series cards are pretty much gone everywhere.  So between dwindling stock of the older models and the newer ones being faster than Sims 4 needs, you're not going to see very much that's just enough for the game but not much more.

Would you be able to help me out? i’m preferably looking for a PC (not very educated on all the parts i need to buy separately and what not). I’m in the UK and i’m not entirely sure what my budget would be. I’m looking for the cheapest one that would run it perfectly. like perfect graphics, no lag etc. but without being overkill because the sims 4 is literally the only thing i would be using it for. for reference i have almost every pack and quite a lot of CC if that’s helpful.

@taylorandnova  Do you want a laptop or desktop?  In the category of "cheapest option that can run Sims 4 on ultra settings," which is somewhere around £800 +/- £100 depending on current sales, you're better off buying a prebuilt desktop rather than building your own, although I could help with either.  And of course laptops are all prebuilt in this price range.  You might also decide to go one tier higher than the absolute minimum for ultra settings, depending on whether you want to build in some leeway to accommodate future expansions or high poly custom content or Reshade or whatever else you decide to add to the game.

If you're ready to buy now, let me know whether you want a laptop or desktop and your preferred budget.  If you're not ready to buy now, I can list some hardware to consider.  But there's not much point in recommending specific computers because inventory will likely have changed, and prices definitely will, by the time you make your purchase.

Hi, I’m currently looking for a laptop to play sims 4 and school. I have been trying to do some research but it’s been really confusing so I was hoping to find some help here. My pricing is around $600 and I live in the states.

please and thank you 😊 

@lanilamb8  Do you want a gaming laptop, or specifically a non-gaming laptop, or do you not care?  Are there any other details that matter here, for example screen size?  Whatever the answer, I'd be happy to find some good options for you.

I’m open to both options I just don’t want anything to big. If possible I would like the screen size to be no bigger than 13 inches. Thank you!

@lanilamb8  I checked about eight different sites and didn't find any 13" laptops that I'd want to recommend.  That's not a surprise for gaming laptops—these mostly come with 15.6" screens and up, and the smaller ones are significantly more expensive due to how difficult it is to cool gaming hardware in a smaller chassis.  I was a bit surprised to find only one decent non-gaming option smaller than 14", with less storage than is ideal, but perhaps the market has shifted in the last few months.

If 14" is small enough for you, there are plenty of options that could run Sims 4 on medium-high to high graphics settings, although some are clearly better than others.  This is the best option I found in terms of price and performance, on sale for $510:

https://www.newegg.com/classic-black-msi-modern-14-c7m-048us-work-business/p/N82E16834156444

These two have the same graphics chip, one that's a bit slower (5-10%, on average) than the chip in the MSI but still reasonably good.  The second one has a higher-resolution screen, which may not help with Sims 4—you might have to turn down the in-game resolution to help the game run better—but would be nice for general use.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-plus-14-wide-ultra-xga-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-7540u-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-tranquil-pink/6550235.p?skuId=6550235

https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-pavilion-plus-laptop-14-ey0047nr

The graphics chip in this laptop is a little faster than the one in the MSI, and the screen is also a higher resolution as with the second HP model above.  It's very light too, at 2.75 lbs, as opposed to the just over 3 of the HP models and 3.75 of the MSI.

https://store.acer.com/en-us/swift-3-laptop-sf314-512-78jg

This is the only 13" model I found with a similar processor and graphics chip; they're the same CPU and iGPU as in the other two HP models.  But this laptop only has 256 GB storage.  That's more than enough for Sims 4, which is currently 60 GB with all packs installed, and some saves and custom content.  But if you're a cc hoarder, or for that matter if you're going to be working on large multimedia school projects, that might not be sufficient.

https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-pavilion-aero-laptop-13-be2047nr

When searching for non-gaming laptops, I only looked at models with 16 GB RAM because it's becoming more and more important these days for Sims 4, especially when the laptop doesn't have a dedicated graphics card with its own video memory.  You could get away with 8 GB if you were careful and didn't multitask, and some non-gaming laptops have upgradable memory.  So let me know if it's important enough to have a 13" screen to downgrade to less memory and you're not interested in the option above with 256 GB storage.  I'll look again and see what else I can find.

For comparison's sake, these are the cheapest gaming laptops I'm seeing at the moment, both 15" and heavier than the ones above.  They're essentially the same except for the first one having a slightly older processor and the second having a full terabyte of storage.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/3777161331

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-thin-gf63-15-6-144hz-fhd-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i5-12450h-with-8gb-memory-rtx-2050-1tb-ssd/6559443.p?skuId=6559443

If you have more questions, please feel free to ask.

@puzzlezaddict Hi Kat here from New Zealand, would a iMac Desktop be good for sims and if not what pc would you recommend under 1000$ NZD ?

@MissKitty0013  Whether a given iMac is good for Sims 4 depends entirely on its specs.  So feel free to list them.

As for a sub-$1,000 Windows PC, please link the retailers where you'd be comfortable shopping.  I don't know anything about the New Zealand market, and I don't want to suggest computers from sketchy sites or anything you might not be able or willing to use.