@puzzlezaddictSo, I just checked for the type of hard drive, and it's a hard disk drive. The computer was purchased in 2016. It has only been about 5 years.
I usually don't do multi-tasking or have multiple windows while playing The Sims 4. It's usually The Sims 4 that is open. But, if I open the Task Manager, I can find a long list of background processes and apps.
Lag usually comes from the game engine trying to reroute stuck sims, or from similarly endless loops,
I think part of the reason why the Sims 2 runs more smoothly is that the game does not reroute stuck Sims. If Sims can't get to the destination, they will just stop what they are doing, and they may do something else instead. Also, it's a closed world, not open world, so all pathways are located on the lot. As long as the lot is all routable, it's fine.
@waterywatermelon I didn't mean that your computer was extremely old, just that at the time it was assembled (the processor is six years old, which gives me a ballpark), it wasn't common to include a large SSD, especially for a lower-end or mid-range system. SSDs were quite expensive even a few years ago. Now though, you could get one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G3KGYZQ
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YD579WM
or the higher-end option:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089C73T72
stick it in a drive bay, plug in two cables, and have much faster loading times. I don't know whether your motherboard has an M.2 slot—some of its generation do, some don't—but if it does, you could instead install an NVMe SSD in that slot, without plugging in anything else, and get even faster read and write speeds.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086BGWNY8
https://www.newegg.com/western-digital-blue-sn550-nvme-500gb/p/N82E16820250134
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1437035-REG/intel_ssdpeknw010t8x1_660p_1tb_ssd_pci.html
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YFFX5MD
I'm not saying you need to, exactly, but having an SSD is a significant quality of life upgrade, particularly if you take the time to reinstall Windows on the SSD, which is simple to do.
And again, you could upgrade the GPU if you wanted, and perhaps relatively cheaply if you're willing to buy a used product on Ebay or have a friend who's upgrading to a brand-new card and would sell you their old one.
None of this addresses the fact that Sims 4 will run slowly sometimes. It just means that the slowdowns are not as dramatic or as frequent, and of course that you could use higher settings.
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