Some advice please

@SianAF148  On your current laptop, one thing that may help with loading times is disabling the pop-up that lists your mods and custom content at the Main Menu.  I've read that it makes a significant difference for at least some players.  It's also worth checking your free storage to make sure you have enough: 20 GB is the minimum for Windows feature updates, but 12-15 should at least ensure this isn't contributing to the problem.  And don't run any other programs while you play, since they'll take resources your laptop really needs for Sims 4.

It's also possible that some other system issue is contributing to the issue, so feel free to post a dxdiag if you'd like me to take a look.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

But the truth is, this laptop is never going to run Sims 4 well.  I'd expect low-medium settings would be the best it could do, even with nothing else running in the background, and your custom content might make even that a stretch, depending on the poly count of the cc items.  Some of this depends on playstyle too, for example having more sims in the household or more items on the lot could make the game grind to a halt.

As for a new laptop, all you need these days in order to run Sims 4 on ultra settings, all packs included, is a new-ish dedicated graphics card that isn't part of the Nvidia MX series.  I'd avoid the Intel Arc cards for now because they've had issues with Sims 4 in the recent past and I wouldn't trust that those issues are resolved.  But an Nvidia RTX 1600-series or higher,  or an AMD RX 6000-series, would be sufficient.  I'd go with an RTX 3050 over a GTX 1650 though: prices are almost the same, and the 3050 is maybe 30% faster in gaming.

The processors that accompany these are all more than able to keep up with the graphics cards because GPUs are more expensive, relative to performance.  So no laptop manufacturer wants to sell a unit with a card that's held back by an underpowered CPU.  8 GB RAM is enough for Sims 4, although 16 GB is nice to have for other reasons.  On the other hand, almost any gaming laptop will let you upgrade the memory, and it's usually very easy and currently quite cheap.  (The exceptions are ultralight specialty models, but these almost always come with at least 16 GB anyway.)  So don't cross off an 8 GB model if you like everything else about it.  For storage, 256 GB is enough, but 512 GB is convenient to have, and storage upgrades can be simple or complicated, depending on the individual laptop.

Gaming laptops usually start around $700 U.S., with prices being slightly to somewhat higher elsewhere.  Upgrading to the next tier of graphics card can add another $200-300 to the price, as can getting a lightweight model.  I don't think it's worth going past an RTX 3060 or RX 6700M for Sims 4: the game can't really take advantage of high-end graphics cards.  If you're looking for particular features, you might need to pay a little extra as well, but certainly not in the multiple thousands.

If you'd like some suggestions, just let me know your budget and country.  Or if you'd prefer to do your own shopping, feel free to link the options you're considering for a second opinion.

I've been looking at laptops not specified for gaming but also some gaming ones too. Since I'm not always playing games. and have a limited scope of interest. I'm not sure if I want to go in on a gaming laptop as its features might go wasted when I'm not fixated on playing a game all day for weeks. I don't really know what my budget is, but lets say I want to avoid spending anymore than around £700 ($870 ish in dollars)

This is a hp laptop that isn't specific to gaming https://www.hp.com/gb-en/shop/product.aspx?id=6P0V0EA&opt=ABU&sel=NTB

Having a small amount of knowledge in computer specs, the storage and ryzen processor are just ones I randomly picked. I'm open to change on that. Am I right in saying this one is kind of small though?

And on this link, https://www.currys.co.uk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops if you rank it price low to high, the first 3 laptops are ones I've also looked at. But again I don't want to get something overpowered if my commonly played games don't require that much power. I don't work much due to personal reasons so that means I don't earn much either, so I don't want to go too crazy on cost.

I've done a bit of fine tuning with my CC folder. I tend to over organise things and so there was a lot of folders, and I've heard that having lots of sub folders can take up power when loading and playing the game. I've condensed CC into fewer folders and merged files. Turning off other apps whilst playing is something I used to do but forgot, so I've done that again. Playing the game seemed to be a lot less painful in terms of lag, but I haven't played the family I'm most concerned about, which is a huge farmhouse with lots of objects both inside and out, along with 5 sims, a cat, multiple chickens, and a llama. Other families in the save are halfway through Uni terms and I don't want to ruin their progress by leaving them unattended.

https://www.hp.com/gb-en/shop/product.aspx?id=4H2B9EA&opt=ABU&sel=NTB this too, either processor

@SianAF148  All of these are good options in their respective categories.  For the last one, definitely get the Ryzen 5 rather than the weaker 3; the latter comes with a slower graphics chip that's still fine for Sims 4, but there's an obvious difference.  Plus, switching to the 3 and 8 GB RAM, which go together, only saves you £20 over the much more powerful first option.

For the gaming laptops, I'd go with this one among the cheapest options:

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/hp-victus-15fb0504na-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-rx-6500m-512-gb-ssd-10246170.html

Its graphics card is faster and the laptop has a better build quality overall, although the others are fine.  It should also run a little cooler than the Acer due to its AMD processor; the Lenovo has the same CPU.

Since the HP with 16 GB RAM is the same price as the gaming laptop, I'd personally go with the gaming laptop.  But then I don't care about size or weight (my everyday laptop has a 16" screen and weighs 4.8 lbs, and it's fine for me), but I do care about performance, now and in the future.  My priorities aren't yours, so I can't tell you what's best for you.  I will say that if you're worried about the size of the 14" laptop, you might want to go to a physical store that has some models on display and see what you think of the screen size.  It could be totally fine for you, or it could feel cramped; there's no way to tell without seeing for yourself.

Finally, I want to say that performance isn't only about gaming.  Other applications get more demanding too, and while everyday apps are never going to be as intensive as even a moderately-demanding game, they can start to feel sluggish on a lower-end laptop after a few years.  That's less of a concern if you're just browsing the web and working with text documents, but even light photo or video editing can bog down on older or slower hardware.

My current screen size is 15.6" I think and I already have a bad habit of getting too close to the screen to see smaller details so if possible I want something of the same size or bigger. Is there a list somewhere which ranks the power of processors and graphics cards I should look for? I'm assuming parts with bigger numbers are newer and better but when it comes to comparing two brands together I have no idea what is better.

This is the site I got my current laptop from https://www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer/cat/Laptops/subcat/AMD-Laptops

and the one I bought is no longer available. 

I've saved the other ones you suggested.as well

@SianAF148  There are lots of comparison sites, but they're not necessarily completely accurate, and conversely, some give way too much information to be useful.  This is also complicated by the fact that a given laptop's design and manufacturer settings can have a significant impact on performance for various reasons.  This is more complicated than I want to get into, but in general terms, the manufacturer tunes power draw and clock speed targets to match temperature and other targets.  You wouldn't see a major loss in performance, at least in your price range, but minor ones definitely happen.

But in general, yes, higher numbers are better.  Both Nvidia and AMD use the first digit to designate the generation, with each generation being somewhat faster than the previous one.  AMD's second digit and Nvidia's third designate the rank within the generation.  As I mentioned, the 3050 is maybe 30% faster than the 1650 in gaming, but the 1660 ti is faster than the 3050 even though it's older.

The AMD RX 6500M might be 10% slower than an Nvidia RTX 3050 and 20% faster than a GTX 1650.  But there's a lot of variation from one game to the next, much more when comparing AMD to Nvidia than when staying with one brand.  I don't have data for Sims 4 itself, but I'd still go with a 6500M over a 1650: I haven't seen any evidence of the game running unusually slowly on AMD cards, and the GPU really is faster.

In your price range, you're not really going to see other options for a dedicated graphics card.  A 6600M would be significantly faster than a 3050 and basically on par with a 3060, but laptops with those mostly cost £900 and up.

For integrated graphics chips, the key is the processor, with each CPU having a specific iGPU built into it.  Here again, AMD uses the first number to designate the generation and the second to designate rank, e.g. the 5500U is the newer version of the 4500U, and the 5700U is faster than the 5500U.  But not all improvements are meaningful: the 5500U and 5625U have the same graphics chip, and both processors are more than fast enough for Sims 4, so there's no effective difference between them as far as the game is concerned.

The 1650 is still twice as fast as the graphics chip in the 5700U, so you're really looking at two completely different categories of laptop.

Thanks for you help. I'll have to look into it a bit more in detail because these numbers still don't mean too much to me but thank you for naming a few things for me to look out for.