Will this PC run TS4 & TS3?

• @pxelskies  Both of these computers would be more than fine for Sims 3 and 4, and they'd run Tropico 6 and The Humankind Odyssey too, although the 1650 Super might not run the latter on high or ultra graphics settings.  (I'd need to do more reading to figure that out, but it's pretty clear the game would run fine.)  I personally think that 200€ is a very reasonable price to pay to upgrade from a 1650 Super to a 3060, and if you're thinking you might like to play other demanding games in the future, I'd say it's definitely worth the money.

As for storage, you can fit several large games on a 500 GB drive.  For your needs, I'd actually prefer a single 500 GB solid state drive to a combo 256 GB SSD/1 TB HDD because in the latter case, you'd need to install probably two of those four games on the HDD, and the slower load times might become annoying.  It would definitely be a large difference for Sims 3, not so much for Sims 4, but then you could also move games back and forth if necessary, so it's not a dealbreaker.

It's also quite easy to add another drive to a desktop computer, so if you find that the model you've bought doesn't have enough storage, or its storage isn't fast enough for your taste, you could upgrade for 60-100€, depending on sale prices and what exactly you wanted to add.

If you'd like to see other options, I can take a look around.  I don't really know much about the market in the Netherlands though, so it would help if you listed other sites you'd be willing to use.  If you're only looking at this one, I think you picked the two best options out of what's currently available.

For Sims 3 store content, you may or may not be able to transfer it to your new computer.  You can definitely try; it's just that because of how store content is encrypted, it doesn't always work when moved to a new computer.  This is what you'd want to transfer, all in Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3:

• The files in DCCacbe that end in .ebc (the .dbc files are custom content)
• The ccmerged.package file from DCBackup
• The contents of Library (saved store venues, but also households and builds you've saved yourself or downloaded)
• The contents of InstalledWorlds (any world you've installed yourself)

If you move over all the content and your store items don't show, then you're unfortunately stuck reinstalling everything.  I'd suggest making a backup copy of the Sims 3 folder once you have the store stuff installed, so that if you ever have an issue with that content, you don't have to reinstall from scratch yet again.

By the way, I wouldn't have known from your writing skills that English wasn't your first language.

Thank you so much for your reply @puzzlezaddict!

Although it wouldn't be much of a problem to me if I can't play Tropico 6 and The Humankind Odyssey on high or ultra settings, I'm definitely leaning towards the 3060 one right now.  It wouldn't be much of a problem to me to install Tropico 6 and The Humankind Odyssey on the HDD as I would probably play those less frequently. Or I could always move them back and forth if necessary as you mentioned. And it's good to know that the upgrading storage is an option too. 

Thank you for having a look at the other offers at this site as well! It would be amazing if you could take a look around, but the only two other sites I can think of that are reliable for sure are bol.com and mediamarkt.nl and neither of those sites have the option to change the language to English unfortunately. So I'm not really sure if that's an option.

I did find this pc on one of those other sites and as far as I can see, it's basically the same as the other HP one but with 512GB SSD instead? It has 16 GB ram, AMD Ryzen 5 and a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060. Would that be a better option? 

I'm so glad to hear that it might be possible to transfer my Sims 3 store content! I'm definitely going to give it a try and I'll make sure to make a backup copy as well. 

Again, thanks for your help (and for letting me know that my writing skills are fine!). I really appreciate it 🙂 

@pxelskies  Yes, the new computer you linked is exactly the same as the first computer, as far as any of the documentation says anyway, except for the storage.  Personally, I'd much prefer to get a system with a single 500 GB SSD and upgrade later—it's easier to add the second drive of your choice rather than dealing with a small SSD and swapping games to the HDD as necessary.  And you might find you don't actually need the space.

I also personally would get a computer with a 3060 if it's within your budget.  Even if you don't need to play your other games on high or ultra settings, it's certainly nice to be able to do so, and you never know what you might want to play a couple years down the line.  But if you're still thinking of a cheaper system, thes are good options:

https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/jb-high-end-gaming-pc/9300000089608492/?bltgh=rO-wqP8CkIfeiqEWhwdOTg.nLoMgJTecVgG6MGp3NlO8g_0_16.20.ProductTitle

https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/game-pc-redux-gamer-entry-i200-r26-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2060-intel-core-i5-10400f-16gb-ram-ssd/9300000083442472/?bltgh=rO-wqP8CkIfeiqEWhwdOTg.nLoMgJTecVgG6MGp3NlO8g_0_16.33.ProductTitle

Its 1660 is significantly faster than a 1650 (of any kind), and the build quality is better too.  The 2060 is even faster than that, although it's not nearly as fast as a 3060.  The processor isn't as good as the 5600G, but it'll still be more than fine for the games you want to play.

Lenovo does make decent gaming desktops, but HP Pavilions are not great in quality.  That's not to say that the computer wouldn't work, but it would probably run hot and not perform up to the standards of its hardware.  (As a point of reference, when reviewers run benchmarks, systems like the HP might lag behind the expected performance of their components by 5-10% but still do significantly better than the best computer with the next-lower tier of hardware.)  These computers are also harder to upgrade down the line.  Adding more storage or RAM is still easy, but these manufacturers often use custom motherboards, CPU coolers, and power supplies that are almost impossible to replace.

I'm not trying to discourage you from buying the HP, and in fact it should still be a very good computer for what you want to do.  But it's worth considering a prebuilt option from a custom-build shop instead.  These use the same components as you'd buy if you were building yourself, and the parts are higher quality and totally standard, making upgrades a lot simpler.

Unfortunately, the cheapest desktop on bol.com with a decent processor is actually more expensive than the HP:

https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/intel-i5-11400-rgb-game-pc-streaming-computer-rtx-3060-12gb-960gb-ssd-16gb-ram-rev100/9300000033019037/?bltgh=rO-wqP8CkIfeiqEWhwdOTg.nSmNgc4Kn4UhfX-e9-1MpA_0_16.31.ProductTitle

But it's possible that one of these shops would swap out a processor or graphics card for you if you asked.  And I don't know how reliable any of these companies are, but it's standard to offer a 2-3 warranty on parts and labor, plus the components themselves are under warranty from their manufacturers.  So you'd still be covered if something happened.

If you do want a prebuilt computer from an OEM company, Lenovo's Legion desktops are among the best options.  This one is also more expensive than the HP, but it has a more expensive processor too:

https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/lenovo-legion-t5-amd-ryzen-7-16gb-512gb-nvidia-rtx-3060-windows-11-home/9300000040429821/?bltgh=rO-wqP8CkIfeiqEWhwdOTg.nSmNgc4Kn4UhfX-e9-1MpA_0_16.27.ProductTitle

So it wouldn't surprise me if you could find a Legion with a 5600G or 5600X for 100€ cheaper.  (I didn't see one on the sites you linked; I'm just saying it might be out there.)

Again though, this is more about whether you want to get that extra 5% out of your computer, and whether you'd like the option to upgrade it down the line.  The HP with the 3060, either one, should run Sims 3 and 4 beautifully without any issues at all.  So if you'd rather stick with one of those, you'll be fine.

Thank you for all the information @puzzlezaddict! You've given me a lot to think about. 

I was definitely leaning, but I had no idea that HP Pavilions don't have the best quality.  I've looked at some prebuilt options from a custom-build shops but I got a little overwhelmed by all of the choices, to be honest, which is why I'm tempted to just buy the HP. I was only able to find one cheaper Lenovo Legion option on a different site, but that site gets mixed reviews so I'm a little wary of it to be honest. Bol.com is definitely a reliable site, but they sell all kinds of things and not just pcs and laptops, kind of like amazon. So I'm not sure if it'd be possible to ask them to swap out any of the components. 

I think RAM and storage would be the only things I'd consider updating, to be honest, so if that would be the main concern and my games would still run significantly better than on one of the cheaper options, the HP would still be an option for me. But after your comment, it sounds like the extra €150 that the Lenovo and the other one with a decent processor (the i5 + 3060 RGB one) would definitely be worth it.

So between the Lenovo and the other one, I think that the Lenovo would be the best deal? It seems like I'd be choosing between a better processor (unless I'm mistaken and the Ryzen 7 isn't better than the i5) or more storage, and it would be much easier to just upgrade my storage at some point if needed.

@puzzlezaddict Ah, sorry, I misunderstood what you meant about bol.com. But that makes sense! I'll see if upgrading components is an option if I contact one of those shops directly. Thanks for the tip! 

I think I prefer a prebuild simply because my knowledge of computers is very limited haha, but I can definitely see why you'd prefer a custom build. I think I'm going to call one or two of the shops and if that doesn't work out, I'm probably going for the Legion. Thank you so much for the offer to look at the shops' offerings for me, though, and for your help and advice in general. You helped me a lot and I really appreciate it! 🙂