Gaming Laptop Info Needed

[Kronos]

Hello. I've been coming here for a while now getting information on various aspects of The Sims. I've been slimming it out on a console and finding myself more and more perturbed by the lack of quality. In addition, recent 'advances' in console gaming have led me to decide to leave console gaming for computer gaming.

Having never dabbled in computer gaming I'm at a loss on what kind of system I would need. What is a decent gaming laptop? What should I be looking for? And what would the damage to my wallet be?

I thank any in advance for the help and feel free to gloat about the newest convert. 

[Seabody]

Depends on how good you want it to be. A great gaming computer could very easily cost you thousands of dollars. An ideal setup would be Alienware, with a liquid coolant, but that's a bit over the top for Sims.

For Sims, I would consider an Intel, Radeon or Nvidia graphics card (not sure about that, I'm not very hardware-oriented), with 1TB of memory and a Solid State Drive, with at least 8GB RAM.

Based on things I've heard, if at all possible, avoid Windows 8, it's not very gamer friendly. Stick to Windows 7, or a Mac. Other operating systems such as Linux are not supported by Sims, if I recall correctly.

There is a thread here called Ultimate Computer Specs, which should give you a decent indication of the sort of thing you want.

I have a laptop better suited to work-type stuff mostly (ie, Word Processing, Spreadsheets, etc), but it runs Sims fairly well with a Radeon graphics card and an Intel Pentium processor. It's an HP Pavilion g6.

[Kronos]

I'm thinking I wouldn't need a seriously beefy system. I usually stick to RPGs and simulation games. Games that are fun but don't require multiplayer.

I've looked at the ultimate spec and it featured a link to another site that may have had at one time something that could help. I did pick up there that alienware is prettying much a name now.

Thousands? Hmm...a tad worse than I had hoped but not altogether unexpected.

The information on looking for is which laptop would be a decent gaming computer. I don't really know much about the internal components like cores and whatnot. I wouldn't know the differences in two cores at all.

[Flynn Arrowstarr]

Hi, Kronos.

You can pick up a decent gaming/entertainment laptop for around $800 if you look around. Sites like NewEgg have decent deals. You want to look for a few things:

• Dedicated (sometimes called discreet) graphics memory. Best to look for 1 GB or 2 GB.
• 500 GB hard drive or more. The more space, the better. Some laptops have solid state drives, but I find that the sub-$1,000 laptops don't usually have solid state drives, or have very small solid state drives.
• 8 GB system memory minimum.
• A screen you can view comfortably.

In spite of the grousing on the Internet, Windows 8 is not bad for gaming. I regularly play several games in Windows 8 from casual to 3D RPGs. In some cases the games run slightly faster in Windows 8 than in Windows 7.

Hope this helps and happy Simming.

Flynn

[Kronos]

Okay. Let's see here. 1-2 gig dedicated memory graphics card, 500 gig -1000 gig solid state drive, 8 gigs RAM, and windows 7.    Sounds confusing. Definitely going to have to write it down. I'm guessing manufacturer is personal preference?

[Seabody]

Yes. There are some major gaming companies, such as Alienware, but other than that, it really is up to you to decide.

[MrsFlynn]

Hi Kronos,

Here's what to note:  1-2 gigs dedicated memory graphics card. 500 GB to 1TB hard drive. Solid state drives are too expensive still at high capacity. 8 GB RAM and either Window 7 or 8. Windows 7 maybe difficult to get as Windows 8 is more common and less expensive.

And yes, computer manufacturer is personal preference.

Hope this helps,

Mrs Flynn
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Okay. Let's see here. 1-2 gig dedicated memory graphics card, 500 gig -1000 gig solid state drive, 8 gigs RAM, and windows 7.    Sounds confusing. Definitely going to have to write it down. I'm guessing manufacturer is personal preference?

[Kronos]

That's all I need to know? Awesome. Thank you MrsFlynn, Flynn, and Doctor Seabody. You've been a big help to an ignorant guy like myself. I'll bear all of this in mind when I start looking.