Buying a Desktop or Laptop for The Sims 3

[sims96fan]

Thanks for the tip, I checked Amazon in the US and it's also available for $95, the same price given the current exchange rate.

I was hesitant to look into hybrids though because if one part fails, I didn't want to have to replace the whole drive instead of just the SSD for the OS and applications or the HDD for data.

I know it's bad to have a lot of write-cycles on SSDs, but other than fast boot times for Windows, isn't the benefit of using an SSD from having the game files also on the SSD so those will load more quickly?

EDIT: Maybe they haven't been around long enough for people to know in practice, but has anyone seen or heard of an SSD failing due to its natural write-cycle lifespan being over sooner than a mechanical HDD dies?  My mechanical HDDs all lasted 3-4 years at the max before breaking.

I guess my goal is if I have to replace either after a few years, I'm fine with that, but while they're functional, I want the fastest load times possible for the actual games.  I don't really care whether it takes 2 minutes or 10 seconds for Windows to boot, but sitting around and watching grass grow while the Sims 3 screens load while traveling, editing, or saving is something for which I've come close to having zero patience.

[KhaineGB]

Yep, they do. My first SSD died just outside of it's 1 year warranty due to write cycles.

Most have a 3 year warranty now, so it's less of an issue. The technology is also light-years ahead of when I got my SSD in 2010, so it might be less of an issue these days. Having the game files on the SSD will help a LOT. If you like, I can run some tests for you on my laptop. It'll be an SSD vs a 1TB 5200RPM drive though, but might help you make a decision at least.

[sims96fan]

Ouch!  May I ask how long you had your first SSD before it died?  Also, if a SSD dies due to write cycles, is it still readable so you can retrieve your data?

If you don't mind running tests, I'd love to know how they compare.  I don't have a ton of time to play the Sims 3 these days, but what time I do have I would prefer to spend actually playing and not waiting.   My problem in the past was also that I would often forget to save for long periods because saving took so long, which inevitably led to game crashes and loss of progress...

May I also ask what model or brand of SSD you have now?  Thanks again for your help and feedback!  It's much appreciated.

EDIT: I can't read, I see from your post above that your first SSD lasted a little over a year. 

[KhaineGB]

Alright. I'll copy my Sims 3 directory over after I've had some sleep and see if I can record video of it loading to get accurate times.

Mine was completely dead. Windows detected it as a 0MB drive. No idea if a professional could get the data off it (thankfully it was JUST windows and apps, so I didn't care).

This is the SSD I have now, except it was on sale when I got it, so it was about £20 cheaper. Had it for about 3 months and I love it! Windows boots in about 30 seconds absolute max (that's from turned off to desktop).

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120gb-kingston-ssdnow-v300-25-slim-7mm-ssd-sata-6gb-s-mlc-flash-read-450mb-s-write-450mb-s-85000-iop

[sims96fan]

Sorry if this is too completely off-topic, but after some more Googling, it seems that you're right, the dead SSD is just dead.

http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4178/10/hardwareinfo-tests-lifespan-of-samsung-ssd-840-250gb-tlc-ssd-updated-with-final-conclusion-final-update-20-6-2013

"The problem is that eventually, the unpowered data retention time of the flash chips gets very short (less than a day) and if you power off the SSD and then try to power it on and read it, it will fail to even be detected by the computer."

However, the good news is that current day SSDs have much longer lifespans so consumers shouldn't have to worry about usage or a drive dying within a couple of years.   Obviously there can still be circuitry failures, viruses, etc. that can damage a drive so you should still back up a SSD regularly as with HDDs, but I'm not so worried now about them not lasting as long as a HDD.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6459/samsung-ssd-840-testing-the-endurance-of-tlc-nand

[KhaineGB]

I cheated. I only use the SSD for apps and windows, no data.

So I reinstalled windows, did all my updates and then used the Windows Recovery feature to burn off a set of system restore discs. So now I can just pop those in if I need to nuke the HDD.

Just copying ARMA 2 off my SSD so I can put Sims 3 on there and do some tests.

[georgia]

hi, I was wondering if anyone could recommended any good laptops for playing the sims 3 and all expansions, stuff packs etc. At the moment I have a dell inspiron N5040 which is really old and not at all good for sims 3. I did happen to find a laptop that seemed to have good specs with a much better graphics card here:

http://www.tesco.com/direct/toshiba-satellite-c50d-156-amd-a4-8gb-1tb-black-laptop/577-5608.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=577-5608

but I wasn't sure if it would run the game well? If anyone could recommend any good laptops for sims 3 as well as college I would really appreciate it as I'm not good with the specs haha. My budget would be around £400

[KhaineGB]

My concern with that laptop is the processor speed, and AMD don't perform very well for games in complete honesty.

Budget of £400? I'll see what I can find for you.

[KhaineGB]

This one is better.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/laptops/laptops/toshiba-satellite-c55d-a-15h-15-6-laptop-white-22074677-pdt.html

It has a faster CPU (2ghz vs 1.5) and a proper, dedicated graphics card with it's own memory. That will perform better for running The Sims 3, and it should stream HD video nicely if you like watching things such as netflix. The CPU in the laptop I linked, and the one you found, are both Quad Core, so that's good. Both laptops have 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD's and run Windows 8.1.

So the only difference is the one I found has a better CPU, better graphics card, but is £50 more expensive.

[KhaineGB]

Ok, quick and dirty load time tests for sims96fan.

Sims 3 + all expansions + all stuff packs + a majority of store content from 2009-2012 (yes, I have spent far too much money on this game). Mods: No intro, No-CD.

1TB 5200rpm drive: From clicking the icon to loading all the way into my save game? Approx 10 mins.
120GB SSD: From clicking the icon to loading all the way into my save game? Approx 6 mins.

Save games were on the same drive as the actual game. So the SSD had the game + save + store content + mods, and the 1TB drive had the same when I test it.

I hope that helps.

[sims96fan]

Thanks, KhaineGB, that helps a lot.   My desktop arrives on Friday and I grabbed the 250GB Samsung 840 EVO drive for $135, so I hope everything works out.  I can't wait to see how it runs and will update everyone once I get everything set up.  I've always had this dream of instant click and load like you see in those EA demo videos when they debut new store content, but I hope this gets closer to it. 

[KhaineGB]

I am going to test this later myself...

But I think your best option would be to have Store content/worlds/saves on one HDD, and the game on another. I'm going to try with Sims 3 running off the SSD, and purchased content/saves running off the 1TB. I think sharing the load between both might help the load times a bit, especially when my Sims 3 documents folder is 20gb... O.o

[georgia]

Thank you, KhaineGB:) Yeah I realized that the one I had found has a lower processing speed and that was why I wasn't so sure about it, so thank you for finding one with a better one and graphics card too:)

[Danielle Haydis]

Hi there.

My mom just brought home a second-hand laptop from an auction and I was wondering if I should swap my old laptop for this new one. I'm satisfied with the one I have now; it can play Sims 3 with all EP's at decent settings but I wouldn't mind playing with better graphics. 

Specs of the new laptop:
HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU       Q 720  @ 1.60GHz (8 CPUs), ~1.6GHz
8192MB RAM
AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series

[LivvieLove]

Hi there.

My mom just brought home a second-hand laptop from an auction and I was wondering if I should swap my old laptop for this new one. I'm satisfied with the one I have now; it can play Sims 3 with all EP's at decent settings but I wouldn't mind playing with better graphics. 

Specs of the new laptop:
HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU       Q 720  @ 1.60GHz (8 CPUs), ~1.6GHz
8192MB RAM
AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series

Well, processor seems ok, the i7's tend to run better than i5's, the processing power concerns me, but it's nothing that's super important, it seems good for the type of computer it's fitting.
8 gigs of ram is good.
The graphics card? Eh... not so good, two reasons for it: 1. It fell below the minimum requirements rating via Passmark (I looked up the minimum graphics standards on PassMark, and they all tend to fall between 800-900 points there, your card got a low 760 something) which is a big red flag and 2) it's an AMD, which when I say it fell below the recommended specs, this means it will be even LOWER than expected. NVidia makes cards for gamers, AMD tends to make cards for movie/photo editing and other things like that. AMD prides themselves on lower power requirements, so they don't tend to have enough "umph" to play games on higher settings. Here's an example. My boyfriend had the top of the line card when he bought his computer (four years ago), and since then, it's dropped significantly. I got my computer two years ago, and my card was still considered a "Top ranking card." He had NVidia, and I had an AMD. His card played the Sims better than mine ever even could. He had less problems with lag, crashing, and fewer graphics issues. Even though my card was "supposed" to rank 10x his... his still whooped mine because NVidia is BUILT with Gamers in mind, AMD is not.

Would you mind posting your specs of your other laptop? Normally I would tell you to ignore this one if you were thinking of purchasing, but seeing as you wish to know if this computer will play your Sims better than your old laptop, it would be nice to know what we're comparing it to, because who knows, this laptop could be much better for the Sims.