Buying a Desktop or Laptop for The Sims 3

[Lisa46]

I recently tried playing sims on my cousins' MacBook air. She has Ambitions and a few other expansions as well as 2 SPs and some CC, but it ran super smoothly. Even Islo Paradiso ran ok! So, if any one out there likes macs, they do work.

[KhaineGB]

Sounds like the GPU's built into the new macbooks aren't too bad after all then.

I will still -always- recommended a dedicated nVidia or AMD card over an Intel built-in one... and to be honest, unless you ABSOLUTELY NEED a laptop, you should always look at getting a desktop instead.

You just get better performance for your money. No question.

[snowtop01]

Hello just found this forum yesterday I'm looking for a good backup laptop to play the sims can you please tell me if any of these are any good.

Inspiron 15 3000 Series
Processor: 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4510U processor (4M Cache, up to 3.1 GHz)
RAM: 8GB Single Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (4GBx2).
Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® 840M 2GB DDR3L
Hard Drive: 1TB 5400 rpm SATA Hard Drive
Display: 15.6 inch LED Backlit Display with Truelife and HD resolution (1366 x 768)

HP Pavilion TouchSmart 15-n016tx Notebook PC
Processor Intel® Core™ i7-4500U (1.8 GHz, 4 MB cache, 2 cores)
Memory, standard 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 (1 x 8 GB)
Hard drive 1 TB 5400 rpm SATA
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M (2 GB GDDR3 dedicated)

Lenovo
CPU   Intel® Core™ i5-3230M Processor (2.60 GHz, 3MB Cache, 1600MHz)
Memory   8GB DDR3 (2 DIMM Slots)
Display   15.6" LCD Display (1366 x 768)
Graphics   GT740M 2G

Asus X550LA
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 4500U Processor
Memory 8gb DDR3L 1600 MHz SDRAM
Graphic NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 820M 2GB DDR3 VRAM
Storage 1TB HDD 5400

[KhaineGB]

I'd go for the Inspiron or the Lenovo.

They both have dual core CPU's with a minimum of 2ghz, which is what sims 3 wants. I'd be slightly tempted by the Inspiron because it has an nVidia 840 rather than 740 (newer card, so it will perform better), but the Lenovo has a faster CPU.

What's the price difference between the two?

[snowtop01]

Thanks KhaineGB

The Inspiron is about 999 AUD but I think I could get it for around 850
Lenovo is 799 AUD

So not much difference

I was leaning more towards the Inspiron as it has 1tb hard drive while the Lenovo has 500gb not sure how much difference that makes.

[KhaineGB]

I think the Inspiron has a better turbo speed, so yeah... probably go for that

[snowtop01]

Thanks KhaineGB I ordered after I saw your reply

[MissMarvel16]

I was looking to buy a lenovo flex 2 15.6 inch

These are the system specs

Windows 8.1 operating system
Intel ®Core™ i5 4210U processor
8Gb RAM
1Tb hard drive
Ports: 1 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0
Audio combo jack (headphone and mic)
HDMI-out
4-in-1 (SD / SDHC / SDXC / MMC) card reader
Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n
Wi-Fi
15.6 inch FHD IPS touchscreen (1366 x 768)
Stereo speakers with Dolby Advanced Audio
2Gb Nvidia dedicated graphics (GT 820 discrete)

Do you think it will run sims 3/4

[KhaineGB]

1.7ghz... you -might- struggle with sims 3 (it recommends 2ghz, but the turbo feature might help there). Graphics card is not great, but good enough.

Sims 4 has a REALLY low requirements list, the laptop should run it fine.

[MissMarvel16]

They do a slightly better version which is

Intel® Core™ i7 4510U processor
8Gb RAM
1Tb hard drive
Ports: 1 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0
Audio combo jack (headphone and mic)
HDMI-out
4-in-1 (SD / SDHC / SDXC / MMC) card reader
Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n
Wi-Fi
15.6 inch FHD IPS touchscreen (1366 x 768)
Stereo speakers with Dolby Advanced Audio
2Gb Nvidia dedicated graphics (GT 840 discrete)

It is £100 more expensive so I don't know if it's worth it,

How much roughly would you say a laptop good enough for he sims 3/4 would cost? Do you have any laptop recommendations

Thank you

I've also just seen another


Intel® Core™ i7 processor
12Gb RAM
1TB hard drive
8Gb SSD storage
Windows 8.1 operating system
15.6 HD display (1366x768) 16:9 widescreen
USB 2.0; 2x USB 3.0; 6-in1 card reader; HDMI
HD 720P webcam
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth 4.0
NVIDIA GT755m 2Gb dedicated graphics
Lenovo Y510P 15.6 inch laptop - Metal

This is £300 more than the first :/

[KhaineGB]

The i7 will be a much better CPU for it, and the first laptop will be a good choice if you want to save money.

Also, I just got an e-mail from Dabs. This looks like a nice spec laptop for the price, and you can get £25 off it.

http://www.dabs.com/products/toshiba-satellite-pro-c50-a-1k9-15-6---intel-core-i5-3230m-2-6ghz--6gb-500gb-nvidia-740m-2gb--win8-1-9D6K.html?utm_source=Retention%20email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email270714&utm_content=CE00

The second laptop you mentioned is the best. It has the fastest CPU (and it's quad core), a TON of RAM and the best graphics card of the lot. But it honestly depends how much you want to spend.

[msreid113]

just purchased new computer for sims 4...i wanted to know if it was a good choice

4th gen i5 processor(3mb cache 1.7 GHz speed w/ turbo boost 2.7 GHZ)
1TB serial ATA lll hard drive(5400 rpm)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 840A(2 GB dedicated memory)
8GB Memory DDR3
Windows 8
64-bit

[KhaineGB]

If the system requirements are to be believed, you should be fine

[Naria]

Hey guys. Been reading this forum for a while but just registered to ask you guys your help. Right now I have a Samsung laptop with an Intel i3 core and 2.10 GHz, 4GB of RAM and the terrible integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics card. Unfortunately, I also have a slimline Gateway desktop that isn't much better, it just has 6GB of RAM instead. And of course, the case is too small for an upgraded graphics card and fan. I really, really lost out on my last two computers so I don't want to do it again.

Right now I am looking at this laptop: http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/satellite/P50/P50-BBT2G22

It has an Intel i7 core, 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon R9 M265X graphics, 12GB of RAM 1600MHz, and a 500GB hard drive.

I know a little about computers but would never assume I know enough. LOL. And for the record, I have all Sims 3 expansions, all store content, and custom content that comes to a whoppin' 7.87GB. Yes, I know. I can't live without it. I am also going to buy Sims 4.

Right now when I try to play Sims 3, on all the lowest settings possible, it takes my CPU up to sometimes even 90% and goes way over 3GB of my RAM. Yikes. It's unplayable, to say the very least.

So my main question is, please help, is this Toshiba going to be good for me? It looks super wonderful, but I need someone more tech savvy to give some opinions.

Thanks a bunch.

[KhaineGB]

It will be fine.

And you aren't going to like hearing this, but if you want to cut down on your RAM usage, you HAVE to get rid some of that CC. That's what's making the game run like crap. My laptop is a lower spec than that and I can run it on high as I've limited my CC.

EDIT: Cut the RAM down to 8GB. You won't need more than that for Sims 3 and Sims 4. You can always swap it out for a couple of 8GB sticks much later if you need it, but you really shouldn't.

...or not... since doing so apparently costs money. O.o Never mind! If they're giving you 12GB for cheaper, take it!