Buying a Desktop or Laptop for The Sims 3

[Flynn Arrowstarr]

Flynn,

Thanks so much for your help. I really do want to get the most for my money and a laptop that will run Sims 3 well, as I don't plan buy Sims 4 for a while. I'm a little worried about making sure it uses the Nvidia graphics card. I'm not really good with the technical stuff!

I found this  one and it's $850.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-gp60-leopard-010-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-black/5185157.p?id=1219113400428&skuId=5185157

Is it better? Is it worth the extra $150 or not?

Thanks in advance, and here's the details:

4th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-4200M processor
Features a 3MB cache and 2.5GHz processor speed with Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz.
Intel® Core™ i5 processor
Features smart 4-way processing performance with a speed boost.
Intel® Turbo Boost Technology
Delivers extra performance when you need it and increased energy efficiency when you don't.
8GB DDR3L memory
For multitasking power.
Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive
Lets you create custom DVDs and CDs.
15.6" LCD display
Presents your favorite media in stunning clarity.
750GB Serial ATA hard drive
Offers ample room to store pictures, videos, music and other important files.
NVIDIA GeForce GT 840M graphics
Feature 2GB of dedicated DDR3 video memory for lush images.
Built-in high-definition webcam
Makes it easy to video chat with family and friends in 720p resolution.
2 USB 3.0 and 2 USB 2.0 ports
For fast digital video, audio and data transfer.
Built-in high-speed wireless LAN (802.11ac)
Allows you to connect to the Internet without wires.
Bluetooth interface
Lets you link with other Bluetooth-enabled devices, such as a cell phone or MP3 player.
Built-in Killer Qualcomm E2200 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN
With RJ-45 connector for quick and simple wired Web access.
Weighs 6 lbs. and measures just 1.3" thin
For portable power.
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit operating system preinstalled
Provides a stable platform for word processing, Web navigation, gaming, media storage and more.

Hi, Amber.

This is about the same as the previous laptop, but with a slightly newer video card. It should also play The Sims 3 well with medium graphics settings. As to whether it's worth the extra cost or not? From what I've seen online there's really not much difference between the GT 820M and the GT 840M graphics chips. They preform just about equal in benchmarking tests. However, it does look like this model is in stock, while the $700 model you linked to may not. Call Best Buy before ordering to confirm availability before ordering.

Hope this helps and happy Simming!

Flynn

[amberj365]

The $700 model did sell out before I could purchase it. (I already had it in my cart from the previous night. Logged back in and got a sold out message.) So I purchased the $850 one. I could not find anything else comparable... so, I decided to go for it.

Thanks for your help! My new laptop should be here Tuesday!

[Jamie]

How does this desktop look for mainly playing the Sims 3? I play with all expansions, a few stuff packs, and some store content but not a ton.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypower-desktop-intel-core-i5-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive/5574058.p?id=1219143550894&skuId=5574058&st=categoryid$abcat0501000&cp=1&lp=4

I'd love to be able to play on high settings if possible. Would this computer be okay for that? I'm not interested in Sims 4 because I don't really like it so I probably won't even install that on this computer. Thanks for any help anyone can give me!

[MrsFlynn]

Hi Jamie,

Yes that computer will do just fine. It has a good processor and good graphics card. And should play Sims 3 on High settings without to many problems.

Hope this helps,

MrsFlynn

[falloutboi]

Hi, falloutboi.

When recommending a system that will play Sims 3 and all the trimmings and on high settings, I tend to aim for higher than what's listed on the box. The Sims 3 is a very resource hungry game and the more you add to the game through expansion and stuff packs, store content and other things raises the amount of memory, processor power and such. If I were to boil it down to specific recommended settings it would probably look something like:

• Intel or AMD 2.5 GHz dual-core processor
• nVidia or AMD Radeon gaming graphics card with 1 GB GDDR5 memory
• 8 GB memory as most every system has 64-bit Windows now

The rest of the system doesn't matter as much as most have decent sized hard drives and most desktops include a DVD drive.

Laptops are a little different as they tend to fall into about four different categories:

• Gaming
• Entertainment
• Professional/Business
• Ultrabook (light and thin laptops)

Each have different types of hardware, but for the most part we can rule out most entertainment, professional and Ultrabooks from being able to run the game well. High-end entertainment and mid-range gaming laptops are best for playing on a budget, but you may end up spending around $1000 - $1500 USD in order to get something that will play the game well on high settings.

The Sims 4 is less resource hungry and can play well at high settings on laptops running in the $600 - $1000 USD range, but there are some things to look out for.

If you have questions about a specific laptop, post a link and we'll take a look.

Hope this helps and happy Simming!

Flynn

Well my laptop was around £400, so roughly around $600 odd. Here's a link to it from the HP store -http://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=K4D83EA&opt=ABU&sel=PCNB . Let me know what you think, if it can handle that amount of games or if I should not bother getting all (or any of) them. Or even if theres a part that could get upgraded if needed. Thanks

[MrsFlynn]

We can't see the link? It maybe possible to do a search online for your laptop if we have the model number.

MrsFlynn

[falloutboi]

It's still not a hyperlink, but I edited the post and the link's there now.

[Flynn Arrowstarr]

Hi, falloutboi.

The laptop is pretty nice - similar to the laptops MrsFlynn and I have but with slightly newer parts. Having said that, there are some things you'll want to know before running The Sims 3 on it. One is the graphics card. It's a newer version of the graphics card in our Acers. From what I've found online it even performs about as well as ours (we have the Radeon 8750M with 2 GB). The game will run fairly well on medium graphics settings, with some severe framerate drops when you're Sim is traveling by taxi or car around the neighborhood. Using the FPS cheat in TS3, we found the game ran mostly at 40 - 50 fps, but dropped to around 10 fps during travel.

The other thing I've found is that the game can load extremely slow. While the main game (launcher to main menu) wasn't too bad, one game I loaded took nearly five minutes to load. Bear in mind I had all of the expansion/stuff packs installed and all of the store content, so that was definitely a factor in the loading time. I haven't tried installing the game since we purchased solid state drives for it, but I will try it this weekend if I get the chance. MrsFlynn has just the base game installed for building and it doesn't seem to take too long to load, so there is that.

The processor is slower than ours (we have a 2.5 GHz A10-5757M) so that may cause a little slower performance than what we saw. But it's hard to tell for sure.

I think my final suggestion would be to get the base game (or one of the Deluxe packs that come with one expansion) and try out the game's performance. If it's acceptable, then add on any others you find interesting. Other suggestions include getting a solid state drive to improve loading times, and consider upgrading the memory. I suggest the latter as Sims 3 was patched to use 4 GB of memory instead of 2 GB, so it will try to take as much available memory as it can. With graphics and Windows also taking memory, it can cause swapping on 8 GB systems. On a desktop, it's not always noticeable, but it will be on a laptop.

Otherwise, it should play quite well at medium settings.

Hope this helps and happy Simming!

Flynn

[falloutboi]

Thanks for the advice! The game runs pretty good with 2 eps on high settings with occasional lag, but I did just realise that the setting were on high so I'll change the setting up and i think i'll be able to run a few more ep's I'd like.

[SimRoy]

hey guys it me again
i still didn't make my decision.
Is the alienware 13 able to run sims 3 with all eps and sps on high wih minimal lag and also sims 4 with future eps and sps on high and also minecraft???
these are the specs:
Intel® Core™ i5-4210U Processor (Dual-Core, 3MB Cache, up to 2.7GHz w/ Intel® Turbo Boost)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 860M with 2GB GDDR5
8GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz (2x 4GB)
4 Cell 52W Hour Battery

[Flynn Arrowstarr]

hey guys it me again
i still didn't make my decision.
Is the alienware 13 able to run sims 3 with all eps and sps on high wih minimal lag and also sims 4 with future eps and sps on high and also minecraft???
these are the specs:
Intel® Core™ i5-4210U Processor (Dual-Core, 3MB Cache, up to 2.7GHz w/ Intel® Turbo Boost)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 860M with 2GB GDDR5
8GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz (2x 4GB)
4 Cell 52W Hour Battery

Hi, SimRoy.

In looking at this laptop's specifications, it looks pretty good, except for the processor. It is considered an Ultrabook or Ultra Low Voltage processor (as noted by the U suffix on the processor model). The other issue is the base speed of the processor is just below the minimum needed for The Sims 3 and The Sims 4. The computer should have little problem playing Minecraft though.

What you may want to do is see if there's a similar model with a Core i5 processor ending with an M, MX, or MQ suffix. They are more expensive models, but will usually have base clock speeds above the minimum needed to play Sims 3 and Sims 4. Also, make sure you have a decent cooling mat when playing any games on the system as games will cause the system to run hotter due to the stress on the processor and graphics chip.

Hope this helps and happy Simming!

Flynn

[danwragg1]

Hello, I have just joined this site and I am looking for a desktop which will run sims 3 and all expansions and maybe stuff pack without any lagging or crashes. I am from the UK if thats any help:D I dont know if this is the right place to post this topic.

I was looking at this desktop.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fierce-PC-Computer-Integrated-Operating/dp/B00MPRFQWI/ref=sr_1_6?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1417022458&sr=1-6

[MrsFlynn]

Hi Danwragg1,

Pair it with a graphics card such as http://www.amazon.co.uk/EVGA-Cooling-1189MHz-1268MHz-Graphics/dp/B00IGQ4UAG/ and it should be just fine.

Please note that no matter how high end your computer maybe, you may run into a small amount of lag and other problems due Sims 3's game engine. That's just the nature of the beast.

I hope this helps, and welcome to the forum

MrsFlynn

[danwragg1]

I have all the expansions and I will be wanting custom content, im just on a really tight budget and didnt know if it would be alright on high settings.

[Jamie]

I asked a couple of weeks ago about this desktop:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypower-desktop-intel-core-i5-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive/5574058.p?id=1219143550894&skuId=5574058&st=categoryid$abcat0501000&cp=1&lp=4

but now I'm wondering if it would still work well with all expansions, some stuff packs, and a lot of store content and mods?

Edit: Just realized this one is out of stock. I'll look for another similar one hopefully around/not too much over $1000.