Buying a Desktop or Laptop for The Sims 3

[MerryGold]

I always steer people away from Alienware and Dell. You're paying for the name more than the parts.

If you're in the USA, I'd go with Axiom's suggestions. Otherwise I would recommend www.scan.co.uk and www.pcspecialist.co.uk if you're UK based.

If you find anything you like, feel free to link it and we can advise.

Thanks. I'm in the USA. I've had a Dell pc years ago and I have no complaints. I do get sticker shock when looking at the alienware though.

[MerryGold]

I used to advise against Alienware, but I'm finding more or less now that their laptops can't be beat by any other brand - they put more memory and graphics into it and you just can't find that from many other companies. If someone is hesitant to not get a name they don't recognize, I would recommend Alienware to them. It's just hard to find the kind of power they put in those laptops anywhere else. I wouldn't recommend a desktop from them, but if someone was insistent that they have a *laptop* to play games on, I would say that's a good exception to the no alienware rule (I usually just say don't do it unless you know what you're getting into).

Yeah, that's a shame. I definitely don't want a laptop for Sims play. Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world still looking at deskstops.  Thanks for the input.

[Flynn Arrowstarr]

Yeah, that's a shame. I definitely don't want a laptop for Sims play. Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world still looking at deskstops.  Thanks for the input.

Hi, MerryGold.

You're not alone. MrsFlynn and I both have desktops for playing Sims. We do have laptops that can (sort of) play the game, but we definitely play the majority of the time on the desktops.

We built our own systems from the ground up (we did have some of the parts from our previous systems such as video cards and Windows licenses) and we didn't need monitors. We spent about $2,200 total for both sets of parts. The closest pre-built system I could find at the time was nearly $1,600 per system with not as much power behind it (3rd gen. Core i5 in the pre-built vs. 4 gen. Core i7 in the custom build, for example). Systems are easier to build than they used to be, but if you're not confident working on them, definitely go for a pre-built system.

Axiom has a good suggestion in the iBuyPower and CyberPower systems. If you need some help customizing, let us know and we can suggest a few. It can be confusing at first, but once you get more comfortable, you can come up with some fun configurations.

Flynn

[Flynn Arrowstarr]

I thought I would give you guys this website if you're going to build your own computer:
http://pcpartpicker.com/

For example, this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bgnkjX

I am considering it right now, but I lack the know how.

For sheer fun I decided to see what a computer made with an unlimited budget would look like and how expensive it would be:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/F4kkjX - I'm surprised... That's about as much as a new car right there.

Nice workstation. I wouldn't use it for Sims though. Server grade processors don't have the gaming/media extensions needed for games. Great for CAD or CGI rendering (paired with a workstation grade graphics card, that is) though.

Pair down the specs a bit, buy a dozen and you'd have the beginnings of a nice render farm, heh.

Flynn

[wolfy]

i'm not very good with computers but i'm planning to buy a new one for the sims 4, but, this is the most i can afford http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/desktop-pc-monitors/desktop-pcs/gaming-pcs/cyberpower-empire-elite-gaming-pc-21831981-pdt.html#longDesc

And i was wondering if it would run The Sims 3 and all the packs, etc. because i'm sure if it can run them it'll also be able to run the sims 4.

[KhaineGB]

I actually find PC Specialist to be quite good on the gaming laptop front. The downside is you kinda need a little PC knowledge, or you need to call them, since you can pick your own parts to customize the laptop. I always recommend them over Alienware to people... same with Scan as they're doing their own brand, decent gaming laptops these days (which shocked me!).

Flynn, you'd be surprised! I've seen good benchmarks from Xeon CPU's. Not as good as a Core i7 Extreme (and to be fair, if you can buy a Xeon, you can get one of those beauties), but very, very close. I've always said, if I win the lottery, I'm building a twin Xeon computer for rendering and gaming.

Wolfy, that will probably do the job. The CPU is ok, the RAM is more than sufficient and the graphics card is a mid-range dedicated one. It should, in theory, be faster than my laptop, and I can run The Sims 3 with all expansions with no problems. There is a little slow down after several hours, so I have to reboot, but that computer has a slightly better CPU, a better graphics card and more RAM.

[wolfy]

thank you man! i'm just hoping it'll run The Sims 4 good as well! haven't got the money for anything more.

[KhaineGB]

Well EA and Maxis claim that The Sims 4 will be easier to run than The Sims 3. If that's the case, you should be fine.

I should warn you that you may need to upgrade the graphics card at some point in the future. Maybe 2-3 years down the line? So bear that in mind, and if you can put aside a small amount each month, you'll be able to pick up whatever the mid-range is in 2-3 years and carry on playing.

[Lisa46]

Hi, I was wondering if there are any Mac laptops that will run well with sims 3. Mine get too laggy... Any help?

[KhaineGB]

Unless you NEED a Mac for something, I'd honestly recommend a PC instead. You'll get a better spec for your money.

Having said that, looking on the actual apple page, I can only see one macbook that has specs good enough for Sims 3, and it's around £2199 (I think that's about $3000 in US). That's obviously the newest models, so maybe something second hand would work better?

[Lisa46]

No other macs work for sims? I have a five year old Mac laptop and it runs pretty well, it's just getting old.

[KhaineGB]

All the others have Intel integrated graphics cards, which I personally wouldn't even try and run the game on.

The only one I could find with a dedicated graphics card (nVidia 750M) is the most expensive.

[LivvieLove]

No other macs work for sims? I have a five year old Mac laptop and it runs pretty well, it's just getting old.

It will have to be a Macbook Pro (the air won't have enough power). What's your budget for your laptop Lisa? I'll do my best to find you a Mac that will work for you, so long as you're willing to look at older models.

Unfortunately, when my boyfriend and I scan through Apple, we're only seeing laptops that are lacking graphics cards (or have Intel Integrated cards, which don't have very favorable specs when it comes to gaming - ESPECIALLY with the sims).
We'll keep looking though, does the laptop have to be new, or would you be ok with an older version of a mac (that wasn't too old, it seems that some of the newer ones have less-decent gameplay specs).

Anyways, short and simple: Give us your budget, and we'll do our best, but Macs are expensive and a laptop Mac may not have the requirements to run the Sims 3 smoothly. Also, what expansions do you play? Certain Macs do meet the requirements for the base game (minimum requirements) but if you have more expansions then that you may run into trouble. Sorry, he's looking as I'm typing so it may sound sporadic as I type.

[KhaineGB]

If it helps, apparently the Intel Iris graphics card apparently isn't -quite- as bad as I thought it was.

I would still very strongly recommend against it and urge you to get a PC-based laptop instead, unless you absolutely need a Mac for something. The performance you will get for the price will be a LOT better.

That Mac I mentioned earlier retailing for about $3K? I can buy a PC-based laptop for that price that will absolutely THRASH my desktop system... and my desktop isn't bad.

[LivvieLove]

If it helps, apparently the Intel Iris graphics card apparently isn't -quite- as bad as I thought it was.

I would still very strongly recommend against it and urge you to get a PC-based laptop instead, unless you absolutely need a Mac for something. The performance you will get for the price will be a LOT better.

That Mac I mentioned earlier retailing for about $3K? I can buy a PC-based laptop for that price that will absolutely THRASH my desktop system... and my desktop isn't bad.

LOL! I think we're looking at the exact same pages, that was the exact thing my boyfriend just came to as a conclusion just "the Iris is a lot better than normal, but it's still not very good."
"the only one that could work is this Nvidia card, but it's not a laptop, and it's pretty expensive."
"Are you sure they want a mac for this?"

Anyways, Lisa, it's not looking good for Macs, unless MrFlynn can spot something I'm missing, no new macs seem to be up to par to play sims, which doesn't make me feel very confident about older macs. Would you be willing to look at a windows computer/laptop? Give us the specs you're looking for and your budget and I know I could find you a windows computer with that in your budget (so long as it's within reason, 32 gigs of ram does not come at the pricetag of a $500 computer). I'm less sure about finding that in a Mac though.