Will TS3 break my laptop? «12...Next Go

MangAnimeJe

Hi there,

@rosemow suggested I post my laptop's info on here to see whether or not TS3 could damage my computer. Any help?

Here's my laptop's info:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-5020U CPU @ 2.20GHz
Manufacturer Intel
Speed 2.2 GHz
Number of Cores 2

RAM 4.0 GB

Video Card Intel(R) HD Graphics 5500
Dedicated Memory 128 MB
Total Memory 3.0 GB
Pixel Shader Version 5.0
Vertex Shader Version 5.0
Hardware T & L Yes

Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 (build 15063), 64-bit


My laptop is a Lenovo ideapad 100-15IBD.

phoebebebe13

That laptop is not designed to run 3D games. It's below requirements to run the game. This goes for both the sims 3 and 4. You generate more heat while gaming and that laptop is not designed to withstand the heat gaming will generate. Heat can do damage to any computer. Even if you can get by running the game , yes this game does have the potential to damage or shorten the lifespan of your laptop. Something worth reading http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Your_Computer_is_Like_a_Car

The sims 2 does not have requirements like the sims 3 and 4. You may be able to run the sims 2 without stressing out your laptop

MangAnimeJe

Funnily enough, I have Sims 2, 3 and 4 installed on my laptop, and the only one that gives me issues like heating and so on is Sims 3. Not even Sims 4.

phoebebebe13

Your hardware still does not meet requirements to run the sims 3 and 4. As I explained just because it can run does not mean you should run it. Yes it can shorten the life of the laptop because your laptop is not designed to run games like the sims 3 and 4. If you force a computer to play games it was not designed to run you are putting stress on your hardware. Heat will make it worse but heat is not the only factor/ You asked if it can ruin your laptop and the answer is still yes.

MangAnimeJe

Alright. Any suggestions on what kind of computer (not laptop) I could buy in order to run them? As long as it doesn't exceed 1k euros, I should be fine with it.

phoebebebe13

what country are you in? Euros does not tell me much

igazor

At the risk of staring an argument (it's okay, I like arguments on Fridays), I'd like to offer a slightly different opinion on the current laptop. I would play TS3 on that if I hadn't any other. But base game plus the earliest four EPs or so, on medium to low on Graphics settings only, and using a cooling pad. I'm not seeing where number of EPs or which ones were mentioned. Yes, it's under requirements and there will be limits as to how far one can push things -- processor not quite strong enough, RAM is tight, no dedicated graphics card. A very long running ongoing game in larger worlds, the heavier hitting EPs (Pets, Seasons especially but also IP and ITF), higher graphics settings so things look nicer, would all be out of the question or pushing things too hard. Different players will have different experiences on that class of laptops, but yes one always does run the risk of shortening its lifespan by pushing too much onto it and likely have to constantly be aware of its limitations depending on one's style of play. It will also likely never be an ideal experience compared to what one could have if better hardware is within reach.

Am no expert on TS4 by any means, but I thought it would be around the same thing -- the heavier of the EPs (or any of them, possibly) would likely be too much of a load for the game to carry properly on that one.

I am positive that @phoebebebe13 can help find you a better machine to sim on.

Disclaimer: I don't really like arguing on Fridays. Just thought that sounded good as I was typing it out for some reason.

phoebebebe13

@igazor no arguments here however they are getting heat issues with TS3 which will be far more damaging than just stressing out hardware. Stressing out hardware may take a while before the signs start to show. They did put out that article your computer is like a car for a reason. If your playing 3d games you should have a computer that is designed to run those 3d games to avoid ruining a computer that is not designed to run those 3d games. If that laptop becomes damaged it will be a throw away computer far sooner than it should. Average life span of a laptop is 5 years but that can be shortened if the laptop is being put under stress

igazor

Guess this isn't much of an argument then ( ), as we are essentially saying the same things. Except that I still think a scaled down TS3 experience, again just a couple of the lighter EPs and manage expectations on performance, play in a small world, reduce load on the game as much as possible, shouldn't necessarily damage things. Whether it would even be fun for the OP to play that way though might be another story.

I now see from their other posts that they are already getting too long startup times (although 10 minutes was mentioned, which really isn't too long for TS3 in many cases) and incessant lag, so that might answer the lousy experience and how far are they pushing things and would like to push questions already.

Jordutch

I thought a pc/laptop/whatever it is shut down itself when It is too hot? Mine laptop did that before when I played GTA 5 with closed laptop screen. It became too hot when I closed it because I play with an extern display So now I need my laptopscreen open when I play such games as GTA 5 and TS3. Otherwise, bam it will shut down because of the heat.

igazor

Olliecreations wrote: »

I thought a pc/laptop/whatever it is shut down itself when It is too hot? Mine laptop did that before when I played GTA 5 with closed laptop screen. It became too hot when I closed it because I play with an extern display So now I need my laptopscreen open when I play such games as GTA 5 and TS3. Otherwise, bam it will shut down because of the heat.

A computer, especially a laptop, will shut down abruptly in emergency heat conditions -- this is meant to happen when extreme internal overheating occurs to help prevent a physical meltdown of its components. That isn't meant to mitigate wear and tear, that's to stop it from exploding and/or catching fire. Usually meltdowns aren't quite that dramatic, but these things do happen otherwise and the result is the same, the device becomes useless for anything.

That doesn't mean routinely running a program under a load that is making the computer run hotter than it should because it's just not made to be doing that, but still stays under the internal emergency shutoff temperature, isn't going to take years off of the lifespan of the device because in most cases it will. Internal fans running on high (annoying though those are to hear) will help dissipate heat, as will a cooling pad. But an overworked device is still, I'm afraid, just that.

phoebebebe13

Olliecreations wrote: »

I thought a pc/laptop/whatever it is shut down itself when It is too hot? Mine laptop did that before when I played GTA 5 with closed laptop screen. It became too hot when I closed it because I play with an extern display So now I need my laptopscreen open when I play such games as GTA 5 and TS3. Otherwise, bam it will shut down because of the heat.

When you game a 3d game it pushes the hardware you are using. If you have the proper computer to run the game, even though the game is pushing the hardware , that hardware is designed to take that kind of demand.

Laptops hardware is much weaker than desktop hardware overall. ALL PC gaming requirements are for desktop not laptop. If you are going to game on a laptop , you need to have a higher end gaming laptop that is designed to play 3d games . These laptops have the proper hardware to take the abuse to run 3d games. They will also have much better cooling than a general use laptop.

You can get heat damage without your computer completely shutting down. If your computer is shutting down or your getting allot of generated heat you maybe pushing your computer to do something it's not designed to do. If you have a gaming computer and it's shutting down , hardware maybe failing , the laptop may need to be professionally cleaned of dust. thermal paste added etc.

The sims 3 and GTA V were not designed to run on non gaming laptops. GTA V is even more powerful than the sims 3

MangAnimeJe

I'm sorry for the late answer! Anyways, to answer your question, I live in Germany.
As for my startup times, it can last from 10 minutes to even an hour, depending on which world I want to play in and so on. I have every expansion pack and stuff pack besides Outdoor stuff, so there's that.

phoebebebe13

MangAnimeJe wrote: »

I'm sorry for the late answer! Anyways, to answer your question, I live in Germany.
As for my startup times, it can last from 10 minutes to even an hour, depending on which world I want to play in and so on. I have every expansion pack and stuff pack besides Outdoor stuff, so there's that.

Do you know of any websites in Germany that sell computers? I found a few but they are custom and over your budget. If wanting to go custom you would need to speak to use @chesterbigbird who is a build expert but she is on holiday until next week

MangAnimeJe

phoebebebe13 wrote: »

Do you know of any websites in Germany that sell computers? I found a few but they are custom and over your budget. If wanting to go custom you would need to speak to use @chesterbigbird who is a build expert but she is on holiday until next week

Mediamarkt sells computers, for instance. That's the one I'm familiar with, as for others... not sure.

phoebebebe13

http://www.mediamarkt.de/de/product/_medion-erazer®-p4704-d-2223663.html

This would be perfect for the sims. It also comes with a 500 gb ssd plus a 2tb hdd hard drive. The sims 3 loads so much quicker on ssd . Even your larger saves should load in 5 minutes or less

MangAnimeJe

Alright thank you! I'll consider it and then see.

phoebebebe13

Your very welcome. If you need further help just ask

Bessieboo

Hi
I have a Acer Aspire and was wondering what my limits were. I have nightlife and showtime eps and a couple of stuff packs and am not having any issues right now. I would really like to get world adventures and generations but don't know if I would be pushing it.

It has 4GB memory and 1000 GB HDD, that's all the information I have, sorry if its a bit vague.

Any advice would appreciated.

phoebebebe13

Bessieboo wrote: »

Hi
I have a Acer Aspire and was wondering what my limits were. I have nightlife and showtime eps and a couple of stuff packs and am not having any issues right now. I would really like to get world adventures and generations but don't know if I would be pushing it.

It has 4GB memory and 1000 GB HDD, that's all the information I have, sorry if its a bit vague.

Any advice would appreciated.

posting your DxDiag would be a good idea or if you have your actual Acer Aspier model number. We need to know your processor and video card too. having only 4gb ram is pushing it especially if you have windows 10 and possible integrated processor video card. As your saves get larger you will probably run into game error code 12 which is not having enough memory to run the game.

How to post a dxdiag https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

Hawkflight1066

I use Acer Aspire notebooks. My old one was Vista with 3GB RAM and a not very big hard drive. It was terrible at Sims 3. Lag, freeze, crash, all the time. And I could just about cram in two EPs. Now I have an Acer Aspire with 16GB of RAM and a nice big hard drive that I've barely scratched. Game runs perfectly - well what passes for perfectly with Sims 3 + loads of NRAAS assistance. BUT I killed the notebook in 11 months flat. Blew the graphics chip, and as it was integrated I had to have a new motherboard. And that was with using a powered cooling pad. I lost everything on the machine. My solution? Back up regularly and INSURE YOUR PC. Every time Sims 3 breaks any of my notebooks it gets fixed for free by PC World. No problemo. They probably hate me a lot. I have destroyed a hard drive, broken the boot file, worn out a few keyboards, and generally I should get a desktop but I prefer the convenience of a notebook every time. Sims 3 and notebooks really isn't a great combination.

rras1994

> @Hawkflight1066 said:
> I use Acer Aspire notebooks. My old one was Vista with 3GB RAM and a not very big hard drive. It was terrible at Sims 3. Lag, freeze, crash, all the time. And I could just about cram in two EPs. Now I have an Acer Aspire with 16GB of RAM and a nice big hard drive that I've barely scratched. Game runs perfectly - well what passes for perfectly with Sims 3 + loads of NRAAS assistance. BUT I killed the notebook in 11 months flat. Blew the graphics chip, and as it was integrated I had to have a new motherboard. And that was with using a powered cooling pad. I lost everything on the machine. My solution? Back up regularly and INSURE YOUR PC. Every time Sims 3 breaks any of my notebooks it gets fixed for free by PC World. No problemo. They probably hate me a lot. I have destroyed a hard drive, broken the boot file, worn out a few keyboards, and generally I should get a desktop but I prefer the convenience of a notebook every time. Sims 3 and notebooks really isn't a great combination.

You cannot game on a machine with an integrated graphics card. A dedicated graphics card is required. Integrated Graphics Cards are designed for pretty much only watching videos. It is not PC World's or Acers fault that you wrecked the laptop; you were using it for use it was not designed for. It's under requirements for the Sims 3. You can get laptops that are designed for gaming use (though desktops do have better components - that's just what happens when you don't have to design with the compromise of limited space and weight), yours just wasn't. Next time you buy a laptop/desktop make sure you check out the requirements for the games you want to play. And at least get something with a dedicated graphics card: at least then if you push it to hard your machine doesn't become a vary expensive paperweight

igazor

@Hawkflight1066 - Acer Aspire covers a very wide range of models. The lower end, super lightweight portables, and the mid-range ones, are not suitable for graphics intensive gaming. The upper end ones, and of course they are much more expensive, come with stronger processors and dedicated graphics cards. Although they wouldn't be my first choices, some of them are up to the task of running all of TS3 among the other sims games.

Not sure exactly where the "Notebook" designation gets applied and where it doesn't, that's more up to the manufacturer than anything else. But as @rras1994 said, there are laptops that can handle these games properly without damaging themselves under the stress. Not that price is a sole determining factor, but most laptops in this range under any brand name start at around $950 (US Dollars), sometimes lower depending on periodic sales, often they run much higher.

This is why we ask for actual specs, a dxdiag report if needed, before explaining how well a computer of any type can carry this game and what to expect. Individual players' experiences will vary even within the same ranges and model numbers, but at least we can make some informed assessments should they be helpful.

Hawkflight1066

My previous Aspire did have a separate graphics chip, but the RAM was too small. This one has an integrated chip and lots of RAM. It's an Aspire V. I know it's not ideal, but I don't earn enough to buy a top of the range gaming pc - household bills come first, and when I get a new notebook on the insurance, having wrecked the old one beyond repair, I have to get it from PC World. So I'm limited to what they stock. (I had to wait six weeks for a new one until PC world declared the old one obsolete.) I didn't realise I was going to get addicted to Sims 3 having only previously played Sims 1. Having tried all four games, Sims 3 with it's computer killing habits is my favourite.

phoebebebe13

Hawkflight1066 wrote: »

My previous Aspire did have a separate graphics chip, but the RAM was too small. This one has an integrated chip and lots of RAM. It's an Aspire V. I know it's not ideal, but I don't earn enough to buy a top of the range gaming pc - household bills come first, and when I get a new notebook on the insurance, having wrecked the old one beyond repair, I have to get it from PC World. So I'm limited to what they stock. (I had to wait six weeks for a new one until PC world declared the old one obsolete.) I didn't realise I was going to get addicted to Sims 3 having only previously played Sims 1. Having tried all four games, Sims 3 with it's computer killing habits is my favourite.

We feel you. TS3 is our favorite here too. The Acer Nitro are the ones have gaming hardware

@igazor that person we asked dxdiag from only have 4gb ram good chance it's integrated and they never posted back

igazor

@Hawkflight1066 - I'm sorry, I never for a moment meant to imply that one should sacrifice more important things to buy an expensive gaming computer. We post the specs here to give players an idea of what is required to run the entire game, meaning all EPs, store content, usually a hefty dose of CC, maybe some mods, without fear of destroying their hardware or running into lag choked glitched up games that are no fun to even deal with.

If you are stuck with mid to lower end hardware choices for now, you might consider cutting back on the game's expansions (if you play them all). Pets and Seasons can be real killers, IP and ITF would be right behind that. And then maybe hope for a time when you can afford a higher end machine to run more content. Perhaps a higher end desktop might be more within reach at some point, you can get stronger components for less cost on desktops. You might also reconsider TS2 if you want a more full while less risky simming experience. Of course there's no open world, we know it's not the same as TS3, but still a very good game with quite a loyal following and even with all EPs it's much easier on the hardware.