Laptop Graphics Card Information Zone [CALLING LAPTOP SIMMERS FOR A SURVEY + LAPTOP HELP HERE]

summermistx3 · January 2013

Hey guys! I see too many threads about people needing help choosing the perfect laptop to play Sims 3. The key is finding a nice graphics card that fits your budget. Majority of the people seem to redirect the OPs to THIS. Well, that only gives you an idea for Desktop graphics card, which are much more powerful than the laptop versions. Also, I find it very inaccurate as my old laptop with Intel HD Graphics was perfectly playable, just not with all high settings, yet the article states it'll most likely be unplayable. There are of course other factors to consider, such as the processor, but this thread solely focuses on graphics card. I believe if you find the right graphics card for you, everything else should fall into place with specs. After all, we can't all afford to get the best graphics card in the market.
This thread will only be helpful if many laptop simmers participate. I'll have a set of questions for you to answer and request you to post a screenshot of your game settings unless you want to type it all out. I truly hope people purchasing new laptops find this useful and can refer back to this thread. If there's five of you with the same graphics card, please don't miss out on doing this, the more variety answers, the better. I'll have everyone's responses organized in the order of the graphic cards strength. I hope for this to give simmers an idea of what to expect out of their game when buying a new laptop with certain graphics cards. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

QUESTIONS FOR YOU

1. What is you graphics card (and amount of memory, if integrated, please mention)?
2. What expansion packs do you have installed?
3. What stuff packs do you have installed?
4. What mods do you have installed?
5. How much store & custom content do you have installed (please right-click Mods folder, Properties, and look at the total size)?
6. What is the FPS (please type in "fps on" in the game cheat console to find an average number on the top right corner)?
7. Please post a screenshot of your game settings (use print screen key during gameplay then paste into Paint).
8. In game screen shots are welcome!

MY EXAMPLE

1. Nvidia Geforce GT 650M (2GB)
2. World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Pets, Showtime, Supernatural, Seasons, University Life
3. High-End Loft
4. NRaas: Master Controller, Cheats, Integration, Decensor, ErrorTrap, NoCD, Overwatch, Portrait Panel
5. 1.33GB store content & 1.12GB custom content
6. 39-78
7.

8.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

What is FPS?
Frames Per Second - It determines the performance of games, with a higher rate producing smoother graphics. A low rate will appear laggy/chuggy/slow/choppy and can make a game unplayable as in-game actions take far too long to complete with far too few frames. Since the human eye can see about 30 FPS, it is pretty much the minimum for satisfactory gameplay, and 40+ FPS is smooth. Basically higher FPS means you're graphics are good, and the lower it is, you're lagging. That's why when it hits 0 FPS, you crash.

Can you help me choose a laptop?
I will most definitely try my best! First review the laptop checklist. Then I'll just need you to leave a link to the laptop you're looking at, your budget range, and the games you expect to play on it! ALSO, your country! Or else I'll assume you're American. You'll also find helpful simmers lurking in my thread so feel free to get our input! You won't go ignored and can be positive to receive a reply.

summermistx3 · January 2013

summermistx3 · January 2013

summermistx3 wrote:

Laptop Checklist: What Things to Look for in a Laptop

Processor
• Intel® Core™ i5 or Intel® Core™ i7
- That goes up to at least 3.0GHz
or
• AMD A10-Series
- That goes up to at least 3.2GHz
*Goes up to references to turbo boost. Ex: a processor for Intel can start at 2.4GHz and go up to 3.3GHz. A processor for AMD can start at 1.9GHz and go up to 3.5GHz. If the turbo boost is not stated, simply Google the processor name, ex: "i7-2630QM" and read the detail under the first link.

Memory
• 6GB DDR3 RAM or up
- You're wasting your money if it's over 10GB DDR3 RAM

Hard Drive
• 500GB 5400RPM or up
- If you have extra money to spend, go for 7200RPM
- If you have even more extra money to spend, upgrade to an SSD

Screen Resolution
• 1366 x 768
- Large texts
- In-game example
• 1600 x 900
- Medium texts
- In-game example
• 1920 x 1080
- Small texts
- In-game example
*As the resolution goes up, price does also, the difference between a 1366 x 768 and a 1920 x 1080 with same other specs can be up to $150. If you have vision trouble with small texts, 1920 x 1080 is not recommended, however you can change the font size. As screen resolution is increased, more FPS is used.

Graphics Card
• High Settings with All Expansion Packs
- NVIDIA: 740M, 560M, 650M, 830M, 745M, 480M, 470M, 745M, 660M, 750M, 755M, 570M, 670M, 760M, 850M, 670MX, 765M, 485M, 580M, 675M, 675MX, 770M, 860M, 775M, 870M, 680M, 680MX, 780M, 880M
- ATI/AMD Radeon: 8730M, 5470, 5650, 8830M, 6870M, 7750M, 5870, 8770M, 7770M, 8790M, 7850M, 8850M, 6950M, 7870M, 8870M, 6970M, 6990M, 7970M, 8970M
• Medium to High Settings with All Expansion Packs
- NVIDIA: 525M, 620M, 625M, 350M, 710M, 435M, 630M, 540M, 550M, 360M, 445M, 555M, 635M, 640M LE, 735M, 640M, 645M, 730M, 460M
- ATI/AMD Radeon: 7610M, 7640G + 7610M Dual Graphics, 6550D, 8550G, 6530M, 5650, 7630M, 6620G + 7670M Dual Graphics, 7570M, 8570M, 7650M, 6630M, 8670M, 7590M, 6550M, 5570, 6680G2, 8650G, 5730, 6650M, 6690G2, 7560D, 6720G2, 5750, 7670M, 7520G + 7670M Dual Graphics, 7640G + 7670M Dual Graphics, 7660G + 7670M Dual Graphics, 6570M, 5770, 4830, 6730M, 8590M, 5830, 6830M, 6750M, 7660D, 7690M, 6850M, 5850, 5670, 6770M, 7690M XT, 4850, 4860, 8690M, 8750M, 7730M, 4870
*If you do not see a certain graphics card here, please post.

Recommended Sites to Purchase From
• USA
- Newegg
- PowerNotebooks
- XoticPC
- iBuyPower
- CyberPowerPC
• UK
- eBuyer
- Laptops Direct
- Novatech
- Saveonlaptops
- Amazon UK
• Canada
- TigerDirect
- Newegg CA
- NCIX
- Canada Computers
• Others
- B&H Photo Video - USA & International
- Shark Gaming - Denmark

Tips & Advice
• Always, always remember: you are able to upgrade hard drive speed, memory (RAM), and processor (not recommended, very expensive for very little change) but you will never be able to upgrade the graphics card (unless you have certain higher-end model laptops but this change is very costly as well). With that being said, you should be on the look out for the BEST graphics card you can possibly find within your budget. Don't underestimate the requirements for Sims 3, looking for a decent laptop to play Sims 3 smoothly is harder for laptop users than desktop users.
• Graphics card ending with a "G" stand for integrated vs. "M" which is dedicated. Beaware of the term "Discrete" which does not mean the graphics card is dedicated, it's similar to being integrated (which you should try your best to avoid).
• Laptop versions of desktop specifications are less powerful.
• STAY AWAY FROM INTEL HD GRAPHICS 3000, 4000, even 5200 when it comes out.
• Considering an Alienware or Macbook? Be prepared to pay double the price for similar specs.

1fallqueen · January 2013

This is a great idea! I will bookmark and add mine tomorrow or Mon as I don't have time tonight. I wonder if a screen shot of game play would be helpful as well?

BTW, are you happy with the 650? Curious because I have a 525M and if I buy a new laptop, one of the ones I am looking at has the 650.

Been overly busy haven't had a chance to play or go into game and take a screen shot, but here are my settings from memory:
Object hiding (checked)
animation smoothing (checked)
advanced rending (checked)
reflection/water & mirrors (mirrors only)
Edge smoothing (high)
visual effets (high)
lighting and shadows (medium)
trees (medium)
draw distance (medium)
high detailed lots (1)
texture detail (high)
sim detail (high)

I have all the EPs and SPs installed. I also have between 2 and 3 gig of store stuff and exhange houses.

Plays smooth without Twallan's story progression, slight lag with it (but so worth it).

I also have an i7 2630QM and 8 gigs of ram and my hard drive is fairly empty.

My FPS are around 27-30 lower in highly treed areas, higher in houses. Snow from seasons can lower my FPS a little (not enough to cause problems).

The only issue is the outlines of sims are slightly jagged sometimes, not enough to be an issue.

Will post a screen shot as soon as things slow down a bit. I miss my game

Finally pictures! I just realize neither has frame rates, but both were 34 with fps on.

danivixen · January 2013

Buuump for this; great idea.

summermistx3 · January 2013

Thank you guys! I sort of felt this thread might be a flop since I know going into game & taking a screenshot of your settings & then having to upload might be a bit time consuming. But it can be done really quick whenever you decide to play sims!

1fallqueen wrote:

This is a great idea! I will bookmark and add mine tomorrow or Mon as I don't have time tonight. I wonder if a screen shot of game play would be helpful as well?

BTW, are you happy with the 650? Curious because I have a 525M and if I buy a new laptop, one of the ones I am looking at has the 650.

And sure, if you want to post a screenshot of your game, that's totally welcome! I'll edit that into my post.

I'm satisfied with the 650M given that I got my laptop during a really good deal. I've seen laptops with the 650M that cost over $1,000 but I was lucky to get mine for $850. I say if you find a really good deal for it, grab it! If you're willing to spend a bit more money, go for the 660M or 675M.

blunote00 · January 2013

Blu's new gaming laptop

I have two graphics cards in my laptop. I attached image links so you can click on them. Sorry it's night time in my game atm so some are dark. Also, I do have Vsync & Triple Buffering on in nVidia Control Panel (image below). I have absolutely no lag, freezing, or crashing what-so-ever.

1A. Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000 (For normal stuff).
1B. NVIDIA GTX 675M 2GB (For gaming). u][b]Sims 3 is automatically configured to use this card[/b][/u Image of NCP
02. I have all expansion packs.
03. I have all stuff packs except KPST.
04. I currently have 25 Nraas Mods and quite a few from MTS, TFM's NSA, various other sites. Image of Nrass Mods
05. A little over 3 GB (1,117 Files) of Mods & CC. Image of Mod Properties
06. Between 11-15. 13 is the Average. Sreenshot of game with FPS on
07. My game settings are all on high.

ETA:
So I went back in game and messed with some of the settings under Options as well as the NPC.
Looks like there are some things set in the NPC on the card.

This is still high except for Edge Smoothing. (Appears to be a setting on the card)
I changed tree & sim detail from very high to high, then bumped lot detail down to 6 from 8.

I was able to get up to 60 FPS but I still have Vsync & Triple Buffering on in NPC. I do have a screenshot of it at like 35 FPS here.

However, now my print screen function is messed up giving me black screens from in the game. I had to take the new screenshot in window mode, I will have to fix that. And the game actually played smoother on the original settings. So I'm going to have to mess with it some more to try and get it back.

Here are some images from in game as the 'C' button still works.

Mara chatting with a friend.

Christmas light still up in spring.

Spring Festival.

Final Update: 07/09/2013

Finally had time to come back and update after getting my graphics card recognized by the game. Anyway, I am where I want to be and the game is playing sweet. No lag, freezing, great FPS. I also threw in a few videos I'm testing the settings in the Options and Sims.ini file. Love the widescreen on video playback but it's not quite there yet.

1A. Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000 (For normal stuff).
1B. NVIDIA GTX 675M 2GB (For gaming). u][b]Sims 3 is automatically configured to use this card[/b][/u Image of NCP
02. I have all expansion packs.
03. I have all stuff packs.
04. I currently have 25+ Nraas Mods and quite a few from MTS, TFM's NSA, various other sites. Image of Nrass Mods
05. A little over 3 GB (1,117 Files) of Mods & CC. Image of Mod Properties
06. Between 60+ to 120. 86 is the Average. Sreenshot of game with FPS on in Fraps
07. My game settings are all on high or very high execpt Edge Smoothing (set in NCP).

Here's a slideshow of random images in IP. Right-click and open in a new window or tab.

Here's a few short video clips. You can see no lag/freezing in IP on the houseboat.

Slow Dance short clips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhNQzkiQ3qk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7wvSYmxuJs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XBKARwCPyU

Very happy with my card and the settings. So much to do and so little time.

Cheers!

iMidnightwarrior · January 2013

blunote00 wrote:

Blu's new gaming laptop

I have two graphics cards in my laptop. I attached image links so you can click on them. Sorry it's night time in my game atm so some are dark. Also, I do have Vsync & Triple Buffering on in nVidia Control Panel (image below). I have absolutely no lag, freezing, or crashing what-so-ever.

1A. Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000 (For normal stuff).
1B. NVIDIA GTX 675M 2GB (For gaming). u][b]Sims 3 is automatically configured to use this card[/b][/u Image of NCP
02. I have all expansion packs.
03. I have all stuff packs except KPST.
04. I currently have 25 Nraas Mods and quite a few from MTS, TFM's NSA, various other sites. Image of Nrass Mods
05. A little over 3 GB (1,117 Files) of Mods & CC. Image of Mod Properties
06. Between 11-15. 13 is the Average. Sreenshot of game with FPS on
07. My game settings are all on high.

Just wanted to say, how are you only getting 11-15fps with a Nvidia GeForce GTX 675M? Whats your processor speed because that is not normal.

10eliblue · January 2013

Yeah, I'll post this on here, just let me wait intill I can get back onto my Gaming Laptop... For now, here are 3 Answers.

2: All expansions
3: Fast Lane Stuff and town Life stuff
4: Many, too many for me to list (Might be because I'm Lazy.)

TheSimsBoi13 · January 2013

iMidnightwarrior wrote:

Just wanted to say, how are you only getting 11-15fps with a Nvidia GeForce GTX 675M? Whats your processor speed because that is not normal.

She has a lot of mods, which has me wondering how she's not experiencing 'lag' when 15fps = LAG?

summermistx3 · January 2013

@bluenote Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions so thoroughly! I had come across some of your posts stating your full laptop's specs and it sure is beast

I also have switchable graphics to Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000. I was wondering what "Vsync & Triple Buffering" do because I have those turned off.

@10eliblue I hope you get to complete it soon!

@iMidnightwarrior She has over 3GB of custom content and practially every expansion & stuff pack except KPST. Every expansion pack & every load of custom content decreases your FPS. So it completely makes sense that she has 11-15 FPS on average and still has a smooth gameplay as long as she doesn't hit 0 FPS. And I think her processor is a i7 if I remember well, so she's definitely covered.

priscapup · January 2013

Hi, I hope I can help some. I love my laptop, but it is not new! I will answer all the questions, and post a picture of the option page just as soon as I can figure out how to take one. :oops:

1. ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 1GB
2. All EP's.
3. All SP's except KPST
4. No mods
5. No CC
6. 26-28 fps... usually sits at 27
7. Screenshot when I get that figured out. I'm running everything at highest setting.

Here is a shot in game:
Screenshot-11.jpg"width=640""height=450"

Screenshot-11.jpg"width=640""height=450"

OK, after a double dip cone of Blue Bell Happy Tracks, I was able to figure it out, thanks to the tip from Summer... a fellow Texan, yay!
Options.jpg"width=640""height=450"

summermistx3 · January 2013

@priscapup Thank you so much! I'd love to see some ATI's! You can print screen your page from a key on your keyboard when in game and then paste it onto paint to save a picture of your settings

If I'm awful at explaining, here.

blunote00 · January 2013

summermistx3 wrote:

@bluenote Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions so thoroughly! I had come across some of your posts stating your full laptop's specs and it sure is beast I also have switchable graphics to Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000. I was wondering what "Vsync & Triple Buffering" do because I have those turned off.

@10eliblue I hope you get to complete it soon!

@iMidnightwarrior She has over 3GB of custom content and practially every expansion & stuff pack except KPST. Every expansion pack & every load of custom content decreases your FPS. So it completely makes sense that she has 11-15 FPS on average and still has a smooth gameplay as long as she doesn't hit 0 FPS. And I think her processor is a i7 if I remember well, so she's definitely covered.

I edied my post above and I will probably edit some more as I have more time to tweak thing. Just wanted to update.

sent via mobile phone

avidon3 · January 2013

A couple of months ago I bought a new gaming laptop. It is a Lenovo Ideapad with Core i7, 8G RAM and Windows 7 64 bit. It has a dedicated graphics card.

NVIDIA Geforce GTX 660M.
I have all EP's and SP's.
I have five mods from Nraas Industries.
I have a little CC but not much (mostly patterns and worlds).
I have A LOT of store stuff.
I can't give you my fps as I am on my PC right now but I have all settings on high and I have no lag, crashing, or freezing.

summermistx3 · January 2013

@bluenote Your print screen function is not messed up! I end up getting very dark images when using print screen during my game on full screen as well. I have no clue what's up with that but it's really annoying. You don't have to use windowed mode. What I do is use the FRAPS program to take my in-game shots. They come out great! That's why my settings image isn't dark. Here's another in-game screenshot taken with FRAPS:

@priscapup Ahah, woot woot to Texans ^_^ I've seen a lot of our folks around the forums.

@avidon3 I hope to see some in-game pictures soon!

blunote00 · January 2013

summermistx3 wrote:

@bluenote Your print screen function is not messed up! I end up getting very dark images when using print screen during my game on full screen as well. I have no clue what's up with that but it's really annoying. You don't have to use windowed mode. What I do is use the FRAPS program to take my in-game shots. They come out great! That's why my settings image isn't dark. Here's another in-game screenshot taken with FRAPS:
[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img339/6048/forumscreenshot.png "width=640" "height=480"[/IMG]

@priscapup Ahah, woot woot to Texans ^_^ I've seen a lot of our folks around the forums.

@avidon3 I hope to see some in-game pictures soon!

I had Fraps on the old laptop but never used it much. Nice image... :P

But it's strange that it started doing it after I made the changes to the settings.
It worked perfectly before that and it is intermittent now.
It's just in-game images though as the function works fine for everything else.

Mpain_13 · January 2013

1. My graphics card is the AMD Radeon HD 7640G + 7670M Dual Graphics. It has a total of 5 GB of memory and 1.4 GB of dedicated video memory. (7640G is integrated, 7670M is dedicated)
2. I have all of the EP's installed.
3. I have High End loft stuff installed.
4. The only mod I have installed is overwatch.
5. I have 5-10 items of custom content. Sorry I couldn't do the size.
6. 30-40 fps
7. I cannot provide a screenshot but all of my settings are on high. I cannot download paint at the moment.

I have read that the AMD Radeon HD 7670M is better than the dual graphics due to micro stuttering. So perhaps you could add that graphics card as well?

summermistx3 · January 2013

blunote00 wrote:

I had Fraps on the old laptop but never used it much. Nice image... :P

But it's strange that it started doing it after I made the changes to the settings.
It worked perfectly before that and it is intermittent now.
It's just in-game images though as the function works fine for everything else.

I think you have a point... I believe I've never had a problem with print screen until I turned up majority of my settings... And same as well, it's just in-game that print screen is being a pain with. *sigh* THE THINGS WE EXPERIENCE FOR SIMS 3.

@Mpain_13 AMD Radeon HD 7670M alone is better than the dual graphics? I believe the dual graphics slightly beats the AMD Radeon HD 7670M alone in performance. Still a very decent graphics card

breakbruce · January 2013

1. Nvidia GT 640M LE (2 GB)
2. All except Supernatural
3. All except Master Suite Stuff, Katy Perry Sweet Treats & Fast Lance Stuff
4. Quite a lot, mostly .XML file tweaks.
5. 26.3 MB worth of .package mods, and about 300 MB worth of custom content installed via the .sim3pack format.
6. 31
7. All my settings are between Medium and High, with Object Hiding turned off and advanced rendering and shaders switched on.

Despite having a good graphics card, my game crashes after two hours, with the error log stating that my graphics card is insufficient to run the game. Quite weird as I could run Need For Speed: Most Wanted at around medium graphics settings and have no problems at all.

summermistx3 · January 2013

@breakbruce You should post in-game pictures whenever you can! I've gotten the "insufficient memory" error before too and I have 6GB of memory, but it's stopped after I updated my graphics card. You should make sure your's is updated.

Chainzz · January 2013

1.Nvidia GTX 680m 4GB
2.All
3.All
4.1.62gb(store items)
5.No CC or Mods
6.20-60
7.All on High Settings

gugg3466 · January 2013

i have a new laptop and i have only 1 graphic card intelR HD 4000 i have seasons and pets..pets don't work seasons works great

Fairy_Happy · January 2013

1. AMD Radeon HD 6520G graphics card with 4GB Memory
2. I have all of the Expansion Packs
3. High End Loft Stuff and Fast Lane Stuff
4. NRaas Master Controller, Saver, Mover, Woohooer, DebugEnabler, Traveler, and Animator and quite a bit of store content and CC
5. Too much. LOL about 7GB and 2,984 Files in 95 folders (might be getting rid of a bit in the coming weeks)
6. 14-20 Average is 17
7. I normally leave the defaults on.

8. In game pictures

Fur detail on dogs

summermistx3 · January 2013

gugg3466 wrote:

i have a new laptop and i have only 1 graphic card intelR HD 4000 i have seasons and pets..pets don't work seasons works great

Yeah, you can have every EP installed except Pets when dealing with Intel integrated graphics cards (as long as your settings aren't too high). It'd be nice if you could post your settings and some pictures of your game.

@Chainzz Thanks for posting! It's crazy to think I was almost willing to spend over $2,000 just to get the same graphics card.

@friendlyone20 You have very nice pictures! I have yet to check how good my game's fur details are...

gugg3466 · January 2013

i know i uninstall pets i had to put all settings down it wasnt that bad actualy..settings were down reflection, tree, sims details, all of it and after 20 minutes it crashed ..i spent 3 days looking for answer on here and found it yesterday that it is my graphic card..im playing seasons with no problems almost all settings r high

sorry i dont know how to put picture on here

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Laptop Graphics Card Information Zone [CALLING LAPTOP SIMMERS FOR A SURVEY + LAPTOP HELP HERE]

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The Sims Forums

*Laptop* Graphics Card Information Zone [CALLING LAPTOP SIMMERS FOR A SURVEY + LAPTOP HELP HERE]

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Laptop Graphics Card Information Zone [CALLING LAPTOP SIMMERS FOR A SURVEY + LAPTOP HELP HERE]