Good Laptops for Sims 3?

BrianAndree · October 2018

Hey yall, its been awhile since I've been here. Honestly, my current laptop cant play Sims 3 fast enough or do anything I really need done fast enough, so I havnt really been playing the Sims. I found a new laptop, however I really dont know what to look for when buying a new laptop. This one seemed nice (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075FLBJV7?tag=laptop-magazine-20) because its a gaming laptop, however im not sure. If anyone could steer me in a good direction (looking to spend about 600$) I would be appreciative.

EricasFreePlay · October 2018

Seems like it could work. Only thing I'm not sure about is that graphics card. Someone more familiar with them than I am would have to answer that one. Otherwise, everything else should work.

igazor · October 2018

That is not a gaming laptop even if it is formally classified as one (although I'm not seeing that it is). It misses the mark in a few important ways. The processor is a U-series, ultra low power designed to conserve energy, not to run demanding programs like games continuously. Its graphics card is dedicated but not strong enough to carry more than the TS3 base game and maybe, if lucky, a couple of the early EPs. It does have a Solid State Drive (SSD) which is nice, but at 256 GB that won't be large enough as time goes by if you intend to store saved games and content on it and use it for other purposes as well.

I'm afraid you are going to have up the ante a bit if you can. Laptops that can carry the entire game start at $900 (USD). This one is on sale for $800 and hits all the right notes. MSI makes great (and expensive!) laptops, this one is on the lower end of its range and would be fine for TS3, probably TS4 as well. It doesn't have an SSD, but its standard drive is 1 TB so the fighting for drive space issue wouldn't be there unless you have a very extensive collection of high def videos and photos you intend to carry around.
https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GV62-8RD-200-Performance-Steelseries/dp/B07D4ZML7M

GraceyManor · October 2018

The mx150 did not do well with the game.At least on the laptop I had bought.I ended up selling that laptop.I thought because it was a newer card it would do well, but it didn't, at least not with the laptop I had gotten.From past experience, I think you might need to raise your budget a little.The two gaming laptops I have, cost over a 1000 each, but I wanted to run the game at max settings with mods installed.

@igazor is really helpful in this field.Perhaps they could recommend something.I just know, I didn't have any luck with the mx150.

Edit: Beat me to the punchline.=) MSI is one of my favorite brands, I love my laptop from them

michelei · October 2018

@igazor you are fabulous. Thank you so much for sharing your time and your knowledge. You are greatly appreciated!

igazor · October 2018

michelei wrote: »

@igazor you are fabulous. Thank you so much for sharing your time and your knowledge. You are greatly appreciated!

(mumbles and kicks one foot with another) Aww, shucks it's nothing really. And there are other tech responders here with equivalent and superior hardware knowledge, but it's easier to get such responses on the Tech Discussions board. The General one here doesn't always grab our attention as easily. I wish I could afford to buy everyone a new computer who needed one.

And I can't begin to compete with talk I saw recently on the TS4 section about stores in the UK with the Royal Warrant that serve coffee and cake to frequent shoppers or something like that. I mean, there are stores here in the US that serve snacks but we don't usually let those things sway our purchase decisions much; prices are a little lower too but perhaps it could be said that we are not as civilized over here.

BrianAndree · October 2018

Thanks @igazor, I saw a few of those laptops on my search but I never have heard of them, so I avoided a few.

What exactly should I look for to run TS3?

igazor · October 2018

MSI is a major laptop manufacturer. Their market niche is much more expensive gaming laptops, but even their "lower end" models tend to be just fine. The one I linked to above, although not over the top ready for much more demanding games, would have the same quality build and cooling system required for sims games. Mid to lower range laptops from other makers really intended more for office/school type tasks and streaming video, web surfing, that kind of thing, quite often not so much again until we get into the over $900 USD price tiers.

To run all of TS3 on better than medium graphics settings on a laptop, this is what one should look for:

Processor: i5 quad core or higher, for a laptop in some cases an i7 or higher should be sought, or the AMD equivalents. The newer H series i5s like the one above are also fine. The U series processors are made for ultra low power consumption and battery usage, they should be avoided.

RAM: At least 8 GB. 16 GB would be nice to have to run other programs at the same time as the game and for future proofing, but that's not essential and usually more RAM can be added later if required.

Graphics Card: Must be dedicated, not integrated, on Nvidia at least a 1050 mobile or higher if on the current range of cards or again the AMD equivalents. Older cards are fine too if they are strong enough (e.g., 960M or higher on that series, 860M or higher on that one), but it would be odd to see older series cards on a newer laptop these days. The also new but weaker MX 130/150 cards should be avoided. Stronger cards like the 1070 and higher would be fine too, but very expensive additions and sims games can't really use all that graphics power.

Drive Space: Solid State Drives (SSDs) are nice, and TS3 happens to be a game that can take advantage of them (not all do, TS4 does not for example) but still very expensive over a certain size. Regardless of whether SSD, standard HDD, or some combination, at least 512 GB in size so as to not keep bumping into drive space restrictions as time goes on.

And the unit must have a decent case and cooling system so as to not fall apart or overheat with "too much" usage.

BrianAndree · October 2018

Thanks @igazor for all the help! Sorry I didn’t reply back sooner, been busy.

I woke up this morning and my laptop was dead when I unplugged it. Strange because I charged it, but I plugged it back in. The battery died overnight, so now I have to leave it plugged in to use it. I can’t wait for Christmas!

I also found a table on MTS that shows a bunch of graphic cards and I’ve been checking it every time I find a new laptop before I bookmark a page.

igazor · October 2018

The MTS chart has very useful information, but 95% or more of the cards it lists are in the "old" series and won't show up on new laptops. On the current NVidia series, it does not list the GTX 1050/1050Ti at all and those cards are fine. It also does not list the MX 130/150s, also known as the GT 1030s, nor the 940/940M/940MX on the series just prior, and those cards are not fine (for TS3).

dest01 · May 2019

igazor wrote: »

MSI is a major laptop manufacturer. Their market niche is much more expensive gaming laptops, but even their "lower end" models tend to be just fine. The one I linked to above, although not over the top ready for much more demanding games, would have the same quality build and cooling system required for sims games. Mid to lower range laptops from other makers really intended more for office/school type tasks and streaming video, web surfing, that kind of thing, quite often not so much again until we get into the over $900 USD price tiers.

To run all of TS3 on better than medium graphics settings on a laptop, this is what one should look for:

Processor: i5 quad core or higher, for a laptop in some cases an i7 or higher should be sought, or the AMD equivalents. The newer H series i5s like the one above are also fine. The U series processors are made for ultra low power consumption and battery usage, they should be avoided.

RAM: At least 8 GB. 16 GB would be nice to have to run other programs at the same time as the game and for future proofing, but that's not essential and usually more RAM can be added later if required.

Graphics Card: Must be dedicated, not integrated, on Nvidia at least a 1050 mobile or higher if on the current range of cards or again the AMD equivalents. Older cards are fine too if they are strong enough (e.g., 960M or higher on that series, 860M or higher on that one), but it would be odd to see older series cards on a newer laptop these days. The also new but weaker MX 130/150 cards should be avoided. Stronger cards like the 1070 and higher would be fine too, but very expensive additions and sims games can't really use all that graphics power.

Drive Space: Solid State Drives (SSDs) are nice, and TS3 happens to be a game that can take advantage of them (not all do, TS4 does not for example) but still very expensive over a certain size. Regardless of whether SSD, standard HDD, or some combination, at least 512 GB in size so as to not keep bumping into drive space restrictions as time goes on.

And the unit must have a decent case and cooling system so as to not fall apart or overheat with "too much" usage.

My mother just bought me this one, I was looking into the specs and it seems like it's more than efficient to run ts3 and its expansion plus some custom content . The only thing I'm slightly concerned about is th proccesor is 7th gen , I plan to move the game over to the HDD. This one has a lot of great reviews and I'm super excited for it, I just want to make sure everything looks okay and you're the best man for the job.

igazor · May 2019

dest01 wrote: »

My mother just bought me this one, I was looking into the specs and it seems like it's more than efficient to run ts3 and its expansion plus some custom content . The only thing I'm slightly concerned about is th proccesor is 7th gen , I plan to move the game over to the HDD. This one has a lot of great reviews and I'm super excited for it, I just want to make sure everything looks okay and you're the best man for the job.

Was there supposed to be a link there?

I take it you mean the Alienware model that you mentioned in your discussions with puzzlez. I didn't participate in those because by the time I caught up with them there wasn't really anything I could have added to what she was saying. I wouldn't have chosen the model you did, just as she said, the SSD is too small to game on (so the game would have to be installed and run from the HDD) and the GPU has more power than TS3 could possibly use, although that could be helpful for other games. The TS3 CC collection you mentioned wouldn't benefit from having a GTX 1070 over a 1060 or the equivalent. The processor being 7th gen isn't really much of a concern. For all of the unkind things we can say about Dell and whether its acquired Alienware brand offers enough value to consider, they do not tend to hide low quality components in their pricier models like some manufacturers might.

That's not to say it was a bad choice, just perhaps not the best one for the intended purpose, but I expect you will end up being very happy with it.

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Good Laptops for Sims 3?

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