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The game itself can only use two cores, this is true, but other system processes going on at the same time can make use of the others. On quad cores it's a close call, but even then something reasonably close to 2.4Ghz is often okay though I admit I would feel better if I saw base speeds somewhere above those. And yes, the processor model numbers that end in U or Y should be avoided at all costs as they aren't meant to maintain speeds and processing power as constantly as the games demand. I wouldn't recommend dual on a laptop for gaming at all anymore, that would tend to consume the entire system with no processor power to spare for other tasks that may arise.
Can you provide some links to a small number of systems, like three or four, from BestBuy (or elsewhere) that you are considering? It might be easier for us to confirm that you are in the right ballpark and not wasting money on a brand name that doesn't really provide anything for the higher price tags at least until @chesterbigbird is able to enter the discussion.
As a New Member you cannot post complete links but it's okay to break them up using something like "h.t.t.p.s" where we can remove the extra characters and get to see what you are seeing.
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Here are some of the gaming laptops I am considering:
h t t p s://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-tuf-gaming-fx705gm-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-512gb-solid-state-drive-black/6293624.p?skuId=6293624
h t t p s://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-tracer-iii-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-500gb-solid-state-drive-black/6253480.p?skuId=6253480
h t t p s://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-tracer-iii-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-ti-500gb-solid-state-drive-black/6253476.p?skuId=6253476
These particular gaming laptops are refurbished:
h t t p s://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-helios-300-15-6-refurbished-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-512gb-ssd-obsidian-black/6277554.p?skuId=6277554
h t t p s://www.bestbuy.com/site/razer-blade-14-refurbished-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-512gb-solid-state-drive-black/6283810.p?skuId=6283810
The computers you listed all look great, though. I'd actually bookmarked the first one in case you had trouble finding any you liked. The CyberPower models are good choices—the brand has an excellent reputation—but it looks like they're all sold out. If Best Buy intends to restock them, either one would be a good choice. You might also be interested to know that for the first of the two, it looks like you could upgrade to a 1 TB SSD for another $100.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-tracer-iii-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-1tb-solid-state-drive-black/6253477.p?skuId=6253477
If you're not in a hurry, you may want to wait for prices to come down after Christmas, as they often do.
The first one, the Asus, wins a lot of points for actually being in stock. But yes they all look great, and I agree with @puzzlezaddict about avoiding refurbs if at all possible. I wouldn't buy one either if I had any other choices, even if I were the original owner.
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Awesome, I'll definitely bookmark the first laptop and keep an eye out for when Best Buy decides to stock the other two. I didn't even know an SSD could be upgraded beyond 500gb, so thanks for pointing that out. I have been without a laptop for about five months, so I could spare a few days after the holidays--I am just worried the laptop I want will be out of stock as most tend to be on Best Buy.
@igazor Well, your dad seems like a very wise man; I'll stick to sending laptops in stock (;
Thanks for the warning, I will avoid refurbished laptops like the plague, now.
Sadly, I had found no other laptop on Best Buy to be worthy of mentioning--I'll let you guys know if anything comes up. I appreciate all of your help, I feel like a changed person with all this new information.
I have a small issue--I am debating between two laptops to buy, at the moment.
These are them:
h ttps://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-tuf-gaming-fx705gm-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-512gb-solid-state-drive-black/6293624.p?skuId=6293624
h ttps://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-tracer-iii-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-1tb-solid-state-drive-black/6253477.p?skuId=6253477
Firstly, what battery type is better? The first system has a lithium-polymer battery, while the second one is a lithium-ion. I read a li-ion battery is less stable and safe than a li-polymer and ages when not in use. However, a li-polymer battery does not have the same energy density and as long of a lifespan as a li-ion. Not to mention, I game in long sessions, like around a couple of hours on the daily.
Secondly, the first system has a faster RAM speed of 2666 megahertz than the second one at 2400 megahertz. Should I be concerned about the small difference in megahertz, or is the gap so minimal that it would not make a difference if I choose either system?
Thirdly, which graphics type is better: discrete or integrated? The first system has a discrete/dedicated graphics card, and the second one has an integrated card. Discrete/dedicated graphics are great for hardcore gaming, but can get warm quickly; thereby, minimizing the CPU's performance and lifespan if a good cooling system is not in place. Integrated graphics, on the other hand, are not able to handle heavy-duty 3D graphics processing, so a low-end video card is preferred. Also, the second system contains 6000 megabytes of video memory compared to the first system, which has 3000 megabytes--does this matter in a gameplay's performance?
Overall, which laptop would be better suited for The Sims 3?
Thanks!
Side note: The second system is currently out of stock, but I contacted Best Buy, and an employee said the laptop, sometime near the future, will be back on the shelves.
I can't really answer the battery question except to say that games like Sims games (any of them) should never be run while on battery if that can be avoided at all. Performance will be inconsistent and suffer no matter how good the battery is. I don't think the small difference in RAM speed, if that's for real and not just being reported inconsistently, is enough to matter.
Both laptops have the same powerful Nvidia GTX 1060 dedicated graphics card. Nvidia doesn't make integrated video chips, those would be made by Intel and in some cases AMD. It is always better to run a GPU intensive game like TS3 (or even TS4) on a dedicated video card of sufficient strength. With integrated there will be all kinds of limitations and what it is the GPU is made to do will be handled by RAM and the processor instead, thus heavily contributing to the game's RAM usage that we know is capped at ~3.7 GB for TS3. Yes a hard working GPU will run warm, but laptops in this class by these manufacturers have sufficient cooling systems to handle them.
I expect the reason that the second one is listed as integrated is that it has dual graphics, an Intel chip for ordinary usage and the Nvidia for harder work. I would be surprised if the first one doesn't have dual as well, that configuration is very common on laptops in this class. BestBuy is not known for entirely accurate spec listings. Are you certain that the first one is the 3 GB variant of the 1060? A write-up of that exact model elsewhere says 6 GB. That might matter for other more intensive games, but TS3 can only use 800 MB of VRAM anyway so the rest is just excess to the game.
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My other question is, I see on Steam that Sims 3 digital download is much cheaper than going through Origin, but again my question is if I can buy some expansion packs via Steam, but still have the games I bought via Origin? I'm just very confused. Hope that wasn't too confusing to read!
On the Steam purchases, you must first purchase (but not necessarily install) a Steam version base game in order to gain the rights to purchase Steam version EP/SPs. With the current sale going on, that can still be a very good deal and if you register the otherwise unneeded extra base game you get 1,000 store points for it. You can't mix Steam and Origin/disc installs, but Steam throws in the Origin codes for all of these purchases at no extra charge. So in that way you can add Steam purchased packs to your Origin install.
Or you can dump (uninstall) the whole thing, repurchase everything on Steam, and change over to an all Steam install. You cannot add Origin/disc purchases to Steam that way and that leaves Origin out of the picture entirely. But it doesn't sound like that's the direction you wish to take.
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For this laptop (h ttps://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-tracer-iii-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-1tb-solid-state-drive-black/6253477.p?skuId=6253477), these are the specs I was given:
CP 15.6" IPS INTEL I7-8750H GTX 1060 6GB + 802.11AC + BT + MECHANICAL KB1
1TB WD BLUE SSD M.2 2280 SATAIII 6.0 GB/s 80mm1
8GB DDR4-2400 SODIMM NOTEBOOK2
Also, like you predicted, the graphics are dual. So do you still recommend I purchase this laptop or wait for a better one to come, around?
Personally I wouldn't purchase any of these because I can't stand the idea of playing Sims games on a laptop, for me it's desktop all the way, so I'm probably not the correct person to give a final recommendation. But for TS3, the performance on either should not be disappointing.
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https://help.ea.com/en/help/the-sims/the-sims-2/ending-code-support-for-the-sims-2-ultimate-collection/
I wouldn't trust an eBay-facilitated digital download, either. It's possible you'd get a legitimate code, but I'm not sure Origin would even let you register it now. Your best bet is still a disc install, if you can get it to work. You could ask for help in the TS2 section—there are several existing threads for people trying to install into Windows 10:
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/categories/the-sims-2-general-discussion
If you got the base game up and running, you might decide it was worth tracking down copies of your missing discs.
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There are also a number of solutions offered up across the web for when the .NET activation gets stuck, afraid I can't really suggest which ones to try first but a couple of these look promising if you can understand what to do.
https://www.tenforums.com/software-apps/64898-net-framework-3-5-searching-required-files-problem.html
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So I have all of the expansions for Sims 3 installed and working. I also have High End Loft Stuff and Town Life Stuff... HEL Stuff is working fine and shows up in the launcher and the stuff is in my game... but Town Life Stuff is not showing up in Launcher OR in game, despite Origin showing it as "installed".
I tried uninstalling it and reinstalling it, but it didn't work. Please help, I really want to use this pack ;_;
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I know it USED to work because I remember using some of the items from it when I last played (a while back)... I have no clue why its not working now
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games
If that doesn't help, you may want to try uninstalling Origin (just Origin, not your games and those will stay in place) and re-installing it.
If you are on the Mac version of the game (sounds like not, though), then there are other steps that can be taken.
If on Windows and still no Town Life, then you may need to have a discussion with EA Customer Support to see if the blockage is on their end or if they need to issue a new code for you.
http://help.ea.com
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Hi, yeah I'm on Windows.
Okay I just tried both things and neither seems to have worked, Town Life Stuff is *still* not showing on my launcher. Bah :(