Best gaming laptop Sims 4 - November 2020

[Malvina_J]

Hi all,

I know this has been asked many times but as we all know the tech world moves quickly and I am in need of some advice and recommendations

I am thinking of buying a laptop to play The Sims 4, I have many but not all EPs, but lots of CC and would like to be able to download lots more...

I want the game to run fairly quick and smooth and on high graphic settings, perhaps not for live mode but definitely for build mode as I mainly enjoy building and want to be able to take high quality in game photos with all the lighting and shadows applied.

I currently play on a MacBook Pro Retina 2015 and needles to say, the laptop feels like it's melting in my lap and the fan is going crazy, I have also run out of memory and yeah, did I forget to mention that it's my girlfriend's laptop and I've almost used up all her space with all my CC...

I have tried to do a bit of research but thought I could post here as I know you lot are very knowledgeable and I am hesitant to speak to any sales advisors thinking they will trick me into buying things I don't actually need.

So, in summary:

• Play Sims 4 + EPs effortlessly in high settings
• Handle many GBs of High poly CC
• Memory 500GB+
• Price range £800-£1200.

I am based in the UK but am Swedish so ideally would want a laptop with a Swedish keyboard (if that's even possible to request)

After my research I have sort of landed on ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, but before I commit I wanted to ask on here as well.

Any help would be welcome

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@Malvina_J  A 1650 ti is fast enough to run all current Sims 4 packs together on ultra graphics settings.  It may or may not be good enough for ultra settings by the time the game is out of development; we don't know how demanding future expansions will be.  A 1660 ti is about 40% faster in gaming and should always be more than fast enough for anything Sims 4 could possibly produce; a 2060 is a bit faster than that.

So yes, you'd be sacrificing performance by getting a Zephyrus with a 1650 ti, and I think the models with a 1660 ti are significantly more expensive.  But that's to be expected.  It's not easy to fit powerful hardware and an adequate cooling solution into a compact chassis and keep the whole thing lightweight; doing so will raise the price no matter which model you're considering.  You can see the same pattern in pricing in the Dell Inspiron line vs. the G3 or G5 models I linked earlier.  There's a reason typical gaming laptops are 2-2.5 kg and have a 15" or 17" screen.

As to whether the sacrifice is in the "wrong" place, that's entirely your call.  You're the one who's going to be using the laptop, and you're the only one who can say what your priorities should be.  If you're concerned about getting max performance, or being able to play other more demanding games, then maybe you should seriously consider a bulkier laptop.  If Sims 4 is your priority and you don't mind turning some graphics options down to high in a year or two, the Zephyrus might be perfectly fine.  Where you choose to direct your budget is up to you.

By the way, I have a MacBook Pro with a graphics card that wouldn't even keep up with a 1650 ti.  I love my Mac for other reasons and willingly put up with the shortcomings in gaming.  If not for the current nonsense with the M1 ARM CPUs and the strange design choices coming out of Apple these days, I'd be convinced that my next laptop was going to be a Mac as well, and even so, I'm only wavering.  So I do think design and portability are valid priorities.  They're just not going to be equally valid for everyone, and I can't tell you what the right answer is for you.

[puzzlezaddict]

@Malvina_J  The Zephyrus G14 is a highly rated laptop, especially for being so lightweight, but it's also more expensive than other laptops with the same hardware.  If you specifically want a lightweight portable laptop, I think it's the best option for your price range.  If you'd like a larger screen and/or don't care about weight, you could probably either save a lot of money, or get a faster graphics card.

As for getting a Swedish keyboard, can you order from a Swedish company or on the Swedish Amazon site?  Delivery might cost more, but perhaps not too much to be worth the premium.  Otherwise, you'd probably need to have the keyboard replaced and therefore void the warranty.

Let me know if you want to see other options, and I can take a look at the inventory of any store that offers what you want and can deliver to your location.

[Malvina_J]

Thank you so much for your answer, I saw that you had helped many others who have been looking for laptops and hoped that you would see my post as well!

I found the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401II-HE048T - 14 on a well known Swedish site called MediaMarkt that currently have a "singles day" discount on it so the new price would be 12990 SEK vs full price 14990 SEK. The discount is tempting considering it is a bit pricier than some other brands and models. I am lucky enough to have my parents living in Sweden so the plan would be to order it to their house and for them to send it to me in Scotland

https://www.mediamarkt.se/sv/product/_asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-ga401ii-he048t-14-gaming-laptop-1323761....

I have tried to not let my superficial side take over, but being a MacBook user for 10+ years I have to admit that it has been a bit hard looking at some gaming laptops that have a lot of added design features and colours...

What I like about the ASUS ROG Zephyrus is that it looks good (as long as I disable the little LED lights on the back of the display) and that it's lightweight and easy to bring as I will most likely also use it while traveling and for some work. I have read online that some people have complained about it getting very hot, however, I doubt the sims 4 will break this computer and make it run super warm, but I am not an expert.

If you have any other suggestions that would be similar in capacity and price I would happily take a look before finally deciding. I haven't looked into Dell or HP too much yet but I guess they would be interesting options since I know they tend to make more minimalistic looking computers.

Thanks again!

[Malvina_J]

@puzzlezaddictI typed up a reply to this but it got removed saying it was considered spam and now I have forgotten what I typed up.

But basically I like the ASUS ROG Zephyrus because it looks good compared to some other gaming laptops and due to me having been a MacBook Pro user for so long I do care about the appearance as well as performance.

I found the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401II-HE048T - 14 on a Swedish site offering a "singles day" discount so new price would be 12990 SEK vs original price 14990 SEK. Luckily my parents live in Sweden so I could get it sent to them.

I would still be interested to look into some other models if you have suggestions, I haven't looked too much at DELL or HP yet but they would perhaps be interesting options as I know they tend to make quite minimalistic looking computers.

[puzzlezaddict]

@Malvina_J  HP does make minimalistic-looking computers, but their gaming laptops look like this:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/hp-pavillion-15-ec1009na-nvidia-gtx-1660-ti-16gb-15.6-fhd-amd-ryzen-7...

or these:

https://www.box.co.uk/7EE08EAABU-HP-OMEN-15-dc1045na_2785130.html

https://www.box.co.uk/1L6E7EAABU-HP-OMEN-15-dh1018na_2958255.html

They're all excellent prices for the hardware, but probably not what you're looking for.  (I'm using UK links because I know the sites better and I don't want to look up their Swedish equivalents unless you're interested in buying one of those.)  Dell gaming laptops are a bit more sleek:

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-dell-g3-15/spd/g-series-15-3500-laptop/cng3024

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-dell-g3-15/spd/g-series-15-3500-laptop/cng3021

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-dell-g3-15/spd/g-series-15-3500-laptop/cng3022sc

You'll notice though that those are 2.3 kg each; to get something smaller and lighter that's still a gaming laptop, you'd need to pay a bit extra for the same hardware:

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-inspiron-15-7000/spd/inspiron-15-7501-laptop/cn50103

The Inspiron in particular does not do nearly as well in gaming benchmarks as the Zephyrus—it should be fine overall, but you'd be sacrificing some level of performance.  If you were choosing between the two, I'd still go with the Zephyrus.  The G3 models are closer but still behind the Zephyrus, but maybe you don't mind a mere couple of percentage points of performance.

[Malvina_J]

@puzzlezaddict the only thing that is holding me back from ordering the Zephyrus is the fact that the graphics card is Nvidia 1650 Ti and not the 1660 Ti or RTX 2060. Do you think I should be concerned by that, considering it is a more expensive computer and there are others with "better" graphic cards for less. I know graphic cards are really important, but that it's also not the only thing that matters. I just don't want to later realise that I've made sacrifices in the wrong place.

[eethwaite]

Hi @puzzlezaddict ,

I saw your comment and wondered if you also wouldn't mind pointing me in the right direction?

Im also UK based more with a budget of £800 ish, looking for whatever can run and handle the Sims4 at high Gameplay settings (thats all I will use it for, I too have been a MAC player but its just too much for it to handle and my fan overheats like crazy).

I don't mind how the laptop looks but also don't want to be duped into buying anything from a sales advisor. I have all expansions packs but do not use CC or MODS.

If you have any suggestions I'd really appreciate it as i'm totally stuck but have seen the two below but don't really know on the comparisons which is best:
https://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Compare.aspx?sel=NTB&merchCmp=13F17EA%23ABU%7C133X6EA%23ABU 

Thank you

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@Malvina_J  A 1650 ti is fast enough to run all current Sims 4 packs together on ultra graphics settings.  It may or may not be good enough for ultra settings by the time the game is out of development; we don't know how demanding future expansions will be.  A 1660 ti is about 40% faster in gaming and should always be more than fast enough for anything Sims 4 could possibly produce; a 2060 is a bit faster than that.

So yes, you'd be sacrificing performance by getting a Zephyrus with a 1650 ti, and I think the models with a 1660 ti are significantly more expensive.  But that's to be expected.  It's not easy to fit powerful hardware and an adequate cooling solution into a compact chassis and keep the whole thing lightweight; doing so will raise the price no matter which model you're considering.  You can see the same pattern in pricing in the Dell Inspiron line vs. the G3 or G5 models I linked earlier.  There's a reason typical gaming laptops are 2-2.5 kg and have a 15" or 17" screen.

As to whether the sacrifice is in the "wrong" place, that's entirely your call.  You're the one who's going to be using the laptop, and you're the only one who can say what your priorities should be.  If you're concerned about getting max performance, or being able to play other more demanding games, then maybe you should seriously consider a bulkier laptop.  If Sims 4 is your priority and you don't mind turning some graphics options down to high in a year or two, the Zephyrus might be perfectly fine.  Where you choose to direct your budget is up to you.

By the way, I have a MacBook Pro with a graphics card that wouldn't even keep up with a 1650 ti.  I love my Mac for other reasons and willingly put up with the shortcomings in gaming.  If not for the current nonsense with the M1 ARM CPUs and the strange design choices coming out of Apple these days, I'd be convinced that my next laptop was going to be a Mac as well, and even so, I'm only wavering.  So I do think design and portability are valid priorities.  They're just not going to be equally valid for everyone, and I can't tell you what the right answer is for you.

[puzzlezaddict]

@eethwaite  The second laptop you're considering (the 15" model) is much better than the first.  It has a stronger processor and a much faster graphics card (about 40% faster for gaming), the most important components both overall and in terms of the fact that they can't be upgraded later.  The first laptop does have a brighter screen, although they're both in the highest quality category.  While the first has an extra 1 TB HDD for storage, I believe you could add the 2.5" drive of your choice to the second at some later point, so you wouldn't necessarily be stuck with only 512 GB storage.

I honestly don't think this is a close call at all.  If there's something you like about the first that the second doesn't have, let me know, but otherwise, I think you found an excellent option in the second one.

[Malvina_J]

@puzzlezaddict Thank you again for your insight and knowledge. I gave it some more thought and decided to choose the Zephyrus G14 with AMD Ryzen 7, 16 GB RAM and Nvidia 1660 Ti. Even though it cost more it felt like a better investment that would last me longer.

Thank you for your help!