Custom Build for TS4 - What are the best specs for maximum performance?

[jenjane]

I would really appreciate some advice from those with computer knowledge!

I am currently playing The Sims 4 on a MacBook Pro from 2010, i have a few expansion packs. My game is set to the lowest graphic settings, it is slow, choppy, and can be laggy at times - I pretty much stopped playing because it’s just not an enjoyable experience. I have been playing The Sims since 2000, but always played on family computers with a mediocre experience.

It has been a dream of mine for years to have a PC/Desktop that runs TS with optimal performance. I want to be able to play the game with all expansion packs, game MODs, ultra graphic settings, fast and smooth panning, and no lagging. I’m considering a custom build because I am anticipating the release of The Sims 5 in the future, and I want to ensure that I can run this future (currently unannounced) game at maximum performance as well. I would prefer not to have to upgrade when the time comes, but custom build would allow the option if needed.

Essentially, I want this build to be the best it can be for the current game, while taking the future into consideration - I would rather it be overkill. Without budget constraints, what specs would you recommend?

Thank you in advance!

[puzzlezaddict]

@jenjane  Are you only looking to play Sims 4 and 5 (if it exists), or are you thinking about other games as well?  Are you willing to wait a few months for the market to calm down?  Graphics cards are still quite overpriced right now, although that's changing quickly in the U.S., and more slowly elsewhere.  Are you thinking of building yourself, or are you looking at paying a system integrator to build for you, and if the latter, are you comfortable upgrading a component or two yourself down the line?

The reason for so many questions is that there are so many options, especially when you're working with an expansive budget.  The best option for Sims 4 may not be the most expensive one; the best option for you may be a cheaper build with room to upgrade in a few years, especially with how quickly graphics cards are improving from one generation to the next.

[jenjane]

@puzzlezaddict Thanks for taking the time to consider my request and for answering in such detail! I appreciate it. Here are my answers to your questions:

-Are you only looking to play Sims 4 and 5 (if it exists), or are you thinking about other games as well? I am only looking to play The Sims (would love to be able to have TS4 all games installed, potential future TS5 all games, plus mods). The only other thing I would be using the computer for would be playing around with Excel spreadsheets, and using Word for documents, storing all my photos. 

-Are you willing to wait a few months for the market to calm down? I would like to do this sooner rather than later, but if it’s best, I might be willing to wait up until TS5 release. I can wait for the market to calm down (I’m in Canada). I would rather wait and invest in worthwhile parts and benefit from it down the line, rather than go cheaper now and regret it later.

-Are you thinking of building yourself, or are you looking at paying a system integrator to build for you, and if the latter, are you comfortable upgrading a component or two yourself down the line? I’ve been trying to do some research on how to build myself, but I don’t know much about which products are compatible together, and may have to end up having someone build for me in the end. However, if it’s a matter of replacing one part down the line, maybe I can do that myself! I would love to learn and be self sufficient, but I may be setting my expectations for myself too high. 

I hope my answers help! Thank you again for caring  

[puzzlezaddict]

@jenjane  Given the current graphics card shortage and the fact that you'd probably have someone else build your system for you anyway, it sounds like going with a system integrator is the best option.  One of the advantages of this approach is that many of the SIs do have graphics cards in stock, or at least a shorter waiting time to get one, so you wouldn't have to wait or battle the scalpers and bots during an Amazon or Best Buy drop.

The flip side of course is that it costs more money to go with an SI, or at least it would in normal times when you could simply buy the components you wanted.  But the price may be worth having someone build and guarantee the computer for you.

I looked at a few Canadian SI sites and saw wildly different prices, some very high for what they were selling, so it would help if you had a preferred budget.  Please also let me know if there's a local store you'd like to check out—I can look at their prices and available parts online.  There are a couple of U.S. companies that ship to Canada as well, and you might get a better price from them; let me know if you'd be willing to consider this option as well.

As for the parts themselves, I could make you a list, but part of the problem is that some of the SIs don't have a wide selection, or else the price is a lot lower for one set of components than for another without any justification.  So it's easier for me to have just a few companies in mind and compare their prices, especially if there's a local shop you may want to use.

[jenjane]

Thank you for your quick reply! 

For the sake of setting a budget, I will say $5,000 is probably the maximum I would be willing to spend. That’s probably not needed, but I don’t want budget to get in the way of having the perfect computer.

As for preferred stores, I feel confident in Newegg and Canada Computers. I’m not opposed to purchasing directly from brands on Amazon either. I’d prefer to purchase from Canada for easy returns if needed, but am willing to consider US distributors as well.

 
I am so grateful for your help, I really appreciate the time you’re taking to help me put this into action! 

[puzzlezaddict]

@jenjane  I tried to figure out how to order a custom build from Canada Computers and came up empty.  Maybe it's the fact that I'm in the U.S., or maybe the company is only assembling systems from components you've provided; you could call a store and ask.  But I also found a number of bad reviews and complaints, mostly along the lines of orders being delayed or going unfulfilled and a lack of communication.

I put together a build on Newegg Canada as a starting point.  Some of the choices are constrained by low stock, especially the graphics card: in this case, you'd be buying a much faster card than you'd need because the cheaper options are cleared out, other than one I wouldn't recommend.  I can't save the configuration without sigining in, so I'll list the parts instead:

processor:  Ryzen 7 5800x ($540)

motherboard:  Gigabyte X570 Gaming X($219)

memory:  GSkill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2x16) 3600 MHz ($190)

graphics card:  MSI Mech Radeon 6700XT ($1,050)

case:  I didn't choose, because that's a somewhat personal decision

PSU:  Seasonic Focus GM750 ($115)

storage:  Samsung 980 Pro 256 GB ($90)

storage:  Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB ($220)

CPU cooler: Fractal Design Celsius S36 ($150)

OS:  Windows 10 OEM ($135)

Go here to select them; you can sort by price to find the parts more quickly:

https://www.newegg.ca/tools/custom-pc-builder/pl/ID-48?diywishlist=0&Order=1

To be clear, this is a lot more money—$2,708 without the case—than you need to spend.  It sounds like you want a really good system and are willing to pay more for it, but there are plenty of places where you could save money.  For example, a Ryzen 5 5600X would be perfectly fine, and you could go with a single very fast drive rather than the two Samsung options.  I chose those two because the 980 Pro is extremely fast, and Samsung is still the gold standard in SSDs, but the 1 TB option is extremely expensive, and games still can't max out the slower (but still very very fast) 970 Evo Plus or anything in its category.  If you'd like to cut down the price a bit, let me know.

I did price a few other Canadian sites too, some of which were significantly more expensive and/or had more limited selection.  One other option that's about the same price is Memory Express; let me know if you'd like a suggested configuration from there.

Please feel free to ask questions either about any of these components or overall.  This kind of thing is fun for me.

[jenjane]

@puzzlezaddict Wow! This is extremely helpful. Sorry I didn’t get back to you yesterday, I wanted to make sure I had the time to reply properly.

I should’ve been more clear and mentioned I don’t have an SI in mind. I really don’t know where I could get one made. That’s something I still have to do the research on. Do you have any tips on finding a good SI? You’re right, I won’t think Canada Computers does custom builds - I was just looking at them for parts (I should’ve been more clear). But I’ve heard really good things about New Egg!

This list of parts is exactly what I’m looking for because again, I don’t have much knowledge of what is compatible, and why something is the best choice. I really want a good system and am definitely willing to make the investment because I am hoping that will help with it lasting long term. I know parts are always advancing and news ones are frequently coming out, do you think going with the parts you recommended (rather than cutting down on the price), will help me ensure that the computer is still great for TS5 (if it does come out within the next few years) and maybe will last longer?

Can I also ask, hypothetically, if computer parts were really easy to find with all resources being available, and you could recommend anything, how would the list of parts change? Again I’m willing to wait if it’s in my best interest!

One more question, just out of interest, do you build computers as a service, or are you more so just personally interested in the topic? If you have a business I would love to leave you a great review. You have so much knowledge and are an amazing resource. Thank you for helping me to get started and to understand the process a bit better!

[puzzlezaddict]

@jenjane  If components were readily available right now, I'd probably suggest an Nviida RTX 3060 ti as your best bet.  It's massive overkill for Sims 4—you could get away with a 1650, and even a 1660 ti would be overkill—but if you want to play at a high resolution and/or higher framerates, it's an excellent option.  Sims 4 looks great at 2560x1440 and wonderfully smooth at >100 fps, although it'll have fps drops on any system.  Point is, you can clearly afford better than you strictly need, so pairing this system with a lovely high-performance monitor sounds to me at least like it's worthwhile.

MSRP for a 3060 ti ranges from $400 to $550 U.S. depending on the model, so certainly less than $1k CAD, but that's not relevant if you can't actually buy one.  It's said that inventory will probably be tight until some undetermined time in 2022, so paying extra for a faster card you can get now may be worth the price.  A 6700XT is slower than a 3060 ti but still massive overkill for Sims 4.

How much extra you want to spend really does depend on how long you want to keep this computer and what else you'll use it for.  But it also depends on whether you want the very best performance you'll notice (as in, you don't need a $2k graphics card if you won't notice the difference in-game, which you won't in Sims 4).  For example, with a single solid state drive that's extremely fast but not the absolute fastest, Windows would run a bit slower, but that's on the scale of a few seconds at startup or when doing searches.  If you don't need the best, you could remove the $90 980 Pro and keep the single 970 Evo Plus.

You also don't need 32 GB memory, and RAM is easy to install, again this is about getting the very best vs. something that's very close to it.  You could save money as well on the motherboard, but that's a more obvious tradeoff: the better the board, the more features it has, and you never know what you might want in three or four years.  So while you might never notice the difference, if you did realize you were missing a feature that the more expensive boards have, you'd need to rebuild the computer to get it.  Whether that's worth saving $80 is your call.

Finally, while you could get away with a cheaper processor now and for quite a while, the stronger one would support a relatively faster graphics card in the future.  If you're thinking you'd just build or buy another computer in five years, you don't care; if you want this to last, you care a lot.  As an example, the strongest Intel processor from two years ago can't totally keep up with the fastest graphics cards available now, and while I can't tell you what will be around in a few years, I can guess that the GPUs will be significantly faster than they are now.  So again, you can't know now whether you'd be missing out in the future; it's your call whether it matters.

There's no efficient way to pick a system integrator: you really need to read reviews, or price comparable builds, or both.  Local stores are often a better choice just because you can take the system back for adjustments if necessary, but you shouldn't need to do so.  If you want to compare online stores, these two might come out cheaper but don't give you the same flexibility to choose components:

https://gamertech.ca/collections/products

https://www.gamingpc.ca/purchase.php?pcID=7

Finally, it's sweet of you to offer to leave me a nice review, but I do this for fun and because I think it's interesting, not as a job.

[jenjane]

@puzzlezaddict I cannot thank you enough! When I first asked this question I was feeling really lost and had no idea where to start. Your answers have given me very clear direction which makes things SO much easier. I’ve learned a lot and am now way more excited to get started with this process. Thank you for letting me pick your brain over these last few days!

I do have one more question, what monitor would you recommend? That’s something I’m not very good at understanding how to choose, but I know it’s important in order to actually see the benefits of what went into the computer! 

[puzzlezaddict]

@jenjane  First of all, look for IPS monitors: that's the highest-quality panel.  VA monitors still look pretty good and can be cheaper, but avoid TN panels, which look pretty bad and are really for people on a budget or who want very high refresh rates.

Given your budget and the other components you're looking at, I'd suggest a monitor with a 2560x1440 resolution.  You might even go to 4k, but monitors can get quite expensive in that range, and 1440p still looks good.  1920x1080 can look grainy even on a relatively small screen.  A 120/144/165 Hz refresh rate would be nice, but you might not be able to tell the difference between that and 75, and if not, the higher refresh rate would be a waste of money.

The list of quality manufacturers of monitors is pretty long: Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, Samsung, MSI, LG... as long as you get something that doesn't have terrible reviews, you should be fine.  Beyond that, the choice is pretty subjective.  For example, I would never get a Dell because I don't like the way they look, but other people like them fine.  I'd strongly recommend visiting a store with monitors on display so you can see what they look like for yourself.  You don't need to see the exact monitors you're considering—all versions of a given model with the same specs (panel type, resolution, and refresh rate) should look pretty much the same.  But if you're going to stare at a screen for hours at a time, you really want to make sure you enjoy doing so.  And if you visit a store, you can see high refresh rate monitors in action and decide whether they'r worth the extra money.

Feel free to link the models you're considering.