Good laptop for Sims 3+expansion packs [ Edited ]

[irisfandom]

Hi everyone!

A few months ago I bought myself a laptop which I could play Sims 4 on. I’ve been playing Sims 3 all my life though, and I enjoy it way more than I do playing the Sims 4.

My question is, if the laptop I bought is also compatible for Sims 3. If not, what’s a good laptop for Sims 3? My budget is about €800. 

The laptop I currently have is the Lenovo ideapad 330-15ikbr 81de00wjmh.

[EA_Darko]

Hey @irisfandom if you grab us a DxDiag then we can take a look at your system for you and let you know if it will run the Sims 3: https://help.ea.com/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

Darko

[irisfandom]

hey @EA_Darko, i attached the dxdiag!

[puzzlezaddict]

@irisfandom  While your laptop should be able to handle the Sims 3 base game and a few early expansion packs (and all the stuff packs you'd like), the most demanding EPs—Pets, Seasons, Island Paradise and Into the Future—would likely not run well at all.  Even though your hardware is far above the minimum specs listed for TS3, that refers to the original requirements of the unpatched base game.

Other people with your same configuration usually find that the early EPs (up to Generations) run fine, but the more demanding ones require interventions such as turning off rain and snow, disabling wild horses and maybe long-haired pets, etc.  How the packs in the middle run will depend on your system: how well it cools itself, probably something to do with the individual manufacturer, and some element of randomness.

So if you want to play with the most demanding packs, you're probably better off buying a new laptop.  You could always try playing on your current one; as long as you carefully monitor the CPU and GPU temps, you shouldn't do any harm by experimenting.  If you do want to go straight to a new laptop though, I'm not sure exactly what would be available for 800€.  It would depend on your country and what happens to be on sale right now.  Of course, you could buy from another E.U. country, but then the keyboard language would be an issue.

In case you're looking for yourself, this is what you'd want:

• Processor:  Any new or new-ish CPU that doesn't have a U or Y on the end of it is fine.
• Graphics card:  At least an Nvidia 1050 ti to guarantee ultra graphics settings; a 1050 would still be fine if you turned a few settings to high.  A 1650 is better than a 1050 ti.  You could also get by with high settings on an AMD RX 560.
• Memory:  8 GB is enough.  The game won't use more than ~3.7 without crashing anyway.
• Storage:  TS3 loads faster when installed onto a solid state drive, and you'd want at least 256 GB.  If you're installing TS4 too, you'll need more storage, but there's no reason it couldn't go on a larger mechanical drive; unlike TS3, it doesn't run much faster on an SSD anyway.

Feel free to ask more questions, or to link any models you have in mind.   If you're stuck, I can look around a bit for you; just let me know.

[irisfandom]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate this!! :D

[Jadinasims]

It was so kind of you to look at this person's specs and let them know if they'd be okay running some expansion packs. I was hoping for the same kindness! Can you help me?

[puzzlezaddict]

@Jadinasims  Sure, it's not a problem.  If you have the computer already, the easiest way to provide info is to run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

If you're still shopping, feel free to link the options you're considering.  Or if you don't have any in mind yet and would like a few suggestions, just let me know your budget and country, as well as any other features that matter to you, for example whether you'd prefer a laptop or desktop and any other software you'd want to run.

[Jadinasims]

Here you go! Thank you!

[puzzlezaddict]

@Jadinasims  There's some variation in players' experiences, but I would say your laptop could probably run the earliest expansions well, and probably not the most demanding ones.  In this category of laptop, it can take some experimenting to figure out which packs, and how many, run well, and which will not.

My guess is that the base game plus all stuff packs would most likely be fine, plus World Adventures, Ambitions, and Generations, if you want those.  I would avoid Pets and Seasons, and maybe Island Paradise and Into the Future, at least at first.  The intermediate packs, not Pets or Seasons and not the early ones, may or may not work well; this is where players' experiences can vary.

In your position, I'd install the base game only, perhaps with some stuff packs if I owned any.  (SPs don't add much to overhead.)  If the game ran fine, I'd add expansions one at a time, starting with the less demanding ones (WA, Ambitions, and LN), and decide whether performance was still good enough.  When it started to drop off a bit, I'd stop adding more content.

If you really want Seasons in your game, it's possible that it might run okay with some adjustments.  For example, you could disable rain and snow, or you could use lower graphics settings in the winter.  This does work for some people, but for others it's not enough.  You may also find that you can play with, say, Seasons or Island Paradise, but not both at the same time.  I would guess the Pets EP, or more specifically long-haired pets and any horses, would be a real problem for your graphics chip with any settings.

The point is, yes, you should be able to play, but how well, you'll need to find out by experimenting a bit yourself.  I certainly wouldn't go out and buy a bunch of packs all at once.  On the other hand, I don't want to tell you that you won't be able to play with most of the packs, because it's possible you can.  So the short answer is, take it slowly, see how things go, and hopefully you'll find a way to enjoy the game with whatever content works well on your laptop.

[Jadinasims]

@puzzlezaddict is the best! Thank you!