Re: New laptop for the sims 3

by tarahoover
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New laptop for the sims 3

★★★★★ Novice

Is this computer an upgrade from my old one? If so, what features are better than the old one? If not, what features does the old one have that is better than the new one? Thank you in advance.

 

 Old:https://answers.ea.com/ea/attachments/ea/the-sims-3/229402/1/DxDiag.txt

 

new:https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-i5-8250U-GeForce-E5-576G-5762/dp/B075FLBJV7

 

Message 1 of 11 (1,574 Views)

Accepted Solution

Re: New laptop for the sims 3

@tarahoover  Toddlers really are a handful.  They're lucky they're so cute.

 

Anyway, this isn't really a question of running the game on lower settings.  For some reason that's not always clear, newer weak hardware often runs TS3 very poorly, even if it's stronger than older hardware that managed the game fine.  In particular, U-series processors don't always do well, nor do the Nvidia 1030, MX130, and MX150.  Using anything below an Nvidia 1050 or an AMD RX 560 risks lag, freezing, and overheating that is difficult to properly fix.  So if possible, it's always better to get hardware known to handle the game well.  A 1050 ti will run TS3 and TS4 on ultra settings now, although future TS4 packs may raise the game's demands a bit.  High settings would definitely always be fine though.

 

It sounds like you'd need more storage than you'd get with a single 256 GB drive.  The Acer is still the best option I found for $600 though, and adding a second internal drive is quite simple with this particular model.  Here are Acer's own instructions:

 

https://us.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/49882/~/hard-drive-installation-instructions-for...

 

If you feel like this is something you could do, or have a friend help you with, I'd recommend getting this laptop and adding the second drive when you install the second Sims game.  One game will fit just fine, and two might be okay if you're careful about managing space, but it would start to get a bit tight.  Internal drives aren't that expensive anymore, and any 2.5" drive would fit.  For example, this hybrid drive—faster than a mechanical (HDD), a bit slower than a solid state drive (SSD)—is $50 for 1 TB of storage, which would be more than enough:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EK8C4QU/?tag=pcpapi-20

 

A 500 GB SSD is a couple bucks cheaper:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PGC3JKQ/?tag=pcpapi-20

 

If you don't want to add a second drive, now or later, and you do need that space, the only other good option I found is a used model of this computer, offered by Amazon Warehouse.  Click on the "used and new" below the specs to see the options.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Gaming-Laptop-G3579-5941BLK-PUS-3579/dp/B07BRHXCZL

 

It has a 128 GB SSD/1 TB HDD combination, which is more than enough.  It has the same processor as the Acer, but its graphics card is a bit slower.  Still, if you don't mind using high graphics settings instead of ultra, which it sounds like you don't, then this would be a decent option.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.

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Message 5 of 11 (1,514 Views)

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Re: New laptop for the sims 3

@tarahoover  The newer computer is an upgrade over the old one in almost every way.  Its only downside relative to your existing computer is the smaller hard drive, which is not trivial but also not a fatal flaw.

 

However, the new computer still won't run TS3 as well as you might want.  Its processor and graphics card don't do well with the game—even though they should be sufficient for medium-high settings, people who actually try to play on this hardware often have trouble running the most demanding expansion packs.

 

I'm not sure what your budget is, but you could certainly do better even for $600.  For example, this Acer has a significantly better processor and graphics card, good enough to run TS3 on ultra graphics settings, although it has the same small hard drive.  Still, secondary internal and external drives are not all that expensive.

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-nitro-5-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce...

 

If you list your budget, as well as anything else you'd like to do with this computer, I can look for other options for you as well.  I'm not sure there will be any others quite so cheap, but it's easy enough to look around a bit.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 2 of 11 (1,551 Views)

Re: New laptop for the sims 3

★★★★★ Novice

I use quite a bit of CC which is kind of a bad thing 😂 My budget is $600, and I don’t have much store content so I figured that the storage space would be okay. My old laptop actually ran the sims 3 really good which was unexpected honestly, although I did play on mainly low graphics.

Message 3 of 11 (1,544 Views)

Re: New laptop for the sims 3

[ Edited ]
★★★★★ Novice

I am fine with playing on low-Medium settings, I'm mainly worried about the storage thing honestly. The only reason i am getting a new one is because my old laptop got broken from a 3 year old who poured milk on it. The only games I would really play on it would be the sims series(Sims 3,4 mainly)

Message 4 of 11 (1,539 Views)

Re: New laptop for the sims 3

@tarahoover  Toddlers really are a handful.  They're lucky they're so cute.

 

Anyway, this isn't really a question of running the game on lower settings.  For some reason that's not always clear, newer weak hardware often runs TS3 very poorly, even if it's stronger than older hardware that managed the game fine.  In particular, U-series processors don't always do well, nor do the Nvidia 1030, MX130, and MX150.  Using anything below an Nvidia 1050 or an AMD RX 560 risks lag, freezing, and overheating that is difficult to properly fix.  So if possible, it's always better to get hardware known to handle the game well.  A 1050 ti will run TS3 and TS4 on ultra settings now, although future TS4 packs may raise the game's demands a bit.  High settings would definitely always be fine though.

 

It sounds like you'd need more storage than you'd get with a single 256 GB drive.  The Acer is still the best option I found for $600 though, and adding a second internal drive is quite simple with this particular model.  Here are Acer's own instructions:

 

https://us.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/49882/~/hard-drive-installation-instructions-for...

 

If you feel like this is something you could do, or have a friend help you with, I'd recommend getting this laptop and adding the second drive when you install the second Sims game.  One game will fit just fine, and two might be okay if you're careful about managing space, but it would start to get a bit tight.  Internal drives aren't that expensive anymore, and any 2.5" drive would fit.  For example, this hybrid drive—faster than a mechanical (HDD), a bit slower than a solid state drive (SSD)—is $50 for 1 TB of storage, which would be more than enough:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EK8C4QU/?tag=pcpapi-20

 

A 500 GB SSD is a couple bucks cheaper:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PGC3JKQ/?tag=pcpapi-20

 

If you don't want to add a second drive, now or later, and you do need that space, the only other good option I found is a used model of this computer, offered by Amazon Warehouse.  Click on the "used and new" below the specs to see the options.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Gaming-Laptop-G3579-5941BLK-PUS-3579/dp/B07BRHXCZL

 

It has a 128 GB SSD/1 TB HDD combination, which is more than enough.  It has the same processor as the Acer, but its graphics card is a bit slower.  Still, if you don't mind using high graphics settings instead of ultra, which it sounds like you don't, then this would be a decent option.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 5 of 11 (1,515 Views)

Re: New laptop for the sims 3

★★★★★ Novice

She sure is lucky she’s cute😂 Thanks for all of the help 😁

Message 6 of 11 (1,508 Views)

Re: New laptop for the sims 3

★★★★★ Novice

Do you think the 500gb SSD would be better, or the 1 tb of HDD?

Message 7 of 11 (1,490 Views)

Re: New laptop for the sims 3

@tarahoover  Personally, I'd go with the smaller SSD if you're going to install games or other reasonably demanding apps on it.  HDDs are fine for storing data (music, movies, photos, etc.) because once the data is written to the drive, it will play back the same.  But most applications will run faster if they're installed on an SSD.  Sims 4 doesn't really benefit though.

 

The SSHD I recommended is a better choice for large amounts of data than a regular HDD because it's still fast enough for most purposes, but not overly expensive.  If you installed TS4 on it, you probably wouldn't notice any performance difference.  TS3 would load saves, Create a Sim, Build/Buy catalogs, travel transitions, etc. somewhat slower, but still better than if it were on an HDD.  Still, as long as you don't really need a full 1 TB extra storage, the SSD is the better option.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 8 of 11 (1,484 Views)

Re: New laptop for the sims 3

★★★★★ Novice

Mostly everything I’ll have will be cc/mods for the games, so they would also be used in ssd, so the 500 ssd should be good. One last question(although it’s kind of s dumb one) If I add the 500 Gb ssd, the total would be 756 right? or would it cancel out the original ssd? Thanks for your patience with me, I don’t know anything about computers. 

Message 9 of 11 (1,476 Views)

Re: New laptop for the sims 3

[ Edited ]

@tarahoover  You would have two separate drives, with 256 GB and 512 GB, respectively, or perhaps a bit less each with formatting (maybe 5-10% less).  The drive that comes already installed is actually a completely different type than the one you're considering buying, and it takes a different slot on the motherboard.  I'm not sure exactly which model the Acer has, but whatever it is, it will look something like this:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJB3WLB/?tag=pcpapi-20

 

(By the way, the 2280 form factor means 22mm x 80mm, so it's quite small and doesn't need its own drive bay.)

 

Windows will be on the 256 GB drive, which will be labeled C, and when you installed the new drive, it would be D unless you changed it.  When you installed an application, you would see a menu where you could choose where it went.  For example, Origin will default to installing games into C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games.  But you could instead create a folder on D, maybe called My Games (or whatever you wanted), and tell Origin to install to D:\My Games.  That's where your game files would be located, so they wouldn't be taking up room on C.

 

Once a game is installed, Origin will "know" where it is and will call the data from the correct drive, so you won't need to constantly manage those files yourself.

 

If you installed both Sims 3 and Sims 4 on D, you'd have plenty of room left on C, which is good because your user game folder, with its saves, builds, cc, etc. is located in Documents, not Program Files.  It's a bit more complicated to move Documents to another drive, but you won't need to do so.  You might want to make a folder for backup saves on D, just in case you ever need it; you'll have plenty of room for that as well.

 

P.S.  I don't mind answering questions.  Sites like this are built for people who don't know much about computers but are willing to figure it out, with some help.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 10 of 11 (1,468 Views)