New laptop, no game CD port??

[heather2131]

I'm searching for a new laptop around £400 maybe £500

I was looking at new ones and also refurbished lenovo carbon thinkpads

They have great specs but no CD port to install the games. I have the sims 3 physical copies! 

To play the sims 3 I have to have one of the expansions inside the actual laptop.

Any advice? Or recommendations for a suitable laptop around my price range?

Thank you

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

Edit:. I just saw your second post.  You specifically need to use TS3.exe, not the launcher .exe.  Again, TS3w.exe with the w is only if you installed using a disc or through Steam; TS3.exe is for an Origin install.

@heather2131  You've set the Max Frame Rate to 60 and it still goes over?  That's uncommon, but it's fine, there are other tools you can try instead.  The simplest one to use is RivaTuner Statistics Server, which is free and doesn't have any extra features to deal with.  The one caveat is that it does have to be running while you play, so don't X it out, just minimize it to the tray.  When you install and launch it, you'll see this:

You can choose to start it with Windows or not (yellow box); it takes very little in the way of resources, so it's not a big deal to have it running.  Again, choose TS3.exe for an Origin install or TS3w.exe for other kinds of installs, then set your preferred framerate limit (red box).  You may need to restart your computer to get it to work.

[puzzlezaddict]

@heather2131  Most new laptops don't have a disk drive, but you could get an external one for maybe £20-30.  You could also register your base game and packs in Origin and download them from there (for free), no disc required.  Many people don't like the way the Origin version works, but it's still a viable solution.

As for suggestions, that depends on whether you're buying new or used.  A new £500 laptop isn't going to run the game on ultra graphics settings, at least not if you have the most demanding expansions (Pets, Seasons, then Isla Paradiso and Into the Future).  How well it would run the game on lower settings seems to depend a lot on the individual laptop.  Some people play fine with all packs, some have to disable Pets and Seasons, and some can't seem to avoid frequent crashes no matter what they do.  So no matter what you buy in this category, there's no guarantee you'll be able to play the way you want to.

For used laptops, it's somewhat easier to find a good option, although it depends on where you look.  Would you be willing to buy something on Ebay?  If not, what stores are you looking at?  In any case, you'd want a dedicated graphics card that's fast enough to run all packs on high or ultra settings.  I can make some recommendations if you want, or just list the suitable cards you might see in your price range.

[heather2131]

So I was looking at refurbished ones but I've found this one that meets the specs instead

What do you think of it?

Supposed to be £700 but I can get it for £567 with a damaged box

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-series-3-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-cor...

[heather2131]

I want to be able to run the graphics higher

My current laptop.. I'm not even sure how it manages to load the sims 3! But I have to have all the graphics on low and its very laggy  and sometimes freezes for a bit which ruins the gameplay.

So im hoping my new laptop, I can run the graphics atleast medium if not high otherwise what's the point of spending all that money.

[puzzlezaddict]

@heather2131  That's actually a really good choice, the kind of laptop I'd recommend if you wanted to spend £650 rather than £500.  The graphics card should be able to handle ultra settings, and the processor and RAM are fine.  The only drawback is its small hard drive, but 256 GB is enough for Sims 3, all your user data, and plenty of small apps like browsers.  Just keep an eye on drive space so you can clean things up if necessary, or you could get an external hard drive at some point in the future.

If you do get this laptop, or something similar, you'll want to take steps to manually cap your in-game framerates.  An Nvidia 1650 is powerful enough to generate very high fps (all cards fast enough to run the game on high or ultra settings are), and the card could overwork itself and overheat the computer if fps isn't capped.  It's easy enough to do though, often in just a couple clicks.

There's not much point in describing the various approaches until you're actually looking at your laptop, since you'll need to be able to test the results of using one tool or another.  When you do get the laptop, if you'd like help with the process, let me know.

[heather2131]

Thank you!

I already have a 1tb external hard drive if that helps?

[puzzlezaddict]

@heather2131  Then you should be fine.  A full TB is more than most people need these days, and it's easy to move files back and forth as necessary.

[heather2131]

Sorry I tagged you for another question but actually managed to fix it myself!

I have a new question now haha

So I got the new laptop and everything is working great

Apart from the laptop is getting extremely hot, I have the graphic settings on medium because to be quite honest I can't see much difference between medium and high

I'm so scared to break or overheat my new laptop with it getting sooo hot

You mentioned capping the fps? How would one go about doing that please?

Also any other tips on stopping it overheating? The fan is really loud

I thought I'd order a cooling pad from amazon as well but I don't feel like even that would be enough, its very hot to touch 

[puzzlezaddict]

@heather2131  To see your in-game framerates, bring up the cheats console (crtl-shift-C) and enter "fps on" without quotes.  A number will appear in the upper right corner of your screen, and it should never go above the refresh rate of your screen, which is probably 60 Hz but might be 144.  (Let me know if you're not sure how to check this.)  It sounds like it's a lot higher though, in which case limiting framerates is the easiest step you can take to limit the heat the game generates.

Capping fps is easy, although it often takes some experimenting to find a tool that works.  The first one to try is the built-in Nvidia Control Panel.  Right-click on the desktop, select the CP, click Manage 3D Settings, then Program Settings, and you'll see this:

Choose TS3.exe for an Origin install, or TS3w.exe (with the w) for a disc or Steam install (green box).  In the red box, enable Vertical sync and Triple buffering.  If you do happen to have a 144 Hz screen, which I think is unlikely but is possible, you could set Vertical sync to Adaptive (half refresh rate) instead, to limit it to 72.

If this setting doesn't work, there's a Max Frame Rate setting in Global settings, which you can enable and then enter the max you want:

Be sure to double-check fps, and if neither of these help, there are other tools you can download instead.

[heather2131]

Thank you

I changed the settings as you showed but has done nothing to the little number at the top right of the screen which is 245!!

What can I do next?

I did everything as you showed in your screenshots