Which laptop request - UK, £2-3k

by trubblesims
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Which laptop request - UK, £2-3k

★ Novice

Hey there,

 

I’ve seen some great replies on here about which laptop to choose. I’ve also been through some recent threads and had a look at those recommendations, none quite fit.

 

I’m aware a desktop would be cheaper for more. There are reasons I want to keep Simming on a laptop.

 

Currently I’m playing on a 10 year old  Dell Studio laptop, which can run everything on ultra, but things are getting laggy and I’ve definitely hit its limit. The fact that is has lasted this long with both Sims 3 and 4 putting it extensively through its paces, plus complex graphic design work for 5 of those years, does make me want another Dell but I’m in two minds (see below).

 

Sims-wise I don’t use much CC but would like to be able to try out reshade sometime or record short videos without everything grinding to a halt. It will also serve as another backup machine for work - so graphic and web design. I occasionally play Civ V, or Sims 1 (ha) but nothing else. Would like a bit of future proofing but not expecting another 10 year miracle laptop.

 

I use Macs for everything else, so it has been a really long time since I’ve had to search for anything PC - I am out of the loop.

 

Requirements:

 

Budget is about £2,000, could push to 3 if it was really worth it but on my cursory browsing I’m not sure it is. I am eligible for student discount on most places, which is about 15% from what I’ve seen.

 

Ideally would have a num pad - I mouse with my left hand when I sim so use the num pad extensively for speeds/changing floors etc - I’m not sure how well I’d cope without that. Realise there are ways round that but don't want to plug a ton of things in

 

17 inch screen is a must - not worried about portability although it will be used on my lap (on a cooling pad)

 

Would love at least a 1TB SSD

 

As much RAM as humanly possible for that budget

 

A graphics card that has at least a 3-5 year lifespan as far as Sims 4 is concerned

 

Decent processor

 

 

Current browsing:

 

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-alienware-m17/spd/alienware-m17-r3-laptop/n00awm17r306 with a hard drive upgrade. Student discount hits my budget almost perfectly. I saw several people had had driver issues with Sims and I’m not sure I can be bothered with that faff. Plus aware that AW you’re paying a premium.

 

Also looked at this, which is a lot cheaper especially with the discount code and/or student discount https://uk-store.acer.com/predator-helios-300-gaming-laptop-ph317-53-black-4 Are Acers any good these days? They weren’t before but that was 10 years ago…

 

I did look at the Dell XPS but no num pad. https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-xps-17/spd/xps-17-9700-laptop/cnx79709 With student discount it’s closer to budget although still over, and not sure it’s worth it. I heard the cooling is really good, but otherwise it seems similar to the Acer and not that different to the AW.

 

Like I say I’m out of the loop so if there’s something else out there that fits… The Razers seem out of budget, found the Asus website to be a nightmare to navigate so gave up, MSI wasn’t really sure where to look.

 

Many thanks for any help!

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Re: Which laptop request - UK, £2-3k

@trubblesims  That's quite a laptop you have in mind, not that it's a bad thing.  Even with a £2k+ budget, and including a 17" screen and number pad, you have plenty of options.  It's more difficult to find a laptop with everything you want though, at least right out of the box.  I didn't see any laptops that also had a 1 TB SSD and 32 GB RAM (or could be configured that way) that were also highly reviewed and didn't cost more than they were worth.

 

To that end, would you be comfortable upgrading any components in a laptop that supports it?  For example, the (highly rated) Gigabyte Aero models almost always come with a 512 GB SSD and 16 GB RAM, but memory is easily upgraded, and the Aero actually has two NVMe slots, so you could install the second drive of your choice.  For reference:

 

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/gigabyte-aero-17-kb-nvidia-rtx-2060-16gb-17.3-lg-144hz-i7-10750h-prof...

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3537520/gigabyte-aero-17-review.html#toc-2

 

The Alienware you linked also has extra NVMe slots, (I'd have to check how accessible they are), in case you wanted to add one of these for £190:

 

https://www.box.co.uk/MZ-V7S1T0BW-Samsung-970-EVO-Plus-1TB-M.2-2280-NVMe-P_2476030.html

 

Other laptops may have an empty 2.5" drive bay that would take a SATA SSD, not as fast as an NVMe SSD but more than fast enough for gaming.  So you could have your creative software on the boot drive and Sims 4 and other stored files on the secondary drive.  It's not difficult to manage two drives, if you're willing.  I'd have to double-check the specs on any given laptop (I will if you're interested in this option), but in theory, something like these might work:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-17-3-inch-Anti-Glare-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B07TXM2DBV/

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/173-msi-gs75-stealth-10se-068uk-fhd-240hz-i7-10750h-16gb-ddr4-512gb-...

https://www.ebuyer.com/937183-razer-blade-pro-17-core-i7-16gb-512gb-ssd-rtx-2070-17-3-rz09-03147w02-...

 

Even if you'd only be comfortable upgrading the memory, that opens up plenty of other options.  For example:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-FA706IU-GeForce-Graphics-Windows/dp/B084N1C5SZ/

https://uk.store.asus.com/laptops/gaming-series/asus-rog-g712lv-h7007t-notebook-black-43-9-cm-17-3-1...

 

The other option is to configure a custom PC.  Then you could choose the memory and hard drive(s) you wanted, along with getting the processor and graphics card you'd like.  Examples are Scan, Origin, CyberpowerPC... the list goes on.  If this is a viable option for you, I'll look up reviews to see how they compare to prebuilt models.

 

Speaking of reviews, while Acer is a lot better than it was, the Predator Helios 300 is probably not the quality you're looking for:

 

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-Predator-Helios-300-Laptop-Review-A-modern-gaming-laptop-with-a-T...

 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the graphics card.  Is the only goal of the graphics card to outlast Sims 4 and maybe a couple of years of Sims 5?  An Nvidia 1660 ti would be a bit of overkill, even with Reshade in the mix, unless you really want high refresh rates.  (A 1660 ti can run the game at over 100 fps without Reshade or other overlays, although Sims 4 itself has fps drops because of in-game issues.)  A 2060 is about 5% faster but has more features that benefit other games you probably won't play, e.g. Raytracing for very new games.  A 2070 is far more power than any Sims game will use.

 

Let me know what you have in mind, and I'll look for other good options.

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

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

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Re: Which laptop request - UK, £2-3k

@trubblesims  That's quite a laptop you have in mind, not that it's a bad thing.  Even with a £2k+ budget, and including a 17" screen and number pad, you have plenty of options.  It's more difficult to find a laptop with everything you want though, at least right out of the box.  I didn't see any laptops that also had a 1 TB SSD and 32 GB RAM (or could be configured that way) that were also highly reviewed and didn't cost more than they were worth.

 

To that end, would you be comfortable upgrading any components in a laptop that supports it?  For example, the (highly rated) Gigabyte Aero models almost always come with a 512 GB SSD and 16 GB RAM, but memory is easily upgraded, and the Aero actually has two NVMe slots, so you could install the second drive of your choice.  For reference:

 

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/gigabyte-aero-17-kb-nvidia-rtx-2060-16gb-17.3-lg-144hz-i7-10750h-prof...

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3537520/gigabyte-aero-17-review.html#toc-2

 

The Alienware you linked also has extra NVMe slots, (I'd have to check how accessible they are), in case you wanted to add one of these for £190:

 

https://www.box.co.uk/MZ-V7S1T0BW-Samsung-970-EVO-Plus-1TB-M.2-2280-NVMe-P_2476030.html

 

Other laptops may have an empty 2.5" drive bay that would take a SATA SSD, not as fast as an NVMe SSD but more than fast enough for gaming.  So you could have your creative software on the boot drive and Sims 4 and other stored files on the secondary drive.  It's not difficult to manage two drives, if you're willing.  I'd have to double-check the specs on any given laptop (I will if you're interested in this option), but in theory, something like these might work:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-17-3-inch-Anti-Glare-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B07TXM2DBV/

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/173-msi-gs75-stealth-10se-068uk-fhd-240hz-i7-10750h-16gb-ddr4-512gb-...

https://www.ebuyer.com/937183-razer-blade-pro-17-core-i7-16gb-512gb-ssd-rtx-2070-17-3-rz09-03147w02-...

 

Even if you'd only be comfortable upgrading the memory, that opens up plenty of other options.  For example:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-FA706IU-GeForce-Graphics-Windows/dp/B084N1C5SZ/

https://uk.store.asus.com/laptops/gaming-series/asus-rog-g712lv-h7007t-notebook-black-43-9-cm-17-3-1...

 

The other option is to configure a custom PC.  Then you could choose the memory and hard drive(s) you wanted, along with getting the processor and graphics card you'd like.  Examples are Scan, Origin, CyberpowerPC... the list goes on.  If this is a viable option for you, I'll look up reviews to see how they compare to prebuilt models.

 

Speaking of reviews, while Acer is a lot better than it was, the Predator Helios 300 is probably not the quality you're looking for:

 

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-Predator-Helios-300-Laptop-Review-A-modern-gaming-laptop-with-a-T...

 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the graphics card.  Is the only goal of the graphics card to outlast Sims 4 and maybe a couple of years of Sims 5?  An Nvidia 1660 ti would be a bit of overkill, even with Reshade in the mix, unless you really want high refresh rates.  (A 1660 ti can run the game at over 100 fps without Reshade or other overlays, although Sims 4 itself has fps drops because of in-game issues.)  A 2060 is about 5% faster but has more features that benefit other games you probably won't play, e.g. Raytracing for very new games.  A 2070 is far more power than any Sims game will use.

 

Let me know what you have in mind, and I'll look for other good options.

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

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 2 of 3 (384 Views)

Re: Which laptop request - UK, £2-3k

★ Novice

Firstly - huge thank you for this incredibly detailed response. You’ve given me a lot to think about.

 

I think the trouble is I only spent about £1.4k on my Studio 1749 (including upgrading the hard drives myself). I say I’m not expecting another miracle, but I probably am.

 

I’m going to have a look through your links and do a bit more research, I’ll come back if I have any more questions. Thank you for your help!

Message 3 of 3 (359 Views)