Will my laptop run Sims 3 with no problems

[EternalCalmFFX]

My laptop specs are the follow:

I7-6700HQ 2.6Ghz, 3.4Ghz with turbo on

16gb Ram

128gb SSD + 1TB HDD

Nvidia Gtx 960m 2gb

I'm thinking in buying the base game plus the season expansion (maybe even the university one) but i'm wondering if the laptop can handle it.

I checked a website and it said it would run fine but i prefer some human opinions better.

I also heard the game had some issues like lag i think... I'm wondering if those have been fixed aswell.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@EternalCalmFFX   Yes, this laptop will handle TS3 on high settings just fine, even with Seasons installed (the second most demanding pack, after Pets).  You'll of course need to install the game on your HDD, and direct Documents to the larger drive as well, since Windows 10 needs at least 35 GB free storage to function properly.

The other consideration is that your graphics card is strong enough to generate excessively high frame rates and perhaps even damage itself if you don't cap them manually.  (S3's fps limiter doesn't work at all, so you'll need to use an outside tool.  You can see your in-game frame rates by bringing up the cheats console (crtl-shift-c) and entering "fps on" without quotes.  A number will appear in the upper right corner, and it should never go above the refresh rate of your monitor, which is likely 60 Hz.  ("fps off" will make the number go away.)

For an Nvidia card, the first tool to try is the built-in Control Panel, and if it doesn't work—and it never works in windowed mode—Nvidia Inspector (free download) is next.  There are also other options, like RivaTuner Statistics Server, if you need them.  For an Origin/1.69 install, you'd use TS3.exe to set up a profile for the game; for a Steam install, you'd use TS3w.exe (with the "w").  Here are screenshots of the settings for each tool, under the spoilers:

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16540301/#Comment_16540301

TS3 does still have issues with lag, which can be caused by a number of factors.  One is insufficient hardware (not a concern for you); another is excessively high frame rates.  Yet another is playing in a poorly made or overly large world—the game engine can overwork itself trying to fix routing issues or just keeping track of too many sims at once.  But Sunset Valley (default world) and Riverview (free store world) are very well made and not demanding at all, so you should be fine.

If you do happen to have game issues, you can always come back and ask.  Plenty of people still play, and many of them manage to get a good experience on weaker systems than you have.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@EternalCalmFFX   Yes, this laptop will handle TS3 on high settings just fine, even with Seasons installed (the second most demanding pack, after Pets).  You'll of course need to install the game on your HDD, and direct Documents to the larger drive as well, since Windows 10 needs at least 35 GB free storage to function properly.

The other consideration is that your graphics card is strong enough to generate excessively high frame rates and perhaps even damage itself if you don't cap them manually.  (S3's fps limiter doesn't work at all, so you'll need to use an outside tool.  You can see your in-game frame rates by bringing up the cheats console (crtl-shift-c) and entering "fps on" without quotes.  A number will appear in the upper right corner, and it should never go above the refresh rate of your monitor, which is likely 60 Hz.  ("fps off" will make the number go away.)

For an Nvidia card, the first tool to try is the built-in Control Panel, and if it doesn't work—and it never works in windowed mode—Nvidia Inspector (free download) is next.  There are also other options, like RivaTuner Statistics Server, if you need them.  For an Origin/1.69 install, you'd use TS3.exe to set up a profile for the game; for a Steam install, you'd use TS3w.exe (with the "w").  Here are screenshots of the settings for each tool, under the spoilers:

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16540301/#Comment_16540301

TS3 does still have issues with lag, which can be caused by a number of factors.  One is insufficient hardware (not a concern for you); another is excessively high frame rates.  Yet another is playing in a poorly made or overly large world—the game engine can overwork itself trying to fix routing issues or just keeping track of too many sims at once.  But Sunset Valley (default world) and Riverview (free store world) are very well made and not demanding at all, so you should be fine.

If you do happen to have game issues, you can always come back and ask.  Plenty of people still play, and many of them manage to get a good experience on weaker systems than you have.