Will this laptop run Sims 4, nicely?

[Stefdreams]

Hello, sorry for any inconvenience this is my first time asking in the forum. A year or two ago I could run my Sims 4 in my old pc until Parenthood came, and since then I couldn't play without it closing every 2 minutes. I miss playing so I decided to buy a new laptop, but I'm not really good with these thing I don't don't know if the one I have in mind will work well and won't lag.

The laptop I have in mind is the ASUS Vivobook, reference X512FB-BR096T

Graphic Card: NVIDIA GeForce MX110

Solid Disk: 256 GB

Processor: Intel Core i5-8265U Processor 1.6 GHz, Intel 8 gen

RAM: 4 GB

SO: Windows 10 64bit

Please if anyone can help me out, I don't want to do a bad purchase. 

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@Stefdreams  No, that laptop won't handle Sims 4 very well at all.  It does have a dedicated graphics card, but a weak one, and it has only 4 GB RAM.  The game itself can use 4 GB, but of course Windows will take a significant portion of that for itself.  You could certainly play the base game and a few game or stuff packs, or even an early EP or two, especially on lower settings.  If you're looking to play most or all packs on higher graphics settings though, you'd want something more powerful.

If you post your budget and country, I can look for something that will handle Sims 4 better.  Please also let me know if there's anything else you'd want to do with this computer, like play other games or store a large collection of data, like music or photos.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@Stefdreams  No, that laptop won't handle Sims 4 very well at all.  It does have a dedicated graphics card, but a weak one, and it has only 4 GB RAM.  The game itself can use 4 GB, but of course Windows will take a significant portion of that for itself.  You could certainly play the base game and a few game or stuff packs, or even an early EP or two, especially on lower settings.  If you're looking to play most or all packs on higher graphics settings though, you'd want something more powerful.

If you post your budget and country, I can look for something that will handle Sims 4 better.  Please also let me know if there's anything else you'd want to do with this computer, like play other games or store a large collection of data, like music or photos.

[Stefdreams]

Thank you for answering, I'm from Colombia but I have a very low budget (at least in dollars) of 300 to 750 USD (1.000.000-2.500.000 COP). I'm a Graphic Design/Ilustration/Animation student, so I need enough space for data, for all my programs. And maybe other game in the future. Thank you again. 

[Stefdreams]

@puzzlezaddict There's this PC All in One HP Pavilion 24-xa101la with AMD R3-3200U Processor, Windows, 8GB RAM, Solid Disk 1T, 256 GB.

[Stefdreams]

@puzzlezaddict But I would prefer a laptop I can take to Uni

[Stefdreams]

But I would prefer a laptop I can take to Uni

[puzzlezaddict]

@Stefdreams  I've been looking at the sites of various Colombian stores, and to be honest, they're really difficult to navigate.  Or at least the ones I'm seeing are, with price lists that can't be sorted and specs that are often incomplete.  So I really can't tell you what the best laptop would be for your budget, unfortunately.

What I can do is list the specs you should be looking for so you have something to work with.  Given your price range and your plans for the computer, it's not difficult to make suggestions.

Graphics card:  This is the most important component in determining how well a computer will run the game.  In your price range, an Nvidia 1050 would be great but probably isn't available.  The next best option would be an Nvidia MX 150 (or 250), and an MX 130 is the next one down.  There are definitely plenty of options with MX 130s in your price range.

Memory:  Either get 8 GB RAM, or get a model that can be upgraded to at least 8 GB and do that right away.  It will make a huge difference in performance.

Processor:  If you get the best graphics card you can find, the processor will likely be fine too.  There are too many models to list, but an Intel 8550U or 8250U, or an AMD 2500U, for example, would work out.  An 8th-gen Intel (starts with 8) would be better than a 7th-gen (i.e. 7500U), but it's not absolutely necessary.

Storage:  It sounds like you really need at least 1 TB of storage.  The best scenario would be a small solid state drive for Windows and a large mechanical drive (HDD) for everything else.  If you see an HDD with Optane memory, that's a decent option—the Optane memory will make the HDD run somewhat faster.

Operating system:  Make sure the laptop runs Windows.  Some shops sell models with Linux or another free OS installed, but Origin and Sims 4 will only run in Windows or macOS.

Here's an example of what you might find.  This computer has an Intel i5-8250U processor, an Nvidia MX 130 for a graphics card, and a 1 TB HDD.  It's not the perfect computer for your price range, but you can use it as a benchmark for others you see.  You could also take it to a computer store near you and see if the store can offer something a bit better.

https://clonesyperifericos.com/comprar/14878/

If you do find any others you're considering, feel free to link them or list their specs.

[Stefdreams]

@puzzlezaddict Thank you so much for the help.

[Stefdreams]

@puzzlezaddict Hi, sorry again. I have found a list of some laptops that have (at least/near) some of the specifications you provided, please if you can check them I will be very thankful. Some are in the price range.



https://www.alkosto.com/portatil-asus-laptop-x507ua-intel-core-i5-15-6-pulgadas-disco-estado-solido-...

https://www.alkosto.com/portatil-asus-laptop-x507ua-intel-core-i3-15-6-pulgadas-disco-hibrido-1tb-y-...

(I think, and I may be so wrong, this one is pretty good or at least has some potential) https://www.alkosto.com/portatil-asus-x510qa-amd-a12-15-6-pulgadas-disco-duro-1tb-dorado

(the cheapest one I found, I don't think is going to be good but I still put it on the list) https://www.alkosto.com/portatil-asus-x407ma-intel-celeron-14-pulgadas-disco-duro-500gb-gris

(this one seems like the first one, with which I asked) https://www.alkosto.com/portatil-asus-vivobook-x420ua-intel-pentium-gold-14-pulgadas-disco-solido-12...

Thanks again.

[puzzlezaddict]

@Stefdreams  I'm sorry to say it, but none of these are particularly good options.  The last two only have 4 GB RAM (which might be upgradable; I didn't check their product pages) and very weak processors (which definitely cannot be upgraded).  The first one only has a single 256 GB hard drive, which is definitely not enough for what you want to do, and it doesn't have an empty slot to add another drive.

Most importantly, none of these models have a dedicated graphics card at all.  It's not impossible to play Sims 4 on an integrated card by any means, but it will affect performance, and there are plenty of laptops with dedicated cards in your price range.

For example, on the site you linked (which has some nice search filters), these two laptops would cost a bit more than the ones you listed but are still within your price range.  The second has a slightly better graphics card (MX230) than the first (MX130), atlhough the benchmarks are quite close.  (An MX150 would be better than either, but those are significantly more expensive on this site, although perhaps not on others.)  The first has a 1 TB HDD with an Intel Optane accelerator; the second has a 128 GB SSD in addition to the HDD.  That means that Windows would run significantly faster on the second model, but programs installed to the HDD would be a bit slower than they would be on the first one.

https://www.alkosto.com/portatil-acer-a315-53g-55vv-intel-core-i5-15-6-pulgadas-intel-optane-disco-d...

https://www.alkosto.com/portatil-acer-a315-55g-51fb-intel-ci5-15-6-pulgadas-disco-hibrido-1-tb-hdd-1...

I did see a few real gaming computers on that site that were just out of your price range.  It makes me wonder if you might find a comparable laptop somewhere else that's a bit cheaper.  This one is the best of the group, with a good processor, a graphics card that could probably run all Sims 4 packs together on ultra settings now, and a 1 TB HDD.

https://www.alkosto.com/portatil-hp-15-dk0001la-intel-ci5-15-pulgadas-disco-duro-1-tb-negro

I'm happy to look at other sites as well, if you have some in mind; there were just too many for me to handle last night, especially since most of them didn't have any way to search.