I can't play both the sims 3 and 4 on my laptop

[Abby2309]

I can't play both of my Sims games 3 and 4. The Sims 4 loads but when it starts game play it pauses then goes to windows. The Sims 3 plays for a short while then pauses and goes straight to windows saying 'Windows is closing the program' but there is no solution to the problem causing it to shut down. The games used to play fine but recently is beginning to crash.

For the Sims 3 I have 7 expansion packs playing. I don't know if its the problem. I bought the Sims 4 and 3 on Cd. All other expansions were bought on Origin. My Laptop Compac 620 runs Windows 7 and its 7 years old, very slow and all. On my storage on C drive is 73.4 GB free of 215 GB. I don't know what is going on. I don't know a lot about programming and all. I don't know if I need a new desktop computer not laptop. Its getting very frustrating not being able to play the games, which relaxes me and is fun. Please someone help me.

[roberta591]

@Abby2309 There are gaming laptops but they will be more expensive then a student/business laptop. Desktops typically have a longer life then laptops because you can upgrade a desktop  more then a laptop. The Compac 620 is very weak for todays 3D games and below minimum requirements for the Sims games. 7 years is a good run for a laptop and may make a good student/business laptop. Windows 7 main support is over and now on extended support by Microsoft. This means vendor support (device drivers) will low. By todays standards the resources of that laptop for game playing are very low . I can only recommend a newer computer.

[Abby2309]

What kind of computer will I need?

[roberta591]

@Abby2309 I would recommend a computer with a mid level gaming video chip (card) and a cpu over the 3.2ghz to 3.5ghz. A lot of choices will be personal preference - cpu (AMD vs Intel) video chip (Nvidia vs ATI AMD)). there is a site that sells gaming desk tops and gaming laptops www.cyberpowerpc.com where you can custom build your computer. If you want high end computers there's digitalstorm.com, falcon-nw.com, and sagernotebook.com. Most gamers build their computers. cyberpowerpc uses the same parts as a scratch build. cyberpowerpc prices are reasonable. I have seen some cyberp;owerpcs in big box stores but you have to buy wants in the box (no customization). AMD just released a new cpu which means the AMD - Intel race is on again. Most games today will run well on a mid range gaming computers. If you want to extend the life of your new purchase you might want to aim for something above mid range. 1080 resolution games is affordable but 4K gaming is in the high rent district. You can get an idea of the cost of parts by looking at microcenter.com or newegg.com. You have to get a motherboard that works with the cpu you pick and the memory that will work with the motherboard you pick. Start with a realistic budget. You will probably have to make some adjustments. Like that $500 custom air brushed painted case when a $60 case will work just fine. Once you make a choice you can always post here or thesims.com tech support forum. Just remember if you ask 10 different gamers you'll probably get 10 different answers but that shouldn't be a problem if you have an idea of what you what.

hth