if you are looking for the best laptop to play either Sims 3 or Sims 4, then you have come to the right page. The worst thing that can happen is having an old computer which does not perform well, and often lags or freezes while you are playing your favorite game. However, there is good news! The sims series does not require a super fancy or expensive laptop. You have a lot of different options available at very reasonable prices. Let us quickly look at three different models below, followed by the required specifications for the ideal machine that you would need to play the Sims.
Required Specifications for Windows Computers
Required Specifications for Mac OS Computers
For Windows, make sure that you have a 64 bit operating system or you are going to experience lag while playing the game. I have listed the minimum requirements above, but it is always good to have more RAM. The HD space listed is inclusive of the space required to install the game and an additional GB allocated for when you save your progress in the game.
Lenovo Thinkpad E595 Laptop Review
Thinkpads are one of the best line of laptops ever made! They are super durable and are very versatile, they work with almost anything that you throw at them. The E595 has a 15.6-inch screen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution with Integrated AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics ! You get a large screen with a great resolution along with a kick ass graphics card. Gaming is a lot more fun if you have a bigger screen and the visibility on this machine is great!
1 Required Specifications for Windows Computers2 Required Specifications for Mac OS Computers3 Lenovo Thinkpad E595 Laptop Review4 HP 15-inch FHD Laptop Review5 Acer Aspire 5 Laptop Review6 Final Words
The Thinkpad also comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 Quad-core processor. This processor is going to run Sims super fast! The game will load right away. Sims does not require a super-fast CPU, but since this machine comes with one you can be assured that any future releases of this game or any other game will work on this computer and you are going to be good to go for a very long period of time. It’s always annoying when you have to keep upgrading technology, but with the E595 you will be good to go for many years to come. In addition to the big screen and the quad core processor, the E595 comes with 8 GB of DDR4 RAM already installed. The requirement for Sims games is around 4 GB of RAM but with this computer you get twice of that! As a rule of thumb, with all these different kinds of programs coming out these days and especially the way technology is progressing, you should really not have a computer which has less than 8 GB of RAM. This computer also has a 256 GB SSD hard drive installed. An SSD is much faster than a conventional HDD. This means that starting the laptop and calling up apps and programs takes much less time. The back of the computer is made of aluminum and over all the entire computer seems very high quality, especially for the price. It’s best to keep your power settings on balanced to get the most out of this machine so you can get a battery life of around 6 hours. Another special feature of the laptop is the built-in HD webcam. The Windows 10 Pro operating system is also preinstalled. This also saves you a lot of money, not many laptop computers come with the Pro version of Windows 10 installed, especially at this price. Downsides? Well Lenovo is extremely durable, so I really do not see any downsides here. The battery life could have been better. 6 hours is still okay but 8 would have been an absolute killer! I would however say that Lenovo machines are very powerful, so the trade off for a couple hours of battery life isn’t really that bad in my opinion. Finally, the machine weighs 4.7 lbs. Honestly, that’s a bit on the heavier side but again you’re getting a laptop with 15.6 inches of screen, so it is bound to weigh a little more. All in all, you get a solid machine for the price tag, and you can keep playing your favorite games on it without worrying of any upgrades for a very long time.
HP 15-inch FHD Laptop Review
The runner up on this list, is the HP 15-inch FHD laptop. It comes with a 15.6 inch full HD display, which is anti-glare and very well constructed with an 82% screen to body ratio. The HP laptop also as a 1920 x 1080 P resolution like the Lenovo, but for me the Lenovo screens always look better. Not saying that HP has bad screens, but in comparison I am more of a Lenovo fan. You also get the Intel UHD Graphics Card preinstalled which means that you will have no issues playing Sims 3 or Sims 4. As a matter of fact, the graphics are much above par! You will feel like you are playing your game in 3D ???? The 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G1 is installed on this machine as the CPU, which is a really fast processor! You will have no issues playing games on this computer. The i5-1035G1 is completely sufficient for Sims 3 or 4 and in my opinion, it is not necessary to use a better processor for your purpose. It is a Quad-core processor and runs at 3.50 GHz. Sweet! The specifications again are a lot better than your average laptop on the market. You can keep this machine for not only playing games but also doing your regular work. It can even run heavy duty programs, and even bigger games if you choose to play them. The machine comes with 8 GB DDR4 RAM already installed, again exceeding the minimum requirement by double. Sims is actually a pretty old game, so you will not really find any laptops in the market that have less than 8 GB of RAM. If you do, I advise you to stay away from those because they are most likely older machines. For pretty much the same price, you can get a much better deal with upgraded specs that will not require an update for years to come. In terms of hard drive size, you get a 256 GB SSD, again quite similar to Lenovo. This is more than enough space to do a lot of things. You may think that this laptop seems quite similar to Lenovo in its specifications other than the processor but let me tell you that they are totally different. They not only look different but also perform and feel totally different. It is like having two different cars. I would say that the Lenovo is a much better machine, but again the HP costs a lot less but at the same time delivers a good quality machine that can be using for playing your favorite games. The Windows 10 pro operating system is also preinstalled on this laptop and it only weighs 3.75 lbs., much easier to move around with. The battery life on this one is about 5 hours if you are watching YouTube videos, browsing, and also playing games. Now for the downsides, people have reported that the fan on this computer is louder than most other machines of comparable size. There are not that many USB ports on it either, only two, one is the USB and the other is the HDMI. People have also complained that this computer has a more tedious setup process than most. But that’s only a one time thing and once you are done with it, you are left with a great laptop that is lightweight, with a great screen, perfect for multi-tasking.
Acer Aspire 5 Laptop Review
The final laptop in this review series is the Acer Aspire 5! We are looking at this machine as the most affordable option out there that can still run Sims 3 or Sims 4 effectively, without giving you any lag. This machine basically satisfies all of the basic minimum requirements that you need to play the game and gets the job done without burning a hole in your wallet. The Aspire 5 is equipped with the AMD Ryzen 3 3200U processor with a CPU speed of 3.5 GHz. Again, you get a 15.6-inch IPS display with a 1920 x 1080-pixel resolution which is really a steal at this price. You are getting a bigger screen yet again with this machine which is going to serve you well without straining your eyes when you are playing the Sims. When compared to more conventional displays, IPS displays have the advantage that they have more saturated colors and are also less dependent on the viewing angle. It does not really matter how you sit in front of the notebook; you will always have a killer view. Unlike the HP and the Lenovo laptops which had 8 GB of RAM, the Acer Aspire comes with 4 GB of RAM. It is still DDR4 RAM so that is great but keep in mind that this is the minimum requirement for a computer. If you are only browsing, watching YouTube videos, checking your emails, and using this for light gaming such as Sims 3 or 4, then you will be totally fine. If you would like to do anything more with this machine, then you will face performance issues. However, it is not that big of a deal since you can always upgrade RAM to 8 GB or more without spending much money. Even at this cost you get a Vega 3 Graphics card preinstalled. This is real value for the money here. You will have absolutely no issues playing games on this computer. Finally, the hard drive, now this is where you only get 128 GB of space. However, it is still a Solid-State drive so the performance issues are not going to be there. It is just that 128 GB is not a lot of space. You already have Windows taking quite a bit of space and when you install Sims it will also take decent bit of space on your hard drive. You will not be able to install that many games on here but again for the purpose of playing Sims and doing other activities online this is totally fine. Again, if you feel that you need more space later down the road then it is not that hard or costly to purchase a bigger hard drive and do an install. The battery life on this machine is usually around 3 – 4 hours which is not that great to be honest. I think this is probably the biggest downside for this machine. But if you are at home and mostly use your computer there then that is not something you need to worry about. Finally, the laptop is almost 4 lbs, which is an okay weight in my opinion. Not the best, but also not the worst. I would say that this is a decent machine, especially at this price point you will struggle to find something better that is brand new.
Final Words
How you make the final selection is really up to you! Are you only looking for a lightweight computer that is good enough to play sims, browse and bit, check you emails, and watch YouTube videos? If so, then go ahead with the Acer Aspire 5. This machine offers real value for the money, especially if you do not need a lot of storage or RAM power. If you mostly stay at home, then the shorter battery life should also not be an issue. This machine will serve your purpose flawlessly. If you do find the machine a bit slow, then check out our guide on how to make Sims 4 run faster. However, if you are more inclined to do other things such as watching movies, maybe a decent bit of Excel work and if you also prefer to have multiple games installed on your computer, then I would definitely suggest the Lenovo Thinkpad E595. It is one hell of a machine that will enable you to multi-task efficiently without ever crashing or lagging. These machines come with a lot of power and are perfect for almost all types of users. At the end of the day, the choice is yours. If you want something that will stand the test of time and where you will not have to do any upgrades, then I would recommend the Thinkpad. If you have the budget and you think that you do not need more power, even then I would recommend purchasing this machine. I say that because it will stay more relevant for the years to come. You won’t have to worry about doing any sort of upgrades or buying a new laptop if you go with this choice. Furthermore, Thinkpads are built like tanks! They are extremely durable and versatile. That is something I look for in a computer since I use my machine a lot and I use it for several different purposes. Nothing against the Acer, as it is also a wonderful machine but if you do make the comparison then the Thinkpad wins in so many ways that it makes it a much more viable choice. As far as the HP is concerned, it is priced not that much differently than the Thinkpad. If I was going to up my game from the Acer then I wouldn’t go for the HP, due to the minimal price different between the top two choices of laptops covered in this review.
