Best laptop for Sims 4 under 500

I have been playing the Sims series since the Sims 2 days [good times] and have been a fan of the Sims games ever since.

One of the best ways to enjoy Sims is with a nice laptop. But if you pick the wrong laptop, the loading screens will be almost unbearable. And thats not even considering the lag and crashes the wrong laptop will cause.

So to help you pick the best laptops for Sims [no matter if its for Sims 1, Sims 2, Sims 3, or Sims 4] I created this easy-to-follow guide.

It will tell you exactly what to look for, what to avoid, and what you can save money on.

But if you are in a rush and just want to know what are the best laptops for Sims now, check out this list:

How to Choose the Right Laptop for Playing The Sims

What are The System Requirements for the Sims Series?

If you are not a computer geek like me, the requirements below might not really say much to you. But dont worry about that. I will guide you through this and tell you exactly what to look for in an easy-to-understand manner.

But if you are tech-savvy, look at these requirements, and youll know exactly what the specs youre going to need for your next laptop for Sims.

• System Requirements for Sims 2
• System Requirements for Sims 3
• System Requirements for Sims 4

What To Look For in a Laptop for Sims A checklist

By todays standards in computers, you dont actually need much when it comes to hardware to fully enjoy Sims 4 without lag. There are some key things that you should be on the lookout for:

• Portability and low weight so you can easily bring it with you
• A nice keyboard and touchpad
• At least 8GB RAM
• A decent screen
• A good processor, preferably an Intel Core i5 or better
• And a long battery life

But theres still one thing, even more important than the points above:

What is the Number 1 Thing to Look for In a Laptop for Sims?

A dedicated graphics card [GPU]. Im not talking about high-end graphics cards you only find in the very best laptops; You dont have to spend much on the GPU, the games in The Sims series will run smoothly with a decent GPU. But make sure to get a dedicated graphics card capable of gaming.

All the laptops I recommend below have a dedicated GPU. And if youre thinking about buying another model and are unsure if the GPU is good enough then this is what to look for:

• Look at the specs: If you look at the laptops hardware specifications and look at the GPU and see something like Intel HD, Integrated, or AMD Radeon r5,6,7 or 8, youcan be sure it wont run Sims well on high or better graphics.

Another good option is if you know what graphics card it has, look for it on this list.

Once you found the graphics card, you can click on it:

And many cases it has benchmarks for Sims 4:

The Best Laptops for Sims

Based on the advice above, I have handpicked 5 laptops perfect for playing Sims. They are all excellent choices and which one you should pick depends on what you want to use it for more than for Sims, what budget you have and what kind of design you find appealing.

I have sorted the list by budget, so the cheapest laptops are first. They all work great for Sims but if you want to play more demanding games, you probably have to get a laptop lower down on the list to play the latest games smoothly.

The Budget Choice: Acer 5 Slim

If you want a laptop just for playing The Sims series, you dont have to break the bank. The Acer 5 Slim is proof of that. Its an excellent laptop for Sims 4 and also the best laptop under $400.

The exterior of the laptop is made of plastic with an aluminum lid. It has a clean but ordinary look. With a weight of under 5 pounds [< 2,3 kg], its a lightweight laptop, perfect for bringing with you.

The 15-inch screen with a 1920 x 1080 [full HD] resolution is a decent screen with a nice thin-bezel design. However, the biggest drawback of the screen is the slow response time of 25ms. You wont notice it when playing The Sims 4, but you may feel it on competitive games such as Counter-Strike.

It will run Sims 4 smoothly with no frame drops or lag at medium settings thanks to the included AMD Ryzen 3 graphics card. It can run SIms 4 at ultra settings, but it will be a bit laggy. Have a look at the frame rates youll get with this laptop:

Another big plus with the Acer Aspire 5 Slim is the 256GB NVMe SSD. The solid-state drive allows for a quick startup of the computer and considerably shorter load times when playing Sims. But notice this is the only storage included in the laptop, so if youre going to store more files than 256GB, youll have to buy more storage in the form of cloud storage or an external hard drive.

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Best Budget Gaming Choice: Acer Nitro 5

For those of you who want to play Sims and the latest graphically demanding games, youre going to need a laptop made for gaming.

The Acer Nitro 5 is one of the cheapest gaming notebooks you can buy at the moment and even if its quite cheap youll get a ton of value for the money.

The graphics card youll find inside the Acer Nitro is the Nvidia GTX 1650. It will run all the Sims games smoothly with 60+ fps on ultra settings. The smooth frame rates are perfect when you do a Sims 4 challenge, such as living off the grid. It will also run most modern games with acceptable frame rates on ultra settings. Check for yourself at the benchmarks in the middle of this article.

If you want a lot of processing power, the Acer Nitro wont let you down. It has a 9th generation Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB DDR4 RAM. This combined with a 256GB SSD makes for some lightning-fast performance. Just be aware that the 256GB SSD is all the storage included.

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Best Mid-range Laptop for Sims 4: HP Omen 15

If you want to run the Sims 4 and other non-demanding games at 60+ fps smoothly without breaking the bank, then the best laptop for you is probably the HP Omen 15.

HP has given their latest Omen model a smooth matte black case with an aluminum palm rest that will give it some added stability but also a bit more weight. It weighs 4.6 pounds [2,1 kg] but even if its not the lightest laptop, it feels very study without any flex.

The Sims 4, all its expansion packs, DLC, and stuff packs will take less than 50GB of storage, so the 512GB has more than enough storage, and since its an SSD its also really fast. Having a solid state drive will make the load times in the Sims games much quicker, something youll notice in all of the game series but especially on older versions such as The Sims 2.

Another thing that makes the Omen 15 a perfect mid-range gaming laptop for The Sims 4 is the Nvidia GTX 1650 GPU. Have a look at the performance in Sims 4 with this graphics card:

This laptop has a 144hz screen. This means it can fully take advantage of games running at 144 fps. Higher frame rates will make everything look smoother and many competitive gamers swear by the higher frame rates for better performance in games such as Dota 2, League of Legends, and CS:GO.

The Omens power capacity of 51Wh is on the lower side for being a gaming laptop. As a result, you can only play Sims for less than 2 hours before you need to charge it up again. I would recommend being near a power outlet if youre gaming for a longer session.

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Best High-end Sims 4 Laptop: MSI GL65 Leopard

If you are looking for excellent gaming performance in The Sims series and the latest PC games, then the MSI GL65 Leopard is a good choice.

The included Nvidia RTX 2070 GPU will run almost all games at 60+ fps on ultra settings. Have a look yourself at the frame rate youll get on the latest games over here.

The biggest weakness of this laptop is the loud fans. When you play The Sims 4 or other games, you will notice the fan noise. Another thing to be aware of is that on dedicated gaming laptops, dont expect a long battery life. Youll have to play it plugged in if youre gaming longer than 2 hours.

The MSI GL65 has an Intel Core i7-10750H CPU. Its one of the best processors you can buy today and has an impressive CPUMark score of 12744.

It has a full HD IPS display with a refresh rate of 144hz.The colors are vivid, and the 144hz refresh rate is perfect on competitive games where the 144 fps are worth it.

Another awesome feature of the MSI GL65 Leopard is the 512GB NVMe SSD. Its super-fast, and combined with the 16GB RAM, it loads applications near instantly.

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Best Mac for Sims 4: Apple MacBook Air

Apple is known for its excellent design, and when you use their products, they just work. But a MacBook is not made for gaming.

You can play Sims 4 on a Mac, and many people do, but the performance wont match the performance youll get on a similarly priced Windows laptop. Here are the frame rates you should expect on the Macbook air on Sims 4:

There might be some occasional drop in the frame rate, but you should be able to run it on medium settings on the new Macbook Air. There are some more expensive Mac models with graphics cards that can actually run Sims on ultra settings smoothly, but they cost over 2000 bucks, a price thats simply not worth paying for a laptop for Sims.

One thing to consider before getting the MacBook Air is the rather small hard disk of 256GB. 256GB fills up easily and you almost always have to pay for a cloud storage service like iCloud or buying external storage if you, for example, want to save a lot of pictures or movies on the hard drive.

Another thing to consider is that you need OSX 10.9 or later to run Origin, so you might need to update the operating system to get Origin running.

But if youre fine with running Sims with a lower resolution on medium settings, then I wont stop you from getting a MacBook. It is, after all, a really amazing laptop with a reliable design, fast performance, and tools perfect for creative people.

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Frequently Asked Questions for Finding the Best Laptops for Sims

Do you need a gaming laptop for Sims 4?

A common mistake many people make is trying to run the Sims 4 on a standard multimedia laptop. If your laptop doesnt have the right hardware, it will lag, and that is if you get it running. This doesnt mean you need a high-end gaming laptop if youre just going to play the Sims 4 or the Sims 3. You can get a higher-end multimedia laptop or a budget gaming laptop that will run all the Sims games at acceptable frame rates. If youre looking for consistent gaming performance and want to run more demanding games, consider a mid-range laptop in the $1000 price range. Its usually worth it. If you want to run all the latest games, consider a high-end gaming laptop such as the MSI GL65.

What laptop works best with Sims 4?

The laptops that work best with the Sims 4 are usually gaming laptops with dedicated graphics cards, a fast CPU, and at least 8GB RAM. Most gaming laptops will run Sims 4 just fine and you can also sometimes find a non-gaming laptop with good enough hardware that it can handle most non-demanding games. If you use many of the best sims 4 mods, it might be best to use a dedicated gaming laptop. To find out exactly what to look for when choosing the best laptops for sims 4, make sure youve read the checklist of what to look for in laptops for sims.

Will Sims 4 ruin my laptop?

No, Sims 4 will run just fine with the right laptop. If you use an older laptop with poor cooling or outdated hardware the computer might crash or overheat. Choose one of the best laptops for sims, for example, one on this list, and it will run the Sims 4, its expansions, and older Sims Games such as The Sims 3 without lag, crashes, or other problems.

How much do I need to pay for a Sims laptop?

If you want to play Sims, no matter if its Sims 2, 3 or 4, you dont have to pay more than 1000 dollars for a laptop. And if you are okay with not playing it on the best graphics settings, you can get a decent laptop for as low as around 600 dollars. You can run Sims on laptops for less than 500 but then the graphics will be low and the game might load for a long time with occasional freezes.

Is there anything I can save on?

Yes! If you know what you might not need, you can save a lot of money on your next Sims 4 laptop. So what are the top 3 things you can skip and get a better price for your next laptop for Sims?

• Touchscreen: Having a touchscreen might be a must-have for some people but the fact is that touchscreens are expensive. So if you can skip the touchscreen you can often save 50-200 bucks off the laptop price.
• SSD: A solid state drive is amazing for blazing fast load times, but an ordinary HDD will work just fine if you are on a short budget. You just have to wait a bit longer for the game to load.
• Excessive amounts of RAM: A common misconception is that more RAM is always better. But you only need 8GB of RAM to play Sims 3 or Sims 4 smoothly and without lag.

Is there anything I CANT save on?

As you probably have understood by now, youll want a good dedicated GPU. So, dont try to save by getting a poor graphics card. Another key aspect of running Sims smoothly is a decent processor, so dont go for the cheapest processor you can buy.

Conclusion

Choosing a laptop for Sims is not just about picking the most affordable laptop you can buy. You need to consider what youll need in a laptop and then choose a laptop that matches your budget, design requirements and level of gaming performance needed.

The last step of this is simply picking the best laptop for Sims that will suit your needs. If you decide to pick any of the laptops I recommended above, you are sure to get an excellent gaming laptop for many good Sims sessions. And if you decide to choose another laptop, you should at this moment know exactly what to look for in a laptop for Sims 4.

Hope this article helped you and let me know in the comments if you have any thoughts or questions!