Suitable Laptop for playing The Sims 3 on High Settings

[koochielala]

Hi there! I've been looking for a new laptop for a few months to replace my iMac and Macbook with something more suitable and economical. Usually this would be no trouble except for my addiction to that well loved EA game, The Sims 3. Now I'm all in a panic because I can't seem to find the right combination of Graphics and power, nor know where to look or what it all means. I would be much grateful for the help if it is available. Many thanks in advance, Koochielala

1. What is your budget?

Realistically no higher than £700, but willing to go up to £750/£800 if absolutely necessary.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

15 inches +

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Medium to high

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Desktop replacement

5. How much battery life do you need?

Will mainly be plugged in, ideally 5+

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

The Sims 3 + Expansion Packs on High Settings.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)

Web Surfing, file storage, Photoshop CS5.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

500+

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

-

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

3+ Years.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

DVD ROM.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

I'm not too keen on brands such as HP, Acer ect as I have read many bad reviews. I'm not overly picky, but would prefer Toshiba, Sony, Samsung, Dell, possibly Lenovo but I haven't much experience with the it.

13. What country do you live in?

England.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

My main concern is playing The Sims 3 + Expansions on high settings without any trouble or lagging.

 

[Matthew Papa]

http/www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7645642&CatId=3998

This looks pretty nice. If you could share some UK-based websites that sells laptops/pc parts that'd be helpful.

Actually, scratch that. Check this website out bro:
http/www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-gaming-laptops-ct-118_96_98.html
Pick one that suits your needs and your budget.

 

[Matthew Papa]

I'd personally go with this one:
http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np6350-clevo-w350etq-eta-610-p-4897.html

OR

http/www.xoticpc.com/msi-ge60-0nd257us-p-4982.html

 

[jaguarskx]

I only know of www.dabs.com in the UK. Based on your price limit (even at £800) you will be limited to 1366x768 resolution. It is okay for playing games, but it is a bit too small to really do anything productive. At least that's how I feel about my 14" Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 with a 1366x768 resolution screen.

If you are okay with that resolution, then you have many choices starting at around £500:

Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 15.6" Core i5-3230M 8Gb 1Tb DVDRW 2Gb Nvidia GT635M - £500
http/www.dabs.com/products/lenovo-ideapad-z580-15-6--core-i5-3230m-8gb-1tb-dvdrw-2gb-nvidia-gt635m-windows-8----graphite-grey-8GT0.html?refs=431420000-56900000&src=3

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge Core i5-3210M 4GB 750GB Nvidia GT 635m Win 7 Pro - £637.63
http/www.dabs.com/products/lenovo-thinkpad-edge-core-i5-3210m-4gb-750gb-win-7-pro-8JJ6.html?refs=431420000-56900000&src=3

Acer V3-571G Core i7-3630Q 6GB 500GB DVD 15.6" Win8HP - £688.95 [this has the slightly more powerful GT 640m GPU]
http/www.dabs.com/products/acer-v3-571g-core-i7-3630q-6gb-500gb-dvd-15-6--win8hp-8GK1.html?refs=431420000-485920000&src=3

MSI GE60 0NC Core i7-3630QM 15.6" 2.4GHz NVIDIA GT650M 8GB 750GB 5400RPM Killer™ Gaming Networking - £798.99 [the Nvidia GT 650m is a bit overkill for the Sims 3, it's more for graphically intensive games like Metro 2033, Metro Last Light, and Crysis 3]
http/www.dabs.com/products/msi-ge60-0nc-core-i7-3630qm-15-6--2-4ghz-nvidia-gt650m-8gb-750gb-5400rpm-killer--gaming-networking-8L89.html?refs=431420000-485990000&src=3


The GT 635m is more than enough to play the Sims 3 at high settings so there isn't too much of a reason to go much beyond that price especially since all the above laptops only have 1366x768 resolution screens. The one big difference is the quad core i7-3630QM processor in the MSI laptop. Combine that with nVdia GT 650m and that explains the £800 price tag.


If you want a 1600x900 resolution screen and you do not mind buying a used laptop, then consider the following Asus N55SL-S2019V which has a previous generation dual core i7-2670m and a GT 635m for £759.98.

http/www.dabs.com/products/asus-n55sl-s2019v-core-i7-2670m-6gb-750gb-nvidia-gt635-2g-blu-ray-15-6--w7hp-7WG6.html?refs=431420000-56900000&src=3#usedstock