Hate to be 'that' guy. Will this run Sims 3 all right?

[jpt7]

Hey all, I know these types of questions must flood in, but I'm quite daft when it comes to this type of thing. I've been on a little Acer Aspireone netbook for two years or so now and it is on its way out. I found a decent looking Toshiba for a decent price.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba---Satellite-15.6%26%2334%3B-Laptop---4GB-Memory---640GB-Hard-Drive---Mercury-Silver/7337075.p?skuId=7337075&productCategoryId=pcmcat247400050000&id=1218840466640


One of the things that excites me about an ACTUAL laptop is a bit more power than this little skeleton of a netbook.
I obviously recognize that the budget laptop up there isn't a gaming laptop, but I figure it must have some capabilities. But I don't know what I'm talking about.

I'm interested just in like sims 3 and some expansions, maybe sims 2 if I have to. Zoo Tycoon 2. Stuff like that. What do you guys think? I'd love some advice. Thanks everyone!!

 

[jaguarskx]

Pretty good laptop considering it is under $400. The Intel HD 4000 should be fine for playing the Sims 3. People have mentioned that they were able to play it using the older Intel HD 3000 graphics core. The Intel HD 4000 basically has an average of 35% performance increase over the older Intel HD 3000.

Here's a link to someone who just yesterday recorded playing the Sims 3 on this Mac with an Intel HD 4000. You will likely see better performance on the laptop you linked to unless you are going to play and do video capture at the same time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqS3VX4nETM

 

[Bvbz]

I play Sim 3 on my MacBook Air 2012 (bootcamp W7) (HD 4000) all the damn time and it runs just fine. I play in medium+ settings. Sometimes I get a little lag moving between lots, but it is not bad at all. I would look into going to 8GB RAM if I were you (not expensive if you do it yourself; for the MBA guys there has been shown to be a substantial FPS gain going from 4-8GB, but who knows on a PC).

With just an HD4000 I think you will be shocked with what you can get away with game-wise. For me, there is just a pure LOL factor to playing FPS's (even on low) on a sub-three-pound laptop that I can take everywhere.

Edit: For reference:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4000.69168.0.html

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

Have you considered a AMD based laptop. I heared they are better options for budget gaming laptops. Mybe something like this one.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/7117152.p?id=1218830172884&skuId=7117152

 

[jaguarskx]

^^^

I wouldn't opt for that laptop. It only has the Radeon HD 7520G and the Intel HD 4000 is a least as powerful as that. I believe the integrated Radeon HD 7600G is faster than the Intel HD 4000 though. The 2.4GHz Core i3 is also more powerful than whatever AMD Trinity 2.7GHz APU is in that laptop.

So for like $10 more you get a more powerful CPU and integrated graphics.

 

[jpt7]

Wow thanks a lot for the help guys! Do you think I would find a very significant difference in quality if I expanded my budget up to a $500 point?
If so, any suggestions for brands or key specs to look out for?
I'm willing to invest a bit more money if it will garner a significant return.
I want a laptop for standard college things, but would like at least a small gaming capacity.

Thanks again