Question about a laptop im thinking of buying.

[Glaciathewolf96]

So, ive been searching for a new laptop that could at least run the sims 3 pets and alicia online smoothly, i also wanted to try and do some streams to. my friend pointed me to a cheap (compared to others) gaming laptop for 550$ that had:

Intel Core i5-5200U 2.2 GHz (3 MB Cache)
Windows 10
8 GB DDR3L SDRAM
1 TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
15.6-Inch Full HD Screen, NVIDIA GeForce 940M with 2GB VRAM

though recently a friend of mine is selling her laptop for 250$ and the pic below shows what it has.

http://sta.sh/0176yvqmi3xv

So my question is, which would be better to get i can have the 250$ one on the 4th but the other one i wouldnt be able to get till end of november

[Morgra]

Hi there, I did some research for ya

 The processor on the one your friend is selling is actually a lot nicer than the one you found. It has a 2.4GHz clock (up to 3.0GHz according to intel's website) compared to a 2.2GHz clock. It also has the benefit of having an i7 core. i7 core CPUs have more capabilities and they're generally faster. I don't know if it makes that much of a difference in terms of gaming. Some people say it's a huge difference, other people say it's not. I have an i7 processor. My brother has an i5. Both of us have no trouble gaming if that helps you.

The amount of Ram is the same on both, so there's not much to compare there. (I have 8gb on my PC and it runs nicely)

The benefit of the first one is really in the graphics card. I believe there's a lot of improvement with the first one compared to the second. However I'm going to focus on the second laptop because I believe it will benefit you in terms of price and I'm not sure if you'll really need the graphics card with what you stated in terms of usage. I think that you would do just fine running the Sims and Alicia Online with the second laptop. On a site I looked at, the processor on the second, runs Sims 4 on medium settings and since you're looking at Sims 3, it should be even better. I looked at another site that said the system requirements for Sims 3. The second one's processor would actually run better with the 2.4GHz clock compared to the first one's 2.2GHz clock, as I had stated before. So there might be some compromises if you decide to get the second one (your friends) in terms of the graphics card, but you'd have a slightly better processor.

Here is one of the sites I looked at for the 2nd laptop. This is the 2nd PC's relative performance to the Sims 3's minimum system requirements. I plugged in your processor, graphics drivers and RAM and asked how it would run Sims 3 Pets:


According to that you should be able to run Sims 3 with ease on the second laptop. The performance of the laptop is way above the minimum requirements percentage. So, you'll be able to bump up your graphics settings too ^^

I couldn't find any specs for Alicia Online, but I think it should run as well as the Sims, if not better (I haven't played AO). Should run FeralHeart well too.


I'm not as knowledgeable as some people are, but in my opinion you should consider the second one. The first one would be better in terms of graphics card, but I don't think you'll need it for what you use it for. If you are looking for an affordable working PC that will run what you requested, look at the second one. If you'd like, I can talk to my friend who knows a little more than I do too.

I hope I helped. I can always look more into the first laptop too if you'd like. If you have questions, let me know. I'm no expert but I can try.

[Glaciathewolf96]

Ah yes, i have considered it, however i am saving to buy a nice laptop for gaming and streaming specifically, the second ones processor was what had me thinking, but the graphics card was not as good as nvidia, i backed out of my friends since she didnt want to hold till i got paid, i think they both would run both games just fine, i just have to pay more for the gaming one lol, which is kind of ok with me because at least im not paying $1,000 lol. I do appreciate your help on this tho!

[Morgra]

Ah yes, i have considered it, however i am saving to buy a nice laptop for gaming and streaming specifically, the second ones processor was what had me thinking, but the graphics card was not as good as nvidia, i backed out of my friends since she didnt want to hold till i got paid, i think they both would run both games just fine, i just have to pay more for the gaming one lol, which is kind of ok with me because at least im not paying $1,000 lol. I do appreciate your help on this tho!

As you are saving up some money for a gaming laptop, I would definitely look into getting a laptop with an i7 processor and a Nvidia graphics card. The one that you already have up there would work fine, but look around before you finalize and see if you can get some "bang for your buck" so to speak haha. People say Nvidia is the best for graphics cards. Ever since I got my computer, I've been running a NVIDIA card. I don't think you'll need more than 8 gb of RAM, but if you'd like a super fast pc, head for the i7 and 8 or 16gb of RAM.

And no problem, if you want help searching I can help you look. Will you be possibly buying one online?

[Glaciathewolf96]

Yeah the first one is for Amazon  but my price range is up to 550$ witch is what that one will cost me they had an i7 but it was almost 800$

[Morgra]

Yeah the first one is for Amazon  but my price range is up to 550$ witch is what that one will cost me they had an i7 but it was almost 800$

Oh I see. I'll see if I can't find you something. I'm sure you've already looked a bunch yourself xD

[Glaciathewolf96]

Yeah i have xD If you can find an i7 with nvidia graphics card u would be a GOD xD

[Morgra]

Haha, i'm not having luck finding any so far. I saw a used laptop (Used-Like New is in its description) on Amazon for $450 if you're interested in buying a used one. You'd have to look into Amazon's return policies and such for third party sellers. If you'd prefer a new one, I would go with the one you are already interested in.

Here's the link to the used laptop I found if you're interested in taking a look:
https://amzn.com/B01K6IPOY2

It's got the i7 Processor, same amount of RAM, An SSD drive (faster hard drive) and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M video card

[Glaciathewolf96]

the price is 699$ for me i see lol. I do apreciate you looking though, im iffy about buying a used one just because you dont know what may be wrong with it, and if they dont accept returns/refunds you are out of so much money lol.

[Morgra]

the price is 699$ for me i see lol. I do apreciate you looking though, im iffy about buying a used one just because you dont know what may be wrong with it, and if they dont accept returns/refunds you are out of so much money lol.

That's very true. I'd go with a new one if I were you.