Trying to find best gaming computer for me is like living in Japan and not speaking the language?

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#1

I keep asking all over the bacon (replace with swear word in your head) about the best gaming computer for me. And all I bacon get is to “build it myself” or “have someone else build it for me” (and that doesn’t even included the problem of the computer chip supply) but when all I know about the gaming computer I need is to have 1)a better graphics card then I currently have (better then Nvidad Gefore 650), and 2)I need to have like at least 64GB of disk space or something like a terabytes of disk space

Every thing else is ancient Greek to me. Since like how much CPU do I need? And how much RAM do I need? (I think more then 8GBRAM) How do I make sure its runs quietly? I mean I don’t even have any preferences its like I’m stranded in Japan and I can’t get help because I don’t know the language?

I mean you guys would think people would realize… if I had any idea of what I needed for CPU, RAM, and “how do I make sure it runs quietly” I wouldn’t be asking online now would I?

It’s like when I tried to learn to do poses for Sims 4 and I basically learn I’m in over my head in doing it. So I quit trying to do it. But that’s not an option for me at the moment for my gaming computer.

#2

What games are you trying to play? What’s your budget? How quiet does it need to be?

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#3

Sims 4 and I have 30packs and I want to get 4 more. And I have 124MB of Mods&CC. I want to be able to play occasionally Nancy Drew games (but I know for all but 1 of them, I need to get an external “coffee holder” ie: disk reader ), and some mobile games on Bluestacks (Hogwarts Mystery, Choices Visual Novels, King’s choice). I want to be able to see if I can play Sims 2 with the ultimate collection (I only ever experience only 2 of the packs), and I might want to try some other games once I get the gaming computer: CK III, Democracy 4, Medieval Dynasty, a couple of board games, and some food-related games.

My budget is $2,000 or so (but it doesn’t really matter in my opinion if it goes over that amount since I still have money for something expensive). I can’t really explain how quiet it needs to be. Since I want to be like sort of at peace, like in my safe haven when I’m playing my games or watching a movie/TV show online, or trying to write either my SimLit, or a novel for next month’s National Novel Writing month.

#4

You don’t need a top of the line gaming computer for that. Something better than a basic one, but nothing too special.

This is all that you need. It’s $999 US.

You can afford this one for $1899 US, but it’s such overkill for you.

Almost anything that this store sells is good enough for what you want. Water cooled systems will be quieter. A lot of them are far outside your budget, but look around.

#5

well we just want to get me a gaming computer because my current non-gaming computer I have played games on for years is getting really old (it’s from 2014). And there’s not enough space on it for what I want to do.

#6

So get the first one I linked to. It’ll do everything you want and leave you with about a grand left over.

#7

If it’s just space (i.e. the CPU and Graphics Card are both sufficient to run the game), then you might be able to get away with just installing a second Hard Drive. Which should cost about $40 for 1TB (i.e. 1000GB) However, you may then need to un-install and re-install the game to make sure it is properly located in its new, spacious, home. (So, back up your save files!)

Similarly, adding extra sticks of RAM (or replacing them with higher capacity sticks) is a fairly low-impact upgrade. Although The Sims 4 only requires 4GB of RAM to run at high performance.

Likewise, an nVidia GForce GTX 650 should be enough to run the game with ease, and the same with an 2.5GHz CPU (e.g. Intel Core i5). If you’re not sure what you have, press the Windows Key, and the Pause/Break key at the same time to bring up some basic specs.

If you are upgrading the RAM and HDD, make sure to read the Motherboard Manual, to get the right type of RAM (i.e. DDR2 / DDR3 / DDR4) and HDD (IDE / SATA — although IDE should have been almost completely off the market if you bought your PC in 2014) I also recommend adding/replacing RAM sticks in pairs, although that’s mostly for historical reasons that don’t necessarily apply any more.

(As for age; my 2011 gaming laptop is still going fairly strong)

#8

Crash course in computer stats:

CPU is the Central Processing Unit, aka the processor. This determines how much data a computer can handle at one time. CPUs are measured in Hertz, which is how fast they can run. A CPU might also have multiple cores, which doubles the amount of data they can run. CPUs often come with an integrated GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), but if you’re getting a gaming computer, then you’ll probably want to run your graphics through a graphics card instead so the integrated GPU is irrelevant. So anyway, for The Sims 4, you’ll probably want at least 2.5 GHz for your CPU and four cores.

RAM is Random-Access Memory. It’s sort of like a short term memory for the computer: it allows the computer to remember things, but it’s not permanent so the computer can still rearrange things easily. Because it’s a form of storage, this is measured in bytes like the regular storage. You’ll want 4 GB of RAM at minimum for TS4. You might also see DDR, which stands for Double Data Rate. This basically means that data is submitted twice on the clock rate. If it has DDR, then DDR3 and up is good.

Hard Drive/Storage: this is how much your computer can remember in the long term. As you said, you need at least 64 GigaBytes. Modern computers come with a lot of storage, so this probably isn’t an issue. You might end up with 500 GB or 1 TeraByte. (1 TB is 1000 GB, 1 GB is 1000 MB.)

The Video Card/Graphics Card/Graphics Processing Unit is probably going to be the most important part of the computer. This is what gives you the visual stuff in TS4. The rest of the computer runs the code, the graphics card makes it look pretty and reduces the number of visual glitches. In order to work, it has its own memory and its own processing. For best results, you’ll want one that is dedicated rather than integrated. An integrated card is using the processing and RAM of the rest of the computer. If the computer has 4 GB of RAM and an integrated graphics card is using 2 GB, then you have 2 GB of RAM left over for the rest of the computer. A dedicated card has its own stats, so if your dedicated card uses 2 GB RAM, then the rest of the computer still has 4 GB of RAM.

Anyway, now that the graphics card is explained, what you’ll probably want at minimum for TS4 is 1-2 GB of dedicated RAM, GDDR4 (Graphics Double Data Rate 4) or GDDR5, and 128 bit processing.

However, something like Medieval Dynasty has higher requirements. At minimum, it wants a 3 GHz processor, 8 GB of RAM, dedicated video RAM of 4 GB. For best performance, it recommends 4 GHz processing, 16 GB of RAM, dedicated video RAM of 6 GB.

Anyway, let’s talk about quiet computers. The biggest source of noise in the computer is heat. Computers have fans to keep them from overheating. The hotter the computer is, the faster the fan needs to be and the more noise it’ll make. So what you’ll want to do is find computers with components that produce less heat. Some examples:

  • Find a computer with a SSD (solid-state drive) instead of a HDD (hard disk drive). SSDs are computer storage devices that are more expensive, but they run better, they don’t heat up as much, and they run silently.
  • A passive graphics card (as in passively cooled) will also be quieter, but it’s really hard to find one that has high enough specs for gaming. I’ve heard that the newer NVIDIA GeForce (1000+) are also fairly quiet, so that might be something to look for.
  • A liquid-cooled computer will also be quieter than an air-cooled computer, but that’s definitely going to make it more expensive. Also, I don’t think there are any liquid-cooled laptops, so you’d be limited to a desktop.

Desktops tend to be quieter than laptops in general, but to keep a desktop cool (and therefore quiet), you can point a fan at it. Laptops are hotter because their main way of getting heat out is either through the fan or through the bottom, and the bottom is resting on a surface. (And if it’s resting on your legs, it would actually be taking in heat). So you can buy a cooling pad for a laptop that’ll really help drain the heat from it. Should be around $25 to $40 CAD.

Anyway, I think that’s about all the information you’ve currently asked for. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

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#9

thank you! That’s more information then I gotten in the past four days. I’m going to have to copy it after I make supper to email Dad with.

#10

I’m sort of happy now… since despite the folks not getting back to us. If we don’t hear back by Nov 5th, we’re going to buy it ourselves. “remember, remember the 5th of November gunpowder, treason and plot”, in other words, Guy Fawkes’ day in UK.