The Sims 4 does not require a particularly powerful machine, but some of the requirements may be beyond a budget PC or laptop's abilities. Here are the minimum and recommended requirements for running The Sims 4.
Please Note that The Sims 4 requires an internet connection for initial activation. You can play offline afterward, but will have to be connected in order to start the game for the first time.
See the minimums above, surpassing the recommended system requirements will allow you to turn the graphics up the more your system outranks them. You'll additionally experience better load times by having a faster processor and more RAM. You should never need more than 4-6 GB to run The Sims 4, even with DLC. See the next section for a post that explains the various components and helps to clarify how surpassing these will benefit your gameplay.
Some of our staff have created a great post that indicates what system requirements should look like if you want an experience that allows you to set graphics on high while also supporting some of the more resource-intensive Sims 4 mods. You can certainly play with the specs that EA recommends, but it is more future-proof and mod-friendly to surpass them. See this post for more detail. This covers both The Sims 3 and The Sims 4. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Flynn for taking time to make this post in order to help people better understand how these work. These tutorials introduce you to the various computer components and how you can benefit from having a more advanced part.
Your graphics adapter/onboard graphics must have the ability to draw with Shader Model 3.0 for the Sims 4 to work. This is not something you can add support for without having the proper graphics card. How do we determine what shader model the graphics card is capable of? One option is to hit start then type dxdiag (or run then type dxdiag) to run the DirectX diagnostic program. Go to the display tab from there, and you'll see your graphics card model and can now google it to determine shader model. Another option to get shader model version is to head to file explorer and right-click on This PC for windows 10, or my computer. Select properties from that menu. You can now go into the device manager in order to see a list of parts. Under graphics adapters (or something similar) you should see an Nvidia, Intel, or AMD Radeon graphics card model listed. Now google it with shader model or specs. This should tell you for sure if your card is capable of Shader Model 3.0, especially if you get a result that it supports version 4 or 5.
If you're looking for a laptop or new PC to play The Sims 4 or other games, online and retail stores sometimes will not have the specific information that you need in order to be sure that it can run it. If you want to buy Sims 4 Expansions and such, you should have more than the minimum RAM (4 GB is OK, 8GB is great)- each expansion/stuff pack you add will put a bit more load on the game in my experience. Right now, if it's an $800+ PC/Laptop with dedicated graphics card it's fairly certain you will be able to run the game on medium to high graphics.
You should do this anyway to make sure you're getting your money's worth, but it's more important when shopping on a budget. Look up the model number of the computer or laptop you want to buy. We want to know if it has a dedicated graphics card, as those are usually better. If it's integrated type, we want to know what kind and that the processor is well over minimum so that it can handle both processing and graphics at once. Go to the manufacturer's site after googling it and look at the product specifications. You mainly want to look at the graphics adapter, as that is sometimes not shown in detail. Now you can google the graphics adapter that comes with that model of laptop and ensure it's capable of shader model 3. The graphics card/processor are the big bottlenecks that slow down the game or make it unplayable.
We now have a Youtube Channel with over 50 guides in video format to go along with the huge site I've already created. Check it out and consider subscribing if you like my style.
New features in the Sims 4 Patch
The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle Guide
Eco Footprint: How it Works
Neighborhood Action Plans
How to Cheat in Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle
Civil Designer Career
Insect Farms & Bio Fuel
Fabrication Skill in Eco Lifestyle
Juice Fizzing NEW
Traits and Aspirations in DLC
Gameplay Ideas for Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle
Updated
Trait Cheats Updated
Traits List Updated
Aspirations List Updated
Readers who use adblock or those who'd like to thank me for my efforts can now pledge $1/$5 monthly via Patreon. This helps a lot with server costs and provides some stability for my business.
This is inspired by a new series in which I start at toddler and gradually take on the major bonuses. Here's a link to the full playlist!
I now have a guide page to Tiny Living Stuff where you can learn about Murphy Beds, the new death, as well as the lot bonuses you'll receive if you manage to keep the size of your lot down with this new pack's Tiny Home Lot Type.
New I now have a guide to Making Super Sims in The Sims 4. Look for a text version within the next 72h. It won't have THAT much more info but it will help out as a checklist.
This was inspired by a series, "Let's Play a Super Sim" in which I start at toddler and gradually take on the major bonuses. Here's a link to each part for people who are interested. You can also see the Let's Play as a Playlist on Youtube.
The Sims 4 Discover University has been announced for November 15 for PC/Mac and December 17 for Xbox and Playstation 4 consoles. Click to learn more about the pack, see my summary of the livestream or read our FAQs below.
Other Guides to Discover University:
New Lot Traits: Study Spot and University Student Hang Out
New: Discover University FAQ: Gameplay Features
New Video The Sims 4 Discover University Gameplay Tips Video
More videos coming soon!
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