new laptop advice
By
Father Xmas,
Posted on: 2010-01-28 23:45 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
CoH will run on anything that can accelerate OpenGL 1.4+, so yes, the game will run even on most Intel graphics chips.
Whether or not it will actually LOOK like something you'd want to play though...
well... that you'll have to decide for yourself.
Oh my. That's depressing. Hmmm, more shopping to do...
"Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level." - Quentin Crisp
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Yea, that's the new Intel integrated graphics, sucks less than before but still not going to be acceptable unless you set your sites really low.
This one at Best Buy isn't bad but is $200+ more.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Quote:
heh. I should state that the while the screenshot is real, it's not an accurate indication of how the game looks / works now against Intel hardware. |
Originally Posted by madhatter106
Oh my. That's depressing. Hmmm, more shopping to do...
|
One of the issues with Intel hardware is that their chips are largely graphics accelerators. They don't actually process all of the graphics data, rather relying on the main processor. This is why Intel's Larrabee wasn't exactly a big deal (for Intel internally). Intel's been doing software rendering for years because they can't make real, and we'll use that term loosely, graphics processors.
Because Intel doesn't really make anything that resembles a GPU, performance is pretty aweful, and you will take an image quality hit. Now, give me a few moments and lets see what's in the $650 range that doesn't have junk graphics.
The A505-S6985 has gotten some good reviews at NewEgg. And that's for 700.00 w/o tax. Plus it has a dedicated card... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...4719&Tpk=s6985
"Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level." - Quentin Crisp
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
That look good. I take it that around $700 is what you are looking to spend.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Okay, I went to Newegg and sorted the laptops by $500-$700 with a 17" screen.
The first laptop is actually pretty tempting to me. It's an Asus with a Turion coupled against a RadeonHD 4x00 series gpu for around $650. Okay, the RadeonHD 4570 isn't exactly class-leading, but it'll run circles around anything with an Intel gpu. It's also the most powerful GPU available in this bracket. The only laptop with an Nvidia chip that you could live with is $100 more, at $750 for a laptop with a GT 130.
***
Resorting to 16" laptops, well, the only thing Newegg has in stock was this Toshiba with a Geforce GT230 at $700.
Tempting, it's more powerful than the 17" Asus with the 4570.
***
Resorting to 15" laptops, choices still remain slim for something that will make CoH look good.
There's an HP with a RadeonHD 4650, but it's $750.
There's another Asus with the 4570 at $650, but you're loosing two inches of screen size for... what?
There's a couple of Nvidia GT130 laptops, one at $650 and one at $750.
***
Really, if it was my money on the line, I'd go for the first Asus I linked, the 17" with the 4570. It's not that much of a graphics powerhouse, but I've got an Asus laptop now and would happily buy the brand again.
I definitely wanted to spend less than a thousand - and wanted to avoid HP because of the debacle with my recently dead laptop. I didn't need too much HD space, as I usually keep the laptop uncluttered because I use it a lot for work/projects; but I do like the ability to play COH on it, rather than my "antique" desktop...
"Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level." - Quentin Crisp
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Quote:
Yeah, the Acer was on the short list when I was looking at NewEgg earlier. I did look at the 17" Asus.|
Originally Posted by je_saist
Okay, I went to Newegg and sorted the laptops by $500-$700 with a 17" screen.
The first laptop is actually pretty tempting to me. It's an Asus with a Turion coupled against a RadeonHD 4x00 series gpu for around $650. Okay, the RadeonHD 4570 isn't exactly class-leading, but it'll run circles around anything with an Intel gpu. It's also the most powerful GPU available in this bracket. The only laptop with an Nvidia chip that you could live with is $100 more, at $750 for a laptop with a GT 130. *** Resorting to 16" laptops, well, the only thing Newegg has in stock was this Toshiba with a Geforce GT230 at $700. Tempting, it's more powerful than the 17" Asus with the 4570. *** Resorting to 15" laptops, choices still remain slim for something that will make CoH look good. There's an HP with a RadeonHD 4650, but it's $750. There's another Asus with the 4570 at $650, but you're loosing two inches of screen size for... what? There's a couple of Nvidia GT130 laptops, one at $650 and one at $750. *** Really, if it was my money on the line, I'd go for the first Asus I linked, the 17" with the 4570. It's not that much of a graphics powerhouse, but I've got an Asus laptop now and would happily buy the brand again. |
I was really drawn to the Toshiba, but was hoping to find that model around town so I could get it up and running over the weekend. No one seemed to have it, but that first model with the shared video memory was one that popped up as available at a nearby Best Buy.
Glad I checked with you guys; I think I've settled on the 16" Toshiba - not as wide as the 17" but will do
Thanks so much for the input! I heart this community
"Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level." - Quentin Crisp
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Quote:
Had a little problem with your video card blowing up and taking your MB with it, I take it?
|
Originally Posted by madhatter106
I definitely wanted to spend less than a thousand - and wanted to avoid HP because of the debacle with my recently dead laptop. I didn't need too much HD space, as I usually keep the laptop uncluttered because I use it a lot for work/projects; but I do like the ability to play COH on it, rather than my "antique" desktop...
|
My three year old HP laptop shuffled off the mortal coil a couple of days ago, and have been shopping around for a new one.
Been thinking of a Toshiba A505-s6005; the only thing that worries me is that the graphics is listed as "Intel graphics media accelerator HD" and "32-1696MB (dynamically allocated shared)" - think it will run COH if it's not a proper dedicated/separate video card? Just curious....
More stats at http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+...a505&cp=1&lp=3
"Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level." - Quentin Crisp
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken