Will this laptop play CoX?
By
Dr_Occult,
Posted on: 2011-05-13 14:49 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
City of Heroes still retains an OpenGL 1.4 rendering path. This rendering path is compatible with graphics cards dating back to the Radeon 8500... from about 10 years ago (2001).
To put it another way, pretty much any computer you can buy, today, that has Microsoft Windows or Apple OSX installed... will run City of Heroes.
ok, because the video chip on our Vista laptop fails and crashes the system, so that's why I"m asking. It's in Intel 965 or x3100 or something.
I'd say "yes BUT".
2GB of RAM is REALLY low for Windows 7. Especially 64-bit.
The 6310 is "technically" an integrated solution. It may be sitting on a separate board, but it has no dedicated memory. It's using system memory.
It'll play CoH. Don't expect Ultra mode though, and you NEED to get more memory for it.
Here's a link to the Crucial.com page for your laptop's compatible memory.
I'd recommend just going whole-hog and getting 8GB. A hundred bucks and you're done.
And yes, get the higher spec memory. It won't really help much for system responsiveness, but you're ALSO running your video card off that memory too. So faster memory = slight bump in performance.
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
Quote:
Basically anything from Intel should be considered "not supported".|
Originally Posted by Dr_Occult
ok, because the video chip on our Vista laptop fails and crashes the system, so that's why I"m asking. It's in Intel 965 or x3100 or something.
|
If it runs? Hey! Good for you! But the Intel GPUs aren't gaming chips. They're meant for desktop functionality and not much more.
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
Quote:
That would be because Intel doesn't know how to write graphics drivers...|
Originally Posted by Dr_Occult
ok, because the video chip on our Vista laptop fails and crashes the system, so that's why I"m asking. It's in Intel 965 or x3100 or something.
|
Actually that's not entirely fair. Intel knows how to write graphics drivers.
Intel just chooses not to.
Anyways, Intel's policy is that driver updates for products are made by the vendors who sell the computer, such as HP, Gateway, or Dell.
While such vendors often employ software developers, they generally do not employ driver developers. Nor do these vendors issue timely driver updates. For most vendors their concern with providing up-to-date drivers ends as soon as the product they made ships from the factory.
While Intel still produces, and makes available for end-user download, reference drivers, these reference-driver updates are hidden behind one of the most incomprehensible download matrix's I've ever had the displeasure of clicking through. One of the primary differences between Intel's reference-drivers and the drivers a vendor ships is that Intel's drivers may not account for the specific hardware you have. So if you have something that's been tweaked by the vendor (Dell, HP, or Gateway), Intel's driver may not load for you.
What does all this mean to you?
Short version? Don't. Buy. Products. With. Intel. Graphics.
Yeah, this was a laptop used for business back in the day.
I bought a laptop almost identical in stats to that about a month ago. Mine has the same CPU and the same graphics chip, although mine currently has 3GB of RAM. I didn't expect it to play CoX at all, but I was pleasantly surprised. The bottleneck is not the graphics chip. It might be the shared memory or the CPU, but I'm not entirely sure. I just know that adjusting many of the graphics settings doesn't boost or hurt framerate (It runs the same with 4x FSAA or none at all)
It struggles with any sort of crazy raid or zone event with 30+ people on screen (which is why I suspect the CPU is the bottleneck), but is fine for an 8-person mission team.
Here's a link to mine:
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...f27449f4c8en02
Short Answer: Yes
Long Answer: It would depend on what your expectations are. I use a cheap Dell laptop for marketing. Oh, I can run around and do some street sweeping, but after getting used to ultra mode. 
The scaled back gfx look awful and I get lag with just about any gfx on the screen. If low end graphics all you need and don't mind lag if you do fight, then it should be good enough. Just avoid the LAG areas like Atlas, Talos, Cap and Grandville (lots of graphics). I usually trade in Imperial City, KR or St Martial.
H: Blaster 50, Defender 50, Tank 50, Scrapper 50, Controller 50, PB 50, WS 50
V: Brute 50, Corruptor 50, MM 50, Dominator 50, Stalker 50, AW 50, AS 50
Top 4: Controller, Brute, Scrapper, Corruptor
Bottom 4: (Peacebringer) way below everything else, Mastermind, Dominator, Blaster
CoH in WQHD
It's a netbook class computer (CPU/GPU wise) so while it can run the game, don't expect great or even good performance. We are talking relatively low settings still.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Trying to talk my wife into letting me buy a cheap laptop that I can still play CoX on, and saw this:
Memory Type: DDR3 
Total Memory Size: 2GB 
Display Type: Acer CineCrystal LED Backlit Display 
Screen Size: 15.6" 
Maximum Resolution: 1366 x 768 
Capacity: 250GB 
Drive Types: Hard Drive 
Processor Brand: AMD 
Processor Type: Dual-Core 
Processor Speed: 1.60GHz 
Processor Number: E-350 
Graphics Description: Dedicated Graphics 
GPU/VPU: AMD Radeon HD 6310 
Video Memory: 256MB 
Lifestyle: Home & Student 
Condition: New 
Operating Systems: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
http://www.compusa.com/applications/...ku=A180-156101
Acer Aspire AS5253-BZ602 15.6" Black Notebook
Any ideas? I won't be raiding or anything like that with it (wouldn't want to endanger a group, what with the touchpad instead of a mouse and all,) but chatting, marketing, base building, maybe soloing.
Thanks!