Hardware & Technical Laptop guidance

Airhead

Airhead
For various reasons a big rig is not suitable in my home so I always intended to buy a gaming laptop to run ED. It's been 6 years since I last built a computer so I'm way behind in my knowledge of CPU, memory, chipset and GPU options and in any case what I know is about self-build, not laptop components.

Can anyone give me (and others in the same position) some advice on what to look for in a laptop so that it will reach the alpha minimum specs? I've done plenty of looking around but can't equate the specs to the laptop options - particularly in graphics as they seem to be rated differently. I'll be playing mostly on the in-built screen but will occasionally be able to plug in to my 50inch HDTV so would like to be able to max the detail level (but this is not an absolute requirement). My assumption is that if I can match or surpass the alpha requirement I'll be set for the future.

I have no brand bias - whatever will do the job. Obviously I'd like to keep the cost down but I'm well aware that anything that fits the bill will not be classed as "cheap". I'll not actually buy anything until after Christmas in case something turns up in the January sales but I'd like to start looking and researching now.

Any thoughts? :S
 

Sir.Tj

The Moderator who shall not be Blamed....
Volunteer Moderator
Sir.Tj
Hi Airhead,

Popped your thread in the Hardware section. :d
 

Aewarin Jameson

Aewarin Jameson
Airhead said:
Can anyone give me (and others in the same position) some advice on what to look for in a laptop so that it will reach the alpha minimum specs?
Click to expand...

It's hard to give generic advice as there are quite a number of variations. For a gaming laptop I would simply aim for well over the top to ensure ED works, so when you tread the thin line of "minimum specs" things become a little greyer.

That said - according to this site, the minimum graphics card suggested by FD was a GTX285 which scored 1254 points. You want a mobile equivalent that's around the same or higher. From the chart (which is only a rough indication) there are a number of them starting from the 650M upwards. (That one is a little too close to the mark so I would go higher)

- HD 7870M
- GTX 460M
- GTX 560M
etc

If you use this site you could just as easily pick any chipset from the green section (High end) or one from the top of the mid range cards, click on it and at the bottom it suggests some laptops that match.

Extra things to note:
- Quad core chip.
- 4 or 8Gb of RAM
- 2Mb on the GPU

Sadly it all depends on how much you want to spend.
 
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Rog

Rog
You're probably looking at least for an intel i5 CPU (preferably an i7).
Make sure you get the latest generation i5-X??? or i7-X??? - where "X" is a "4" (faster and more efficient) and as many GHz as you can afford.

Memory: 8GB min, pref 16GB, and as fast as you can get.

Graphics card. This is the problem for laptops - powerful ones are excellent heaters which will tend to make a gaming laptop big and noisy.
All this will of course be expensive!

Of course, it's probably best to wait until the last moment to decide as you'll get more for your money.

Dell's "Alienware" branded laptops might fit the bill - always worth checking out their outlet site for bargains.

Check regularly - stock changes in real time, and if you see one you want, BUY IT, otherwise it will disappear if it's a good bargain.
 

Oss133

Oss133
Rog said:
You're probably looking at least for an intel i5 CPU (preferably an i7).
Make sure you get the latest generation i5-X??? or i7-X??? - where "X" is a "4" (faster and more efficient) and as many GHz as you can afford.
Click to expand...
Are the i5's Quad Core? I thought they were Duel Core.
 

Oss133

Oss133
Nagual said:
Apparently the i5 750's are quad.
Click to expand...
That's what I read. But the website (PC Specialist) I am looking at lists the i5 4xxx series as duel core. MB has listed the min specs as needing quad core so I am looking at i7 laptops. Now I have doubts.
 

Rog

Rog
Apologies, slight brain malfunction on my part. It's my age... :rolleyes:

The mobile i5s are dual-core, but hyper-threaded to give 4 threads. It works pretty well, but obviously not as good as 4 genuine cores. Most of the desktop i5s are quad.

As noted, you're really going to want an i7. Worth remembering that not all of the mobile i7s are quad core either.

Clicky Intel mobile CPU comparison chart thingy.
 
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Airhead

Airhead
Thanks for the info

I managed to work out (eventually) that I'd probably need an i7 but looking at Intels website the "M" versions of some are 2 cores as well - will have to make sure I get the right one.

Graphics is the big question. I'll fill my head with some knowledge then wait for the reports back from alpha peeps.

I'll also have to get one of those lap tray things that allows the airflow to avoid frying my shiny shiny new kit.
 

Lestat

Banned
Lestat
Here the thing with laptops they are About 20% slower then a desktop do to heat management. If you get a Clevo/Sugar Most support Desktop CPU but they go under another name like Pro-Star. Other laptops like Alienware or Asus tend to use Laptop cpu. But stick with the i7 quad core cpu. Now the graphics are basically the same. 20% slower then the desktop counterpart.

Note they are harder to upgrade and such. If you need more info notebookreview.com look at the laptop your trying to buy.
 
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kelgrath

K
So here's where I am. I've looked at the forums and browsed many many different sites.

I almost bought a laptop, then it became "Last week's model" and was discontinued. Currently, I'm liking the look of the HP Envy 17-j184na. It's got:
- Core i7 processor (4710MQ @ 2.4GHz according to the PC World site, 4710MQ@2.5GHz according to HP themselves)
- 12 Gb memory
- GeForce GT850M graphics card.
- No SSD, but claims to have "Flash Cache", on the HDD, which sounds like a small SSD or similar that is there purely for optimisation

RRP is around 900 quid, and PC world have them in stock.

HP product page

Now, this is going to have to be used as a general purpose computer as well as just for playing E:D. It's above the minimum specifications required, but thought I'd throw it over to the community here for an opinion on whether or not it is any good before I go spend some money. I did look at some PC Specialist machines, but by the time I configure the specification up to what I want, the price goes through the roof.
 
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