Hardware & Technical Challenge - Cheapest laptop that meets minimum requriements

Ben Ryder

Ben Ryder
Hi,

Any techie bargain hunters out there?

What's the cheapest off the shelf laptop that meets the minimum requirements to test / play elite dangerous on? Not second hand, no import tax, not refurbished, not ebay. Simpy a new laptop or even a note book that meet's the minimum requirements to play elite dangerous on?

Direct X 11, Windows 7 Service pack 1
Quad Core CPU ( 4 x 2Ghz)
2 GB System Ram
DX 10 hardware GPU

Happy to changed the above if it has been changed. :eek:
 

Paelen

P
Would it be possible to know how much you have to spend when you're referring to as 'cheap?'

All INTEL mobile processors are two core with exception of the i7's. Owning a mobile i7 in my book isn't cheap.

Always keep in mind this one little thing "the more memory is has, the better it performs" and the deeper the pockets. :)

As far as mobile AMD's? I have never looked them up.

When it comes to a high graphic PC game on a laptop, You'll likely have to get a discrete video card meaning it is a separate card that fits into a socket or slot (similar to memory) In the latest processors, They have the Intel graphics built onto Processor. With the smaller nm chips, this has increased that graphic performance. On chip is really great for anything movie and media but when you add a game that utilizes the processor AND it's graphics, your going to experience things I can only imagine. Poor performance, not great graphics, I'm really not sure. On board graphics also shares your RAM memory where as discrete is its own video card.

So getting a i7 and a discrete video card. If your going to spend that, Youll need your SSD. How much ya got? :)
 
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flexy123

F
You already know the specs, so it would be on you to do some research :)
Avoid any laptop with integrated graphics etc.

By the way, there is nothing wrong with ebay, not all notebooks from ebay must be "second hand" as in "bad shape" or bad.

I got my wife her last laptop (it's already 2 or 3 years old now) from a reputable ebay vendor, it was "open box" respective refurbished. Back then it was quite top of the line and I paid like €500 ish as far as I remember.

It has 4GB memory, some I5 mobile CPU and a mobile radeon 5650 (I think). It still plays many games decently.

If you get a deal on something like that for €300 or something... ?

By the way I could've sworn Woolworth is out of business for a long time already... and no, I wouldn't buy a laptop from Woolworth for €99 :)
 

Hamerstein

Hamerstein
Ben Ryder said:
How about this?


Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 10 2GB 500GB 10.1 inch Windows 8.1 Touchscreen Dual-Mode Laptop

Not sure about the graphics

http://www.debenhamsplus.com/DE_Lenovo_Notebook_10092991/version.asp?refsource=DEadwords&crtag=DE&gclid=CJD1vs6HmsACFRDItAodDAcAoA

£240 from Debenhams.

Can anything play Elite Dangerous below £200 thats not refurbished or ebay stock?
Click to expand...

  • No listed GPU - so something low spec and on-board.
  • Celeron processor? I didn't know Intel still made them...2 core at best, possibly single core.
  • 1.46 Ghz clock speed - doesn't make the minimum spec.

That's off the top of my head.

Reckon you're looking at minimum £500 spend, the tricky part will be meeting the 4 core minimum on the CPU.
 
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Ben Ryder

Ben Ryder
Hamerstein said:
  • No listed GPU - so something low spec and on-board.
  • Celeron processor? I didn't know Intel still made them...2 core at best, possibly single core.
  • 1.46 Ghz clock speed - doesn't make the minimum spec.

That's off the top of my head.

Reckon you're looking at minimum £500 spend, the tricky part will be meeting the 4 core minimum on the CPU.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm m not very techie about these things and I've set myself (and others if interested) a bit of a challenge to find the minimal viable product that will run elite dangerous to minimum spec. A kind of Elite Dangerous on a budget.
 

Non Grata

Non Grata
I may be wrong but I think the 4 core requirement really means 4 threads. I base that on otherwise huge numbers of Intel users are excluded, and also the fact that it runs fine on my dual core Intel.
 

Ben Ryder

Ben Ryder
taotoo said:
I may be wrong but I think the 4 core requirement really means 4 threads. I base that on otherwise huge numbers of Intel users are excluded, and also the fact that it runs fine on my dual core Intel.
Click to expand...


Not sure what the difference between 4 core and thread is. No idea at all to be honest.

This is my latest find

http://www.ebuyer.com/636132-hp-255-g2-laptop-f7x83ea-abu

HP 255 G2 Laptop at Ebuyer for £220

AMD Quad-Core E2-3800 1.3GHz :eek:
4GB RAM + 500GB HDD
15.6" LED + AMD HD8280
Windows 8.1 64bit
 

Asp Explorer

Asp Explorer
taotoo said:
I may be wrong but I think the 4 core requirement really means 4 threads. I base that on otherwise huge numbers of Intel users are excluded, and also the fact that it runs fine on my dual core Intel.
Click to expand...

Threads do NOT equal cores.

I would have plonked for an Apple MacBook Air with the quadcore and 8Gb upgrade - but these seem to be no longer available.

Airs are not cheap machines - kind of mid range, and their displays are quite rubbish. However, compared to the PC laptops you get for the same kind of money - they are actually quite good!

Compared my new Lenovo 8Gb i5 quad T440 - there is simply no comparison. The Lenovo runs slow, costs nearly twice as much, and is a physically larger machine. I am severely disappointed with it - despite it's specifications being better on paper.

My 2013 Air runs Elite really quite well - the only problem is the joystick is far bigger than the machine itself :(
 
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Hamerstein

Hamerstein
Ben Ryder said:
Not sure what the difference between 4 core and thread is. No idea at all to be honest.

This is my latest find

http://www.ebuyer.com/636132-hp-255-g2-laptop-f7x83ea-abu

HP 255 G2 Laptop at Ebuyer for £220

AMD Quad-Core E2-3800 1.3GHz :eek:
4GB RAM + 500GB HDD
15.6" LED + AMD HD8280
Windows 8.1 64bit
Click to expand...

Ok you made the 4 core minimum there (though AMD cores are "weaker" generally than their Intel equivalents) but it's still only running at 1.3 GHz. You need at least 2 GHz to make minimum spec.
 

Non Grata

Non Grata
Asp Explorer said:
Threads do NOT equal cores.
(
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to imply that they do - my suggestion was that the current min requirements allow for a bunch of old and slow AMD processors, while excluding lots of Intel processors that are probably at least as fast. I'll admit that this is an assumption on my part as I'm not up to date on processors.
 

Cosmos

C
taotoo said:
I may be wrong but I think the 4 core requirement really means 4 threads. I base that on otherwise huge numbers of Intel users are excluded, and also the fact that it runs fine on my dual core Intel.
Click to expand...

They say it needs 4 cores (recommended) ;) How does the game run when you do the single-player encounter, Factions?

When it comes to getting a laptop to play on I'd wait until nearer release given prices will be lower and Frontier may well further optimise the game performance.

Having a quick look around a guess at min laptop gfx requirements would be 570M, 670M / HD 5870, 6800M. Although it would be interesting to hear what performance people are getting from integrated GPUs.
 
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Non Grata

Non Grata
Cosmos said:
They say it needs 4 cores (recommended) ;) How does the game run when you do the single-player encounter, Factions?

When it comes to getting a laptop to play on I'd wait until nearer release given prices will be lower and Frontier may well further optimise the game performance.

Having a quick look around a guess at min laptop gfx requirements would be 570M, 670M / HD 5870, 6800M. Although it would be interesting to hear what performance people are getting from integrated GPUs.
Click to expand...


I know what they say - it's implicit in my first sentence :)

Unfortunately I've yet to reach Factions, but suspect it's more to do with my skill than my processor ;)
 

Cosmos

C
taotoo said:
I know what they say - it's implicit in my first sentence :)

Unfortunately I've yet to reach Factions, but suspect it's more to do with my skill than my processor ;)
Click to expand...

The reason I asked about Factions is because its a lot more CPU intensive than the other scenarios and would give a better indication of how well the game runs.. :)
 
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