Elite on a cr@p PC

NCFCpaul

N
My early 2015 Lenovo Y700 is starting to struggle badly to play Elite, and a bunch of other less important games. Seems the recent upgrade has tipped it very nearly over the edge, much of the game is playable but crashes are now common and a ticket to support came back with the response that I basically need more punch.

So I'm in the market for an upgrade with a limited budget of not much more than £1000 - £1250 max. Question is: irrespective of minimum requirements what should I look for to get the best bang for my buck? GTX graphics? Spending more there means trade offs elsewhere. A big brand name or risk worse quality with a lesser known brand?

I've got about 4.5 years from this laptop I'd like the same from my next-if not more. VR isn't important but I'd quite like to see what the game does look like on higher graphics settings.

Advice would be appreciated from the community
 

babelfisch

babelfisch
£1250 is more than enough to build a pretty decent PC.
Personally I would recommend a good brand like Asus for GPU and Mainboard. Bequiet for the PSU. A good CPU cooler is mandatory, don't install the boxed stuff. Either Noctua or Bequiet.
As case I can recommend the Fractal Design R6, you won't get better quality for the money. It also looks pretty cool because it's so simple.
 

MickyG1982

M
Shouldn't be struggling that much, your gaming laptop is roughly in the ball park of my "gaming" laptop & mine plays the game just fine.

At 5 years old however you woud be suprised at just how much crud can build up in the vents & fans etc of a laptop, might be worth taking the back off, cleaning it & renewing the thermal paste, if you are feeling confident.
 

[PS4] Filthymick420

[PS4] Filthymick420
NCFCpaul said:
My early 2015 Lenovo Y700 is starting to struggle badly to play Elite, and a bunch of other less important games. Seems the recent upgrade has tipped it very nearly over the edge, much of the game is playable but crashes are now common and a ticket to support came back with the response that I basically need more punch.

So I'm in the market for an upgrade with a limited budget of not much more than £1000 - £1250 max. Question is: irrespective of minimum requirements what should I look for to get the best bang for my buck? GTX graphics? Spending more there means trade offs elsewhere. A big brand name or risk worse quality with a lesser known brand?

I've got about 4.5 years from this laptop I'd like the same from my next-if not more. VR isn't important but I'd quite like to see what the game does look like on higher graphics settings.

Advice would be appreciated from the community
Click to expand...
the way I understand it pretty much everything is struggling to play ED lately.
 

Lestat

Banned
Lestat
MickyG1982 said:
Shouldn't be struggling that much, your gaming laptop is roughly in the ball park of my "gaming" laptop & mine plays the game just fine.

At 5 years old however you woud be suprised at just how much crud can build up in the vents & fans etc of a laptop, might be worth taking the back off, cleaning it & renewing the thermal paste, if you are feeling confident.
Click to expand...
On this note. Another approach is to see How much background software is running that slowing down your system.
 

NCFCpaul

N
Nick Sticks said:
Are you sticking with a laptop or are you ok with a full box PC?
Click to expand...

Will need to be a laptop... I think the problem seems to be the graphics chip is gtx950m which should be OK, but the ram and cpu seem pretty lightweight. Not much else is running on the machine at all. A check on 'can you run it' points the finger that way

Good thinking about the buildup of crud, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was quite a lot 😳
 
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GeneralIdea1964

G
Upgrade of gfx card is usually key.
But processor etc have to be able to keep up.
Just upgraded an old HP tower gtx unit (gtx 670)and after also having to upgrade power supply, it runs at just over 30fps.
But now the processor is almost maxed while playing.
It's a second machine and account, but the upgrades have made the game playable again.
 

[Cancelled Consoleer] boppa_

[Cancelled Consoleer] boppa_
Hi OP - I run Elite on a fairly modest system, a 1050ti that cost less than £200 , a Ryzen 3 CPU that cost £90 ... the most expensive component was the 16GB RAM but I think I'm over powered there and could've got away with 8GB.

I run with most settings high and can sustain 60FPS on a single monitor at 1440p, or 30FPS on a 3 monitor set up. I can use PSVR on lower settings and it's quite an experience.

So I suppose the short story from me is , Elite is quite forgiving in my experience, on what I would consider "a cr@p PC", but then it's a desktop where heat etc. is less of an issue :)

If anything this might give you a bit of an idea of what sort of base spec your next laptop will need to be.

Good luck!
 

babelfisch

babelfisch
NCFCpaul said:
Will need to be a laptop... I think the problem seems to be the graphics chip is gtx950m which should be OK, but the ram and cpu seem pretty lightweight. Not much else is running on the machine at all. A check on 'can you run it' points the finger that way

Good thinking about the buildup of crud, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was quite a lot 😳
Click to expand...
17"?
 

NCFCpaul

N
Do you all have an opinion on whether it is worth getting an RTX graphics chip over a GTX? Especially with future proofing/ longevity in mind?
 

Stabby_Dave

Stabby_Dave
When I upgraded, I got an ex demo (display only) i7 quad core running at 3.07 for £50. 32gb of memory was £120 and an Nvidia 1050ti you can get for £130.

Runs like a dream, can't remember the last time it crashed and the memory and cpu never get taxed, even when running a sh*te load more processes and ED at max settings.
 

babelfisch

babelfisch
NCFCpaul said:
Do you all have an opinion on whether it is worth getting an RTX graphics chip over a GTX? Especially with future proofing/ longevity in mind?
Click to expand...
You probably don't want to hear this, but if you have future proofing and longevity in mind you shouldn't buy a notebook... I understand that some people don't have an alternative though.
Personally I would recommend GTX rather than RTX. Your budget is fine for a decent desktop, but as a laptop you will only get a middle class gaming machine. In my opinion it makes more sense to put the money in a brand with good build quaility rather than features for future games you won't be able to play at ultra settings anyway.
 

Arioch

Arioch
NCFCpaul said:
My early 2015 Lenovo Y700 is starting to struggle badly to play Elite, and a bunch of other less important games. Seems the recent upgrade has tipped it very nearly over the edge, much of the game is playable but crashes are now common and a ticket to support came back with the response that I basically need more punch.

So I'm in the market for an upgrade with a limited budget of not much more than £1000 - £1250 max. Question is: irrespective of minimum requirements what should I look for to get the best bang for my buck? GTX graphics? Spending more there means trade offs elsewhere. A big brand name or risk worse quality with a lesser known brand?

I've got about 4.5 years from this laptop I'd like the same from my next-if not more. VR isn't important but I'd quite like to see what the game does look like on higher graphics settings.

Advice would be appreciated from the community
Click to expand...
There was a similar thread back in August -

A laptop for ED in 2019

There's a chance that I might come into some extra money later this year. Technically I have money now, but I am VERY frugal. Still, I may be in the market for a new 'power user' laptop, and if I could get something that can play ED for hours at 1920x1080x60fps Ultra quality, well I might...
forums.frontier.co.uk forums.frontier.co.uk

...and Old Duck eventually went for an Acer Predator 300 - on Amazon UK they look to be going for £1099 to £1599 depending on screen size & graphics card.

15.6” screen with i5 9300h & GTX 1660ti will set you back £1099, will run ED in Ultra everything and should power something like the Rift S without too many compromises.
 

Morbad

Morbad
NCFCpaul said:
Do you all have an opinion on whether it is worth getting an RTX graphics chip over a GTX? Especially with future proofing/ longevity in mind?
Click to expand...

It's not an issue of RTX vs. GTX since they have little overlap in price segment.

If you are building a new system, primarily for gaming, the most expensive item in the budget should be the GPU, and there aren't any GTX parts in the price range you'd be looking at. A GTX 1660 Ti might be justifiable in a 1-1.2k pound laptop, but anything below that means you are wasting your budget somewhere else, and an RTX 2060 or 2070 would be more appealing, not for the RTX features, but because they are faster.
 

pejole2165

pejole2165
I have been running an Acer Predator 3000 Desktop for over a year now, it cost me £891.00, i5-8400 CPU, GTX1050TI, 16Gb RAM(upgraded by me to 40Gb for Blender and Gimp use), 512Gb NVME boot, 512Gb SSD(added by me), 1Tb HDD.
It runs Destiny 2 with high settings at 60 -110 fps, Elite dangerous high settings 80 - 120 fps (all 1920 x 1080), build quality is excellent, not a single issue with the hardware nor with Win10 feature builds or updates.
An RTX card would need to be a top range card with a top range CPU to take advantage of RTX enabled games with decent frame rates, so if your budget cannot run to an i7 - i9 or AMD equivalent and an RTX2070 - 2080, don't bother.
When pairing a CPU and GPU you need to look at the games you will be playing and whether they are CPU or GPU bound.
Running Elite Dangerous on my PC results in 95 - 100% GPU usage and 45 - 70% CPU usage, this is a good balance since the GPU is being fully utilised without the CPU being hogged.
For future proofing (although that is such a redundant term), especially if you are going for a laptop/ notebook, I would spend a little more for 16Gb RAM and better CPU, and Storage options initially as upgrading a laptop/ notebooks hardware later on can be a real pain/ next to impossible. A GTX1050TI or AMD equivalent would be the minimum to look at.
Such a machine should see you through the next 5years fairly easily, its not a beast but its not a dog either. ;)
All this just my humble opinion based on my experience.
 

KarmaCop

K
Morbad said:
It's not an issue of RTX vs. GTX since they have little overlap in price segment.

If you are building a new system, primarily for gaming, the most expensive item in the budget should be the GPU, and there aren't any GTX parts in the price range you'd be looking at. A GTX 1660 Ti might be justifiable in a 1-1.2k pound laptop, but anything below that means you are wasting your budget somewhere else, and an RTX 2060 or 2070 would be more appealing, not for the RTX features, but because they are faster.
Click to expand...
"Little overlap" but there is an overlap at the top end of OP's budget, therefore RTX v GTX is an issue, especially if one can source a good deal.

It is essential you specify exactly what you want from this laptop & your priorities - how long before you replace it, graphics settings & res requirements, which games you play, desired VR compatibility etc. Additionally, whether compromises would be acceptable on those criteria if you save money. If you can provide this info, helping you pick a laptop to meet your needs will be much easier.

For basic playability a 1050ti is perfectly viable at high settings which on a 15.6" screen is fine but I'd agree with Morbad generally that scaling up is desirable & the 1660ti is a good card in terms of bang for buck; if you can stretch to £1200 or so & a 2060, all the better for the architecture advantages. I would add that 16GB RAM is the new benchmark by general consensus going forward in games development.

I generally replace my rig & laptop Evey 2/3 yrs & I have bought 5 laptops in the last 6 months - not all for myself! 😁I've just bought an Asus Rog Strix with a 2070 on behalf of my brother for £300 over your budget limit (he's now my slave until he pays off the balance...ahh good times ahead for this tyrant!) It's an absolute beast of a laptop for a little over what I paid for my Msi 1060, a year ago - grrrr!; if you can find the extra I'd glad to give you the link when I get home later. (On my phone right now!)

& great news...one can type "crap" without the swear-filter kicking in..

crap,crap,crap...see?
 
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