The "Can I Run Planet Coaster" thread

I have a laptop which will run this smoothly, but I prefer my desktop (though I think it is wishful thinking [uhh])

i5-6400 @ 2.7 GHz
8 GB
GPU (my main concern): GeForce GT 740 (dedicated)
 
I am looking into buying a new laptop and I'd want it to run Planet Coaster without trouble. And before anyone asks, no, I cannot get a desktop instead. I was trying to keep it as cheap as possible, and the best value for the 14" size I was focused on was a Lenovo Ideapad Y700 with the following specs:

6th Generation Intel Core i7-6700HQ Processor (2.60GHz 1600MHz 6MB)
AMD Radeon R9 M375 2GB
8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR4 1600 MHz

I'm quite concerned about the graphics card being a bottleneck. It's, from my understanding, quite new and isn't on the game-debate dropdown. I want a 14" (I mean, I'll deal with 15.6" if I absolutely HAVE to) laptop, I can't afford anything more than 1000 at the very maximum: will this run it? And if not, is there anything I can get that will? I just want low to medium settings at 30 fps.
 
I am looking into buying a new laptop and I'd want it to run Planet Coaster without trouble. And before anyone asks, no, I cannot get a desktop instead. I was trying to keep it as cheap as possible, and the best value for the 14" size I was focused on was a Lenovo Ideapad Y700 with the following specs:

6th Generation Intel Core i7-6700HQ Processor (2.60GHz 1600MHz 6MB)
AMD Radeon R9 M375 2GB
8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR4 1600 MHz

I'm quite concerned about the graphics card being a bottleneck. It's, from my understanding, quite new and isn't on the game-debate dropdown. I want a 14" (I mean, I'll deal with 15.6" if I absolutely HAVE to) laptop, I can't afford anything more than 1000 at the very maximum: will this run it? And if not, is there anything I can get that will? I just want low to medium settings at 30 fps.

Where are you based? In the UK I have used PCSpecialist a number of times and have no complaints, fantastic build quality, and more for your money. I can only use a laptop too

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptops/4/

I had a quick look this morning for a gaming laptop with the Intel 6700hq,GTX 950m and a 14" screen and they can do it for around £790

Take a look at the Defiance II 14"
 
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Where are you based? In the UK I have used PCSpecialist a number of times and have no complaints, fantastic build quality, and more for your money. I can only use a laptop too

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptops/4/

I had a quick look this morning for a gaming laptop with the Intel 6700hq,GTX 950m and a 14" screen and they can do it for around £790

Take a look at the Defiance II 14"

Sorry, should've been more specific and at least put a dollar sign next to my money number, hehe.

I'm in the US, and that means my limit is about 700 pounds I guess. The Defiance II is too expensive and I'm not even sure if it ships to the USA.
 
I am looking into buying a new laptop and I'd want it to run Planet Coaster without trouble.

I have exactly the same problem. I need a new laptop but if I can't play this game for reasonable outlay then I won't even bother buying one as the only reason I'm spending £700+ is to play this game!

The min specs state a GTX 560 card which scores 3980 on 3dmark. The most laptop I can really afford is a 960m card which still only scores 5320. The desktop gtx960 scores over 10,000. I'd have to buy a GTX 970m to compete with that score but they will be over £1200 which I'm just not willing to pay.

I want the game to run at least semi-decent - xbox quality?? I remember from my youth constantly having to play games in low res's because I couldn't afford the kit. 15 years later nothing has changed despite a £700+ outlay!
 
I have exactly the same problem. I need a new laptop but if I can't play this game for reasonable outlay then I won't even bother buying one as the only reason I'm spending £700+ is to play this game!

The min specs state a GTX 560 card which scores 3980 on 3dmark. The most laptop I can really afford is a 960m card which still only scores 5320. The desktop gtx960 scores over 10,000. I'd have to buy a GTX 970m to compete with that score but they will be over £1200 which I'm just not willing to pay.

I want the game to run at least semi-decent - xbox quality?? I remember from my youth constantly having to play games in low res's because I couldn't afford the kit. 15 years later nothing has changed despite a £700+ outlay!

Well, although this forum wasn't very helpful I've done a ton of research into laptops. Planet coaster, while a strategy/sim game, has the graphics and the requirements to back them up that one would expect from a triple A shooter. Now my original budget grew a bit after I saw how big my tax return was, I already purchased and am waiting for my $1130 Dell XPS 15 with GTX 960M (In the same price range I also considered the Alienware 13 but wasn't pleased with the style).

But, back to you. Unless you shell out $1500 - which is what, 1200 pounds? - you're going to have to live with a 960M. Its much more difficult to make a powerful laptop card than it is a desktop component, and the sooner you accept that the better. Now the 960M isn't really that bad - it'd be enough to run the game at High settings at 30 fps or so, which is what the Xbone and PS4 run at, and could probably eek out 50-60 on lower settings.

If you have any specific laptops in mind, plop their specs in this here "can I run utility": http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=23290&game=Planet Coaster. It compares them to the Planet Coaster minumum reqs and gives you an idea of what settings you can run the game at. A rig with a good 4th-gen i7 or 6th-gen i5 or i7, a 960M (2GB or 4GB reallly doesn't matter), and 12+ GB RAM, is given the okay for Medium or High settings. The GPU will probably be your bottleneck, but again, its really the only choice. Every gaming laptop from $700 to $1400 seems to have a 960 these days.

Now, if you need a laptop recommendation, I've done a good bit of research. I am spending a bit more than I was going to originally, but there's plenty of viable options to play Planet Coaster at least at Medium settings in the under $1000 (i.e. under 700 pounds) bracket, but they're all 15.6". This video was extremely helpful in laying them all out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0mXMTjZy5M

My personal favorite earlier was the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 (either the i7 or i5 model is fine, the CPU isn't going to be the problem with Planet Coaster, but if you're going to do video editing or Cities Skylines or something take the upgrade). http://www.dell.com/us/eep/p/inspiron-15-7559-laptop/pd?ref=PD_OC
 
But, back to you. Unless you shell out $1500 - which is what, 1200 pounds? - you're going to have to live with a 960M. Its much more difficult to make a powerful laptop card than it is a desktop component, and the sooner you accept that the better. Now the 960M isn't really that bad - it'd be enough to run the game at High settings at 30 fps or so, which is what the Xbone and PS4 run at, and could probably eek out 50-60 on lower settings.

If you have any specific laptops in mind, plop their specs in this here "can I run utility": http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=23290&game=Planet Coaster. It compares them to the Planet Coaster minumum reqs and gives you an idea of what settings you can run the game at.

Great post - thanks.

I have put the laptop in that tool (i5-6300HQ, 12GB, 960m) but it seems to barely meet the minimum requirements on the GPU (110% score), and doesn't meet the recommended requirements on anything. But despite this, the tool still says settings will be medium to high.

I haven't played pc games in years so I'm well out the loop, so what exactly will 'medium' mean in terms of quality? Will it still be pretty amazing compared to an xbox360 for example?
 
For those planning on getting a laptop for this game, you should get a custom built (or pre-built) DESKTOP. Desktops have much bigger and better GPU's than the mobile versions found on laptops.
The Intel Core i7-6700HQ only has a base speed of something like 2.6Ghz. The i7 6700k has a base speed of a high 4Ghz speed and it's Intel's flagship processor according to Intel's official website. According to results from Windows 10 Task Manager, games are CPU intensive, not just GPU intensive. So you should look for a good CPU and GPU. I would also recommend something like 16GB system RAM too but you'll be able to play on low settings with 8GB system RAM. 16GB system RAM just helps future proof your system more than 8GB for a bit, especially when you have an OS running in the background.
Last year I got a new laptop with Intel Core i5-6200U, 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM, AMD R7 M360, and it struggles to play games. So this year I invested in a gaming desktop. Word of note, desktops are cheaper than gaming laptops. My new system has an i7 6700k and AMD R9 390 8GB GPU and 16GB DDR4 RAM, and it play this game on High settings 1080p with 29-50fps. Try to invest in a DESKTOP PC. You can custom build it and there are some companies which will even let you choose what you want in it, and build it for you. If you have a laptop, you can keep that for everyday needs and have a desktop for gaming.
I was so set on getting a gaming laptop too until others suggest it's cheaper and better to get a DESKTOP. I was about to buy a NZ$4,000 alienware laptop, I found a NZ$2,900 Dell desktop, but I went for a custom built desktop for NZ$2,500 which came with i7 6700k and AMD R9 390 from a special NZ company who custom builds PC's for you. Invest in a quad core (not dual core) CPU with a high clock speed preferably, like 3Ghz at least, and something like a GTX 970 or R9 390. That way you can enjoy the full flavour of this game when playing it, rather than worry about a laptop overheating, or lagging.
My primary gaming platforms are Xbox 360 and Xbox One too. Xbox 360 has only 512MB RAM so the i5-6300HQ and 960m is definitely better than the Xbox 360. It might be better than the Xbox One and PS4 too, since those system have low clock speed CPU's (PS4 has 1.6Ghz AMD Jaguar 8 core APU, Xbox One has 1.75Ghz AMD Jaguar 8 core APU) with only 8GB RAM.
PC games since 2015 seem to demand more higher hardware specs due to the demand of gamers wanting better looking and richer games.
I got this info off gamedebate.com. Though not official, it has some useful info:

"With that said, these system requirements are far more demanding than your typical tycoon game. That's probably because Planet Coaster isn't your typical game, and you can see from the various footage and screenshots released that it's packed with detail and has massive environments. As such, the minimum requirements are fairly steep for a management game, but compared to the AAA blockbusters out there they're a walk in the (theme park)."
"PC System Analysis for Planet Coaster
Based on an Alpha version of Planet Coaster, it will require a high end computer to run at high graphics settings. So for 1080p screen resolution you will need around an Intel i5 3570 processor to meet recommended CPU requirements, along with a Radeon R9 380 graphics card and 16 GB system memory. To reach the minimum requirement setting for Planet Coaster, where you can play it on low graphics settings you will still need a Intel i5 2300 or AMD FX 4300 processor along side 8GB RAM and a GTX 560 GPU or an AMD HD 7850. "

If you really want a laptop, try to get one with at least a GTX 980M or equivalent GPU. And a quad core i5 or i7 (or equivalent CPU) with a clock speed of at least 3Ghz preferably. Invest in a high end PC. Though the money will stretch your budget, when you do buy one, you can get to enjoying games rather than worrying if your PC will run this game. True, PC's both laptops and desktops are made in so many different configurations. I would recommend investing in a custom built desktop. As they're better at gaming.
The price I paid for my new desktop PC (NZ$2500) would be about 1200 British pounds approximately, since NZ$2 = around $1 British pound. That way you can have a PC which owns games rather than putting up with a game which is too hardcore for your laptop to handle.
Medium is somewhere between low and high game quality. I checked The Sims 4 GPU requirements on their official site, and the 960M meets the system requirements for that game. The AMD Radeon R9 390 can handle any 2015/2016 game on high settings 1080p. The R9 390 also has a bandwidth of 384GB/s I think the GTX 970 has a bandwidth of 220GB/s or something. PS4 even only has a bandwidth of 176GB/s.
 
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Baffles me how many are splashing out on the Alpha with specs that are nowhere near what is capable to run the game then whining when it doesn't work (well). Do they not look this info up beforehand and think 'hmm, maybe I should look at upgrading before making the purchase?' Instead they complain/throw their toys out of the pram blaming the game etc. on the alpha forums when it doesn't work and look to get a refund which Frontier have to go out of their way to process (when they shouldn't really have to). Credit the latter however for doing the decent thing and giving them their money back [up]
 
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I paid NZ$2538 for my new desktop PC. I googled currency convertor checked, and that is the equivalent of $1188.13 British Pounds or US$1,714.36.
 
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For those planning on getting a laptop for this game, you should get a custom built (or pre-built) DESKTOP.

Yes a desktop is better but many people either need portability (not me) or dont have room for a permanent desktop in their house (me). My laptop will never move, it sits on the coffee table in my living room and is pulled up to the sofa when i want to use it. I couldnt do that with a desktop.

I might wait for the new 1k series mobile cards to come out. PC is still several months away from full release so the new mobile chips may get closer to current desktop performance levels hopefully.
 
Yes a desktop is better but many people either need portability (not me) or dont have room for a permanent desktop in their house (me). My laptop will never move, it sits on the coffee table in my living room and is pulled up to the sofa when i want to use it. I couldnt do that with a desktop.
yeah, that ^^.
and i fly a lot.
so BOTH i reckon.
 
How will this Rig stand up
Core i7 6700 / 3.4 GHz
RAM 8 GB
HDD 1 TB
SSD 120 GB
GF GTX 970
Cheers
Ian

Meets more than the minimum requirements for the CPU and GPU. and at most ram should sit at around 2-3gb depending on the park size etc,It'll run just fine.

I was looking at getting an i7 6700 but opted for an i7 4790 (16 ram, gtx 960 2 gb). Cheap rig. Didn't want to spend out too much on a system for a couple of games.
 
Hi,

I'm looking at getting the alpha soon will my pc be able run it?

Intel i5 3570k /3.5GHz
8GB Ram
MSI Radeon HD 7850

CPU is better than the minimum requirement, ram and also GPU meets the minimum requirement. It may run a little sluggish every now and then but of course it all depends on the size of your park. Should be fine though
 
i7 950 @ 3.07ghz (I know this is an older i7)
10 gb ram
EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti Graphics Card - 1 GB GDDR5 - 192-bit - 951 MHz

I was thinking about adding this graphic card. (EVGA - GeForce GTX 960 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Graphics Card ) I actually have 20 gb ram, I mistyped that. Will this bring the PC up to playable spec w/out having to updating my CPU?
 
Hi, I was hoping if some one could help me....

my specs are:Windows 10
Intel® Core™ i5-6200U Processor
Memory: 8 GB
Storage: 1 TB SSHD
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 920M

I'm not bothered about having the graphics high, but would it run smoothly?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Hi, I was hoping if some one could help me....

my specs are:Windows 10
Intel® Core™ i5-6200U Processor
Memory: 8 GB
Storage: 1 TB SSHD
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 920M

I'm not bothered about having the graphics high, but would it run smoothly?

Any help would be appreciated.

I doubt you'd be able to run it properly with your specs :( I have a similar laptop to you and trying to run it even on low is painful.
 
Me too!
I have an HP 15-ab222tx with the same processor and amount of RAM, and it can't play this game on Low settings even, smoothly. I tried 1080p High settings and all I got was 1fps.
So, I decided to invest in a desktop gaming custom desktop PC with Intel's flagship 6th gen processor Intel Core i7-6700K with a much more respectable 4-4.2Ghz quad core processor speed with hyperthreading, and AMD Radeon R9 390 8GB GPU with 384GB/s bandwidth (wow), and it can play this game well. I'll still keep my laptop for my everyday needs.
I suggest you invest in a high end custom DESKTOP PC. Yes it will set you back hundreds of dollars, but it will let you enjoy the full flavour the game currently has to offer. And any other PC games you may have. The AMD Radeon R9 390 for example, can play all 2015 and 2016 games smoothly and fine, in 1080p maxed settings.

The 6200U processor is a 6th gen processor from Intel (6th gen meaning one of the latest processors from Intel, it was released last year), but it has a low clock speed of 2.3Ghz-2.69Ghz. According to Windows 10 Task Manager, this game will 100% max out your processor.
 
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