28 replies to this topic

[Terran123rd]

I'm looking at computers and I found one that looks like it might be able to (to my completely tech-illiterate eye) and it's cheap enough to be potentially buyable, but I was wondering if the tech-savvy among the community could confirm or deny it for me. Here's a link to it on newegg:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834231083

[Narcissistic Martyr]

It will most likely play the game on low settings. If you want a laptop I'd suggest one with an a10 5600m.

This refurbished hp might be ok but hp laptops tend to run hot and be excessively heavy but when you've gotta be cheap you don't have too many options.

Realistically if you want a gaming laptop you need to increase your budget to about $1000 to get something decent and to $1500-$2000 if you want all high settings at 1080p.

[Terran123rd]

All I care about is getting 24 fps. I don't care if I have to run it at low settings across the board.

So that's a yes?

[TehSBGX]

I'd suggest a desktop instead, that way you can upgrade the Vidcard yourself or have a tech savvy friend pop it in. Desktops are just more flexible.

[tuffy963]

Probably not. The video card in that laptop is not very powerful. See for yourself...

http://www.videocard...Radeon+HD+7640G

Edited by tuffy963, 13 July 2013 - 08:58 PM.

[Tarl Cabot]

No.

There is already one player who has tried simply load MWO on a laptop similar to that one and it was no dice. These are the minimum requirements and they pertain to desktop systems. The mobility video card may work, barely but the CPU is the breaking point in the package.

CPU AMD A8-4500M 1.9GHz it does not even break the 2.0ghz mark
GPU AMD Radeon HD 7640G

MechWarrior Online tentative minimum requirements:
CPU: Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz / Athlon II X2 245e
GPU: GeForce 8800GT / Radeon HD 5600/5700
RAM: 4 GB
OS: Windows XP 32-bit SP3
DirectX: DX9
HDD Space: 4 GB
We're aware the game will run on some systems that are running on lower end specs but we can only offer minimal support in this situation.

MechWarrior Online Recommended System Spec:
CPU: Core i5-2500 / AMD Athlon II X4 650
GPU:GeForce GTX 285 / Radeon HD 5830
RAM: 8 GB
OS: Windows 7 SP-1 64-Bit
DirectX: DX9
HDD Space: 4 GB

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 14 July 2013 - 01:59 AM.

[The Gunman]

Best case scenario: That laptop will perform so badly that the game is unplayable.

The GPU is roughly the same as a Radeon HD 5550, which is below the minimum required for MWO.
And the CPU is roughly the same as a Athlon II X2 245 which is the minimum required.

To compound the problem, laptops tend to have poor cooling systems, its the nature of building a computer so small. Although ASUS tend to have better cooling than other brands, MWO will push the CPU and GPU to their limit, thermal throttling will likely occur after a few matches.

[Terran123rd]

Is there any way to buy a computer that CAN run this game for less than a small fortune (oh the irony)?

[Bootsock]

Terran123rd, on 14 July 2013 - 04:48 AM, said:

Is there any way to buy a computer that CAN run this game for less than a small fortune (oh the irony)?

Of course, I'd take above broad comments with a pinch of salt, I have a two year old ASUS X53SJ (2.0GHz i7 CPU, 8GB RAM, GT520M 1GB GPU) which runs MWO on low settings quite happily at 21FPS, so I'd expect that a more modern laptop could run the game so long as you don't expect massive performance or detail.

For reference my laptop cost a reasonable £600 new, and contrary to what's been posted above doesn't suffer at all from any heat issues when playing the game. I'd buy an ASUS laptop again, even though laptops aren't exactly ideal for gaming.

I'm half tempted to buy a cheap compact desktop system such as this (£499) for MWO, but find it hard to justify the cost when I can run it already.

Edited by Bootsock, 14 July 2013 - 05:16 AM.

[tuffy963]

The top three is this list are around $600 dollars. Have new enough processors to run MWO. I am not a fan of integrated their integrated graphics cards, but it will do...

https://www.google.c...iw=1920&bih=929

[Terran123rd]

600 dollars is just not possible. I am not looking for a million fps or face-melting graphics. I am looking for a computer that can run MWO and does not cost an arm, leg, and kidney. For the purposes of this discussion, running MWO is defined as being able to play the game at a minimum of 20 to 24 frames per second at low to mid settings.

Can the laptop listed in my OP do that, yes or no?

If no, is there an alternative within the same price range (300 to 400 dollars USD or cheaper) that can?

I am looking at laptops because they are more convenient than a desktop. Again, I do not care about top-of-the-line ability or the ability to crack it open and muck up the insides. Because of my situation, those are, in fact, negative qualities.

[Farix]

Terran123rd, on 13 July 2013 - 06:59 PM, said:

I'm looking at computers and I found one that looks like it might be able to (to my completely tech-illiterate eye) and it's cheap enough to be potentially buyable, but I was wondering if the tech-savvy among the community could confirm or deny it for me. Here's a link to it on newegg:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834231083

I cannot emphasize strongly enough that you consider a desktop over a laptop. While laptops have the benefit of mobility, you have few to any options to upgrading them down the road. On top of that, laptops are generally more expensive than an equivalent desktop.

And with that see, my first question is, do you have an existing desktop, and if so, how old is it? There is a possibility that you are better off upgrading an older desktop or even using the older desktop to scavenge parts from. Can you reuse the input devices (keyboard and mouse)? Can you reuse the monitor? Can you reuse the hard drive? Can you reuse the optical drive (CD-ROM/DVD-ROM)? Can you reuse the case? Can you reuse the power supply (probably not)? Is the mothorboard built for a 32bit or 64bit processor? Can you replace the CPU with a more powerful one? How much memory can the board handle? Do you have a copy of Windows 7/8 that you can transfer over to the new system?

After you answer those questions, you have a better idea of what you already have and can put your money into what you actually need. In most cases, you want to put your money into the PSU and video card. In fact, you can probably gimp on your video card a bit to put more money into the processor.

Now there was a site that gave monthly builds for various prices ranges. This gives you a better idea as to what you will need. Building your own system really isn't that difficult, and I encourage everyone to take the time to learn how to do it. That way, when it comes to replacing and upgrading parts, you won't be as intimidated.

[Terran123rd]

Farix, on 14 July 2013 - 06:30 AM, said:

I cannot emphasize strongly enough that you consider a desktop over a laptop. While laptops have the benefit of mobility, you have few to any options to upgrading them down the road. On top of that, laptops are generally more expensive than an equivalent desktop.

See my post above.

Farix, on 14 July 2013 - 06:30 AM, said:

And with that see, my first question is, do you have an existing desktop, and if so, how old is it? There is a possibility that you are better off upgrading an older desktop or even using the older desktop to scavenge parts from. Can you reuse the input devices (keyboard and mouse)? Can you reuse the monitor? Can you reuse the hard drive? Can you reuse the optical drive (CD-ROM/DVD-ROM)? Can you reuse the case? Can you reuse the power supply (probably not)? Is the mothorboard built for a 32bit or 64bit processor? Can you replace the CPU with a more powerful one? How much memory can the board handle? Do you have a copy of Windows 7/8 that you can transfer over to the new system?

None of this is possible. This is computer doubles as a work computer and cannot be disassembled, nor can it be upgraded, as it has a non-standard slim case.

Hence, the need to buy a separate, dedicated computer.

Farix, on 14 July 2013 - 06:30 AM, said:

Now there was a site that gave monthly builds for various prices ranges. This gives you a better idea as to what you will need. Building your own system really isn't that difficult, and I encourage everyone to take the time to learn how to do it. That way, when it comes to replacing and upgrading parts, you won't be as intimidated.

Calculators explode when I come near them, and I do not have people IRL who can do it for me. Again, this is not possible.

Hence, the need to buy a complete computer.

[One Hellcat]

I don't know your desktop's specs, but it would probably be cheaper to buy a low profile Radeon HD 7750 with GDDR5 memory, and take it to a shop to install into it. If that is also not possible, you need a laptop with at least an A10-4600m or an A10-5750m, and 8gb of 1600 MHz ram in it. I just played a few matches on my laptop set to use the A10-4600m's integrated graphics, and while it won't give you an average of 24 fps at low, it will get you close to it. Canyon Network was around 24 fps and dropped to about 18 when I got into a brawl, and Caustic Valley averaged around 19 fps when I was in an open area. Tourmaline Desert was around 20-23 fps on average.

That being said, the only A10 powered laptop I found close to your price range was this http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834257047

[Sen]

Quote

[color=#959595]600 dollars is just not possible. I am not looking for a million fps or face-melting graphics. I am looking for a computer that can run MWO and does not cost an arm, leg, and kidney.[/color]

I want a car for $12,500 that will do 0-60 in under 4 seconds and break 225MPH in under 10 seconds.

I'll try to make this as simple as possible.

Do $300-$500 computers exist? ABSOLUTELY. Most of them are built with previous generation components that are sold in mass quantities for very inexpensive prices. They handle web surfing, e-mail, basic tasks. . . but that's about it. They're usually less power efficient [as in cost in energy to run] and perform generally slower than their up-to-date counterparts. Just because two different processors run at the same Ghz speed [say, 3.6Ghz] DOES NOT mean they perform identically.

Your problem here is two-fold:

1) you want to spend as little money as possible. Nothing wrong with being value conscious, but when it comes to gaming you need to understand that gaming at the level of MwO takes more power. The graphics card in the computer does an INSANELY GREATER ammount of work than when you're playing. . say. . farmville.

In a desktop format, you can probably pull the numbers you're looking for from a $500-600 build if you REALLY know what you're doing and catch the sales at the right time. Unfortunately, that brings us to number 2

2) You want to do this on a notebook

Due to the small form factor and compactness of the modern notebook, heat becomes a huge factor. If you can't keep the CPU and GPU cool, the computer will slow itself down to protect itself, shut down, or simply destroy the processor [or gfx card, or both] This means that the processors and graphics cards built into notebooks are specially developed and TUNED DOWN to lower heat output to manageable levels.

Ok, so they're turned down a little, right? If I have a Desktop equipped with a GTX750 nvidia, the notebook GTX750m should behave close to the desktop, right? So why do they charge so much for the notebook?

This is not even remotely true, unfortunately. when I say tuned down, you're talking about HALF the performance of the desktop version of the card. Heat also becomes a huge issue, as even at half the performance of a desktop card, the cooling solutions in notebooks are necessarily as small as possible as the market wants the thinnest and lightest most portable notebook it can get these days.

So since heat is an issue, many manufacturers play conservative with their GPUs. The weaker the GPU, the less heat, the smaller the heat syncs, the thinner the notebook and the cheaper the price. These are your $300-$500 machines. there are some balanced mid-line machines that can handle what you're looking to do, but I'd put those into the $800-$100 range [we're adding a lot of heat dissipation and those mobile graphics aren't cheap cards either] and then you have the dedicated $1200-$3000 plus desktop replacement gaming rigs. Huge heavy beasts that SUCK to take through airport security.

This is why I can't recommend any specific hardware to fit your needs: it doesn't exist at your price point. At least now you have a basic understanding as to why this is.

At least, not in a NEW machine. There's always Ebay. . .

[Farix]

Terran123rd, on 14 July 2013 - 06:40 AM, said:

See my post above.



None of this is possible. This is computer doubles as a work computer and cannot be disassembled, nor can it be upgraded, as it has a non-standard slim case.

Hence, the need to buy a separate, dedicated computer.



Calculators explode when I come near them, and I do not have people IRL who can do it for me. Again, this is not possible.

Hence, the need to buy a complete computer.

Then you are going to need to rethink your whole approach. The basic answer to your question is that the labtop will be underpowered. And even if it can run MWO today, it more than likely won't in 6 months time. That's a lot of money to throw at a computer that isn't going to last long. Instead, budget for a more powerful computer that can last you for three or more years. And don't shy away from desktops either. The only advantage of a laptop is portability. But when it comes to gaming, that advantage isn't really worth it, especially given laptops other limitations.

[POOTYTANGASAUR]

Bootsock, on 14 July 2013 - 05:15 AM, said:

Of course, I'd take above broad comments with a pinch of salt, I have a two year old ASUS X53SJ (2.0GHz i7 CPU, 8GB RAM, GT520M 1GB GPU) which runs MWO on low settings quite happily at 21FPS, so I'd expect that a more modern laptop could run the game so long as you don't expect massive performance or detail.

For reference my laptop cost a reasonable £600 new, and contrary to what's been posted above doesn't suffer at all from any heat issues when playing the game. I'd buy an ASUS laptop again, even though laptops aren't exactly ideal for gaming.

I'm half tempted to buy a cheap compact desktop system such as this (£499) for MWO, but find it hard to justify the cost when I can run it already.

I bought a PC at walmart for $700. It came with a 23'' 1080p acer monitor, acer brand desktop(i5-2320 3.2Ghz, amd radeon 7350 HD, 8gb of ram), 1 TB western digital caviar black, acer keyboard, acer mouse. The graphics card was **** and it has a 350 watt PSU which is trash but i got a new graphics card (7750 HD from XFX $80) and now i run the game on ultra @ 1080p locked at 30fps. So there is no reason you can't find a cheap PC out there somewhere. The PC alone would have cst me like $500 and it came with a $200 monitor and $40 mouse and keyboard. Also acer has very good build quality and good warranties. So if anything ever goes wrong i can get my **** fixed for free. Also i can swap the cpu to an i7 if the i5 gets slow and then i can change graphics card and psu as needed. So the platform should last me 3-5 years or until i get bored of it.

[POOTYTANGASAUR]

Terran123rd, on 14 July 2013 - 06:40 AM, said:

See my post above.



None of this is possible. This is computer doubles as a work computer and cannot be disassembled, nor can it be upgraded, as it has a non-standard slim case.

Hence, the need to buy a separate, dedicated computer.



Calculators explode when I come near them, and I do not have people IRL who can do it for me. Again, this is not possible.

Hence, the need to buy a complete computer.

You can upgrade a slim chassis you just need low profile ram, slim cards(asus makes a gtx670 that is smaller than my card and could easily fit your PC) also the psu can be replaced by those mini ITX psus that are crazy small and super efficient. also your cpu wont bottleneck the game too bad so you could run easy medium settings i you get a semi decent GPU which you can get for $80 like mine and my card doesnt even require a 6or8pin connector and s super power efficient. Also if you dont have another computer you can install components as they come. I installed my gpu in 5 min. The longest step was unscrewing the side of my case lol. Also PC parts hold your hand because they can only be installed one way and are relatively strong which is opposite of what others say but i used to build PCs and i have dropped a few cpus and then grabbed tweasers and straightened the 1-2 damaged pins and they work fine.

[Narcissistic Martyr]

You can upgrade slim PCs assuming of course it has a pcie x16 slot and it has a quad core CPU. If it isn't quad core it won't run the game all that well. If you'd like to post the exact make/model of your slim PC we can take a look and see if you can easily upgrade it.

If your current PC can't be upgraded you could get a refurbished a10 desktop for about $400. You'll have to get a screen if you don't want to borrow the one from your work pc. Then when you score a few more bucks upgrade to faster RAM. Later on you can add a more powerful GPU or if you don't feel like adding a new PSU you can try adding an HD6670 and using it in hybrid crossfire mode if crossfire ever makes it into the game.

Alternatively you could look for a refurbished i5 (quad core only), phenom ii x4, athlon ii x4, a8 3820, or core 2 quad desktop that you could add a used GPU to.

*Edit* Also you can usually find someone who'll build a PC for you on craigslist but in your budget range most people won't bother. For example I normally (when I'm not writing my thesis) charge $50 or 10% which would reduce your budget to $350 at which point there's not much I can actually do for you.

Edited by Narcissistic Martyr, 14 July 2013 - 11:05 AM.

[Rogue Jedi]

I use a desktop which I built on a seriously restricted budget (£200) about 3.5 years ago, and play on mid to high settings at a resolution of 1280x720.
I am usually around 60fps, but occaisionally get low frame rate on one of the maps (Caustic Valley).


The CPU is, according to benchmarks, more powerful than mine despite a lower GHz rating.
The GPU is more powerful than mine
It has more ram

based on these facts it will play MWO on low settings at a good framerate