I'm a MechWarrior from way back. We're talking MechWarrior 2, Mercs, and MPBT Solaris on AOL way back. I've been away from PC games for a while and long story short, have just joined MWO. I need my system to be mobile for travel so right now I'm running MWO on a laptop that barely meets the system requirements. I'd like to get a new laptop that will work better, but I wanted to ask you guys:
What do you suggest beyond the system requirements?
You're actually running the game and surely have good info on what works and what is sketchy. Also I'm curious:
Do I need other hardware beyond the laptop? Does everyone run mouse and keyboard or are there better input devices that are "must haves"?
Thank you for input.
Ghost
Current system requirements for reference:
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/DX11
HDD Space: 8 GB
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/DX11
HDD Space: 8 GB
2
10 replies to this topic
#2
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- Bridesmaid
- 441 posts
Member
Posted 02 June 2016 - 04:27 PM
Sounds like you are where I was at last summer when I started playing MWO. Welcome to the game!
I played the original MW, MW 2, MW 2 Mercs, a little MW 3 and had been away from heavy gaming (especially for sims or shooters) for many years before finding MWO. A lot of the basics from teh older MW games carry over to MWO. Biases you may have towards or against specific weapon system or mechs you need to leave at the door though. I learned that the hard way. MWO has a STEEP learning curve even for old timers like us, but also has a great player community supporting it to help answer questions and give you tips.
For system specs: My laptops ran MWO OK, playable, but left a lot to be desired even at lower graphics settings
1st) 3rd gen I7, 8GB RAM, only the integrated Intel HD 4000 for graphics
2nd) 2nd gen I5, 4GB RAM, only the integrated Intel HD 3000 for graphics
The graphics was BY FAR the bottle neck on both.
My desktop runs the game quite well on a fairly budget build: less than $600 including monitor shopping around for prices, video card was only component bought used, monitor was a manufacturer refurb, hard drive and 4 of the 12 GB of RAM were the only components reused from spare parts.
I5-4590K (3.5GHz over clocked to 4.3)
12 GB RAM (ran fine at 8 GB at 1666MHz, but had the spare parts to bump it up to 12 even if it is only 1333Mhz)
Radeon HD 7800 2GB video card
no SSD means occasionally loading up the map at the beginning of a match takes a minute, but no biggie
My bottleneck on this build is actually my monitor. Hitting F9 to see the specs while the game is running often shows 120-150 FPS even on high settings depending on what is on my screen and the map, but my monitor maxes out at 1440x900 at 75Hz.
Running Windows 7 64 bit on all 3 machines.
Basically, make sure if you are going to run MWO on a laptop that it is one that has a separate graphics card (preferably DX 11 compatible and not using shared system memory at all) and not running integrated video. That will be your choke point in a BIG way. Mouse and keyboard are all you need. Joystick support in MWO is actually not the greatest, although some people do play with sticks. Mouse and keyboard are the way to go for the most part, but don't even think about trying to play with the touch pad on a laptop.
Other things of note:
--Run through the Tutorial and many of the challenges in the Academy is a great way to get the basic controls in MWO and earns you about 5 Million C-Bills.
--Your first 25 matches also get a big C-Bill boost win or lose. This adds up to about 12-13 Million C-Bills in addition to any that you earn from match performance.
--There are 16 mechs available as trials. Use these, find out which weight classes and play styles you like. The trial mechs are all champion on builds (mostly voted on my the player base) so they are upgraded already, but you can't change anything on them. The trial mechs available rotate every 3-4 months.
--Experience earned on trial mechs is saved, but you can only start unlocking skills on those mechs once you buy them. if you buy that mech (same chassis and variant) an unlock skills for them, those skills apply to the trial mechs too. This can be a good way to play in a upgraded and optimized version of the mech with the advantages from skills even before you can afford to upgrade the copy of the mech that you own.
--IS Lights looks cheap in the game, but need so many upgrades to usually be competitive that they end up costing more than most Mediums.
--Lights and Assaults are the least forgiving weight classes, so I would recommend going for a Medium or Heavy for the first mech you buy. Try the trials and see what works for you.
--The mech academy has been added in the last 6 months and helps a lot, but you will probably need to come to the forums and some of the YouTubers and Twitch streamers in the community for a lot of questions. Kanajashi has a great series of tutorial vids on YouTube. Spike Brave is another that i have heard recommended many times for tutorial vids.
--Clan mechs are not the clear superior machines to IS that they were on table top or older MW games either. They have a completely different play style than IS, but the 2 sides as a while are mostly balanced against each other, although both have VERY good and VERY bad mechs.
--Clan mechs are much more expensive up front, but come with a lot of upgrades (Ferro, fibrous, Endosteel, Double Heat Sinks) that you have to pay extra for on most IS mechs after you buy them.
--Clans also come with a lot more fixed equipment than IS, but changing onmipods lets you change the mech's hard points, which IS can't do.
--Clan weapons and equipment are lighter, usually take less crit slots, and usually have better range.
--IS has a big advantage in heat efficiency on both the weapons and the rate that their heat sinks dissipate heat.
--Clan XL engines can survive the loss of a single side torso at reduced speed and agility, IS XL engines explode if you lose a side torso.
--Gauss rifles work a little weird in this game. They will NOT work in a weapon group on chain fire at all, and you have to hold the button for them to charge and then let go when you want it to fire. If you hold it for too long (or if you don't want to waste the ammo because you don't have a good shot) then it will discharge, and you can charge it again a second later if you need to.
I played the original MW, MW 2, MW 2 Mercs, a little MW 3 and had been away from heavy gaming (especially for sims or shooters) for many years before finding MWO. A lot of the basics from teh older MW games carry over to MWO. Biases you may have towards or against specific weapon system or mechs you need to leave at the door though. I learned that the hard way. MWO has a STEEP learning curve even for old timers like us, but also has a great player community supporting it to help answer questions and give you tips.
For system specs: My laptops ran MWO OK, playable, but left a lot to be desired even at lower graphics settings
1st) 3rd gen I7, 8GB RAM, only the integrated Intel HD 4000 for graphics
2nd) 2nd gen I5, 4GB RAM, only the integrated Intel HD 3000 for graphics
The graphics was BY FAR the bottle neck on both.
My desktop runs the game quite well on a fairly budget build: less than $600 including monitor shopping around for prices, video card was only component bought used, monitor was a manufacturer refurb, hard drive and 4 of the 12 GB of RAM were the only components reused from spare parts.
I5-4590K (3.5GHz over clocked to 4.3)
12 GB RAM (ran fine at 8 GB at 1666MHz, but had the spare parts to bump it up to 12 even if it is only 1333Mhz)
Radeon HD 7800 2GB video card
no SSD means occasionally loading up the map at the beginning of a match takes a minute, but no biggie
My bottleneck on this build is actually my monitor. Hitting F9 to see the specs while the game is running often shows 120-150 FPS even on high settings depending on what is on my screen and the map, but my monitor maxes out at 1440x900 at 75Hz.
Running Windows 7 64 bit on all 3 machines.
Basically, make sure if you are going to run MWO on a laptop that it is one that has a separate graphics card (preferably DX 11 compatible and not using shared system memory at all) and not running integrated video. That will be your choke point in a BIG way. Mouse and keyboard are all you need. Joystick support in MWO is actually not the greatest, although some people do play with sticks. Mouse and keyboard are the way to go for the most part, but don't even think about trying to play with the touch pad on a laptop.
Other things of note:
--Run through the Tutorial and many of the challenges in the Academy is a great way to get the basic controls in MWO and earns you about 5 Million C-Bills.
--Your first 25 matches also get a big C-Bill boost win or lose. This adds up to about 12-13 Million C-Bills in addition to any that you earn from match performance.
--There are 16 mechs available as trials. Use these, find out which weight classes and play styles you like. The trial mechs are all champion on builds (mostly voted on my the player base) so they are upgraded already, but you can't change anything on them. The trial mechs available rotate every 3-4 months.
--Experience earned on trial mechs is saved, but you can only start unlocking skills on those mechs once you buy them. if you buy that mech (same chassis and variant) an unlock skills for them, those skills apply to the trial mechs too. This can be a good way to play in a upgraded and optimized version of the mech with the advantages from skills even before you can afford to upgrade the copy of the mech that you own.
--IS Lights looks cheap in the game, but need so many upgrades to usually be competitive that they end up costing more than most Mediums.
--Lights and Assaults are the least forgiving weight classes, so I would recommend going for a Medium or Heavy for the first mech you buy. Try the trials and see what works for you.
--The mech academy has been added in the last 6 months and helps a lot, but you will probably need to come to the forums and some of the YouTubers and Twitch streamers in the community for a lot of questions. Kanajashi has a great series of tutorial vids on YouTube. Spike Brave is another that i have heard recommended many times for tutorial vids.
--Clan mechs are not the clear superior machines to IS that they were on table top or older MW games either. They have a completely different play style than IS, but the 2 sides as a while are mostly balanced against each other, although both have VERY good and VERY bad mechs.
--Clan mechs are much more expensive up front, but come with a lot of upgrades (Ferro, fibrous, Endosteel, Double Heat Sinks) that you have to pay extra for on most IS mechs after you buy them.
--Clans also come with a lot more fixed equipment than IS, but changing onmipods lets you change the mech's hard points, which IS can't do.
--Clan weapons and equipment are lighter, usually take less crit slots, and usually have better range.
--IS has a big advantage in heat efficiency on both the weapons and the rate that their heat sinks dissipate heat.
--Clan XL engines can survive the loss of a single side torso at reduced speed and agility, IS XL engines explode if you lose a side torso.
--Gauss rifles work a little weird in this game. They will NOT work in a weapon group on chain fire at all, and you have to hold the button for them to charge and then let go when you want it to fire. If you hold it for too long (or if you don't want to waste the ammo because you don't have a good shot) then it will discharge, and you can charge it again a second later if you need to.
#3
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- 1,035 posts
Member
- LocationIn the backfield.
Posted 02 June 2016 - 04:56 PM
Only bit of advice I can give is to avoid an AMD chipset, as CryEngine apparently doesn't play well with them.
Go Intel and you can't go wrong for MWO.
(Note: I have an AMD chipset, so I'm not an Intel snob XD )
Go Intel and you can't go wrong for MWO.
(Note: I have an AMD chipset, so I'm not an Intel snob XD )
#4
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- Knight Errant
- 1,511 posts
Member
- LocationMalaysia
Posted 02 June 2016 - 05:47 PM
FPS is everything in MWO not just because you get more accurate but also due to rubber banding when running into other players although the latter is a smaller issue.
Based on personal experience, there is a vast difference in my game experience when getting an average of 40-60 fps compared to an average of 20 fps.
So you will need a decent CPU as MWO is quite CPU intensive as well as a decent GPU just to get 60 fps average. This can get expensive if you must use a laptop so it all depends on your budget.
Just make sure to remember that getting a great GPU alone will not give great performance as the bottleneck may occur with the CPU.
I recommend Goose's thread here for an idea of what will work best based on your budget.
Based on personal experience, there is a vast difference in my game experience when getting an average of 40-60 fps compared to an average of 20 fps.
So you will need a decent CPU as MWO is quite CPU intensive as well as a decent GPU just to get 60 fps average. This can get expensive if you must use a laptop so it all depends on your budget.
Just make sure to remember that getting a great GPU alone will not give great performance as the bottleneck may occur with the CPU.
I recommend Goose's thread here for an idea of what will work best based on your budget.
#5
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- Ace Of Spades
- 2,031 posts
Member
- LocationWest Side
Posted 02 June 2016 - 10:15 PM
LogicalIncriments.com
#6
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- The Guide
- 23,384 posts
Welcoming Committee
Posted 03 June 2016 - 10:26 AM
Jables McBarty, on 02 June 2016 - 04:56 PM, said:
Only bit of advice I can give is to avoid an AMD chipset, as CryEngine apparently doesn't play well with them.
Go Intel and you can't go wrong for MWO.
(Note: I have an AMD chipset, so I'm not an Intel snob XD )
Go Intel and you can't go wrong for MWO.
(Note: I have an AMD chipset, so I'm not an Intel snob XD )
Cry Engine works well with mine.
AMD processor, AMD cards.
But "Integrated" anything is bad for gaming.
Really a laptop isn't well suited for long plays on MWO; maybe quick matches. Original poster, you're bound to suffer thermal problems playing MWO on a laptop; be certain you have sufficient cooling measures and give it frequent breaks.
#7
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- Giant Helper
- 1,065 posts
Member
- LocationItaly
Posted 03 June 2016 - 10:32 AM
I have an Acer Aspire V3-772G with a core i7 and a dedicated graphic cards (NVIDIA Geforce 850M with 2 gb dedicated memory).
The game is playable at full HD but do not expect the power of a desktop.
You need a laptop with at least a core i5 and a Geforce 950M or better.
You could go on a gaming laptop but the prices are very high (1000$+, see Asus ROG or MSI gaming notebook series) and they're not so "mobile" (for gaming I suggest a 17.3" minimum and they're 4+ kgs). What's your budget?
Edit: consider also a good gaming mouse.
Cheers.
The game is playable at full HD but do not expect the power of a desktop.
You need a laptop with at least a core i5 and a Geforce 950M or better.
You could go on a gaming laptop but the prices are very high (1000$+, see Asus ROG or MSI gaming notebook series) and they're not so "mobile" (for gaming I suggest a 17.3" minimum and they're 4+ kgs). What's your budget?
Edit: consider also a good gaming mouse.
Cheers.
Edited by invernomuto, 03 June 2016 - 10:49 AM.
#8
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- Overlord
- 4,908 posts
Member
- LocationSuffolk, England
Posted 04 June 2016 - 03:36 AM
my PC has the following specs;
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T 3ghz processor
Nvidia Geforce 560 Graphics
16GB DDR2 RAM
Solid State Drive
it runs on med-high graphics at 30+ FPS.
I built the basic system more than 5 years ago but it has received a few upgrades since, and I am planning to build a new one over the next few months but the existing one is fine for a baseline of the minimum you should aim for (except the RAM, 8GB will be fine I just went a bit overboard 2 years ago with the last upgrade)
with regards to the CPU and Graphics card I strongly recommend looking up benchmarks for what myself and the others have posted, use mine as a minimum, aim for something with better benchmark scores than my CPU and Graphics card, you will also want at least 8gb of ram, a Solid State Drive would be good but a Hard Disk Drive or SSHD would suffice but try to get at least 240gb, and if at all possible use a hardwired network connection as WiFi can be a bit unstable for this game.
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T 3ghz processor
Nvidia Geforce 560 Graphics
16GB DDR2 RAM
Solid State Drive
it runs on med-high graphics at 30+ FPS.
I built the basic system more than 5 years ago but it has received a few upgrades since, and I am planning to build a new one over the next few months but the existing one is fine for a baseline of the minimum you should aim for (except the RAM, 8GB will be fine I just went a bit overboard 2 years ago with the last upgrade)
with regards to the CPU and Graphics card I strongly recommend looking up benchmarks for what myself and the others have posted, use mine as a minimum, aim for something with better benchmark scores than my CPU and Graphics card, you will also want at least 8gb of ram, a Solid State Drive would be good but a Hard Disk Drive or SSHD would suffice but try to get at least 240gb, and if at all possible use a hardwired network connection as WiFi can be a bit unstable for this game.
#9
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- The Formidable
- 4 posts
Rookie
Posted 06 June 2016 - 06:36 AM
Thank you very much for the advice. I've got enthusiasm for the game, but little knowledge. It's been fun and nostalgic seeing the mechs I love, even if they are shooting me because I'm easy prey (n00b player, poor equipment, slow computer, bad connection; what's not to love if you're the other team?). Step one is improving the computer to passable specs so I can get effective seat time and learn my way out of n00biness.
I appreciate your help.
Ghost
I appreciate your help.
Ghost
#10
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- 907 posts
Member
Posted 06 June 2016 - 03:02 PM
Ghost37, on 02 June 2016 - 03:34 PM, said:
I'm a MechWarrior from way back. We're talking MechWarrior 2, Mercs, and MPBT Solaris on AOL way back.
That's not way back bro. I played it on the Atari ST in the 80s. - (And the board game before that)
#11
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- 907 posts
Member
Posted 06 June 2016 - 03:07 PM
Ghost37, on 02 June 2016 - 03:34 PM, said:
I'm a MechWarrior from way back. We're talking MechWarrior 2, Mercs, and MPBT Solaris on AOL way back. I've been away from PC games for a while and long story short, have just joined MWO. I need my system to be mobile for travel so right now I'm running MWO on a laptop that barely meets the system requirements. I'd like to get a new laptop that will work better, but I wanted to ask you guys:
What do you suggest beyond the system requirements?
You're actually running the game and surely have good info on what works and what is sketchy. Also I'm curious:
Do I need other hardware beyond the laptop? Does everyone run mouse and keyboard or are there better input devices that are "must haves"?
Thank you for input.
Ghost
Current system requirements for reference:
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/DX11
HDD Space: 8 GB
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/DX11
HDD Space: 8 GB
What do you suggest beyond the system requirements?
You're actually running the game and surely have good info on what works and what is sketchy. Also I'm curious:
Do I need other hardware beyond the laptop? Does everyone run mouse and keyboard or are there better input devices that are "must haves"?
Thank you for input.
Ghost
Current system requirements for reference:
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/DX11
HDD Space: 8 GB
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/DX11
HDD Space: 8 GB
Snark aside, to answer your questions...MWO has pretty forgiving specs compared to other modern games. I am running it on a Nvidia GTX 660/6 core AMD (FX/6100) w/8 gigs of RAM with maxed settings at high frame rates. I am sure my Laptop could handle this game as well.
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