Matrix Games Forums

 Forums  Register  Login  Photo Gallery  Member List  Search  Calendars  FAQ 

My Profile  Inbox  Address Book  My Subscription  My Forums  Log Out

Gaming Laptop

 
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest
Users viewing this topic: none
  Printable Version
All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Gary Grigsby's War in the East Series >> Gaming Laptop Page: [1]
Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
Gaming Laptop - 11/2/2014 12:56:08 AM   
dereck


Posts: 2800
Joined: 9/7/2004
From: Romulus, MI
Status: offline 		I'm trying to upgrade to a new laptop which I hope will be able to run War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition, War in the West and War in the East.

Right now I'm looking at a Dell Inspiron 17 5000 Series. It has Intel HD Graphics 4000, 8 GB of memory, a 4th Generation Intel Core i7-4510U processor and will have Windows 7.

Will that laptop be able to run the three games above?

Thanks

(Sorry for double posting here and on the WITW forum)

_____________________________

PO2 US Navy (1980-1986);
USS Midway CV-41 (1981-1984)
Whidbey Island, WA (1984-1986)
Naval Reserve (1986-1992)
Post #: 1
RE: Gaming Laptop - 11/2/2014 2:46:29 PM   
Numdydar

 

Posts: 3211
Joined: 2/13/2004
Status: offline 		Yes. but you should really consider something with a dedicated graphics card like an 860M. The rest of the specs sound good.

You also should have a SSD of at least 250G if your laptop is only going to have a single drive. If you don't mind the extra weight, one with 2 (or more) hard drive bays would be best. An SSD for the OS and then the second drive for games/data. As large as games get now, the HDs can fill up fast

Although the games you mentioned do not really need a dedicated graphics card to work, trust me when I say they will still run much better with a dedicated card than without Plus if you ever want to try anything else, the laptop will handle it.

As someone pointed out on a different forum, you can change pretty much anything in a laptop these days except the CPU and graphics card. So that is where you need to spend the money to get the best combination of these you can.

I just did the same thing you are doing a few months ago and ended up with an Alienware 17 with an 880M graphic card and I7 with 16G. If only had a single crappy HD so I instantly added a SSD.

So good luck with your endeavors

(in reply to dereck)
Post #: 2
RE: Gaming Laptop - 11/2/2014 3:38:33 PM   
dereck


Posts: 2800
Joined: 9/7/2004
From: Romulus, MI
Status: offline 		Thanks. I looked up Alienware and have two laptop configurations in the mix:

Inspiron 17 500 Series Non-Touch screen
o Processor: 5th Generation IntelCore i7-4510U Processor
(4M Cache, up to 3.1GHz)
o OS: 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium
o Office Software: MS Office Home and Business 2013
o Memory: 8GB single channel DDR3 1600MHz
o Hard Drive: 1 TB 5400 rpm SATA Hard Drive
o Video Card: Intel HD Graphics 4400
o Display: 17.3 inch LED (1600x900 resolution)
o Optical Drive: Tray load DVD (read/Write to DVD and CD)
o Price: 1,069.98
o Ships: 11/03/2014

Alienware 13 Gaming Laptop
o Processor: Intel Code i5 4210U (Dual Core, 3MB Cache,
up to 2.7GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
o OS: 64-bit Windows 7 Professional
o Office Software: MS Office Home and Business 2013
o Memory: 8 GB DDR3L 1600MHz
o Hard Drive: 1TB 5400RMP SATA
o Video Card: NVIDEA GeForce GTX 860M w/2GB GDDR5
o Display: 13 inch (1920x1080 resolution)
o Optical Drive: couldn't find mention
o Price: 1,538.99
o Ships: 12/10/2014

Right now I'm still leaning towards the Inspiron: 1) larger screen (I'm 52 and my eyes aren't what they were even 10 years ago), 2) higher processor, 3) definitely mentions a DVD drive, 4) ships sooner and 5) the cost.

I have a computer shop I use where I could possibly get the memory upped and, if possible get another HD added if I decide I need one.

I'm still in the study phase so comments/suggestions?

_____________________________

PO2 US Navy (1980-1986);
USS Midway CV-41 (1981-1984)
Whidbey Island, WA (1984-1986)
Naval Reserve (1986-1992)

(in reply to Numdydar)
Post #: 3
RE: Gaming Laptop - 11/2/2014 10:07:31 PM   
HappyHedonist

 

Posts: 36
Joined: 6/16/2010
Status: offline 		Unless your looking to play newer games, buy the Inspiron. It's cheaper, will have a longer batter life due to the fact it's not powering a GTX 860M (which is not a great card anyways), it has a larger display, and will handle the games you listed with ease. If you want to play newer 3d games as well, the Alienware is a better choice. I can play games like WoW on my 4400 however.

I have an Inspiron 3000 series and regularly play WiTE and even smaller scenarios in Command. The only thing I regret is going with the 15" screen instead of the 17".

Edit: I wouldn't worry about an SSD either unless you are either impatient, have grown extremely accustom to one on your desktop, or are moving tons of files regularaly. I have a 256gb SSD on my rather beefy desktop, and while the 5400 rpm drive in my Dell is annoying, it suites me fine. Again, unless your loading things like the new ARMA or Minecraft with 150 mods enabled, it's just not all that necessary.

< Message edited by Happy Hedonist -- 11/2/2014 11:13:36 PM >

(in reply to dereck)
Post #: 4
RE: Gaming Laptop - 11/2/2014 10:19:59 PM   
dereck


Posts: 2800
Joined: 9/7/2004
From: Romulus, MI
Status: offline 		I checked out the Alienware 17 and ended up getting a version of that:

o Intel Core i7-4710MQ Quad Core
o 64-bit windows 7
o 16 GB of memory
o 1 TB 5400 rpm SATA drive
o NVIDEO GeForce GTX 860M
o 17.3 inch display (1900x1080 resolution)

I figure this will be more than enough to play these games AND be able to handle my photo software too so I won't have to have a special photo laptop like I have now. I didn't need to go for the higher video card and saved about $800 there. Also the specs said it had space for two more hard drives so if I ever need more hard drive space I can always go to my local store and have them put one in for me.

Now I just need to sell my two refurbished laptops I got to run my photo software

_____________________________

PO2 US Navy (1980-1986);
USS Midway CV-41 (1981-1984)
Whidbey Island, WA (1984-1986)
Naval Reserve (1986-1992)

(in reply to HappyHedonist)
Post #: 5
RE: Gaming Laptop - 11/2/2014 10:38:33 PM   
HappyHedonist

 

Posts: 36
Joined: 6/16/2010
Status: offline 		Very nice. That's a great looking laptop. I hope you enjoy it.

BTW we are almost neighbors. It's nice to see another Michigander on the forums.

(in reply to dereck)
Post #: 6
RE: Gaming Laptop - 11/3/2014 3:45:54 AM   
morvael


Posts: 11762
Joined: 9/8/2006
From: Poland
Status: offline 		I'm happy with a laptop having similar specs but you miss 3 letters inside: SSD. At least buy 120 or 240 GB one for system partition. You will not regret.

(in reply to HappyHedonist)
Post #: 7
RE: Gaming Laptop - 11/3/2014 3:12:22 PM   
Eambar


Posts: 240
Joined: 4/2/2010
Status: offline 		Asus have just released the G751 series of gaming laptops:

http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/ASUS_ROG_G751JY/

These are pretty beefy machines with more than enough grunt to play any game on the market right now or coming soon.

I've pre-ordered the G751JY (not available here in the UK yet) but they are available in the US.

I see it as an investment in the future - I'll be able to keep up with anything for several years to come, as well as WiTE 1.08 I'm also looking forward to using the laptop with The Witcher 3 and TC's The Division.

Cheers


(in reply to morvael)
Post #: 8
RE: Gaming Laptop - 11/3/2014 7:17:44 PM   
Numdydar

 

Posts: 3211
Joined: 2/13/2004
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: dereck

I checked out the Alienware 17 and ended up getting a version of that:

o Intel Core i7-4710MQ Quad Core
o 64-bit windows 7
o 16 GB of memory
o 1 TB 5400 rpm SATA drive
o NVIDEO GeForce GTX 860M
o 17.3 inch display (1900x1080 resolution)

I figure this will be more than enough to play these games AND be able to handle my photo software too so I won't have to have a special photo laptop like I have now. I didn't need to go for the higher video card and saved about $800 there. Also the specs said it had space for two more hard drives so if I ever need more hard drive space I can always go to my local store and have them put one in for me.

Now I just need to sell my two refurbished laptops I got to run my photo software


As noted above the 5400 drive is sloooow. You really need a SSD as the C drive. Remember a lot of applications still cache data to the HD. This is one reason even apps on the slow drive will still look fast

Also if you can afford it you should try and swing a 870M (or even an 880M). While the 860M is not that great compared to those two, it is still light years ahead of an integrated card.

As far as battery life goes, Alienware has a nifty feature that automatically turns off the graphics card if you are not using it. So this helps a lot with battery life if you are just doing emails of surfing the web.

(in reply to dereck)
Post #: 9
RE: Gaming Laptop - 11/6/2014 2:19:04 AM   
glen11

 

Posts: 3
Joined: 5/28/2014
Status: offline 		What's your budget and brand prefer?

(in reply to dereck)
Post #: 10
RE: Gaming Laptop - 11/6/2014 2:21:07 AM   
glen11

 

Posts: 3
Joined: 5/28/2014
Status: offline 		Are you interested in MSI, which I'm using. Here comes a new gaming laptop MSI GT72 2QE

(in reply to glen11)
Post #: 11
Page:   [1]
All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Gary Grigsby's War in the East Series >> Gaming Laptop Page: [1]
Jump to:





New Messages No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages Locked w/o New Messages
 Post New Thread
 Reply to Message
 Post New Poll
 Submit Vote
 Delete My Own Post
 Delete My Own Thread
 Rate Posts


Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI

2.188