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Laptop Gaming

Started by Artemis, August 21, 2014, 04:43:34 PM

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Artemis

You lot will know much more about this than me, so I'm fishing for some information.

I've bought a new laptop recently, and I'm interested in gaming on it. I'm not a massive gaming person, and I'd probably be quite happy with games that came out two or three years ago if the newer games demand a higher specification than I have. My own specs are as follows: Core i7 4510U processor, NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 750M 2GB DDR5, 16GB Ram, 500GB SSD. My screen is a 17" 1080p touchscreen.

I realise the processor isn't the greatest and the graphics card isn't the most powerful, but that would cope with some games, wouldn't it?

So, I'm interested in getting a wireless Xbox 360 controller for the PC and modifying it for use with games like COD4 and MW2.

Am I farting in the wind? Or is that achievable?

Morrison Lard

'ave a bang on that-
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri

Might need a bit of java-clicking-yes-you-can-access-that[nb]select auto-detection from the list[/nb] but it's otherwise spot on.

Artemis

Cheers. Looks like I'm good for the minimum requirements of most games and actually manage to meet the recommended settings for the majority too, although the most demanding games would probably require such a low quality experience, I'll not bother.

Reading up, it seems most PC gamers consider a mouse/keyboard combination to be far superior to a controller. I don't really understand this, especially on a laptop (even with an external mouse).

Mister Six

Quote from: Artemis on August 21, 2014, 05:05:08 PMReading up, it seems most PC gamers consider a mouse/keyboard combination to be far superior to a controller. I don't really understand this, especially on a laptop (even with an external mouse).

I suppose it's all what you're used to, but I find playing with a mouse/keys setup is like trying to bend my fingers through five dimensions. Probably doesn't help that I'm left-handed. I can imagine the mouse makes FPS games easier though.

Morrison Lard

Quote from: Artemis on August 21, 2014, 05:05:08 PM
most PC gamers consider a mouse/keyboard combination to be far superior to a controller.
This was mostly why I got rid of my PS3, I can't get on with a controller after playing PC games
with the WASD setup[nb]OMG NOOB TFGH FTW LOL WASD SUX[/nb] and a decent mouse with plenty of buttons.

It also feels much more precise using a mouse for aiming than a controller for me.

El Unicornio, mang

You'll be fine with those specs.

Also, an Xbox controller will be fine. I used to use one to play games like Modern Warfare on my PC all the time.

Here's a detailed breakdown of your graphics card and how well games perform at different settings. As you can see, you can play the latest games on anything bar Ultra high settings, some other might struggle at high but generally speaking you can play most games without sacrificing much.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-750M.90245.0.html

I'd also recommend hooking up to a TV via the hdmi port so you can get full 1080p resolution. The graphics can only look so good on a laptop screen, regardless of your specs.

Wish I could afford a laptop with your specs! My laptop has only a dual core 2ghz cpu, 3gb ram and a 9600 256MB graphics card and I can play stuff like Far Cry, San Andreas on max settings, and newer games like GTA IV on low settings, but most recent games on decent settings are a no-no. Will probably upgrade it to 3ghz/6gb ram/1gb gpu soon but it's still going to be a bit creaky.

El Unicornio, mang

Additionally, that "Can I Run It" site is great, but I've noticed that it does often fail games which are perfectly playable. It will  pass all the requirements and still fail overall just because the graphics card or CPU doesn't match what it has listed (even if they're more powerful)

Artemis

Quote from: El Unicornio, mang on August 21, 2014, 05:26:34 PM
You'll be fine with those specs.

Also, an Xbox controller will be fine. I used to use one to play games like Modern Warfare on my PC all the time.

Thanks, that's great to hear. I think I'll go ahead and order one, then. I will hold you personally and directly responsible if anything goes wrong.

QuoteWish I could afford a laptop with your specs!

It's stung the wallet, I must say. The initial system was this one, for which you can get a further 10% discount if you join their 'VIP' club (there are supposed to be conditions but I was able to join regardless - it doesn't appear to be monitored). Then I swapped the hard drive, wireless card and optical drive to an SSD, AC-7260 and blu-ray respectively. Now it's a beast of a rig, but was close to a grand to put together. I figure I'll have it for years though, so it's worth the expense.

Artemis

I've only gone and got myself some games. I'm really a complete novice at this stuff (I completed COD:MW2 on veteran level a few years ago, but only by painstakingly copying the walkthrough videos).

Anyway, I ordered an XBox One controller, and MW2 for the PC, because I did enjoy that and sort of know what I'm doing. Through Steam's 2K sale, I ordered Borderlands 2 (9gb download!) and Bioshock Infinite and the season pass (34gb download!!!). I'll wait for the controller to play them properly because farting around with keyboard keys and a mouse was a dreadful experience.

Both look gorgeous, especially in 1080p, but my poor little i7 4510U processor (or the video card) felt really hot inside the machine. Is that normal? I don't want to blow anything up, but it's got a video card - surely it is built to handle some games?

Quote from: Artemis on August 25, 2014, 01:11:17 PM
I've only gone and got myself some games. I'm really a complete novice at this stuff (I completed COD:MW2 on veteran level a few years ago, but only by painstakingly copying the walkthrough videos).

Anyway, I ordered an XBox One controller, and MW2 for the PC, because I did enjoy that and sort of know what I'm doing. Through Steam's 2K sale, I ordered Borderlands 2 (9gb download!) and Bioshock Infinite and the season pass (34gb download!!!). I'll wait for the controller to play them properly because farting around with keyboard keys and a mouse was a dreadful experience.

Both look gorgeous, especially in 1080p, but my poor little i7 4510U processor (or the video card) felt really hot inside the machine. Is that normal? I don't want to blow anything up, but it's got a video card - surely it is built to handle some games?

If it's getting dangerously hot, I'd not be worried that the video card isn't built to handle it, the set up just doesn't have the correct cooling system in there.
You need more fans or something. You can buy those cheap external USB fans for Laptops, they just plug into the USB slot and run off the battery power, and sit underneath the laptop, a bit like a book sitting on your lap.

I don't know how well they work. And my advice on hardware is probably not coming from a place of knowledge as others here. 

El Unicornio, mang

#10
It will heat up a lot if you're playing power hungry games, but as long as it's not shutting down as a result you'll be ok. You can get a free program like CoreTemp to keep an eye on the temps. Also, do you play on your lap/bed? That will cause it to heat up more. If you're not already, you really want to be playing on a hard flat surface.

Aside from that, you could just reduce the graphics settings, but unless the heating up is causing any other issues I wouldn't worry too much about it.

As BoC said, a cooling pad/laptop stand could be beneficial, or just elevate it with a book or something.

You can get these for under a tenner:



I used to use a £3 one when my old laptop would shut down just from watching movies and it worked wonders.

Artemis

#11
Ah, yes. This is what I have right now:



So the machine is always tilted, but I guess I could replace that with a fan variety of stand.

EDIT: This one looks particularly good.

mcbpete

Quote from: Artemis on August 25, 2014, 02:48:13 PM
EDIT: This one looks particularly good.
I've an earlier/cheaper model of that one which comes without extra USB ports. Really good, kinda noisy - but it is two fans working at full whack

Artemis

Oh really? The reports about it being very quiet was what was drawing me to it. Maybe the later model is quieter.

Beagle 2

I've bought this laptop: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/laptops-portable-pcs/laptops-and-netbooks/toshiba-satellite-c50-1160501/review

I didn't really expect it to be able to run any games, and indeed on visiting that site above pretty much every game has returned a 'no' on the basis of my crappy Intel HD Graphics 4000, including old ones I had hoped might run like Call of Duty Modern Warfare.

But the review above states that it can run Dirt 3, and I also found this that suggests that it could even run Metro: Last Light. I don't really want to spend £30 finding out, so could anybody recommend a cheap game or a demo I could download to test it out, or definitively say 'no, what you've bought there is a typewriter!?


lazarou

I had an even crappier HD 3000 on my last laptop, and it'll run older stuff at low settings. The 4000 should do a good deal better. Last thing I played was The Walking Dead Season 2 which managed fine at 720p, you should have no problems with that one. Integrated intel graphics are much better than they used to be, thankfully.

Maybe you could get yourself Team Fortress 2 on steam? That's free and should be a reasonable test. I know it plays Left 4 Dead well, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem either. You just might have to tweak around a bit in the options to get things ticking along nicely[nb]If my card;s anything to go by, you'll want to start by completing disabling antialiasing/AA[/nb].

I haven't tried modern warfare myself on that setup, but this video seems to indicate it runs well. You'll almost certainly get diminishing returns with the sequels, but it looks like you'll get away with that just fine. There's a lot of HD3000/4000 tests on YouTube, just try searching the game title with that added and it should be a help in figuring out exactly how well things run and the best settings to go for.

Beagle 2

Thanks for that. I remembered that I bought Half Life 2 on Steam ages ago and was thrilled to find that it plays great, until I realised it was ten pissing years old! Ah well, it looks like a lot more stuff will run on it than I thought at least. I've never played Modern Warfare, so looking forward to that at least.