SabreNova Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Hey all, I've been thinking about investing in a new laptop for school since my old one died on me, and I figured why not get a decent one now that I can actually afford to buy one myself. I found one that is of interest to me, here are the specs: Lenevo IdeaPad U410 14" (I'll be using a 22" monitor so screen size matters little for games) 6GB RAM 750 GB HDD + 24GB SSD Intel Core i5-3317U Processor 1.7GHz (Dual Core obviously), can be overclocked to ~2.7GHz NVIDIA GeForce 610M 1GB (I believe it is a dedicated card, still checking on that) Windows 8 It'll run me about $479.99, which is in my $500 budget. How well could I run SWTOR with this machine? Also, if anyone has suggestions about other laptops that may be just as good (preferably with an intel processor) for $500 or less (prefer less) feel free to list them and any links that may go with them. Any help is appreciated, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morfius Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Hey all, I've been thinking about investing in a new laptop for school since my old one died on me, and I figured why not get a decent one now that I can actually afford to buy one myself. I found one that is of interest to me, here are the specs: Lenevo IdeaPad U410 14" (I'll be using a 22" monitor so screen size matters little for games) 6GB RAM 750 GB HDD + 24GB SSD Intel Core i5-3317U Processor 1.7GHz (Dual Core obviously), can be overclocked to ~2.7GHz NVIDIA GeForce 610M 1GB (I believe it is a dedicated card, still checking on that) Windows 8 It'll run me about $479.99, which is in my $500 budget. How well could I run SWTOR with this machine? Also, if anyone has suggestions about other laptops that may be just as good (preferably with an intel processor) for $500 or less (prefer less) feel free to list them and any links that may go with them. Any help is appreciated, thanks! Not overclock - turbo boost... it will go to 2.4 or 2.5 not 2.7 (2.7 is top possible speed on 1 core, game will run on 2). Most probably will have overheating issues - low cost home laptop are not designed for heavy duty. Absolutely lowest possible graphic settings - 610 is nice excuse for a video card. Very high possibility of huge FPS issues on populated areas (Fleets, OPs, PvP). "Lag" in object drawing... also very possible. It is up to you, but if you are ready to accept those above: - Use HWMonitor or similar to be aware of your laptop temperatures. - Do NOT OC it by any means (turbo boost is not OC). - Get a pad for it (even passive) to use it on any other surfaces than clean desk. - Install DirectX 9 redistributable from Microsoft.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwenBrooks Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 (edited) Geforce 610 M idea of performance (bad) - http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+610M i5- 3317U CPU is quite good for a laptop - http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-3317U+%40+1.70GHz&id=816 shame about the video card But for the money not unexpected , The CPU has a lot of bearing on MMOs as well Edited January 8, 2014 by OwenBrooks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malastare Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 (edited) Sorry, just trying to be as honest as possible: 6GB RAM Sufficient. 8GB is better, but you should be fine so long as you don't have other memory intensive software running while you play. Still, 6GB is fine to play. 750 GB HDD + 24GB SSD That's fine. The SSD appears to be used as a cahce, which is nice, but won't have all that much of an effect. Intel Core i5-3317U Processor 1.7GHz (Dual Core obviously), can be overclocked to ~2.7GHz That's not an overclock, its a Turbo mode. There are some requirements for turbo mode, and usually you only hit the highest speed when using a single core. SWTOR is going to use two cores by itself, so the Turbo Boost will only go as high as 2.4GHz, and only so long as the CPU is kept cool. While this meets the minimum requirements, and its pretty good for a slim laptop, that isn't a guarantee of good performance. You can still expect to have some framerate issues in crowded situations (Fleet, Ops, World Boss fights, and busy areas (Gree event, for example). i5-3337UNVIDIA GeForce 610M 1GB (I believe it is a dedicated card, still checking on that) This is not a gaming video card. This is an entry level card designed for web browsing, productivity applications, and DVD playing. It's not going to handle SWTOR well at all. It will be stressed even in the simplest of situations. Lenevo IdeaPad U410 14" Looking at the model, it is one of the sleek slim form factors. Unfortunately, slim is bad here. You are hoping to play a game that stresses desktop cooling systems. The small vent is not going to be able to keep up with the heat generated as your CPU/GPU attempt to play the game, but its even more likely that the internal heatsinks and fans won't be able to remove heat from those components fast enough, either. Expect this laptop to overheat while playing games, and expect it to overheat badly. Also, if anyone has suggestions about other laptops that may be just as good (preferably with an intel processor) for $500 or less (prefer less) feel free to list them and any links that may go with them. That's a tough order. You're going to have to make some compromises. The last time I searched for this, the goal was to find an $800 laptop that could play the game at Medium quality. It wasn't an easy search. I'm not sure that you'll find much at all in the $500 or less segment. A game-capable video card for a laptop is going to be $150-200 by itself. To be able to reliably play the game (at Low settings, give or take) you're going to want something like a GeForce 640 or 550 or something equivalent. More importantly, you'll want to think about cooling. Slim laptops frequently overheat when playing MMOs (meaning: Reboots, crashes, or performance drops due to thermal throttling). Look for models that vent out the back of the enclosure (meaning: directly away from you) rather than a side or through the bottom. Vents on both sides is acceptable. Edited January 8, 2014 by Malastare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabenschwinge Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 (edited) It's a good computer but the graphics card is a bit slow. However, having a notebook computer myself on which I play the game while I am underway: Even the on-chip graphics adapter of recent intel CPUs can run the game smoothly in low or very low graphics mode with a 1366x768 resolution (HDReady). It's not pretty, but certainly enough to play the game. Depends a little on what the native screen resolution of said notebook computer is. Edited January 9, 2014 by Rabenschwinge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabreNova Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 (edited) Thanks for the input all...I have since found a few more laptops. Some are a little further out of my budget range (one is out quite a bit) but I could afford it if it meant I wouldn't need a new laptop for a while. HP Pavilion 15t-n200 15.6" for $519.99 PRICE EDIT: using a coupon 4th generation Intel® Core™ i3-4005U Processor 1GB AMD Radeon™ HD 8670M Discrete 4GB RAM (Will be upgrading this to 8GB with the memory from my old laptop) 500GB HDD HP ENVY 15t-j100 15.6" for $574.99 AMD Quad-Core A8-5550M Accelerated Processor 2GB AMD Radeon™ HD 8750M Discrete 6GB RAM (Would also be upgraded to 8GB but not immediately) 750GB HDD HP Pavilion 15z-n200 Notebook PC 15.6" for $489.99 AMD Quad-Core A4-5000 Processor (could upgrade to an A6 for $35 more...but meh.) 1GB AMD Radeon™ HD 8670M Discrete 4GB RAM (to be upgraded to 8GB immediately) 500GB HDD HP ENVY 15t-j100 15.6" for $684.99 4th generation Intel® Core™ i5-4200M Processor NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M Graphics with 2048MB of dedicated video memory 6GB RAM (to be upgraded to 8GB later) 750GB HDD The last one I'd really rather avoid, but if buying it meant I'd not need a new laptop for a while, then I'd be happy with it. Also, keep in mind I wish to run this game on AT LEAST medium settings getting around 30-40+ FPS, with the maximum settings being high at 30 FPS...If I can at least run it on medium getting 30-40FPS + I'll be content for now. Don't know if that'll change any answers about the first computer I posted about...but I'd still like an idea of what to get. Edited January 8, 2014 by SabreNova Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aries_cz Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 HP ENVY 15t-j100 15.6" Display for $684.99 4th generation Intel® Core™ i5-4200M Processor NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M Graphics with 2048MB of dedicated video memory 6GB RAM (to be upgraded to 8GB later) 750GB HDD Well, this one, even though you would like to avoid it, seems like a good investment to me. I have a weaker laptop (Asus N53SV, Intel i5 2410M @ 2.3GHz, 4GB RAM, GeForce 540M) for 3 years now and I have been pretty happy with it at school and work (writing notes and, of course, playing SWTOR during the "nothing to do times"). I play on High settings (shadows off, grass reduced and some other minor tweaks like that), but it runs pretty smooth on my college wifi, even in crowded places like fleet. As for these two HP ENVY 15t-j100 15.6" Display for $574.99 AMD Quad-Core A8-5550M Accelerated Processor 2GB AMD Radeon™ HD 8750M Discrete 6GB RAM (Would also be upgraded to 8GB but not immediately) 750GB HDD HP Pavilion 15z-n200 Notebook PC 15.6" Display for $489.99 AMD Quad-Core A4-5000 Processor 1GB AMD Radeon™ HD 8670M Discrete 4GB RAM (to be upgraded to 8GB immediately) 500GB HDD I will let someone more knowledgeable about AMD chips and cards to evaluate them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infernixx Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aries_cz Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 (edited) http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri He is not asking if he can run it on his laptop, he is shopping around for a new one, and CYRI does not allow to input computer specs manually, to my knowledge. Not to mention, it just compares against requirements on the box, and there are many people who are having trouble with SWTOR on min specs Edited January 8, 2014 by Aries_cz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malastare Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri CanYouRunIt (Which I always read as Can Your Unit?) manages to claw its way into the "Not Quite Useless" category. It often fails to properly classify CPUs. It routinely screws up video card ratings. Habitually miscalculates video memory. Fails to properly look up dozens of popular sound cards. Even when it does detect hardware, it only compares against box requirements. That means it doesn't adjust for DirectX versions or quality levels. It doesn't give qualitative scales for how well a game might run. And it often fails to account for things like the processing ability differences of a 3GHz Pentium III versus a 3GHz Ivy Bridge chip. In practice, it's only reliably correct when the system is obviously over or under requirements. If you're at all close to them, you'd get the same accuracy by simply flipping a coin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabreNova Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 Has anyone here heard if the AMD A-series CPUs function well? I've found a lot of A6 Quad Core-A10 Quad Core processor comps with Radeon 8000 series graphics cards with anywhere between 1GB-3GB of video memory (most are dedicated) but some people I've talked to have told me to stay away from AMD processors in general due to myriad problems....does anyone have any knowledge here to the power of AMD processors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jrpm Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 TJI-Not on AMD, I am an Intel Stockholder, so don't use them. But, I play on three different 'laptops'. Toshiba Satellite I7, Sony Viaio I7 and Microsoft Surface. Only problem I have is my networking and security software. I have to wait for my scanners to finish when I log in, and have occasional issues with my network connetivitiy on the Surface. I am a retired DBA who used to run his own business (still have the business, but not pushing it). I have not bought a desktop in 5 or more years. My only real problem has been that my older games won't work on W8.1 (In the Sony case, W7/8 as sony doesn't support Windows on my model, but I did try an upgrade. It has the Nvidia driver to use with another game, which shall go nameless, but whose initials are TSW.) If you have $500 to spend on a laptop instead of a video card, you should be okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andryah Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 (edited) Thanks for the input all...I have since found a few more laptops. Some are a little further out of my budget range (one is out quite a bit) but I could afford it if it meant I wouldn't need a new laptop for a while. HP Pavilion 15t-n200 15.6" for $519.99 PRICE EDIT: using a coupon 4th generation Intel® Core™ i3-4005U Processor 1GB AMD Radeon™ HD 8670M Discrete 4GB RAM (Will be upgrading this to 8GB with the memory from my old laptop) 500GB HDD HP ENVY 15t-j100 15.6" for $574.99 AMD Quad-Core A8-5550M Accelerated Processor 2GB AMD Radeon™ HD 8750M Discrete 6GB RAM (Would also be upgraded to 8GB but not immediately) 750GB HDD HP Pavilion 15z-n200 Notebook PC 15.6" for $489.99 AMD Quad-Core A4-5000 Processor (could upgrade to an A6 for $35 more...but meh.) 1GB AMD Radeon™ HD 8670M Discrete 4GB RAM (to be upgraded to 8GB immediately) 500GB HDD HP ENVY 15t-j100 15.6" for $684.99 4th generation Intel® Core™ i5-4200M Processor NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M Graphics with 2048MB of dedicated video memory 6GB RAM (to be upgraded to 8GB later) 750GB HDD The last one I'd really rather avoid, but if buying it meant I'd not need a new laptop for a while, then I'd be happy with it. Also, keep in mind I wish to run this game on AT LEAST medium settings getting around 30-40+ FPS, with the maximum settings being high at 30 FPS...If I can at least run it on medium getting 30-40FPS + I'll be content for now. Don't know if that'll change any answers about the first computer I posted about...but I'd still like an idea of what to get. I know the last one is over your budget.... but personally, I'd scratch around for the extra 150 dollars and get that one. The i5-4200M and the GT 740M will run this game very nicely and give you some head room for the future. You need a laptop that is not obsolete in a year. Othewise it's wasted money IMO. Watch your junction temperatures though.. as I don't think any of the above are really gaming laptops (which besides the chip set, have chassis and cooling systems designed for gaming demand). Edited January 9, 2014 by Andryah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorkieX Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 As someone who uses AMD Chips in everything, lets start with the first one... APU Quad + Discrete is a awsome setup as it will give you more shared video memory I use a APU + Discrete my self with 8gb of DDR3.. you can use less and still have high settings with this game... I recomend the first one here but the second one works just as well. The game will run with a Dual Core processor but I tell you what, it runs sweet with a Quad and these APU push your graphics into the Processor first before firing it out to the card/monitor. Worth every penny you put into them as well. Also the APU + GPU Discrete open up Dual Graphics but unless the game offers Dx11 it wont be much use except for the fact that you still have a much better setup to run it off. HP ENVY 15t-j100 15.6" for $574.99 AMD Quad-Core A8-5550M Accelerated Processor 2GB AMD Radeon™ HD 8750M Discrete 6GB RAM (Would also be upgraded to 8GB but not immediately) 750GB HDD HP Pavilion 15z-n200 Notebook PC 15.6" for $489.99 AMD Quad-Core A4-5000 Processor (could upgrade to an A6 for $35 more...but meh.) 1GB AMD Radeon™ HD 8670M Discrete 4GB RAM (to be upgraded to 8GB immediately) 500GB HDD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabreNova Posted January 9, 2014 Author Share Posted January 9, 2014 As someone who uses AMD Chips in everything, lets start with the first one... APU Quad + Discrete is a awsome setup as it will give you more shared video memory I use a APU + Discrete my self with 8gb of DDR3.. you can use less and still have high settings with this game... I recomend the first one here but the second one works just as well. The game will run with a Dual Core processor but I tell you what, it runs sweet with a Quad and these APU push your graphics into the Processor first before firing it out to the card/monitor. Worth every penny you put into them as well. Also the APU + GPU Discrete open up Dual Graphics but unless the game offers Dx11 it wont be much use except for the fact that you still have a much better setup to run it off. [/i] I've seen a number of AMD A6-A10 Quad cores, all of which had a discrete/dedicated Radeon 7000/8000 series since then locally...but your post was the first positive thing I've heard about AMD processors, so I'm still a bit skeptical...going to go down to my local Microcenter tomorrow and test a few out... Are there any issues with AMDs? I've heard they overheat, or that they struggle with higher power ops (such as games like SWTOR) and are noisy (which I can circumvent), and I'd like to avoid taking a cooling pad or something with me when I'm at school. Not trying to say they suck, just need a little more info on them since, like I said, your post was the first positive thing I've heard about AMDs in a while...shame to since I found a lot of good ones (some A8 Quad-Cores+7000/8000 series Radeon discrete graphics for $500 or less) but if they are as good as you say I'll gladly get one. These are 3 of them I found with quad core processors... http://www.microcenter.com/product/422619/Satellite_C55D-A5392_156_Laptop_Computer_-_Satin_Black_in_Trax_Horizon [$279] http://www.microcenter.com/product/415224/G505s_156_Laptop_Computer_-_Black [$500] http://www.microcenter.com/product/415221/G505_156_Laptop_Computer_-_Black (similar to one above but lesser processor/graphics/hdd space) [$429] Could you tell me which are good? I'm assuming the $500 (second link) is best but still....and $500 I can do budget wise but saving money is always nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andryah Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 (edited) These are 3 of them I found with quad core processors... http://www.microcenter.com/product/422619/Satellite_C55D-A5392_156_Laptop_Computer_-_Satin_Black_in_Trax_Horizon [$279] http://www.microcenter.com/product/415224/G505s_156_Laptop_Computer_-_Black [$500] http://www.microcenter.com/product/415221/G505_156_Laptop_Computer_-_Black (similar to one above but lesser processor/graphics/hdd space) [$429] Could you tell me which are good? I'm assuming the $500 (second link) is best but still....and $500 I can do budget wise but saving money is always nice. Regardless of the brand label on today's laptops, they are ALL made in a small handful of Taiwan super facilities these days. In other words, they have all been normalized to roughly be ------> you get what you pay for. The real difference with laptop designs is that gaming laptops tend to be larger, and with better cooling systems to handle the extremes. Multi-media and office/home laptops, much less so... they are made for compactness, NOT thermal performance. ALL of the laptops you have linked in this thread are IMO, multi-media/Office/Home laptops. They will all track the same price performance curve (with the exception of any super sale discounts one brand might be pushing at any given time). You can mitigate the thermal issues by being careful of your game settings, keeping track of your junction temperatures and putting a cooling platform under the laptop. So we are back to ------> you get what you pay for in terms of $$ for performance. With that, you pick your price and buy as much as your price point permits you. Personally, I would always opt for Intel for CPU and Nvidia for GPU. But That's me. Edited January 9, 2014 by Andryah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndursinger Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 here's something to ponder....... I run an HP Pavilion g series with a 1.3 intel core and I've been playing on this thing since beta with almost no issues. I do use an auxiliary fan and run most of the settings at the bottom but I still get to play and have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morfius Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Thanks for the input all... HP ENVY 15t-j100 15.6" for $684.99 4th generation Intel® Core™ i5-4200M Processor NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M Graphics with 2048MB of dedicated video memory 6GB RAM (to be upgraded to 8GB later) 750GB HDD . This. Again HWMonitor, pad and do not OC it ... DirectX 9 redistributable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedip_enguin Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Instead of a brand new unit you might be better served looking for a nearly new/refurb unit from somebody like MSI/Asus (Something from the G line) or Alienware. Most of them are expensive, but the extra work they put into cooling pays dividends long term and if you can get a refurb and haggle a bit you can get a nice chunk of change off the list price if you're willing to accept minor cosmetic faults. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabreNova Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Found this off Newegg, most likely going to be buying it soon since everyone I've talked to about it has agreed for the price, its among the best laptops spec wise for a $600 price tag. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CPjD07ST8LsCFUho7Aod8FsAkQ&Item=N82E16834314178&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Gaming+Notebooks-_-N82E16834314178&ef_id=UsoEMgAAARBICh39:20140109032912:s Specs: i5-3337U 1.8GHz (people are saying putting the laptop into High Performance mode kicks clock speed to 2.5GHz-ish) 500 GB HDD 6GB RAM (Which I will upgrade to 8-10GB soon since max supported is 12GB) NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M, 2GB Dedicated For $600, my friends have said its the best for the price and are telling me I should be able to run SWTOR on Medium-High settings with no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mdgshorty Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I know this may be a bit out of your range, but I would suggest Toshiba Qosimo. Its a gaming laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwenBrooks Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I know this may be a bit out of your range, but I would suggest Toshiba Qosimo. Its a gaming laptop. No , I have one and still waiting for the bios throttling to be fixed properly ... given up, it is an ok laptop, but for what I bought it for , it falls short - http://forums.computers.toshiba-europe.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=63615&start=225&tstart=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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