A call to arms! - Hardware illiterates unite

tjosantjosan Join Date: 2003-05-16 Member: 16374Members, Constellation
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">Help me out, I need a new laptop</div>So, this I think is the first time I start a topic in this section of the forums. I need help! I haven't bought a computer for five years, or played games 'properly' for about as long. Now I want to buy Napoleon Total War and I have no idea what's what and how to assemble a proper machine.

Basically waht I'm looking for is a laptop that can handle modern games decently, though I'm not looking for top competitive gear. I'm way past that, and it's too expensive :/

What do I need to know about hardware the last five years, what are the requirements like now-a-days and what price ranges am I looking at? And is it even possible to play NTW with large or huge formations on a laptop?
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Comments

  • Chris0132Chris0132 Join Date: 2009-07-25 Member: 68262Members
    edited July 2010
    Well laptops are generally weaker than desktops because you can't go nuts with power and heat like you can with a desktop, so you will be limited in the performance you get.

    As such if you want to play games with high settings, you will need a very expensive laptop because a top of the range one will get you good-ish desktop performance. You're paying for the miniaturisation and power efficiency with a laptop, not the power.

    That said, I'm using a desktop that's a few years old and I still have no issues with any games, aside from memory based because I only bought it with 2gb ram.

    So my advice is make sure you have enough ram, 4 is the basic amount you need nowadays and it's quite cheap.
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  • tjosantjosan Join Date: 2003-05-16 Member: 16374Members, Constellation
    Awesome! Tanks, I think that pretty much sums up what I needed to know - no need to go into details(or graphical details for that matter ;) ).
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  • Corporal_FortierCorporal_Fortier Join Date: 2005-03-22 Member: 46079Members, Constellation
    This website (http://www.notebookcheck.net/ -- scroll down a little, middle row) ranks all mobile graphics card, which can be useful to judge how much firepower your laptop will have (because you'll need at least a little firepower to play games). Other than that, go with at least 4GB as previously mentioned and you should be fine!

    I've got a somewhat-gaming-laptop I bought in December 2007 (C2D 2.2Ghz, 2GB RAM, Geforce 8600M GT) and it still runs all the games, although new ones like BF Bad Company 2 at low settings. I paid around 1500$CAD back then, so I'm certain you can get something similar or better for a fraction of the price!
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