New PC.

[Bittersteel]

Hola, i'm thinking about buying a new laptop. These are the specs:

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-3230M 2.6GHz
Grafik: Intel® HD Graphics 4000
Ram: 8 GB

I'm really bad at computers but it's cheap and the spec seems good. It only costs 400 dollars


Mount and Blade (A Clash of Kings) is pretty much the only game that i play. Will i be able to play it on atleast medium grapichs? I'd also like to play Shogun and Rome 2 if possibly but not necessary:s Any answer regarding the FPS would be lovely

[Christo]

Grafik: Intel® HD Graphics 4000

What, gaming with the on-board graphics card?

That's cute.

[Bittersteel]

Read around on forums and it says it can run AC3 on low settings  Just making sure if anyone of you have it

[Casimir]

My mates uni laptop is less powerful than this and runs shogun 2 reasonably.  Occasional crashes as he has only 4 GB ram. I think you should be fine with this if you're willing to cut down on graphics.

[Varadin]

processor is Ok, ram is more than enough , and grahpics are uh....

[Taser]

processor is Ok, ram is more than enough , and grahpics are uh....

Basically this. I'd put a little more money into it if it was me. To ensure that I don't have to worry too much about future games (bannerlord perhaps?).

Its definitely alright in any case. RAM is pretty high for a setup like that though.

[Everkistus]

Onboard graphics are generally shit. I'd reconsider if I were you. Putting a 100$ more into the computer is much better than getting pissed at it all the time it spends lagging in games.

[Torost]

I have a standard acer laptop.. maybe 2 years old now... same specs almost as you are talking about.

I play on low/medium setting in warband.

It overheats after a while or start to perform poorly.
Been thinking about getting a real dualscreen rig for a long time now.. would solve alot of problems... or create new ones

[Ninja_Khorin]

Getting a dedicated graphics card is definately worth it.

[Bittersteel]

I've been playing warband for over a year now with Intel HD Family = 10 FPS, but cRPG i can handle on 25 FPS ish. Alot of optimising?  But the thing is that the computer i'm buying is a laptop as i'm travelling alot, the computer is cheap so i don't mind spending 200 dollars on a new grapich card. The question is tough if you can change grapichs on laptops :s If not, do you think i could go to the guys in the store and 'exclusively order' ?


Edit;

• Intel Core i5-3230M
• Nvidia GeForce 740M
• 8 GB Ram


Would these specs handle Shogun 2 total war on high?

[Lennu]

With laptops it's much more difficult to change the insides of your computer. And if you're a fan Mount&Blade, you might want to buy yourself a machine that can roll M&B 2 as well. Expecting that it'll come out within 2 years 

I bought myself some HP packet laptop (= lots of useless shit inside that I didn't want) for 700€ (~900$) 2 years ago. Running Mount&Blade with smooth 120 fps, Skyrim with 60fps etc... Nowdays you can probably get the same laptop for half the price. So I suggest you keep looking 

(click to show/hide)

Intel Core i5-2410   2,30GHz
6.00GB RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6770M

[Ginosaji]

A core i5 and 8GB of RAM for 400$ means a completely different problem: it's too cheap (Acer?) and will most probably overheat when used for games.

• Intel Core i5-3230M
• Nvidia GeForce 740M
• 8 GB Ram

Would these specs handle Shogun 2 total war on high?

Not on high, I think, but it should handle medium to high-ish.

[Bittersteel]

Thanks guys!

Yep, it's an acer. What's the sort of company i should buy gaming laptops from?

[Tibe]

What, gaming with the on-board graphics card?

That's cute.

Thats exactly it. If you get a laptop with an onboard its byebye gaming. I think like 30% of games wont even start up on it simply cause it is an onboard and there is no way to tell which ones will or wont. And you cant upgrade to a better one either, if you have an onboard. Atleast that has been my understanding.

ASSus makes pretty good laptops imo. There is also alienware, but that shits too blingy even for rappers and pointlessly overpriced. Personally I avoid HP PCs in general. Ive had bad experiences with em.

[Hirlok]

yep, onboard chip is a pain in the butt - I have played some time on a 9400 (old MacBook Pro), and the 4000 ain't that much better...

in regards to value: recently bought a Lenovo y500 with i7 and two 650m in SLI (you can swap one for an additional hd, optical drive or fan) and it runs pretty much everything at maxed out settings and more than decent framerates.

quite silent & cool, even at 20% overclocked, quality is good, and has really good sound for a laptop.

The version without the full hd display is pretty affordable (if I need higher res, I plug in a large screen anyways...)
Highly recommended!