Need help to find laptop for PA.

This attitude against laptops is a bit baffling to me. Yes a desktop gives you more for you're money- I don't dispute that, however you pay the extra on a laptop for the portability and integration.

The only thing I'd warn people is to check the *specs* of a discreet laptop graphics card rather than relying on the model number because (for example) a GTX 760m (laptop) and GTX 760 (desktop) are 2 very different beasts.

The mobile 760m has 768 shaders and a 128bit memory interface.
The 760 desktop card has 1152 shaders and a 256 bit memory interface so will be much faster than the mobile card.

That being said- if you look at the specs the laptop card is closer to a GTX 750 / 750ti in spec and will likely perform at that level- which is perfectly acceptable for almost any game at 1080p at the moment. It will also handle future games fine but possibly with detail reduction.

I'm playing PA at the moment on a 5 year old del XPS laptop which has an archaic GT 420m graphics card (96 fermi cores) and the game runs surprisingly smoothly despite that (that card keeps up in allot of games you wouldn't expect it to). I think allot of people have an idea that anything less than a $200 card from the current generation can't run games and that really isn't the case. You don't actually *need* that much power to run the games well, so long as you're prepared to tweak detail settings down.

The other thing I'd say is the hate on AMD laptops isn't entirely fair. The problem on AMD laptops arise when you have dual card set ups (as an Nvidia Optimus user I can tell you that is by no means perfect either). If you need a very cheap games capable laptop something based on one of AMDs A series APUs makes allot of sense (A8 or A10 models), as they only have the 1 card (which can therefore be updated using the generic AMD drivers) which is pretty capable of running modern games at reasonable settings. The Intel + AMD graphics combination appears to be the most troublesome as it relies on AMDs switching tech and propitiatory drivers from the laptop vendor so for higher end gaming laptops I'd recommend an Intel + Nvidia set-up.

PA doesn't support SLI or crossfire yet. I like the choice here, I just want to warn you to be weary.

The question is, is the tradeoff worth it? For a $ 1000 bucks laptop you could pretty much buy a cheap equivalent Desktop and a tablet (for instance) or spend $ 100-200 extra for a desktop with your specs and a laptop for portability.

That obviously depends on the kind of deal you can get -a well-timed deal can throw this balance off quite a bit in favor of desktop OR game laptop- and how much time you are willing to spend to find just the right laptop.

Gaming/high performance laptops fill in a certain niche. You can run the heavier modeling/simulation programs not only at home, but at work/school. The same for gaming anywhere you like without taking an extra suitcase for your desktop, screen, keyboard, speakers, ...

Just saying, a "tablet" usually doens't cut it for most people. A 100-200 tablet isn't that much of an upgrade over most people their smartphones anyway.

True, a laptop is mediocre all the way. Not super mobile like a tablet, not as high a performance as a desktop. It may look like a money waste to some, but it's the solution to many people their problems as well.
And high settings for most games isn't that bad, no need to put everything on max, right?

PS: Lenovo is a good choice I think. I would go for one myself but I'm used to 17 inch and they are rather expensive.

http://compreviews.about.com/od/buyers/a/Tablets-vs-Laptops.htm

I think that article says all there is to say really.

The other thing to consider is Desktop, Laptop, Tablet and Cellphone.

The majority of the tasks that the tablet is better at than your laptop, a smartphone is better for.

So why not keep the cellphone you already own for your tablet needs and spend extra cash on the laptop or desktop.

The question then is how much do you need productivity or consumption for your workstation.

Essentially. ... But Can It Run Crysis applies. The tablet is more portable. ... but can it run Crysis?

PORTABLE DESKTOP!



PROBLEM SOLVED!

Finally! Someone on this thread who actually knows what the words 'portable desktop' actually mean!
I can't find any source for it, so I'm inclined to presume that belongs to you. What are the specs on it?

And there's a reason desktops need wall outlets to power them, and laptops don't. They can be obscenely more powerful, and when mad-scienced correctly, can be put together just as mobile as laptops are, but requiring a power source to fuel it's internals. A laptop would never survive with the same fully-clocked and over-clocked cores a desktop thrives at with stock cooling. It also would melt in record time if it were running the same GPUs a desktop runs at even half capacity. There's a reason they need the massive heatsink and fan cooling system across the entire length of the card.

I get the feeling that some of you here are not well-versed on actual hardware components of desktops versus laptops, but I don't expect everyone to know everything. That said, gaming desktops aren't the answer for everything. Some people need laptops for school or work. Some just want a computer to take with them because they're never in one place for very long. Desktops are designed for computing that a laptop just can't handle because it doesn't have the specs. PA is designed to be scalable to that effect.

Here's something that was continuously implied earlier in the thread and I wanted to address. Laptops will be able to play PA at small scale, a few small to medium planets in a solar system, but it will never reach a scale that a desktop can, and noone in their right mind should even assume so. Massive planets in large systems with 40 player week-long games are where desktops will win, and should anyone with a laptop try to play in one of those, I pray your hardware survives it.

I think I've seen that briefcase computer before. I'm pretty sure it doesn't belong to Gears, but if it does...

No it's not mine. I'm way too lazy.
Power source?



200 watts, problem solved!

or a couple of these:

http://forums.bakabt.me/index.php?topic=29449.0

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?260157-Project-Portable-Desktop-!-Laptop

I think it belongs to that dude, Manicdan.

If the game is not able to be played on most gaming laptops, it probably won't be playable on most desktops?

http://www.engadget.com/products/samsung/series-7/chronos/2013/ that's mine. But 8 gig ram. Cost 1.2k 1 year ago.

I'm not trying to say laptops won't be able to play PA. Definitely not.

Laptops should have no problems playing low to mid-scale games, and their GPUs should at least handle that much, but the immense amount of rendering required and graphical enhancements the game is receiving will severely hamper any laptop having a chance of succeeding at large-scale games over long periods of time. They're not made for that. Now, a good quality laptop should be able to render planets, load art, and succeed where many weaker desktops fail, but the sheer impossible requirements for larger games are simply going to prove too much for their limited hardware. The worst part about it is that laptops tend to come basically as-is.

You can always upgrade your desktop's core by the socket it's using. Upgrade your GPU simply from the slot it's designed to plug into. Similar with your memory by fitting even more ram at higher speeds and clocks. Laptops cannot do any of that anywhere close to what a desktop can. It's not even a comparison. Sacrifice the immense power and computing capability for extreme ease of mobility. You can only do so much when sizes of components are against you.

Well, the results are in. The Lenovo Y510P with 16gb of RAM plays PA fine at this time. Apparently it seems to be smoother than a desktop system back in the states that is using the intel cpu (haswell) and an HD5870 video card.
So for anyone thinking about it, it seems to be fine. We only tried a 2vs2 game and of course the FPS starts out really good, but throughout the game it was very playable and quite acceptable (using default detail settings on 1920 x 1080.

I mostly agree with this guy, PA runs fine on a computer with 4g ram a few patches ago, let alone 8g now, and a 1g 9500gt gpu, and a generic dual core processor (2.8ghz?)

Doesn't take brand new computer to run this game really. As long as the numbers pass.

As far as the AMD hate, it is just particular games it runs and particular ones it dont. I mean, dont get me wrong, you get 1g gpu for cheaper and it runs at that 1g power, but when a texture comes up black or transparent or the drivers are a hassle in a year when you reboot your computer, you know where that price came from.

Generally, I spent 300 total for my whole desktop, the fact it runs planetside2 and PA at playable levels is a bargain. No need to be elitist, just utilitarian.

My link earlier referenced a youtube vid, where someone installed a full on computer in an oversized briefcase. Just, take the foam placeholders out from around the mouse/keyboard, plug the monitor in the top of the briefcase into the side port hdmi of the bottom of the briefcase, and plug the whole thing into a wall. Wala.

I really want one, but that starts to add cost to a desktop. I just carry mine around in a sports bag, at the irony of the design purpose of a sports bag being for jocks lol.

FUUUU!!!! This friggin thing needs to stop double posting, I keep thinking I am in edit and not new-post FFS!

I run a number of machines, some with amd graphics, others with nvidia, I've not had much issue with either under Windows. The issues with win amd drivers only really relate to their discreet laptop cards and multi gpu set ups which are always a pain anyhow.

Amd's linux drivers perform poorly compared to their windows ones however they do work. Interestingly I've found amd multi screen support better in linux on amd than nvidia (multi screens is something amd do very well).

This myth that amd drivers don't work is a bit annoying. There are specific things that aren't great on amd cards, but for the majority of stuff they're fine. Nvida isn't a fundamentally 'better brand' as some would make out, just like amd they have their strengths and weaknesses. What card to buy should be decided based on what budget you have, os your going for, software you want to run and screen set up your after. Making an 'alliance' to a brand is foolish as your potentially going to end up being ripped off.

For Gaming, a desktop is better then a Laptop,

What if you are travelling? What if you need to stay in a hotel? Then get on a plane and go to another hotel? Is a desktop better for gaming then?

Of course it is if that is an option, but ... please refer to OP.

I did see that, and that's not even close to a real desktop. It can plug into the wall sure because it has no self-charging power source like laptops have when plugged into the wall. That's the only difference it has to a laptop.

Do you see how little surface area it dedicates to hardware? It doesn't have nearly the space a desktop has for cooling nor does it have space for a 10, 11, or even a 13 inch gpu. The problem is that there's not enough space in that suitcase for the size of desktop hardware, and on top of that, the space is taken by a micro-mouse and a keyboard that has all it's keys bunched up. Hardly a gaming setup, that's no different from having a laptop keyboard and mouse attached to it.

The poor thing has a dual core i5, some ram, but likely has no true GPU and the cooling is far and few between. Unless you expect me to believe liquid cooling will fit there, and I doubt it would even fit vertically, nevermind horizontally, then I seriously doubt that's worth getting. Now getting something like this thing on the other hand :

Or even this thing :
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?283628-Manic-s-latest-Acrylic-Project
It's from the same guy, and looks even better. It's small as hell too. Half as big as my tower, liquid cooling, better specs at every angle, and portable to boot. It doesn't have it's own monitor, so it's not as portable as something that has it's own monitor, IE above, so you couldn't use it on like an aircraft or on the road somewhere without a monitor.

Or just wait 5 years so your phone is better than a octocore quad-SLI Titan with 64 gigs of ram.