Your server does not need a graphics card at all. I doubt that the server-performance will be depended on the hdd/sdd's performance, since calculations happen all in ram anyway.
For a start hdd doesn't exist anymore (my storage is on ssd). Plus there was a significant boost to performance with ssd and then when sata3 was finished. And I'm not lying if you want to run sup com as fast as me you need a monster of a rig.
The memory loop in supcom means that it is always getting slower the longer the game is running but ssd and a mean computer can counter this.
I am basing my statements on announcements that have been made for PA. PA is going to have a dedicated server software that is supposed to work on server-boxes in datacenters. Such servers often do not have a graphics card at all. I have run SupCom from a ramdisc, the only significant improvement is that my rather large list of maps was loaded instantly when I opened the menu. Are you sure you are not just trolling me?
there are some games, which profit from a faster hdd connection (whatever flavor), but that are usually games which have to reload stuff (tons of textures/models etc) often including on the fly and in the background. RTS games normally don't fall into that category, map loading time reduction is more or less all you get and in a multiplayer scenario you would have to wait for the slowest player anyhow. In the context of server performance (without textures and stuff), you can only hope your game state fits into memory, if you start to swap you're done.
Whoa I disappear for a few days and came back to an extra 4 pages. hahaha Well, I've shopped around a bit, and to be honest, the only two laptops that would beat the Mac Mini for MY needs are the Samsung Series 7 and the MTI or whatever was recommended on page 1. The problem is that Samsung jacks up their prices to hilarious extremes in Korea and the other laptop seems to only be available in parts of Europe. Every laptop I look at (in my price range) that has better or similar specs to the Mini uses an SSD, but I need more than 128GB of storage. I guess all I can do is hope the Mac Mini will run PA. When I was doing my research I found that everyone asking similar questions as me was wanting to run big games on max settings with a huge resolution. So research was a bit tough. So I am most likely going to own a Mac Mini by the end of the week.
Unless you need the machine for something else at the moment, I still recommend on waiting. It will be cheaper and/or more powerful the longer you wait.
just google up labtops ther lots of them I got a dell i7 weth 8g ram and a 2g vidcard under 1000$ ,, and I play any of the new games that comes out .. I cant put them on hi grafix ..like battlefield 3 .. but it still plays good and fast
Wait until the game comes out to buy your laptop and keep a look out for deals. I found a crazy good deal on a laptop on woot.com a few months ago.
My laptop has a quad core i7 and a GTX 660m, if it doesn't run on that I think there will be a lot of desktop users that will be very disappointed when PA comes out .
There are three criteria: 1. It's a laptop. 2. It's under $1000 US. 3. It runs PA like a champ. Pick any two. With very very few exceptions. The Asus G series might be a good place to start looking.
So after running into some difficulties I had to put off buying the Mac Mini, so I ran over to a nearby computer store I found to ask some questions. Good things happened. It turns out MSIs are available in Korea online. I'll be getting the GT60-i7 Extreme S2 next month when my paycheck comes in. ~$1200 I'd get it now but then I'd be taking a financial risk. Of course if I DO buy it now I get a free 60GB SSD drive pre-installed. I don't know if that or a different deal or no deal will be available at the end of April. So... tempting... The guy I talked to looked at the released screenshots of PA and said that the laptop should handle the game just fine even on some mid-settings, and that seems to go with what most of the people here are saying and expecting. EDIT: It's Sunday here, but if the guy is working I'm gonna ask him about the G46VW from ASUS. That one looks promising with its price.
@qklilx, just a quick warning about gaming laptops: a lot of manufacturers typically need to pack in way too much hardware to allow for sufficient cooling while actually gaming so you may want to check out some reviews that mention the heat they generate under load as the leading cause of laptop failures is overheating. You might also want to check out extended warranties if the laptop produces a relatively high amount of heat or maybe look into a cooling pad to play on. My new 17" ASUS G75 has been excellent for heat dissipation, but my old Dell went through about $8000 worth of hardware replacements because of overheating issues, thank god I got the extended warranty that covered it all.