Author Topic: Laptop  (Read 5338 times)

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Offline Charismatic

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Offline BloodEagle

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That's not a laptop.  :P

 
That's not a laptop.  :P

...unless he has the legs of a professional cyclist.

 

Offline The E

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Will this be able to run FSO in all its glory, and C&C4?

Well, no. Not with that GPU. I mean, it's probably going to be more or less fine (I'm using a Radeon 5470, which is the 5450's slightly bigger brother), and you should be able to run FS2 at acceptable framerates if you're not using shadow builds or play at full HD resolution. Not sure about C&C though. I can tell you that the 5470 with current drivers is powerful enough to run most current games, including DXHR and Skyrim. Not at full detail, obviously, but it'S still pretty enough.
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Offline BloodEagle

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I'm still assuming that that was a link fail.

Regardless, I would highly recommend avoiding refurbished systems.

  

Offline TwentyPercentCooler

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I'm still assuming that that was a link fail.

Regardless, I would highly recommend avoiding refurbished systems.

I hate the "this" meme, but...

This.

OP, If you meant to say desktop, take a look at this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-overclock-performance-gaming,3097.html
Tom's Hardware usually has some pretty good budget builds.

 

Offline Klaustrophobia

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i have bigger issue with prebuilt desktops than i do with refurbished.  and i feel compelled to warn you that C&C4 is horrendous.  so horrendous that it in fact does not exist, much like the matrix sequels.  it's not even worth pirating.  if someone gives it to you as a gift, punch them in the face.

but if you're still determined to play it, i would imagine that anything that can run FSO can run it also, because it looks like ass.  on top of being horrendous.
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Offline TwentyPercentCooler

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i have bigger issue with prebuilt desktops than i do with refurbished.  and i feel compelled to warn you that C&C4 is horrendous.  so horrendous that it in fact does not exist, much like the matrix sequels.  it's not even worth pirating.  if someone gives it to you as a gift, punch them in the face.

but if you're still determined to play it, i would imagine that anything that can run FSO can run it also, because it looks like ass.  on top of being horrendous.

I couldn't agree more. Pretty much anything after Red Alert 2 was just an insult to the glory that was once Command and Conquer. Generals was okay but it didn't really need to bother with the C&C label, it was pretty much a new IP.

I don't know if the prebuilt comment was directed at my post but if it was, Tom's Hardware baselines aren't prebuilt, they're basically a blueprint. I hate prebuilt rigs, too. They tend to use crappy parts from crappy manufacturers, have cramped cases with terrible airflow, have woeful stock cooling abilities, bare minimum power supply voltage, and basically no room for upgrades, on top of essentially paying full price for Windows (not advocating pirating it but there are ways to get it without paying full price, I know there's a thread on here somewhere about it) and getting saddled with crapware. Of course, I'm preaching to the choir.  :P

 

Offline KyadCK

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I couldn't agree more. Pretty much anything after Red Alert 2 was just an insult to the glory that was once Command and Conquer. Generals was okay but it didn't really need to bother with the C&C label, it was pretty much a new IP.

I don't know if the prebuilt comment was directed at my post but if it was, Tom's Hardware baselines aren't prebuilt, they're basically a blueprint. I hate prebuilt rigs, too. They tend to use crappy parts from crappy manufacturers, have cramped cases with terrible airflow, have woeful stock cooling abilities, bare minimum power supply voltage, and basically no room for upgrades, on top of essentially paying full price for Windows (not advocating pirating it but there are ways to get it without paying full price, I know there's a thread on here somewhere about it) and getting saddled with crapware. Of course, I'm preaching to the choir.  :P

I hate the "this" meme, but...

This.

Woo, C/P responce, thanks for saving me time  :D


Ya, I would avoid black-box (prebuilt) at all costs unless you don't know computers and need the warranty. I would avoid refurbished ones even more, as that means black-box that something broke in and a shorter warranty.

The comp on the tom's link looks good, but I twitch a little when I see that 430W PSU next to that 6870. I know PSUCalc says it should only take 375W, but it still feels a bit weak, and what if you get another 6870 for crossfire?
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Offline Klaustrophobia

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i have bigger issue with prebuilt desktops than i do with refurbished.  and i feel compelled to warn you that C&C4 is horrendous.  so horrendous that it in fact does not exist, much like the matrix sequels.  it's not even worth pirating.  if someone gives it to you as a gift, punch them in the face.

but if you're still determined to play it, i would imagine that anything that can run FSO can run it also, because it looks like ass.  on top of being horrendous.

I couldn't agree more. Pretty much anything after Red Alert 2 was just an insult to the glory that was once Command and Conquer. Generals was okay but it didn't really need to bother with the C&C label, it was pretty much a new IP.

I don't know if the prebuilt comment was directed at my post but if it was, Tom's Hardware baselines aren't prebuilt, they're basically a blueprint. I hate prebuilt rigs, too. They tend to use crappy parts from crappy manufacturers, have cramped cases with terrible airflow, have woeful stock cooling abilities, bare minimum power supply voltage, and basically no room for upgrades, on top of essentially paying full price for Windows (not advocating pirating it but there are ways to get it without paying full price, I know there's a thread on here somewhere about it) and getting saddled with crapware. Of course, I'm preaching to the choir.  :P

my comment was on the link in the first post.  i didn't even click on yours :P

as for C&C, imo they were all fine until 4.  i was never one of the rabid C&C universe fans, and generals was the first one i played anyway, so that never bothered me.  i really like the more realistic/modern setting.  i was hoping for another in the series to be honest.  i played the RA3 demo, and while it didn't grab me, it didn't seem that bad.  i just never really bothered to invest the time to get to know it.  the graphics were rather horrid though.  i'm not sure just why the hell they would do it like that.
I like to stare at the sun.

 

Offline TwentyPercentCooler

  • Operates at 375 kelvin
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I couldn't agree more. Pretty much anything after Red Alert 2 was just an insult to the glory that was once Command and Conquer. Generals was okay but it didn't really need to bother with the C&C label, it was pretty much a new IP.

I don't know if the prebuilt comment was directed at my post but if it was, Tom's Hardware baselines aren't prebuilt, they're basically a blueprint. I hate prebuilt rigs, too. They tend to use crappy parts from crappy manufacturers, have cramped cases with terrible airflow, have woeful stock cooling abilities, bare minimum power supply voltage, and basically no room for upgrades, on top of essentially paying full price for Windows (not advocating pirating it but there are ways to get it without paying full price, I know there's a thread on here somewhere about it) and getting saddled with crapware. Of course, I'm preaching to the choir.  :P

I hate the "this" meme, but...

This.

Woo, C/P responce, thanks for saving me time  :D


Ya, I would avoid black-box (prebuilt) at all costs unless you don't know computers and need the warranty. I would avoid refurbished ones even more, as that means black-box that something broke in and a shorter warranty.

The comp on the tom's link looks good, but I twitch a little when I see that 430W PSU next to that 6870. I know PSUCalc says it should only take 375W, but it still feels a bit weak, and what if you get another 6870 for crossfire?

Eh, it's intended to be $600, it may not be some cheap Acer crapbox but it's still a budget rig for sure. I posted it because I'm guessing the OP is working on a limited budget since he or she was checking out refurbished stuff. Tom's Hardware has pretty extensive benchmarking on their builds so it doesn't sound like they had any problems with the power, even overclocking the 6870 a bit. But, if the headroom is still uncomfortable, CoolerMaster 500W is $45.99 on NewEgg while the one listed with the build is $45. Parts change prices and go on sale all the time so I'm guessing if one wanted to actually build this, one could change up the parts a bit. Also I haven't really looked at every part on the build, because I'm in the process of building my own rig atm, but I don't think the motherboard does Crossfire...again, $600 build, it's not gonna have THAT much room for upgrades. Building my rig, I found I had the choice of building a $900 setup or a $1200 setup...the specs were the same out of the gate, really, but paying a few hundred bucks more I got a fully modular PSU, liquid cooling, and a whole hell of a lot of room to add stuff. Building these things is fun.  :P

 

Offline Pred the Penguin

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as for C&C, imo they were all fine until 4.  i was never one of the rabid C&C universe fans, and generals was the first one i played anyway, so that never bothered me.  i really like the more realistic/modern setting.  i was hoping for another in the series to be honest.  i played the RA3 demo, and while it didn't grab me, it didn't seem that bad.  i just never really bothered to invest the time to get to know it.  the graphics were rather horrid though.  i'm not sure just why the hell they would do it like that.
Another one is in the making actually. Not sure if it'll be any good though.

 

Offline Klaustrophobia

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when i saw that i got all excited for a minute.  then i saw something at the bottom of the screen that reminded me.... origin.  **** that.  if origin hasn't been dropped by the time this comes out, i'm not getting it.
I like to stare at the sun.

 

Offline Charismatic

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I did mean desktop. And since that model was unavailable i went and purchased this, after a long and narrow search. I don't know PCs enough to get a custom built one.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Essentio+Desktop+/+AMD+A-Series+Processor+/+8GB+Memory+/+1TB+Hard+Drive/3237058.p?id=1218388673178&skuId=3237058
I looked up the model number Asus Essentio CM1740-04 and found it had a extremely low wattage, but as far as i could tell it was a decent PC.
Any comments on it?
Can it run FSO with decent details/graphics?

Also, how can C&C 4 be horrendous? Iv never seen a bad CNC game. Red Alert 3 was not my style but it was the style and cartoon graphics that made it less attractive. Anyone got any links to back up their CNC remarks?

Whats origin?
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M E M O R I A L :: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,46987.msg957350.html#new

"IIRC Windows is not Microsoft."

"(CENSORED) Galatea send more than two (CENSORED) fighters to escort your (CENSORED) three mile long (CENSORED), STUPID (CENSORED).  (CENSORED) YOU, YOU (CENSORED)!!!"

 

Offline BloodEagle

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You might find this site helpful when purchasing computers in the future.  :p

 

Offline KyadCK

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I did mean desktop. And since that model was unavailable i went and purchased this, after a long and narrow search. I don't know PCs enough to get a custom built one.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Essentio+Desktop+/+AMD+A-Series+Processor+/+8GB+Memory+/+1TB+Hard+Drive/3237058.p?id=1218388673178&skuId=3237058
I looked up the model number Asus Essentio CM1740-04 and found it had a extremely low wattage, but as far as i could tell it was a decent PC.
Any comments on it?
Can it run FSO with decent details/graphics?

Also, how can C&C 4 be horrendous? Iv never seen a bad CNC game. Red Alert 3 was not my style but it was the style and cartoon graphics that made it less attractive. Anyone got any links to back up their CNC remarks?

Whats origin?


If I had to guess, I would say you could probably play FSO with mediavps and most things on with that APU, the problem comes from that while they were kind enough to put 8GB in it, they put 8gb of DDR3 1333... the APU series runs much much better with DDR3 1600 or better due to the graphics card having to share a memory bus with the CPU (being on one chip). The fact its basicly a 2.4ghz Athlon II x4 doesn't help things, as FSO is very CPU bound, and only able to use one core. I would not expect to play WiH with all the pretty settings and a smooth framerate on that box, and nothing short of a CPU upgrade will fix that.

Simply put: Ya, it will play FSO, just dont expect it to max out everything.

You might find this site helpful when purchasing computers in the future.  :p

The case design is clean. If you buy an OEM box for looks, then glasses isn't all you need  :lol:
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Offline LordMelvin

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Also, how can C&C 4 be horrendous? Iv never seen a bad CNC game. Red Alert 3 was not my style but it was the style and cartoon graphics that made it less attractive. Anyone got any links to back up their CNC remarks?

Whats origin?

Origin is EA's latest brainstorm - it's a steam-clone with all the width and most of the depth stripped out, that only works for EA games, is required for all (new) EA games, and has to be running, with an active connection, even if you purchased through a different service and are only in single-player.
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Offline Charismatic

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Its' equivalent to Athlon 2 quad core? Dam i didn't know that. I was hoping it would be on par with the Phenom 2.

Is the difference between the 1333 and 1600 really that big?
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"(CENSORED) Galatea send more than two (CENSORED) fighters to escort your (CENSORED) three mile long (CENSORED), STUPID (CENSORED).  (CENSORED) YOU, YOU (CENSORED)!!!"

 

Offline LHN91

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Its' equivalent to Athlon 2 quad core? Dam i didn't know that. I was hoping it would be on par with the Phenom 2.

Is the difference between the 1333 and 1600 really that big?


Considering I'm currently running an Athlon II x4 620 as my primary desktop/gaming system, I can say right off the bat/from experience with other builds that the A8 is faster; it's based off an optimized Phenom II core, and keeps up quite nicely with the Phenom II parts.

As a side note, for the most part I've not run in to too many slowdowns on the Athlon anyways. WiH more or less maxed out (admittedly the initial release) at times made it dip to 15~20 fps, but nothing unbearable

The 1333/1600 split wouldn't be a particularly big issue if it weren't for the GPU portion of the A-series using the same RAM as the CPU. It ends up bandwidth-starving the GPU with only 1333, not letting it work at its full potential.


EDIT: this all with the caveat that the Athlon II x4; while being a solid chip that does a better job than you think it'd do, and matching a Phenom II on many things; falls apart on things that need a lot of CPU Cache.

EDIT II: and the fact that I just noticed it's an A8 3800, not a 3850, which actually makes a significant difference. I that case it more or less matches my Athlon II.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2012, 09:59:25 pm by LHN91 »

 

Offline KyadCK

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Its' equivalent to Athlon 2 quad core? Dam i didn't know that. I was hoping it would be on par with the Phenom 2.

Is the difference between the 1333 and 1600 really that big?


The only real difference between Athlon II and Phenom II is L3 cache, don't worry about it too much.

Considering I'm currently running an Athlon II x4 620 as my primary desktop/gaming system, I can say right off the bat/from experience with other builds that the A8 is faster; it's based off an optimized Phenom II core, and keeps up quite nicely with the Phenom II parts.

As a side note, for the most part I've not run in to too many slowdowns on the Athlon anyways. WiH more or less maxed out (admittedly the initial release) at times made it dip to 15~20 fps, but nothing unbearable

The 1333/1600 split wouldn't be a particularly big issue if it weren't for the GPU portion of the A-series using the same RAM as the CPU. It ends up bandwidth-starving the GPU with only 1333, not letting it work at its full potential.


EDIT: this all with the caveat that the Athlon II x4; while being a solid chip that does a better job than you think it'd do, and matching a Phenom II on many things; falls apart on things that need a lot of CPU Cache.

Having only L2 cache, Its an Athlon II, not Phenom II. And die shrink, no optimization. Non-OEM A8s are all faster or the same as a 620. The A8-3850 is about par with an Athlon II x4 635 (2.9ghz, both), which would make the 2.4ghz A8-3800 about the same as a 610e. OEM people dont like to use full-speed chips.  :rolleyes:   Still, I stand corrected on the average performance.

The WiH ships in the update are optimized btw, it should run better, just a heads up.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2012, 10:46:55 pm by KyadCK »
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