PSU on Laptops.... [Archive]

VioletSkye

May 17, 2006, 12:17 AM

Actually the Intel(R) Extreme Graphics 2 just barely meets the 64MB video memory requirement. It uses DVMT 2.0 (Dymanic Video Memory Technology) and uses up to a maximum of 64MB for video. It has support for DirectX 7, DirectX 8 & OpenGL 1.3 with BiCubic filtering. Chances are it will run VERY sluggishly (possibly unplayable) especially given the amount of system memory you have. Minimum requirement is 256MB of system memory and you won't have that much because of the portion dedicated to video.

I believe the minimum processor speed is also 1.6GHz which may leave you out of the running also. I would say that even with a RAM upgrade, your chances of having a descent gaming experience aren't great.

[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-05-16 22:19 ]

NightHour13

May 17, 2006, 12:22 AM

*points up*

Definatly knows what he's talking about way more then I do. Long live awesome computer dudes.

Axios-

May 17, 2006, 12:34 AM

I never trust anything that uses the word 'extreme.'

Inu_Shadi

May 17, 2006, 12:44 AM

On 2006-05-16 22:34, Axios- wrote:
I never trust anything that uses the word 'extreme.'

Ill really laugh if the hoverboards in PSU are called "extreme gear" just like in Sonic Riders

[ This Message was edited by: Inu_Shadi on 2006-05-16 22:44 ]

Tystys

May 17, 2006, 05:26 AM

On 2006-05-16 22:44, Inu_Shadi wrote:

On 2006-05-16 22:34, Axios- wrote:
I never trust anything that uses the word 'extreme.'

Ill really laugh if the hoverboards in PSU are called "extreme gear" just like in Sonic Riders

[ This Message was edited by: Inu_Shadi on 2006-05-16 22:44 ]

The only friggin referrence to Sonic games I should see in PSU are weapons and clothes...
NO EXTREME GEARS, lol.
Are you restricted to buying it soley for the laptop? or do you have a PS2/360?

Fleece

May 17, 2006, 06:15 AM

Aye intel extreme graphics 2 are bad. You could always try it, if it doesnt work take it back to the store and get your money back Lol

Edit : it also depends on the celeron Processor, If its a Celeron M In the centrino Range then it runs faster than a standard 1.5 celeron.

[ This Message was edited by: Fleece on 2006-05-17 04:21 ]

PrinceBrightstar

May 17, 2006, 06:38 AM

It wouldn't be the first time sonic team has pulled a surprise on us. I mean they've already said Sonic and Nights happen in the same universe.

VioletSkye

May 17, 2006, 11:35 AM

On 2006-05-17 04:15, Fleece wrote:
Aye intel extreme graphics 2 are bad. You could always try it, if it doesnt work take it back to the store and get your money back Lol

Edit : it also depends on the celeron Processor, If its a Celeron M In the centrino Range then it runs faster than a standard 1.5 celeron.

[ This Message was edited by: Fleece on 2006-05-17 04:21 ]

There is no 1.5GHz Celeron LOL. It went from a 1.4GHz Celeron to a 1.6GHz Celeron. The only 1.5GHz Celeron that exists is the Celeron M. Of course the FSB of the Celeron is going to be slower than the Celeron M considering its a MUCH older processor (100MHz FSB vs. 400MHz FSB.) Another big difference is the L1 and L2 cache sizes (L1 - 16KB+16KB & L2 - 256KB of the Celeron 1.4 and 1.6 vs. L1 - 32KB+32KB & L2 - 1MB of the Celeron M.) Bear in mind that only 512KB of the L2 cache are addressable, the remaining 50% of the cache is deactivated during the CPU's validation process. None of that means that it will pass a CPU check looking for 1.6GHz or higher. BTW Celeron M notebooks can't be listed as Centrino (although it has happened, Intel has straightened that out.) Centrino (by definition from Intel themselves) means it has 3 things:
1. Pentium M processor (different from the Celeron M)
2. Mobile Intel 915 Express chipset family or the Intel 855 chipset family.
3. Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 (IEEE 802.11b), PRO/Wireless 2200 (IEEE 802.11bg) or PRO/Wireless 2915 (IEEE 802.11abg) network connection

There are no longer notebooks with Celeron M processors being labeled Centrino. And there isn't a "range" that signifies a Centrino, just the prerequisites I listed above.

After re-reading your post, what I think you meant to say was that a Centrino 1.5GHz machine would be faster than a Celeron M 1.5GHz machine which is true because the Pentium M runs faster than a Celeron M at the same clock rate.

Also the Pentium M 715 Processor (90nm) has 2MB of L2 cache vs. the Pentium M 705 Processor (130nm) having only 1MB of L2 cache. The difference is the same between the Low Voltage versions (738 and 718 with the 738 having 2MB) and the Ultra Low Voltage versions (723 and 713 with the 723 having 2MB.)

[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-05-17 11:38 ]

Kamica

May 17, 2006, 01:51 PM

On 2006-05-16 22:02, HiKeRI wrote:
Ok well i wanted to know if my laptop is good enought to run & play PSU...

System Spec's

Processor: Intel(R)Celeron(R)M Processor 1.50GHz
(1.500MHz)
Memory: 240 MB DDR SDRAM
Video: Intel(R) Extreme Graphics 2
40GB (5400 RPM) HDD

PLEASE TELL ME IF I CAN... Play with this... Otherwise i wont be able to play at work ;_; Like i used to...

In comparison I am
Intel(R)Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.8GHz (2 CPUs)
510 MB RAM Memory
256 MB Mobility Radeon X600

Unless my knowledge of computers sucks, My notebook is better than yours. I play the game on medium graphic settings and still get very slight lag when I play in neudaiz.

RedX

May 17, 2006, 02:03 PM

I think you mean 512 MB of RAM. 510 doesn't exist it goes 64 MB, 128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1024 MB(1GB), 2048 MB(2 GB). well you can mix them i think, you can't get 510 MB.

[ This Message was edited by: RedX on 2006-05-17 12:08 ]

Malus

May 17, 2006, 03:12 PM

Will it run on mine? I have an Intel Pentium M processor 1.73 ghz, 1 gig RAM, and an Intel 915GM/GMS, 910GML Express chipset with 128MB of memory.

VioletSkye

May 17, 2006, 03:31 PM

I'm sure it will run on your laptop, however determining if it will run "descently" is entirely speculative at this point. If any beta testers had a similar setup, maybe they will be kind enough to let you know how well it ran on their machine.

Jack

May 17, 2006, 06:46 PM

If your machine has an integrated graphics chip, then it's not going to look pretty. If it runs, that is.

Nedeti

May 17, 2006, 06:56 PM

depends...
256 MB Mobility Radeon X600
GeForce 6100 intergrated

could run the game fine but having an AGP or PCI-e card would be better since it will have its own Core Clock and Memory Speed.

Fleece

May 17, 2006, 07:05 PM

I'm not even gonna bother if people are just going to correct me over things and yes there IS a difference between the old celeron M's and the newer ones. I'm fully aware a celeron isn't a centrino class I was reffering to the celeron M's that were released alongside the Pentium M centrino chipset being faster than they state, much like AMD proccessors are.

VioletSkye

May 17, 2006, 07:17 PM

On 2006-05-17 17:05, Fleece wrote:
I'm not even gonna bother if people are just going to correct me over things and yes there IS a difference between the old celeron M's and the newer ones. I'm fully aware a celeron isn't a centrino class I was reffering to the celeron M's that were released alongside the Pentium M centrino chipset being faster than they state, much like AMD proccessors are.

Don't take it personally. Sorry if I made it seem like I was correcting you http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Yes there is a difference between the cores (Banias-512, Dothan-1024, Shelton and Yonah-1024.) The newer Yonah cores have a FSB of 533MHz and are 65nm. Also I forgot to add that yes in some cases the CPU speed is somewhat faster than stated (ie. a 1400MHz Celeron M 410 Yonah runs at 1466MHz.)

On a side note, all Celeron M's lack the Speedstep technology of the Pentium M's, although many AMD CPUs do feature Speedstep (or as they call it Cool'n'Quiet lol)

[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-05-17 17:29 ]

Fleece

May 17, 2006, 07:29 PM

It's OK, as long as my point got across about the celerons not being as crap as a 478 northwood Celeron, man i have a 1.5 p4 northwood and that was good(I gave it to my GF,after i let her play PSO BB...she NEEDED a pc after that point). Speaking of which i'm replacing it tommorow with a 2.4 ghz Northy so she can play PSU. I doubt the 5900XT will need replacing.....that cards still better than my friends 9600 LOL then again it was a winfast A350 (google it for understanding its galaxy proportional size).

Also : Has anyone got/used Intel Extreme Graphics 2? just so we can understand if this guys integrated will run it on minimum.

Nuclearranger

May 17, 2006, 07:46 PM

Sounds like time for a slight upgrade if you can find some new GPUs im alittle unfamiliar with notebook acceserys but i know speeds
upgrade-
lol baceicaly everything besides your HDD unless you need more space

Fleece

May 17, 2006, 07:53 PM

Last post, I'm off to bed. If you've got money to Upgrade your laptop i'd suggest keeping it and saving up for a better one. Remember make sure it Has a graphics card in that is ATi or Nvidia and that the rest of the machine is higher than reccomended specs. If you have any questions just ask i'll be around, Someplace.

Glacius

May 17, 2006, 08:11 PM

I'm sure mine will be able to handle PSU, my specs are:

AMD Opteron 146 2.0ghz 1MB L2 Cache
Nvidia Geforce 7600 GT (possibly 2 of these in SLI mode by PSU's release).
1024MB RAM (Will be 2gigs of RAM in dual channel mode by the time PSU is released).
Hitachi DeskStar 80GB 7200RPM SATAII 3.0gb/s x2 in RAID0 setup

[ This Message was edited by: Glacius on 2006-05-17 18:11 ]

[ This Message was edited by: Glacius on 2006-05-17 18:12 ]

[ This Message was edited by: Glacius on 2006-05-17 18:13 ]

pineapple

May 17, 2006, 08:23 PM

My processor might be kind of lacking, but I'm assuming my laptop can run PSU since it can run WoW.

Pentium M 1.86 gHz
256MB PCI Express GeForce Go 6800
1 GB RAM

I've tried to ask this before, but can anyone confirm PSU supporting widscreen resolutions? I'd rather not play in windowed mode constantly.

Bastille

May 17, 2006, 08:26 PM

*sob* I don't think my computer will be able to handle it...
Intel Pentium D 830 3.0GHz overclocked to 4.0GHz
2 gigs of ram dual channel
Radeon X1800XT

If you are going to play this on a laptop, just follow these guidelines.
Do you have integrated video? If you do, stop right there as it is more than likely useless to attempt this game without getting 3 fps. Try getting an actual video card in your laptop, and try to make sure it has at least 128mb of ram.

Do you have at least 1gb of ram? 1GB is the minimum nowadays for people who want to play computer games decently so if you don't have at least that much, you should look at an upgrade.

Do you just barely meet the requirements? If you just barely meet the minimum requirements, I would still suggest upgrading since laptops tend to require more than the minimum requirements to play the same as a normal desktop computer.

Pine, if it can run WoW at 60fps, then you should have no problems running PSU or at least you won't have a low FPS...

Fleece

May 17, 2006, 08:39 PM

Bastille, Heres a laptop *Gives laptop* Upgrade the GPU

Also you guys are building machines that games dont even NEED yet. Who the hell needs 4 GHZ ATM??
Although im not one to speak(athlon 3700 san diego, 1GB corsair XMS,x1600XT) but id happily play pso on a 2.2 ghz p4 with minimum specs anyday.

Some people just go to far. what REALLY annoys me though are those people who build top of the line machines and upgrade every 6 months just dumping their old cards in a wardrobe some place. I'd give them to needy folk who need a card.

HiKeRI

May 17, 2006, 08:47 PM

What should i do then? I do not wish to return playing games on my pc desktop ;_;

Fleece

May 17, 2006, 08:51 PM

I advise buy a new laptop, sorry.

Although i'd be willing to help if you have any problems. Also i got my laptop off ebay, they have some good deals on there.

Bastille

May 17, 2006, 08:57 PM

I swear I'm not trying to save up enough money to get a quad SLI motherboard with 4 $1000 video cards <_<

HiKeRI

May 17, 2006, 09:03 PM

Dang, well should i be able to play FFXI then there system rec is CPU : 800Mhz or faster 128 MB RAM Gcard Nvdia etc with 32 MB direct x 8.1 8 GB free hardisk space, I Wanted to play PSU on Laptop but i guess i can't ill have to play it on ma pc desktop i just wanna hav fun @ work lmao rather then just sitting looking at the pc

Bastille

May 17, 2006, 09:41 PM

You can always try to play it <_< You might just have to completely butcher the look of the game to do so though

SephYuyX

May 17, 2006, 11:10 PM

Laptops suck in general for games, I dont care if it has good specs or not, it will suck. The CPUs are usually junk, the mobility cards ARE junk. If you have money, get a PC, build one, or hell, buy one from Dell, they actually sell good stuff now.

Laptops are the last resort.

Kyuu

May 17, 2006, 11:43 PM

Aye, laptops are always a poor choice for gaming, because everything has to be slowed down in order to prevent the overheating that occurs with everything in such a cramped space, as well as to conserve power.

However, a laptop with good specs should be able to handle PSU, as it's not a game centered around pushing the frontier of graphics. Don't expect to play it with everything turned up to high without some stuttering, though, unless you're willing to pay for one of the $3000 laptops that do about what a $1000 desktop system can do.

SephYuyX

May 17, 2006, 11:46 PM

500$ can get you a very nice Dell, or near top of the line self built PC. Throw in another 100$ if you want a better CPU.

I have a 5 year old laptop that can play RO, PSOBB, FFXI and prob PSU, but damn, only if my PC dies.

[ This Message was edited by: SephirothYuyX on 2006-05-17 21:47 ]

HiKeRI

May 18, 2006, 01:01 AM

Do you think my laptop can play FFXI?? its been months since i dont play that game, and this lap cost me bout 1,100$ and its a new one, getting a second one would not be a good idea, i just want this lap to be able to play something, atleast with playing FFXI should be ok and my other pc to play PSU. (Left ffxi got bored friends quitted --went to wow...-- i have 6 lv75 jobs<< now ya see where my boredom came from) lol tell me really can i play it on this thing?

Fleece

May 18, 2006, 09:31 AM

Hikeri Add me on MSN ill tell you if it can.

Bastille

May 18, 2006, 10:18 AM

On 2006-05-17 21:46, SephirothYuyX wrote:
500$ can get you a very nice Dell, or near top of the line self built PC. Throw in another 100$ if you want a better CPU.

I have a 5 year old laptop that can play RO, PSOBB, FFXI and prob PSU, but damn, only if my PC dies.

[ This Message was edited by: SephirothYuyX on 2006-05-17 21:47 ]

A dell? No... just no... Dell only has good tech support, and that comes from them hearing every possible computer issue 500 times. If you are getting a computer for gaming, custom built is always the way to go.

Fleece

May 18, 2006, 03:07 PM

Yeah but MOST people can't custom build bastille. So a dell would be the way to go for a commercial PC, due to them costing next to nothing and being shipped with tft screens, mice, KB and speakers.

VioletSkye

May 18, 2006, 03:40 PM

On 2006-05-18 13:07, Fleece wrote:
Yeah but MOST people can't custom build bastille. So a dell would be the way to go for a commercial PC, due to them costing next to nothing and being shipped with tft screens, mice, KB and speakers.

I would say that most people probably COULD custom build a pc (it isn't difficult afterall, until you get into more complicated cooling like liquid or phase change.) I think it's more a question of most people not wanting to try. There was a huge disucssion awhile back on custom vs prebuilt in which I made the point that having custom built pcs for as many years as I have, I can usually tell when a build is going to be worth it or not. If someone is clearly computer illiterate to the point of needing their hand held for even simple tasks, then I have no problem recommending a Dell.

Most users that aren't looking to game, and that are new to pcs aren't needing anything specialized and I don't make as much money building basic, cheap machines, so why bother wasting my time providing tech support to them when chances are they will be calling me every ten minutes with a question. When I built pcs professionally (now only as a hobby) I had no real say in who I built a rig for, now I do and it makes a big difference. I would rather have the illiterate users calling Dell constantly, rather than bugging me http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_lol.gif

That said, building your own is a VERY rewarding experience and will give you alot of insight into how everything works. Lastly, I do agree that Dell machines can offer most "non technical" users more bang for their buck with all the software, support, LCD screens etc. Their pc just won't be of the same quality, nor will it usually be as easy to upgrade.

ANIMEniac

May 18, 2006, 09:17 PM

ok so i just got 1 Q since most of this is going over my head... will a Compaq Presario V5000 be able to play psu with a few upgrades B4 purchase? i am on a V2000 and i cant even play Guild wars without it crashing after 30min.

VioletSkye

May 18, 2006, 09:51 PM

It's probably not going to run great. There are a few different models and if you do get one, get the AMD Turion over the Sempron and get the 128MB shared video memory opposed to the 32MB shared video memory.

I would probably opt for the V5031EA or the V5094EA.

[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-05-18 19:55 ]

HiKeRI

May 18, 2006, 10:22 PM

I am thinking of buying a new laptop on the near future, should i go for a DELL or a ALIENWARE's Top model laptops?

VioletSkye

May 18, 2006, 10:31 PM

heh, depends, do you want to spend $ or $$$$$$$. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_lol.gif

I would look at a few other vendors as well.
WidowPC (http://www.widowpc.com/2005/06/gaming_laptops.php)
Falcon Northwest (http://www.falcon-nw.com/)
VoodooPC (http://www.voodoopc.com/showRoom.aspx?categoryID=2)

[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-05-18 20:37 ]

Getintothegame

May 18, 2006, 10:49 PM

I used that same setup for my first PSOBB run. It was horrible -- had to set my graphics options to the lowest they could go... and then even at that, I couldn't go to CCA. I'd say no.

Bastille

May 18, 2006, 11:18 PM

On 2006-05-18 20:22, HiKeRI wrote:
I am thinking of buying a new laptop on the near future, should i go for a DELL or a ALIENWARE's Top model laptops?

If you have enough money to do that, either go with a custom made (I'd give this more priority) or the dell... Alienwares are just too damn pricey for what they are and it is all because of the name pretty much

Foxfire15

May 18, 2006, 11:23 PM

Yeah. Workign inside a PC is easy. I'm looking to build something with these parts here soon once I save up the money.

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-G1975X - $230
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128002

CPU - Pentium D 930 (3.0GHz Dual Core) - ~$250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116238

Video - X1900 All-In-Wonder - $440
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102685#DetailSpecs

Case - Gigabyte 3D Aurora - $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811233002

PSU - OCZ Powerstream 520W - $135
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817711002

(Possible) Heatsink - Gigabyte G-Power pro - $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835128009

Other Stuff
Thermal Paste - Arctic Silver 5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835100007

still need to decide on what RAM I want though. Prolly just get some Kingston ValueRAM (hey, it's good stuff), might get corsair, lol.

Never been a fan of nVidia, always seem to have issues with their drivers, never know why.

[ This Message was edited by: Foxfire15 on 2006-05-18 21:39 ]

[ This Message was edited by: Foxfire15 on 2006-05-18 21:40 ]

VioletSkye

May 18, 2006, 11:29 PM

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231051) - $150

G.Skill makes great RAM and for the price, you can't go wrong http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

BTW, your BB coding is messed up on your post.

[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-05-18 21:30 ]

Foxfire15

May 18, 2006, 11:34 PM

Mine? Links are working fine for me. wierd. If you mean the small text?
EDIT: I did that on purpose so the post wouldn't be huge

[ This Message was edited by: Foxfire15 on 2006-05-18 21:37 ]

VioletSkye

May 18, 2006, 11:36 PM

The last one. Artic Silver. Why do you think it says... BBCode End --> and why else do you think the rest of your post is showing as a link http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

Foxfire15

May 18, 2006, 11:41 PM

Ah, there we go. didn't realize I needed to seperate the BB code from the link, lol

EDIT: I'll keep those in mind. I was leaning more towards just 1GB, but we'll see. doesn't look to bad though, and has good reviews.

[ This Message was edited by: Foxfire15 on 2006-05-18 21:51 ]

VioletSkye

May 19, 2006, 12:19 AM

Honestly, unless you totally love the case, you'd be better off going with a less expensive case and getting the 2GB of RAM.
Aspire X-Cruiser (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144151) - $70
ThermalTake Swing (http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA1311020) - $68 (free shipping)
ThermalTake Soprano (http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA1311430) - $88 (free shipping)

If you really want that case and only 1 GB of RAM:
G.SKILL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231050) - $84

[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-05-18 22:22 ]

Foxfire15

May 19, 2006, 12:22 AM

I spose. Not really that hard off though. just need a little time to save the cash, lol. and I do love the case. Besides, I need something like that. I live in AZ, and we don't usually turn the AC on in this house till mid July. (or whenever the monsoon hits), so that case seemed best to me.

edit: plus, if I ever want to upgrade to water cooling, I can easily with that case.

[ This Message was edited by: Foxfire15 on 2006-05-18 22:24 ]

_Tek_

May 19, 2006, 12:23 AM

I need to get a new pc, even if I don't plan on getting psu for pc but ps2 instead.

Too bad I know nothing about pc parts. I gotta research for the cheapest parts but with good quality performance.

darn.

physic

May 19, 2006, 12:28 AM

well, if you need an online connection even offline then laptops wont be as great, wont be able to even play offline when your wi fi spot is weak.

VioletSkye

May 19, 2006, 12:29 AM

On 2006-05-18 22:23, _Tek_ wrote:
I need to get a new pc, even if I don't plan on getting psu for pc but ps2 instead.

Too bad I know nothing about pc parts. I gotta research for the cheapest parts but with good quality performance.

darn.

I'd be happy to help you put together a descent rig for whatever your budget is http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-05-18 22:29 ]

Foxfire15

May 19, 2006, 12:35 AM

PC parts are like a lot of things. MOST of the time you get what you pay for. Sometimes you get good deals and cheap stuff is good. (mind you, not all expensive stuff is the greatest either, lol)

Bastille

May 19, 2006, 12:51 PM

If you plan to go all out for keeping your CPU cool, why not get the Zalman CNPS9500? I use it for my CPU, which is the exact same one as yours except I overclocked it to 4.0GHZ. Before I overclocked, at idle it was around 27C

voxie

May 19, 2006, 01:02 PM

Hi, I plan to run PSU on my Medion notebook, would someone review these specs please?

I'm pretty sure PSU will run okay on it, but just to be extra suuuure... Here they are:

Processor: Intel Pentium 4, 2.60 GHz
Memory: 512 MB of RAM
Video: Umm, not sure how to see it's properties. I do have something called NVIDIA nView.
With about 40GB hard disk space.

The only problem with my notebook is that it heats up and shuts itself down pretty quickly, I have to keep an external fan on it if I want to use it for over an hour lol XD

Thanks in advance. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Bastille

May 19, 2006, 01:05 PM

Vox, control panel, system, hardware tab, device manager, display adapters

Should tell you what you have.

You also will probably need more ram, but if it overheats already I suggest you just get a new one since adding more ram will just make it get worse

voxie

May 19, 2006, 01:10 PM

On 2006-05-19 11:05, Bastille wrote:
Vox, control panel, system, hardware tab, device manager, display adapters

Should tell you what you have.

You also will probably need more ram, but if it overheats already I suggest you just get a new one since adding more ram will just make it get worse

Thanks Bastille http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

Okay, it says 'NVIDIA GeForce4 488 Go'. Is that any good?

VioletSkye

May 19, 2006, 01:13 PM

To see your video properties, right click on MY COMPUTER, select PROPERTIES, select the HARDWARE tab, click on DEVICE MANAGER, click the + next to DISPLAY ADAPTERS.

you could also just go to START, then RUN and type DXDIAG after it finishes loading, click the DISPLAY tab and look for CHIP TYPE.

Another thing to consider is the speed of your harddrive. Many laptops have a slower harddrive speed, often times 5400rpm or worse yet 4200rpm vs the usual 7200rpm for a desktop (although there are 10,000 and 15,000rpm harddrives as well, with the 15,000rpm drives being SCSI.)

The GeForce4 488 Go barely meets the requirements for video. It allows for up to 64MB of system RAM for video. It offers an 8x AGP transfer speed (which is an improvement over the 440) and a clock speed of 275MHz.

[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-05-19 11:21 ]

voxie

May 19, 2006, 01:21 PM

On 2006-05-19 11:13, VioletSkye wrote:
Another thing to consider is the speed of your harddrive. Many laptops have a slower harddrive speed, often times 5400rpm or worse yet 4200rpm vs the usual 7200rpm for a desktop (although there are 10,000 and 15,000rpm harddrives as well, with the 15,000rpm drives being SCSI.)

Thanks VioletSkye, but I did look up the hard drive's properties, and looked it up on the Device Manager... couldn't see the RPM anywhere. :/

Bastille

May 19, 2006, 01:22 PM

I really can't tell much from nvidia's site about it, and I can't tell whether or not it actually has any video memory... You could probably allocate some memory to the video card, but that would require adding a bit more RAM into your laptop which would make it even harder for it to run for long period of time... Wait for the opinion of some of the others since I really can't say much about the video card... If it will work for PSU, then just try to upgrade the ram since the rest should be okay but you might still want to look at getting a new laptop especially because of that overheating issue

Edit: Yeah, it barely meets the requirements so it would be better to just get a new laptop since it will allow you to play longer, and the game will look a lot smoother.

[ This Message was edited by: Bastille on 2006-05-19 11:23 ]

VioletSkye

May 19, 2006, 01:30 PM

I already covered the video card in my editted post. It allows for up to 64MB and features 8x AGP transfer speeds with a clock speed of 275MHz.

An easy way to see RPM is to download Everest (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html) and run it. Click the black triangle next to COMPUTER then click on SUMMARY. Under Storage it should list your DISK DRIVE and give you the rpm.

[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-05-19 11:33 ]

Bastille

May 19, 2006, 01:36 PM

I am willing to bet it is a 5400RPM hdd, since it would destroy the battery life otherwise

VioletSkye

May 19, 2006, 02:19 PM

Also voxie, have you checked to see if your fans are working. You can check out fan speed and temperatures with Everest also. Is it under warranty, if so, you may want to have someone check that. Your laptop shouldn't be shutting down because of heat problems unless you have it on the carpet or a blanket or somewhere that impedes its airflow.

If you would like to try a cooling device, you could check out these:
Laptop Coolers. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2030260319+1276817102&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=319) I've never needed one so I can't tell you how effective (or ineffective lol) they are, but I thought I would mention it.

[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-05-19 12:37 ]

voxie

May 19, 2006, 04:09 PM

Thanks guys, you been so helpful - will try out that Everest thing, thank you~ And I think the fan in my notebook is broken, as it never used to heat up this bad... I use one of these (http://www.xpad4laptop.com) and an external fan (one usually used for ourselves!) to keep it cool, and it runs just fine.

I am looking to get the notebook opened up and cleaned once I have the cash. But I will be buying a gaming PC eventually as well, both for work and PSU. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

Bastille

May 19, 2006, 05:05 PM

If you do take it in to get fixed, these are the things you might want to have done albeit increasing the cost of the repairs.
1. Repair/replace the fan
2. Get some new thermal paste for the CPU, I recommend arctic silver 5
3. Get 2gb of ram total, hopefully your motherboard can support it
4. Replace the video card if possible since even if you have 2 gigs of ram, you can only allocate 64mb of it to the video card and as I said before, meeting the minimums may be okay for desktop computers, but for laptops you want to be certainly above the minumum.

I still think it would be probably easier to look into a new laptop, but it really depends on the motherboard that is inside your current one. If it can support everything you want to put into it then go the upgrading path as it will be cheaper but if the motherboard can't then buy a new one. The easiest way to find out about your motherboard would be to use Everest, right click on motherboard and generate a plain text report then scroll down to motherboard properties and then say what the name of it is.

Fleece

May 19, 2006, 05:41 PM

Bastille no offence but you dont know much about laptops do you?

Bastille

May 19, 2006, 06:07 PM

I know a lot more about desktops than laptops, but yeah... Aside from my one friend who uses a laptop for gaming, I've never really had to encounter or discuss the issues one has when it comes to upgrading them.

Fleece

May 19, 2006, 06:46 PM

Ok http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif well you cant upgrade GPU's in laptops as theyre soldered into the board(Except the REALLY expensive few)....also replacing parts for laptops is also hard as most parts are designed for the laptop itself and arn't generic parts and must be ordered from specialists or manufacturers. Also MOST laptops use SODIMM ram which is more expensive than standard DIMM RAM.

Kyuu

May 19, 2006, 06:50 PM

Aye. Those are great suggestions for any desktop user Bastille, but any of those (asides from replacing the fan (trying to repair one of those things is usually a wasted effort, they're dirt cheap anyway)) is either not possible, or definitely not worth the effort in a laptop. Everything in a laptop is designed to stay where it is, and is usually permanently attached... or very expensive to replace.

Edit: With the possible exception of the RAM... although Fleece is right and it's likely using a more expensive sort of RAM, it would still definitely be one of the best upgrades you can get for your money, if it's possible to add/replace the RAM chips. Much like in a desktop. =)

[ This Message was edited by: Kyuu on 2006-05-19 16:51 ]