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Getting back to gaming #1134308
12/06/17 10:37 PM
12/06/17 10:37 PM
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lspace Offline OP
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It's been several years since I've played an adventure game but now I am ready to start again. But I need a new computer. I was looking at 2 in 1 laptops (not interested in a desktop). What kind of specs do I need to play the current adventure games? I do know I need 64 bit and 8gb ram is a good starting point. When it comes to storage rpm or ssd? Ssd is faster but does it make much of a difference in adventure games? How fast of a processor? Best video card? I want to buy something that will still run games 2 or 3 years from now. My budget is $800-1000. Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

I know I've probably put this in the wrong forum but I didn't know where else to put it. My apologies.

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134310
12/06/17 10:40 PM
12/06/17 10:40 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
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near Yosemite
Marian Offline
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I moved your post over to the Glitches forum. The techies here can give you some good advice in regards to your questions. wave

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134320
12/06/17 11:48 PM
12/06/17 11:48 PM
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southeast USA
Jenny100 Offline
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I'm not qualified to recommend any models of current laptops. It's been several years since I shopped for a laptop or looked at them.

Check the recommended system requirements for the games you're interested in (not the minimum requirements). Make a list of the high end 3D games that are at the top of your list and Google the name of the game and "system requirements" (without the quotes).

Be aware that graphics cards in laptops are usually slower than their desktop equivalents. They are also not replaceable or upgradable. See what's available in your price range.

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134322
12/07/17 12:12 AM
12/07/17 12:12 AM
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,006
Near St. Louis, MO
Draclvr Offline
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I can't add much more to what Jenny said. Since you haven't played any adventure games for a long time, you should be aware that the newer games are requiring more and more "power" in a computer. The vast majority require a stand-alone video card which is going to make a laptop much more expensive. Of course, your budget is going to be a big part of the decision.

Doing a search for "best gaming laptops 2017" should bring up quite a few hits.


Gardens put to bed for the winter. Time for some gaming!
Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134330
12/07/17 03:56 AM
12/07/17 03:56 AM
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Michigan
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There is a new thing out there called the "Alienware Graphics Amplifier". It allows you to use a desktop video card with a laptop. I don't know much about it but I thought I would let you know it exists so you can check it out. Anything made by aliens is usually cool.

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134374
12/07/17 12:01 PM
12/07/17 12:01 PM
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Draclvr Offline
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That's an interesting piece of hardware, Geo. I was wondering about an adequate power supply, but it come with a 460 watt one. It's pretty pricey - $199 and then you STILL have to buy a GPU to install in it. And that assumes you have a laptop display that could support it. I can see why it would be very attractive to hard core laptop gamers though because as Jenny said, laptop GPUs are usually not as powerful as those for the desktop.


Gardens put to bed for the winter. Time for some gaming!
Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134375
12/07/17 12:35 PM
12/07/17 12:35 PM
Joined: Jun 2005
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Michigan
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I just noticed it looks like its only for Alienware notebooks. I thought it could be used with any notebook at first.

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134376
12/07/17 12:36 PM
12/07/17 12:36 PM
Joined: Jun 2005
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Near St. Louis, MO
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I didn't notice that either. Too bad it isn't though.


Gardens put to bed for the winter. Time for some gaming!
Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134389
12/07/17 01:38 PM
12/07/17 01:38 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Jenny100 Offline
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Also it kind of defeats the purpose of having a laptop if you have to depend on big things like that dangling off of it.

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134395
12/07/17 03:30 PM
12/07/17 03:30 PM
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lspace Offline OP
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Thanks for all the replies. It makes it a little easier to find what I am looking for. Although I am still wondering if SSD rather RPM makes much of a difference in adventure gaming. Does anyone know?

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134408
12/07/17 04:37 PM
12/07/17 04:37 PM
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Michigan
Geo Offline
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Nothing wrong with having big things dangling.

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134413
12/07/17 06:05 PM
12/07/17 06:05 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Jenny100 Offline
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Originally Posted By: lspace
Thanks for all the replies. It makes it a little easier to find what I am looking for. Although I am still wondering if SSD rather RPM makes much of a difference in adventure gaming. Does anyone know?

"RPM" means Revolutions per Minute.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rpm
"RPM" does not mean "mechanical drive" or "hard drive."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive

If you ask for an "RPM drive" in a store, they will either look at you funny or send you to the automobile department.

With most games it won't matter if you use an SSD or a mechanical hard drive because RAM is more important.

However with the game "Obduction," an SSD was "strongly recommended" by the developer to reduce load times.

Considering the complaints about load times with the new reboot of "Black Mirror," there may be other games where an SSD will cut down on load times of games -- not just load time when you start the game, but when you move to different locations (or rooms) within the game.

SSD's are more expensive than mechanical hard drives for the capacity you get, but if you want to store large amounts of data you may want to use external storage anyway.

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134414
12/07/17 06:14 PM
12/07/17 06:14 PM
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Posts: 20,006
Near St. Louis, MO
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He, he, Geo!! grin


Gardens put to bed for the winter. Time for some gaming!
Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134421
12/07/17 08:30 PM
12/07/17 08:30 PM
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 686
lspace Offline OP
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Thank you Jenny. Obduction was the game I was looking at to try and figure out what specs would be best.

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134430
12/07/17 11:03 PM
12/07/17 11:03 PM
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 17,992
Chicago
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shame Geo

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134435
12/07/17 11:49 PM
12/07/17 11:49 PM
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Near St. Louis, MO
Draclvr Offline
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I recently got my grandson his college laptop with a 500GB SSD and a reasonable stand alone video card for abou5 $900. That's probably the range you would be looking at.


Gardens put to bed for the winter. Time for some gaming!
Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134440
12/08/17 12:29 AM
12/08/17 12:29 AM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644
southeast USA
Jenny100 Offline
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Originally Posted By: lspace
Thank you Jenny. Obduction was the game I was looking at to try and figure out what specs would be best.

There was a detailed description of Obduction's requirements back in 2016. The old link at obduction.com no longer works, but the article can still be read at the web archive ***here***.

Here's a quote from the article
Originally Posted By: Mike Dogherra of Cyan
The one area that makes a huge difference with the game, and isn’t necessarily reflected in the system specs is hard drive/ system storage speed. We do a *lot* of streaming from the drive during gameplay, and slower drives have a terrible time keeping up. A generic traditional mechanical hard drive is going to see a lot of hitching and pausing during the game while it loads in. Outside of a video card, upgrading your drive to a solid-state drive if you haven’t yet will make a huge impact in how smooth of an experience you’ll have with the game, along with being a very nice and very noticeable upgrade for your machine in general.


If you are interested in Obduction, also check out Quern and Xing (also puzzle/adventure games with high requirements)

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134445
12/08/17 02:35 AM
12/08/17 02:35 AM
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lspace Offline OP
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Quern and Xing are on my Steam wishlist and I did check out their specs. Definitely need a new pc. Thanks for the link.

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: Draclvr] #1134516
12/08/17 05:40 PM
12/08/17 05:40 PM
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southeast USA
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Originally Posted By: Draclvr
I recently got my grandson his college laptop with a 500GB SSD and a reasonable stand alone video card for about $900. That's probably the range you would be looking at.

Do you remember what model that was?
What video card it had?

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134519
12/08/17 06:56 PM
12/08/17 06:56 PM
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It was this one... It isn't that much of a video card, but we were trying to avoid getting him anything too powerful as this was his "going off to college" laptop and we figured he might spend more time doing his retro gaming than studying!

Quote:
Lenovo Flex 4 15.6" Signature Edition 2-in-1 Full HD IPS Touchscreen Notebook Computer, Intel Core i7-7500U 2.7GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, AMD Radeon R7 M460, Windows 10


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MD0X2MB/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Gardens put to bed for the winter. Time for some gaming!
Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: Draclvr] #1134520
12/08/17 07:16 PM
12/08/17 07:16 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
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southeast USA
Jenny100 Offline
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Some very mixed reviews there -- most either very good or very bad.

One other thing to consider is the size of the screen.
For gaming maybe you want larger than a 15.6" screen.

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134541
12/09/17 12:26 AM
12/09/17 12:26 AM
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Definitely a thought about the screen size for gaming. This was supposed to be a college computer, so it was just the right combination for him. The kid is already 6'5" tall with the accompanying hand size, so one of the smaller 13 or 14 inch screens and key boards was not an option for him. Since he does lug it around campus in a backpack, weight was also a consideration. Also be sure to look at how long the battery will last if you plan on using it off power.

He's been using it for about 4 months now and absolutely loves it - says it is the right combination of everything he needs. He's pretty tech savvy. His desktop was was a Christmas present 5 years ago which he and I built together.


Gardens put to bed for the winter. Time for some gaming!
Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134553
12/09/17 09:26 AM
12/09/17 09:26 AM
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The Country
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I watch these threads as I am very interested in eventually getting a gaming laptop. Most important to me is the video card, Ram and speed of the computer..... I have an older Del XPS 17 inch... but the weight of it and how hot it got made me get an additional cooling pad for it this makes me want to consider giving up screen size unless they have gotten the heat factor under control... Just a comment.


Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody
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Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134628
12/09/17 08:54 PM
12/09/17 08:54 PM
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I'm leaning toward this one. https://caen-store.acer.com/laptops/gaming/nitro-5-gaming-laptop-an515-51-705q
It's on the Canadian Acer store website but Winfrey I'm sure you could find it on their US site. The only thing holding me back is price as it is considerably over my budget.

Re: Getting back to gaming [Re: lspace] #1134690
12/10/17 06:36 PM
12/10/17 06:36 PM
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Posts: 20,006
Near St. Louis, MO
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My concern with that one, lspace, is the very small 256 GB SSD since you will be using it for gaming. You will need to manage your space carefully. The video card is the low end of the spectrum, but would probably play most newer adventure games.

I just got this sale price on the same Nitro 5 laptop, but with a 1 TB HDD and a Core i5 this morning. Maybe you will find a sale like that in Canada!

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a...EB5aHRpLm5ldA==


Gardens put to bed for the winter. Time for some gaming!
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