Laptop for Football Manager 2016

EdA

EdA

Associate
Joined
23 Feb 2017
Posts
4
Location
UK
I currently have a 2010 Dell Inspiron 1764. Although its beginning to have some problems it still does most things I want it to do.

However, it now seems completely incapable of playing FM 16. It did use to play the game, albeit really slowly with half a star performance.

Im looking at buying a new laptop purely to be able to play this game Im not a gamer, but I play this one game a lot) but I imagine the spec I need will be quite high. The system requirements are thus:

OS: Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10.
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 Intel Core AMD Athlon 2.2GHz+
Memory: 2 GB RAM.
Graphics: NVidia GeForce FX 5900 Ultra ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Intel GMA X3100 256MB VRAM.
DirectX: Version 9.0c.
Hard Drive: 3 GB available space



Do I have any chance of getting a cheapish laptop that will do this game justice, or will I need to fork out?

Does anyone have any recommendations or websites for selecting a laptop suitable for specific requirements?


Many thanks in advance
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Aug 2013
Posts
8,393
Hi Ed,

You won't need a video card for FM 16. The integrated graphics on 6th or 7th Gen Intel processors are good enough (even on 4th Gen integrated graphics I'd get 60 fps on Medium graphics in FM 15). So that's one thing that can bring the price down.

You will/should want it to have an SSD. The saving (does a lot of saving in background regularly as you probably know) and load times for FM are greatly increased with one.

8GB RAM is fine.

Screen resolution should ideally be 1920x1080, although for something like FM, graphics quality shouldn't be a huge issue. Still, if you're buying a new laptop/screen today it should be 1920x1080 minimum if possible.

  • Intel Core i5 7th Gen 7200U (2.50 GHz)
  • 8 GB Memory 256 GB SSD
  • Intel HD Graphics 620
  • 1920 x 1080
  • Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

Above are the specs of the Acer Laptop Aspire E5-575-53EJ (15.6"). Something like that would be very decent.

Cheaper than that one, for example, is the HP 250 G5:

  • Intel Core i7-6500U Dual Core Processor
  • 15.6" 1366x768
  • Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
  • 8GB DDR4 RAM
  • 256GB SSD

This one has a 6th Gen processor, only slightly faster than the other (don't let this sway you much because despite being i7 it's still dual-core/four-thread and same max turbo 3.1GHz speed as the i5-7200U but 1MB extra Cache). Lower resolution though, reflected in the price.

The ASUS F556UA-AB54 with:

  • Intel Core i5-7200U 2.5GHz Processor
  • 15.6" 1920x1080
  • Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
  • 8GB DDR4 RAM
  • 256GB SSD
is also worth looking at/waiting for (I think it's only just hit the shelves in the US). Practically identical to the specs of the Acer first in my list above.

There are laptops with the same name but different specs so check carefully that the model you're looking at has the right specs.

Sometimes you can find laptops that fit the bill on everything except they have 4GB RAM. If so no problem, just add another 4GB yourself as long as the motherboard has two slots.

You can find the HP 250 G5 with those specs for £400-450. The other two Acer/Asus I can't find listed at UK retailers yet but ought to be anything from £450-550 going by US prices.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
26 Aug 2013
Posts
8,393
Just to add - there's one called the StormForce 7220-9071 with really nice specs for what seems like a steal at £600 currently, but I have no idea about the reliability of the brand or product. The 950M video card and the 1000GB HDD are superfluous to requirements in this case but the quad-core/eight-thread processor would be very nice. It's hard to find quad-core laptops that don't also add on other stuff which raises the cost:

  • Intel Core i7-6700HQ Quad Core Processor
  • 15.6" Full HD Screen
  • Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
  • 8GB DDR3 RAM
  • 250GB SSD + 1000GB HDD
  • DVD Rewriter
  • Dedicated GeForce GTX 950M 2GB Graphics
 

EdA

EdA

Associate
OP
Joined
23 Feb 2017
Posts
4
Location
UK
Hi Ed,

You won't need a video card for FM 16. The integrated graphics on 6th or 7th Gen Intel processors are good enough (even on 4th Gen integrated graphics I'd get 60 fps on Medium graphics in FM 15). So that's one thing that can bring the price down.

You will/should want it to have an SSD. The saving (does a lot of saving in background regularly as you probably know) and load times for FM are greatly increased with one.

8GB RAM is fine.

Screen resolution should ideally be 1920x1080, although for something like FM, graphics quality shouldn't be a huge issue. Still, if you're buying a new laptop/screen today it should be 1920x1080 minimum if possible.

  • Intel Core i5 7th Gen 7200U (2.50 GHz)
  • 8 GB Memory 256 GB SSD
  • Intel HD Graphics 620
  • 1920 x 1080
  • Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

Above are the specs of the Acer Laptop Aspire E5-575-53EJ (15.6"). Something like that would be very decent.

Cheaper than that one, for example, is the HP 250 G5:

  • Intel Core i7-6500U Dual Core Processor
  • 15.6" 1366x768
  • Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
  • 8GB DDR4 RAM
  • 256GB SSD

This one has a 6th Gen processor, only slightly faster than the other (don't let this sway you much because despite being i7 it's still dual-core/four-thread and same max turbo 3.1GHz speed as the i5-7200U but 1MB extra Cache). Lower resolution though, reflected in the price.

The ASUS F556UA-AB54 with:

  • Intel Core i5-7200U 2.5GHz Processor
  • 15.6" 1920x1080
  • Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
  • 8GB DDR4 RAM
  • 256GB SSD
is also worth looking at/waiting for (I think it's only just hit the shelves in the US). Practically identical to the specs of the Acer first in my list above.

There are laptops with the same name but different specs so check carefully that the model you're looking at has the right specs.

Sometimes you can find laptops that fit the bill on everything except they have 4GB RAM. If so no problem, just add another 4GB yourself as long as the motherboard has two slots.

You can find the HP 250 G5 with those specs for £400-450. The other two Acer/Asus I can't find listed at UK retailers yet but ought to be anything from £450-550 going by US prices.

Hope this helps.



Thats all really helpful information, thank you so much for taking the time to give me your advice, it is much appreciated!
 
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