I have a gaming rig already but im looking for a cheap laptop to play low demading games like WOW. I know nothing about laptops so im not sure what im looking for in a GPU. I already have a laptop with Ati 3200M but it plays WOW on low at 25fps...
Cheap laptop for WOW?
- Thread starter Mattuk69
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Wow is actually surprisingly demanding, being an old game it's engine isn't very efficient with modern hardware, and thus to do what it does actually requires quite a lot from a computer ... well the newest content does at least and the next expansion is only going to be more demanding than the last, as has always been the case with it. I really don't understand why the trend the last 3 or 4 years has been towards saying Wow is really low intensity and will run on anything ...that's really not true, more so than ever now that the 'old world' content has been updated. The original game and TBC were pretty light weight by today’s standards, but Wow isn't the same game that it was then and it can be quite demanding now ...well not so much for a desktop but by laptop standards it can.
Also I'm not sure what you mean by cheap exactly, but if you want a laptop than can play Wow properly, you are going to need to spend a good 600 pounds I'd say and even then you aren't going to be getting anywhere near the best out of it, that'll likely give you a sort of middle of the road experience, maybe better in that the laptop will probably have a 1366x768 display, which is pretty low res and thus not such hardwork for the graphics chip.
You could do it for less if you do play on all the lowest detail settings, but it looks pretty nasty like that and thus I can't fathom why you would want to play it at all like that. You 'could' do it with one of the AMD Zacate APU based machines, the likes of the HP DM1Z, where you have a pretty low end cpu with a better than expected graphical ability. A machine like that will run Wow 'ok' for solo play, I'm not sure how it would react if you were raiding with it though.
You want to avoid anything using an Intel Integrated chip though, as great as the cpu's are the graphical side of things just aren't up it and it wont give you a very good experience. The AMD APU's are the cheapest you can do it, but ideally you want a discrete graphics card of midrange or better paired with an Intel CPU. I'm not sure how the current discrete range lines up on laptops, but I have a last gen laptop with an Nvidia GT425M in it, which was considered midrange then and that will play Wow quite well. So the relative equivalent of that should do just fine, which is going to be something in the 500 series, not sure what though off hand, I guess it would be about the GT540M.
Also I'm not sure what you mean by cheap exactly, but if you want a laptop than can play Wow properly, you are going to need to spend a good 600 pounds I'd say and even then you aren't going to be getting anywhere near the best out of it, that'll likely give you a sort of middle of the road experience, maybe better in that the laptop will probably have a 1366x768 display, which is pretty low res and thus not such hardwork for the graphics chip.
You could do it for less if you do play on all the lowest detail settings, but it looks pretty nasty like that and thus I can't fathom why you would want to play it at all like that. You 'could' do it with one of the AMD Zacate APU based machines, the likes of the HP DM1Z, where you have a pretty low end cpu with a better than expected graphical ability. A machine like that will run Wow 'ok' for solo play, I'm not sure how it would react if you were raiding with it though.
You want to avoid anything using an Intel Integrated chip though, as great as the cpu's are the graphical side of things just aren't up it and it wont give you a very good experience. The AMD APU's are the cheapest you can do it, but ideally you want a discrete graphics card of midrange or better paired with an Intel CPU. I'm not sure how the current discrete range lines up on laptops, but I have a last gen laptop with an Nvidia GT425M in it, which was considered midrange then and that will play Wow quite well. So the relative equivalent of that should do just fine, which is going to be something in the 500 series, not sure what though off hand, I guess it would be about the GT540M.
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wow is very demanding on graphic cards if you want good quality effects especially if you are in a raid aswell, nothing worse than graphics lag in a raid fight. i moved and had to get rid of my desktop so i invested in an alienware gaming lappy, best move i made really
Soldato
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- 6 Feb 2010
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For raid, pretty sure it is the single core that the game use is what holding it back the most...rather than graphic card being slow.
dell outlet store
I would suggest 2nd hand or maybe the dell outlet store. OCUK gaming laptops start with quite high spec and are priced out of your range.
this is the lowest one on OCUK , 1.6Ghz AMD with an AMD 6470HD GFX chip. Who knows, it may just be able to handle it
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-128-SA&groupid=959&catid=1828&subcat=
I would suggest 2nd hand or maybe the dell outlet store. OCUK gaming laptops start with quite high spec and are priced out of your range.
this is the lowest one on OCUK , 1.6Ghz AMD with an AMD 6470HD GFX chip. Who knows, it may just be able to handle it
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-128-SA&groupid=959&catid=1828&subcat=
Dell Outlet would most likely be your friend here and even then you'd be looking at an upper end of 400 squid to get anything with dedicated graphics. The Sandybridge GPU (3000 HD I think) is actually a lot more capable than any previous generation of integrated solutions and I should know, I'm gaming on it now! I haven't tried WoW but quick look on youtube shows a few videos where it's running smooth on low settings (if you can stomach that) so you could just try and get something with the best possible Sandybrige CPU for the money and stick some more RAM into the system for those raids.
Alternatively Dell Outlet does have some bargains, there's an Inspiron 15R N5110 on there now with i7 Sandy CPU and 1GB G525 graphics card for 386+VAT although don't expect it to stay there long.
Alternatively Dell Outlet does have some bargains, there's an Inspiron 15R N5110 on there now with i7 Sandy CPU and 1GB G525 graphics card for 386+VAT although don't expect it to stay there long.
Soldato
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Dell outlet is probably your only chance to get what you need.
I've been offered a Dell XPS M1710 for £270 is that an okay price?
Intel Core 2 Duo T2600 2.16 GHz CPU
3 GB RAM
160 GB 7200rpm HDD (Hitachi 7K500, Fast and Silent)
Nvidia Geforce 7900 GTX 512 MB Graphic
17.1'' WUXGA(1920x1200) LCD (Clear and Bright)
DVD RW Drive
Intel Pro 3945a/b/g wireless
Intel Core 2 Duo T2600 2.16 GHz CPU
3 GB RAM
160 GB 7200rpm HDD (Hitachi 7K500, Fast and Silent)
Nvidia Geforce 7900 GTX 512 MB Graphic
17.1'' WUXGA(1920x1200) LCD (Clear and Bright)
DVD RW Drive
Intel Pro 3945a/b/g wireless
Doesn't sound like a bad price although I'd aim at paying less than that. The bay had a similar one go for £280 recently. I'd also be concerned about it failing at some point. Not sure about that card, but the 7950GTX used to overheat quite a bit if memory serves me right. It's probably worth googling.
Associate
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Do not get an XPS 1710, that 7900gtx will fail on you, guaranteed.
I have never seen an XPS 1710 that hasn't had its graphics card swapped out at least once.
I agree with above comments though, if your planning to raid your probably going to need something half decent. Warranty is a must with laptops really, they go wrong so very easily.
a 1st generation m11x might be in order? (given the budget).
I have never seen an XPS 1710 that hasn't had its graphics card swapped out at least once.
I agree with above comments though, if your planning to raid your probably going to need something half decent. Warranty is a must with laptops really, they go wrong so very easily.
a 1st generation m11x might be in order? (given the budget).
Yup, the earlier XPS series were terrible. The 7800GTX in my XPS Gen 2 turned into a pool of molten silicon
As far as other machines go, I have WoW running here on a £600 Dell XPS 15 with a Core i7, 8GB of RAM and a GeForce GT540m. It runs pretty good on ultra settings @ 1366x768 but there is the odd bit of slowdown in busy areas.
Nothing special. Like it said, i have a gaming PC so ill will use it for raids etc. But i got the old republic today so i think ill be switching because im loving it so far
There is a Packard Bell Ipower GX laptop on ebay it has 0 bids at £250 and £350 buy it now price. For the specs i don't see why no1 is bidding on it.
Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 2.5ghz
4gb DDR2
500gb HDD
Nvidia 9800GTS 1gb.
The WOW is what I am playing on quite a bit now, and is totally awful on my current 17", but then its lucky that it plays at all, as I do not have a GPU, its running off an Intel Integrated HD card. The annoying things about these laptops as its not like a desktop, where you can swap out the GPU and add more ram
Not sure of a good laptop to run this game properly, as 15fps on low is dreadful!
Not sure of a good laptop to run this game properly, as 15fps on low is dreadful!
I got a m11x r3 off the mm, really happy with it and amazed at how well it runs wow, especially since i've heard of people having issues with it on high-end setups due to it's engine being old and poorly optimised.
I tested it out a bit with wow yesterday, and i'm able to run it at full ultra settings (including shadows, which i'm suprised at since shadows are usually a massive gpu hog) even in 25 mans without my fps dropping below 25, most areas it's between 30-60.
You can get a l502x with a similar spec and probably a better cpu for around 400-500 quid
I tested it out a bit with wow yesterday, and i'm able to run it at full ultra settings (including shadows, which i'm suprised at since shadows are usually a massive gpu hog) even in 25 mans without my fps dropping below 25, most areas it's between 30-60.
You can get a l502x with a similar spec and probably a better cpu for around 400-500 quid
I can run WoW at ultra at native resolution with my Acer laptop, although it gets very hot I wouldn't recommend it. This one has an i5 2410m and a GT 540M in it, so looking around that mark will help you find something that will run wow really well.
Good luck
Good luck