So, I'm moving to NA for 6-months and need a laptop to play L2. So... I have some questions - well more like I would like the know the difference between different options. I would appreciate any knowledgeable opinion, since I think a lot of people out here know much more about computers than I do :D
So these are the different options I could get for each component... if you know anything about the difference / if it's worth getting the higher spec'ed one, then please tell:
1) Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 2mb cache VS 3mb cache
2) 320GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive VS 128GB Solid State Drive
3) 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT VS ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 3670 - 512MB
3) Dell Wireless 1515 802.11n Half Mini-Card VS Intel® 5100 WLAN Wireless-N (1x2) Half Mini Card
What do you think is the most important to spec "higher" for L2? the graphics card?
PS I guess I could have put this question in the General Technical Issues forum, but I figure 1) I don't have any issue as in problem and 2) more people will see it this way :D
1) There is no much difference between 2MB and 3MB cache. Although much is always better. Not even in Lineage game, but in your pc generally.
2) SSD's are much faster that HDDs but they have some problem. Not all of them, but many of them. Some of them, especially the first editions have stuttering issues. Now if you plan to buy a 128MB, these cost a lot. I think more than 400$. Your overall speed in pc will increased dramatically, and you will see difference in L2. But this difference is not equal to 400$. Go for an SSD, but not only for the L2.
3) NVidia 8600M GT is an old card. I use it in my laptop, who is 1.5 year old. There are stronger cards for laptops out there, but you dont need them to play L2. With 8600M GT I have played Crysis, and Collin McRay DiRT in middle graphics, the time that only super-duper GPU in HomePc's would be able to play in full details. I play L2 in 8600M GT with no problem at all. Full details, and 3 acounts up at the same time. You will not dissapointed.
4) I dont know about that. Any wireless connection is fine if you have aDSL internet speed.
Can't comment too much on the spec's but I think they outdo mine.
I play on a Laptop, have done for all but one year of my time in L2 since open beta.
I can play two accounts off the one laptop in windowed mode fine, just have to remember not to switch screens while teleporting or switching characters on one account.
PvE on a laptop is fine, most PvP is fine, but seiges with dual accounts open is a #$#^#$.
Dell XPS dual 2gig dual core gtx7950 graphics and had 2 gig ram, replaced recently with 4 and didnt seem to make much change. Run on XP pro and 7200 rpm HDD which is great.
It does me find for gaming and low end graphics rendering.
Thanks for opinion peeps. That helps. I'm thinking now that I don't really need the higher end specs for L2 since it isn't a new game.
And yes it is crucial for me to be able to carry it, I don't want to buy a computer and then throw it away because of high transportation costs when I come back to Asia. It also a question of size ;)
Its your decision, but personally for the extra $35 in shipping, you save it 10x over on the initial purchase to begin with. In a pc, where your money generally goes towards the performance of the parts and hardware, you get what you pay for.. When you buy a notebook, you're mostly paying for the size of the hardware, not so much the performance..
But hey if you need it go ahead, they work fine and millions of people are happy with theirs I guess cause they keep makin em... Good luck with that
Its your decision, but personally for the extra $35 in shipping, you save it 10x over on the initial purchase to begin with.
Umm, from what I looked into, it's more more like 200$+ for shipping - one way.
I don't know any company that would ship it safely for 35$... I'm not part of the military btw.
Laptops are great for Lineage II. Although, for me, I've never had a computer that ran Lineage II on 100% detail settings, without getting choppy from time to time. That includes my current laptop, which has a 9600M GT, and my regular PC which had a 9800 GX2. Although, usually they add new graphicals bells and whistles with each update, so maybe that's why. That said, there's a noticeable difference between having full settings on and having HDR Rendering C, Out-focusing, realistic shadows and realistic water reflection turned off. The game looks great either way, but realistic shadows makes your character models and NPCs look much nicer.
The 8600M GT is about eqivalent to my 9600M GT, so it should be a great card to run Lineage II with, but you lose some FPS with shaders turned on. If you could swing a laptop with a 9800M GT or GTX, you'd really be set.
hmm thanks for the extra info. I don't know if it's available, but I'll look into that graphics card.
atm even on my desktop I play with low lvl settings hehe...
it would seem whatever I get will be better than what I have now, so hopefully it should run fine.
ram is probably the most important thing, even more so if you're going to be running vista.
a *dedicated* video card is tied with ram. don't let dell or anyone else fool you...just because it says nvidia or ati, doesn't mean it's anything more than a fancy integrated.
as long as you've got over 2.8ghz of processor, you're pretty good.
don't really worry about the hard drives.
i just built my new computer and here are the specs...i can run almost anything out there at full specs with no slowdown, including crysis. this is a desktop, though.
dual core 2.5ghz
8gb ddr2 ram @ 1066mhz
512mb gddr3 vid card
1tb hard drive
cannibalized dvd burner, wireless card, 150gb hard drive (all harvested from old pc)
23" hdmi 40,000:1 contrast ratio 5ms response time
all of this cost me 530$ total...the monitor itself was 200 of that so the pc was 330$.
now, here's the problem...even if you get a laptop with those exact same specs, you'll still have like 1/2 to 3/4 at best of the capability of a desktop just because the technology is inferior...it has to be made smaller so performance is sacrificed.
if you really wanted a real gaming laptop, you only have two options (since dell and all the other mainstreams use crap parts, even in their premier lines like alienware) and those are falcon northwest (falcon-nw.com) or the absolute best pc/laptop/server company out there...pc microworks (pcmicroworks.com.) just be aware that you'll spend 3-10x on a *real* gaming laptop than you'd spend just building your own pc.
you *can* build your own gaming laptop, too...if you have the know-how.
I don't have the know how yet... but I plan on building / learning in a few years when I settle down. Atm since I have chances of moving a lot, a big desktop is cubersome.
In Canadian dollars I'm thinking max 1.5k ish. (1 to 1.5) These days the Canadian dollar became weak again, so it's probably about 1.2 / 1.3k in US dollars atm. Of course if an extra 100$ makes a huge difference it'd be ok, but you know, when its comes to comps you gotta set yourself a limit otherwise you'll end up way poor >.<
A friend of mine recommended Acer 6930g, but i noticed it has a 5400rpm drive and I'm pretty sure I want a 7200. Dell seems to have a decent value for the features, but I gotta contact them to ask if the Video Card is integrated or not.
two 250gb hard drives, 4 gigs ram expandable to 8, blu-ray for movies, media reader, bronze color for a bit of style.
but you'd need to get someone to put a video card in it for you or you'll be very sorry.
ultimately, it's your choice. the second choice with a pretty expensive video card and 8 gigs ram would be my choice but unless you have HP do it, you'll void any warranty...it'll also add quite a bit onto the price tag. also, not sure from the website if that hp laptop actually can support a dedicated video card so contact the vendor in either case.
now, here's the problem...even if you get a laptop with those exact same specs, you'll still have like 1/2 to 3/4 at best of the capability of a desktop just because the technology is inferior...it has to be made smaller so performance is sacrificed.
That is not true.
You can customize laptops for gaming, and some vendors sell gaming laptops.
Their battery life is bad. They can run very hot, also. Inverters blow up. Screens go out.
I love laptops for school, but I've had bad experiences gaming on "not so cheap" laptops. I haev 4 desktops now that I game on, and my notebook still has a blown inverter that I haven't had fixed because I don't think I'm ever gonna go back to notebook gaming. I guess if you're rich and you can afford to replace batteries more often than normal, and fix things that hickup, it should be fine.
The technology is usually inferior in default specs, but you can customize it up to have "desktop-level" components. Lots of laptops ship with Mobile processors, slower RAM, slower hard drives, etc. It's harder to fix everything in there, because you can't put a 600 Watt power supply in a notebook computer.
Be careful. They may let you put it all in the computer, but it may blow up (not literally) as a result up it.
Desktop > Laptop for extensibility and maintenance, reliability, and TCO when you have high-end setup.
Lineage II does not make your computer work when you have a graphics card of GF5200/Radeon 9550 level or higher. You have to play other stuff to see. Try to play Age of Conan or Crysis on high settings on it. You may be able to grill hamburgers on you keyboard in 2 hours.
trensharo basically expanded on what i said...not that it wasn't true, i just didn't feel like going into all that detail.
the reason i suggested pcmicroworks is because they actually have a 21" screen laptop that uses mostly desktop parts. just make sure to play in an air-conditioned room with a very good quality laptop cooler. falcon-nw also offers pretty good gaming laptops but they paint their shells individually so even their base 'flame' design or whatever is different for every person. you can also get anything you want on your falcon...just will cost a bit extra.