Seeking advice on what laptop to buy for Evochron Mercenary

Sinbad · Post by **Sinbad** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 5:09 pm

Hi Vice and everyone else,

I have been without a computer for a while and I'm looking to buy something cheap until I can get a proper gaming rig. My idea is to get a laptop that will run Evochron Mercenary reasonably well. I know I won't get super-high frame rates but as long as I can run the game on low-to-medium settings I can live with that for now.

I just wanted to ask for some advice regarding this possible choice i have seen...

Acer Aspire E1-471-6451
Intel Core i3-3110M @2.40GHz
4 GB RAM
500 GB hard drive
Intel HD Graphics 4000 1.8GB (128Mb dedicated and 1696Mb shared)
64 bit (choice of Windows 7 or

So it checks out with the recommended system requirements for Evochron Mercenary... but I'm not sure how this graphics card would perform on this system.

Also... Windows 7 or Windows 8 for EM?

Many thanks in advance!

Sinbad

Post by **Vice** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:16 pm

I recommend staying away from 'integrated' graphics systems (ie those that use any shared memory) for gaming. While it will probably work, the performance is generally below a 'dedicated', sometimes referred to as 'discreet', graphics system. You can google video benchmark comparisons for the Intel HD 4000 compared to other laptop/notebook options in various games to get an idea of the difference.

If you're looking at the Acer line, they make a number of models (V3-572 series) with a dedicated GeForce 840M graphics system that would likely be significantly better. Here is one such example on Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product Even though the CPU is 0.7 GHz slower, the overall in-game performance will likely be significantly higher. There are also other models with higher performance CPU's that cost more.

Windows 7 or 8 (8.1 only) will work, you might want to try both before buying to find out which one you'd rather live with long term.

Post by **Marvin** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:54 pm

I used my son's "secondary work computer" this weekend ... even after he warned me that is probably couldn't handle the game. Consequently, I set all the graphics settings to "medium" ... and found very little difference in graphics quality between that and "high" ... and the game ran without any stutter on the G1 server.

The moral of that story being, if you're simply looking for a cheap laptop you can hand off to your wife in a few weeks, this game will probably still run ... on Medium.

Sinbad · Post by **Sinbad** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 11:43 pm

Thank you for that information and advice. i hadn't realised that about the distinction between shared and dedicated graphics cards.

I have now found a used Asus laptop with similar specs to the Acer V3, but has last year's GeForce GT 720M. Whilst I guess it's not so good as the 840M, the trade off on price will be worth it, at around $380 second hand:

Asus NoteBook X450C
Intel Core i5 - 3337U @ 1.80 GHz
6 Gb RAM
750 Gb Hard Drive
Intel HD 4000
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M 2 Gb (dedicated)
64 bit (I'll go for Windows 7)

I'm thinking that this set up should most likely be ok for running EM at least on medium settings (maybe high settings with a bit of luck!).

If there's something I can't see in thee specs that's screaming out "NO!" to you more knowledgeable guys, a heads up would be most welcome!

Many thanks

PaulB · Post by **PaulB** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 11:56 pm

From post: 172839, Topic: tid=11616, author=MCCON wrote:Thank you for that information and advice. i hadn't realised that about the distinction between shared and dedicated graphics cards.

I have now found a used Asus laptop with similar specs to the Acer V3, but has last year's GeForce GT 720M. Whilst I guess it's not so good as the 840M, the trade off on price will be worth it, at around $380 second hand:

Asus NoteBook X450C
Intel Core i5 - 3337U @ 1.80 GHz
6 Gb RAM
750 Gb Hard Drive
Intel HD 4000
NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M 2 Gb (dedicated)
64 bit (I'll go for Windows 7)

I'm thinking that this set up should most likely be ok for running EM at least on medium settings (maybe high settings with a bit of luck!).

If there's something I can't see in thee specs that's screaming out "NO!" to you more knowledgeable guys, a heads up would be most welcome!

Many thanks

I'm running EM on an old Dell Precision M65 with Nvidia FX-350M , XP w/4Gb, intel T2400 dual core 1.86ghz.

It runs fairly well but planets and surface flights slow the FPS done some. So the system you list above I think should run quite well.

CS-ACI- · Post by **CS-ACI-** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 12:30 am

Hello,

The quoted post below is from the system specs thread, as you can see mine is very low currently.

From post: 172479, Topic: tid=11102, author=CS-ACI- wrote:Hello,

Intel E2160 @ 1.8Ghz
Memory 2 Gb
Available Physical Memory 1.08 Gb
ASUS EAH5450 512 Mb
Driver Version Not available
Realtek Integrated Audio
Hard Drive Capacity 500 Gb
Vista Home Premium

EL and ER fine.
EM has only been running for about six hours, the only thing I have noticed is that at the end of a jump the screen stays white longer than I expect, but this machine is way down on specs, Video card was and upgrade and the HD was a replacement as the old one died. Machine is an HP Pavilion a6402.uk

Steve

As for the graphics cards, the machine I am currently using has an after market card as it could not play even some basic 3d games before with the onboard graphics.

Steve

Sinbad · Post by **Sinbad** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 2:33 am

Thanks guys! This is interesting to know that you are able to play EM on fairly low-end machines. It's also reassuring that the laptop I'm considering should be ok.

Sinbad · Post by **Sinbad** » Thu Sep 04, 2014 11:28 pm

The laptop arrived today (the Asus)! Just setting it up now and checking everything. Hopefully I'll have EM installed and ready to play this evening Woopee!! Finally after more than a year without being able to play the game!

Sinbad · Post by **Sinbad** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 12:39 am

Just to conclude this thread...

I got EM running on the Asus (specs in post above). It actually runs very nicely. On all high settings I get frame rates between 40-65 when in space. That drops sharply on planets to around +/- 20 fps, but it is still playable. I haven't tried atmosphere combat yet... that may get a little iffy with lower fps. But on the whole I'm very happy with how this little laptop performs

Post by **Marvin** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 12:54 am

I've never seen much of a drop beyond the initial entry into a planet's high-res atmosphere. Doing planetside combat made no noticeable difference ... even when in a TW and/or joined by the rest of the IM clan. If you get 20 fps while cruising alone on a planet, that should be about as slow as she goes.

Sinbad · Post by **Sinbad** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 2:04 am

Roger that. I think as long as I can still track a moving target I don't mind too much if the fps is down to around 20. Will let you know the next time I run into some bogeys in planet atmosphere.

PaulB · Post by **PaulB** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 2:30 am

From post: 172932, Topic: tid=11616, author=MCCON wrote:Just to conclude this thread...

I got EM running on the Asus (specs in post above). It actually runs very nicely. On all high settings I get frame rates between 40-65 when in space. That drops sharply on planets to around +/- 20 fps, but it is still playable. I haven't tried atmosphere combat yet... that may get a little iffy with lower fps. But on the whole I'm very happy with how this little laptop performs

Feel good guy, when I have a planet in my field of view or fly down to the planet my fps drops to 5.
In space I get around 12 - 20 which works pretty well for me.
It's only planet related stuff that's really an annoyance to me.
I think I had one instance or "in atmosphere" combat and even at 5 fps I was able to complete it.

[Edited on 9-6-2014 by PaulB]

Sinbad · Post by **Sinbad** » Sat Sep 06, 2014 3:59 am

I had a similar experience to you Paul with the first incarnation of Evochron Mercenary when I was using a 2007 HP laptop. Gaming on a budget can be frustrating. The good thing is that Vice tries to make the games so that they can be played on lower-end computers too.