System requirements (laptop)?

[pietervds]

Hello,

shopping for a new laptop and looking around the forums I realize that the graphics/CPU demands of Paradox Games seem to grow exponentially with every release - one guy wrote somewhere that s/he can play modern FPS well, but runs problems with Victoria 2 (!).

I wonder what kinds of system requirements CKII (and Victoria 2) have that the game can run fluent on a laptop (say, 1 game year in 5 minutes) - is it actually possible to play them on laptops after all?!

Best

pieter

 

[Veldmaarschalk]

I have no idea what the requirements will be for CK2. But it certainly is possible to run V2 on a laptop.

I am running V2 without much troubles on my laptop. I have a laptop with a: Intel Core i7 Extreme 940XM (4 cores,8 threads, 2,13GHz, 3,33GHz Turbo, 8MB).

 

[pietervds]

Hello,

thanks, good to know. Seems like it the age old question if one wants a notebook for games or one for working is still around after I tried to dodged it for years :-(. At least there is an extension now and the for EUIII to keep the "old schoolers" happy

Best

pieter

 

[Wezqu]

The main reason why your friend can play FPS easilly is because in simple terms it uses a lot less of the computers prosessor. It seems that many people really think that something that has so to say better graphics uses to computers resources more when in reality it usually uses the graphic card more than prosessor. Victoria ja EU series have to do a lot more calculations than any FPS would and uses quite much of the resources from the computer and so need good prosessor to work fast. So if you buy new laptop just get one with good prosessor and good graphic card and I would not think you have any problems. I would go with atleast triple core prosessor. I'm using one and EU works perfectly.

 

[jdrou]

I would go with atleast triple core prosessor.

Unless they add multi-core support in CK2 which is not in EU3/HoI3/V2 then core speed is what is important, not number of cores. A 2.5 GHz dual-core will be better than a 2 GHz quad-core (assuming the same architecture). e.g. My Core i7-620M (2.66GHz dual-core, 3.33GHz max Turbo) would probably run the same as Veld's i7-940XM quad-core assuming the same video card and the dual-core would be several hundred $ cheaper. Of course you may want quad-cores for future games; certainly Paradox will be doing multi-core eventually since they need the CPU power.

 

[Sujit]

I want it it to be no more then VK 2 but with better multi-core support. I have one cored PC home so you understand we need to have a low system requirements

 

[Sinbuster]

I find it hard to imagine Paradox wont take advantage of multiple cores in some manner by 2012. The average laptop would be a dual core by then. Then again, I'm not sure how much they can tweak the Clausewitz engine, which the game is undoubtably built on.

Curiously enough, HOI3 worked like a dream from the get-go with my mid spec Acer (core duo 2.1GHz, 3GB Ram, 8600MGT) but there were plenty of threads from people with far better machines that experienced all sorts of difficulties playing the game. Sometimes you just luck out. Myself, I decided on an ASUS G73 should I need play three games of CK2 at the same time

 

[safferli]

If you buy a laptop, you need to make double sure you have a dedicated graphics card, with dedicated graphic RAM. I can play EU3/HoI3/V2 just fine on my laptop, which is over 2 years old by now.

See if you can get a laptop with at least 512mb graphics RAM, and I would recommend a nvidia rather than an ATI/AMD graphics card.

 

[unmerged(75409)]

I find it hard to imagine Paradox wont take advantage of multiple cores in some manner by 2012. The average laptop would be a dual core by then. Then again, I'm not sure how much they can tweak the Clausewitz engine, which the game is undoubtably built on.

Curiously enough, HOI3 worked like a dream from the get-go with my mid spec Acer (core duo 2.1GHz, 3GB Ram, 8600MGT) but there were plenty of threads from people with far better machines that experienced all sorts of difficulties playing the game. Sometimes you just luck out. Myself, I decided on an ASUS G73 should I need play three games of CK2 at the same time

Graphics card, graphics card, graphics card!!

It's all a matter of what kind of graphics card you have. Since even cheap laptops can come with good ones, and expensive laptops with shoddy ones, it seems random and arbitrary to people whether or not their laptop can run P'dox games. #1 mistake in buying a laptop: Not checking the specs of the graphics card. If they would check the graphics card of their laptop then this would not be a problem, it would be crystal clear to them whether or not their laptop can run those games.

And NEW IS NOT BETTER when it comes to laptops and their graphics cards! That's the #2 mistake. Believing that a new laptop graphics card will do the job. No it won't. Computer companies strive to make laptops lighter and make them consume less power - that unfortunately does not make them better for gaming, but worse. Everyone wants lighter laptops that last 10 hours without recharge but only a fraction of consumers expect those laptops to also run games.

 

[Angelos]

I hope Paradox will keep it's games low-end system friendly...Gameplay had always been the strong point of these games and graphics always came a far second. And that is the way it should remain i think. Vic 2 appears gorgeous, so that should be the pinnacle of Paradox' graphic implementation. CK2 certainly could not be more graphically demanding, could it?

 

[unmerged(75409)]

Depends on map size and number of sprites being rendered, even if basic graphics quality remains the same

 

[crusadertsar]

If you buy a laptop, you need to make double sure you have a dedicated graphics card, with dedicated graphic RAM. I can play EU3/HoI3/V2 just fine on my laptop, which is over 2 years old by now.

See if you can get a laptop with at least 512mb graphics RAM, and I would recommend a nvidia rather than an ATI/AMD graphics card.

So would this laptop: http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/id/10146369.aspx suffice for playing EU3/HoI3/V2? I would really like to try Paradox's new and upcoming titles but am really short on funds? About $1200 (Canadian) is all I can devote to a new computer and building own computer is out of the question (not techsmart enough for that ). Thanks.

 

[jdrou]

So would this laptop: http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/id/10146369.aspx suffice for playing EU3/HoI3/V2?

Not bad but I would really try to get a faster hard drive if possible (7200rpm instead of 5400). You'll really notice the lack of disk speed on a laptop, especially when the game is loading and when auto-saving. Overall I'd say that system has more memory and disk space than you need; I would trade for more disk speed and CPU speed.

 

[pietervds]

I can play EU3/HoI3/V2 just fine on my laptop, which is over 2 years old by now.

What GPU do you have? That way choices towards the outrageously overpowered and ridicoulously underpowered can be eliminated fairly easily...

pieter

 

[jdrou]

True; '2 years old' is meaningless in this context. A 2-year-old laptop with mid-range descrete graphics might be outperformed by integrated graphics today. OTOH some new laptops may still be using 2-year-old technology.

 

[Innocent Beard]

I have no idea what the requirements will be for CK2. But it certainly is possible to run V2 on a laptop.

I am running V2 without much troubles on my laptop. I have a laptop with a: Intel Core i7 Extreme 940XM (4 cores,8 threads, 2,13GHz, 3,33GHz Turbo, 8MB).

That's an insane laptop BTW.

Canadian sold laptops are usually like a T75xx with 2-4GBRam.

EDIT: I can run Vic 2 on my T8100, 2GB ram but the later years are a real drag. I pretty much memorize where my provinces are, zoom out all the way, then zoom back in only to give Troop orders, etc. Even then I sometimes just command my troops from the Fully Zoomed out mode in +1910 years.

 

[Sinbuster]

Canadian sold laptops are usually like a T75xx with 2-4GBRam.

That's not true, unless you're just exaggerating. My aforementioned Acer had the T8100 which was released in January of 2008 (purchased the laptop in March). I'm assuming the i3-i5 would be the standard for mid-range laptops these days. An i7 940xm on the other hand is a bit more rare... wowzers. Nice rig Veld, my i7 720 has p u envy.