Trying to figure out if I need a new comp

[Russianwolf]

okay, bare with me as I'm not the most tech savvy person

I am a life long fan of mechwarrior and want to get involved with LL, but I don't know if any of my current comps can handle it, or what I should look for in a new comp.

The best unit I have is a HP 4520s laptop with an Intel Core i5 processor running 2.67ghz, 4gig of ram, 64bit OS (windows 7 business). If you want me to tell you more, tell me how to find the info on the comp.

If this guy won't do the job, what should I look for? And I don't have a bunch of money to through at this. I'd say best I can do is about $500 and it'll need to be a prebuilt.

Thanks

[Gouty]

Okay,

Click your start button, and type "Device Manager" into "search programs and files"

Click the program that comes up, and expand the tree to reveal below "display adapters"

Let us know what comes up under there.

EDIT: Oh, alternatively, type "dxdiag" into the start search, and then click "save all information" in the resulting window, this will then allow you to save a text file with all your information

[CGB [NoXoN]]

quick specs say:  Intel HD Graphics

maybe at low settings.  The other specs are ok (i5, 4GB ram) the killer will be the graphics card.  If it must be  alaptop you'll want somthing that has a dedicated graphics card.

[Come and See]

That's what I hate with Laptop's with not being able to upgrade your graphics.

Overall it looks like a good performance Laptop, but you aren't going to get PC quality performance even with better hardware.

[Mitchpate]

The HP Probook 4520s comes with either Intel HD or ATI mobility 4350.  If you have the Intel I'm not sure I'd even bother trying.  The ATI should be able to muddle through at low settings.

It's a good computer but it's a business model and isn't meant for gaming.

[Werewolf486}12thVR{]

My advice if you can do it, is to buy or build something for gaming. Since you have a lappy I would look into building a gaming rig if your current conditions are right for it. If you don't have to travel much or have to worry about leaving a rig alone in your place then by all means build one. If you have to stay with a lappy then try to get something good with a GREAT warranty, or take the poor mans route and buy a used model very cheap and hope for the best. Just make sure it's 64bit, quad core, 8gb ram and big enough HDD.

[Russianwolf]

YEp, intel HD graphics

As said, I'm not against buying another, need a new desktop for the house anyway, just is the best machine I have at the moment.

That being said, what should I look for in a prebuilt (don't have the time to build one myself, dayjob is long hours). Again in the $300-500 range. I can swap cards for graphics and such, but need it to be inexpensive to do.

Thanks.

I do have two older desktops at the house. I think one is a pentium 3 right now, and the other is a dual core 2.2g if I remember correctly.

[Werewolf486}12thVR{]

I can't see getting much of a gaming rig or set up for $500, you might want to up that. I'd go in the $1500 US dollar range and get something ASUS G73 series. They have good ones for less so take a look.

Here is a link to a site I have recommended in the past to friends and family and never had an issue. They have units for less than a grand, but I'm strictly ASUS.

http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-gaming-laptops-ct-118_96_98.html

[Mitchpate]

You can custom-build a decent gaming desktop for $500 but no pre-built in the $300-500 range can play MWLL.

[Eximo]

Saw an interesting article on Tom's the other day.

ViDock, the external graphics card enclosure for any Express Card slot equipped laptop.

http://www.villageinstruments.com/tiki-index.php?page=ViDock

[=CJW= Bin Fish]

That thing is pretty awesome.

[Mitchpate]

The max power rating is 225 watts which eliminates any card more powerful than an ATI 5750.  Apparently they based their power design around the assumption that GPU makers are complying with the PCIe power consumption standards.  This is an incorrect assumption.  The PCIe power connectors are capable of safely drawing several times their rated values and manufacturers take full advantage of this.

[Russianwolf]

I can't see getting much of a gaming rig or set up for $500, you might want to up that. I'd go in the $1500 US dollar range and get something ASUS G73 series. They have good ones for less so take a look.

Here is a link to a site I have recommended in the past to friends and family and never had an issue. They have units for less than a grand, but I'm strictly ASUS.

http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-gaming-laptops-ct-118_96_98.html

I'm not including a monitor in that, but no way I can go much more than $500. I have a wife. If I can't find something that'll work, I guess I'll have to wait. I've got my brother looking into it now, he's the computer expert.

Looks like a sweet game, hopefully I can find a way to play.

[Eximo]

I've been tempted to buy one just to see how effective it is at utilizing the express card bandwidth. Depending on the age of the laptop and design the express card slot could be hooked to the computer through the USB bus or PCIe bus. So while having separate memory for video on a laptop is great, it might be limited in how much data you can get to the card.

Neat solution to a common problem though.

[Mitchpate]

I don't think I've ever seen an Expresscard54 slot not connect to the PCIe bus but there's no telling how wide that bus is.  Most EC adapters are low-bandwidth and prior to this the most taxing card I'd seen was a dual eSATA2 RAID card.  If the slot connects to something like a PCIe 1.0 x8 bus it's probably best that you don't even bother but if you've got a newer laptop with a PCIe 2.0 bus this could probably be a really nice addon.