• 🏆 Texturing Contest #33 is OPEN! Contestants must re-texture a SD unit model found in-game (Warcraft 3 Classic), recreating the unit into a peaceful NPC version. 🔗Click here to enter!
  • It's time for the first HD Modeling Contest of 2024. Join the theme discussion for Hive's HD Modeling Contest #6! Click here to post your idea!

Laptops That Can Run Ultra/Extreme Settings

Status
Not open for further replies.
Level 36
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Messages
6,677
The whole "laptops aren't for gaming" thing is becoming less and less the case. As hardware gets smaller and smaller you can pack more punch into a laptop than ever. Sure desktops still have an advantage, but there really are 2 factors here:
  1. As I said before, parts are smaller now, so you can fit more in a laptop
  2. The current hardware is waaaay ahead of the current software, so what you can get in a laptop can run most current games with no problem.

If you really want to see a (very impractical) laptop with kickass specs look at this:
http://build.falcon-nw.com/?s=4

I myself am going to buy a TLX with an i5 which will be just fine for new games, especially SC2 which really has low graphics in comparison to its contemporaries. Most mainstream brands also make gaming laptops which do the job just fine, but usually have the same specs as the TLX in a 3lbs heavier machine.
 

Dr Super Good

Spell Reviewer
Level 63
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Messages
27,180
As hardware gets smaller and smaller you can pack more punch into a laptop than ever.
You can not seriously be beliving hardware is getting smaller... HAVE YOU TAKEN A LOOK AT DESKTOP GRAPHIC CARDS AT ALL RECENTLY? (excuse caps, this is meant to represent a slight shock and is not a flame or insult)
If anything, hardware is getting bigger and bigger... Take a look at a graphic card in a machine from 2004 odd. Then take a look at a graphic card like a 275 GTX. You will see how masive modern graphic cards are (which is part of the reason they are so powerful). This is not including dual graphic cards which are even more massive.

My 275 GTX with cooling alone is thicker than most laptops. (2 card slots). Yes it may fit into a laptop but cooling would be seriously comprimized.

Yes you do get more performance per volume than you did in the past. However graphic cards also are larger than before. This means that eithor a greatly reduced graphic card must be used (less shaders, memeory, etc) or the laptop would need to phsycally be bigger (thus defeating the purpose of something portable).

Processors I can agree have gotton faster for the same size. However, even though energy efficency has gone up, they produce more heat when maximumly loaded.

Laptops are also expected to run on battery power, and these mega graphic cards also kill the purpose when they drain hundreds of watts of power.

The end result is that laptops are considerably weaker than desktops. The graphic cards they use are eithor greatly reduced versions of their desktop counterparts (nvidia) or have the potential to suffer overheating if actually loaded heavilly (AMD). The processors in laptops are eithor lower clocked than their desktop counter parts or they also suffer overheating if maximumly loaded.

Unless your fan is cooled with some kind of dyson fan, it will suffer from overheating or will not have the power to compare to a proper desktop.

Ofcourse you can play things like SC2 on them, afterall a PS3 can be run from your laptop battery no problem nowdays. Additionally SC2 was aimed to be usable on hardware that is now 5 years old. However running on extreem is another problem alltogether.

Firstly people do not know how well extreem actually performs cause the patch is not out yet (clicking the play beta does nothing due to region crap). Secondly, even though SC2 is not crysis 2, it still is prety heavy on graphic cards and is capable of frying a 8800GT on high (only high, let alone extreem).

Yes top range graphic hardware for laptops will run the game on extreem, but how well is hard to predict. Low performance may occur when complex effects are used in anything above the smallest quantities (particles, long view range, lot of light sources). Additionally the laptop might overheat if used too long in demanding situations. In any case, the heat it will give off is such that what ever you do, do not put it near easilly flamable material or on your lap (if you plan to live a long and health life with children).

I am using graphic cards lie 275 GTX and 460 GTX desktop models. I have seen both of these drop frames in various maps and situations and you will be hard pushed to get a card as strong for a laptop. I am waiting to test extreem to see exactly how much more often frame stutter will occur.
 
Level 9
Joined
Nov 28, 2008
Messages
704
I'm on an ASUS G73JH and it can run ultra at about 40-60 fps, depending on the map in question. Better than my desktop, although a desktop at the same price would likely be much better. Heating is most definitely not an issue. Max of like an hour on batteries, though.
 
Level 5
Joined
Jul 10, 2010
Messages
124
yeah i have an Asus G73 like the above poster, its the best I have had from Dell XPS, Toshiba Qosmio, and Sony Viao

Its pretty big due to the excellent cooling system, but feels lighter than similar laptops

Also its got a rugged material the case is made of, not really hard plastic or metal like other laptops, and its not shiny so it doesnt smudge either

Only problem I had was the bug with ATI graphics card and cursor, caused random GSOD crashed and mouse cursor bugs until I updated VBIOS, might have gotten fixed in a driver release by now though


oh and it will crash heroes of might & magic 3 A LOT if it is not connected to the internet for some reason, but that game is really old so not an issue
 
Level 9
Joined
Nov 28, 2008
Messages
704
Only problem I had was the bug with ATI graphics card and cursor, caused random GSOD crashed and mouse cursor bugs until I updated VBIOS, might have gotten fixed in a driver release by now though

Me too, :(.

Keystroke issues and the Creative Audigy software likes to not work on me. Just uninstalled the Creative crap and disabled touchpad to fix keyboard issues, though. Honestly, if you're playing a game, you should be using the mouse anyways.

Notebookreview.com had links/etc to everything, and one user, Chastity, hangs out on IRC and can help.
 
Level 22
Joined
Feb 4, 2005
Messages
3,971
Laptops are not really for gaming, you will however want one with atleast a 3 GHz quad core and high end DX11 laptop card.

I don't agree much. Yes the best PC > the best laptop but laptops are for gaming too. Alienware, Dell, Asus are the good names you wanna get. Some laps are just designed with this idea that they will be used for heavy graphics and stuff. Also the battery is plus, it's not like you play at home on battery do you? And when the electricity shuts down as it has happened, it's still working.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top