So, I was just wondering, What is the cheapest Computer, but still with all the power needed to run good games, and to use applications such as Adobe After Effects and Maya’s 3ds Max with ease?
This would be useful for me to know. Thank you! :rabies:
EDIT
Damn, I said laptop.
Whatever you do don’t buy a laptop for games.
I’ve learnt from that mistake.
Does it have to be a laptop?
Nah, I’m looking around for a powerful computer. I already have a laptop for other purposes so…
I use my laptop for gaming; HP Pavilion Entertainment PC dv9628nr. Admittedly I’m cut off from stuff like Assassin’s Creed and Bioshock for the moment, but I can handle stuff like Psychonauts, Tomb Raider Anniversary & Legend, Half-life, HL2 and Portal as well as the mods for them, provided I use lower settings.
Letsee, with Half Life I can get a pretty solid 50-70fps even on the highest settings, with the low settings for HL2, I’ve apparently gotten as high as 200fps provided nothing is happening on screen, but that drops down pretty fast. I can’t recall too many points where I dropped down lower than 30fps, and it normally runs around 70fps as well. I could probably stand to boost up my model and texture detail, but I’d probably end up having one or two points through the games that would drop below 30fps if I did that, and I just can’t put up with that in FPS. I’ll take the lack of detail over low fps any day, since the latter actually affects the gameplay.
Ultimately though, with all the mods that I can run for HL and Orange box, I don’t feel at all cut off by the lack of power my laptop has, but what I really enjoy is the mobility of being able to play my games anywhere.
If you’re going to be using After Effects and 3DS Max, then I would suggest buying a killer desktop with some awesomely huge screens, then using a small, ultralight laptop for all your other purposes. It’ll be cheap, less powerful, but it’ll weigh nothing. Even an EeePC would be good.
OK then, maybe not so much as Maya’s 3DS Max, but enough to run HL2: Episode 2 for example without any lag or problems.
Hmmm. In that case, I’m personally about to buy a 13" Macbook Pro which should be able to handle HL2 with no problems, but I also have an HP 6910p which (despite being outdated) can handle it fine. Its very light and quite affordable, but I’m sure its been superseded now, so you might want to check out whichever model replaced it.
Why are you getting a mac to play hl2?
Bootcamp bro.
Also, if you’re looking to save money, don’t go for a mac.
I know about bootcamp, it just seems stupid to get a mac and make it imitate a pc when u can just get a pc with the same performance for less.
Like I said, I can run portal, and with that HL2:e2 without any problems(30-60fps standard, some minor drops below 20fps), provided I keep it to low settings. I doubt you’d find my laptop still on the market though, but something like this might be a reasonable buy if you’re dead set on doing your gaming through a laptop.
If he was dead set on doing his gaming through a laptop he wouldn’t buy a laptop with an intel integrated graphics chip.
Or WINE. Either way, awesome HL2.
Wine and parallels aren’t nearly as good at running hl2 or games at all for that matter. If you’re looking for performance, your best option is boot camp.
I would recommend Sager NP8662. It’s a no-name company but I guarantee you that it’s worth it, read some opinions on the matter at notebookreview.com. The people there know what they are talking about. Since technology constantly changes, it might be a bit out of date already though. I got a Sager NP8662 with a Core 2 Duo P8700, 4GB DDR3 Ram, 320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive and a Geforce 260m GTX 1GB for about $1400. Beautiful screen to, 1680x1050. To put things into perspective, it runs Crysis quite well. Assassins Creed is smooth at full res, high settings with some AA and V-sync on.
You will always pay more for a gaming laptop than the equivalent desktop, but if you know where to look and wait for a good deal, it can still definitely be worth it.
ALSO: In general, Mac hardware is fantastic but will cost you half a grand more than the equivalent PC, minimum. Whether or not it’s worth it is just a choice you have to make. For gaming, I wouldn’t recommend it. Even if you get Windows on it you just won’t be able to get the same performance. If you only plan on gaming a little then I would certainly consider it.
1k
GATEWAY FX LAPTOP
google it.
https://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668356.php
I own the above laptop on the link (it’s what I use for Autocad at home.)
It’s a gaming laptop but it has a Nvidia 260m one step down from the 280m.
It just came out a like in September 2009.
It’s powerful enough to work auto cad, 3dmax, blender, photoshop and gimp.
It’s even a recommended and certified Graphics card for Autodesk Autocad 2009 and 2010.
(update: just Google Autodesk official website and they will tell you.)
In fact it will play half life games without any lag period but it is $1200. But for the price it’s the only way you can find a Nvidia GTX 260m in a laptop for under $2000
This is my best opinion.
I’m actually studying to be an Architect and if you need something with more power the best solution is desktop computer with Quatro graphics but if you need something good on the go. This is my bes solution.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220638
Not that bad looking, and has some decent components. Should run games fairly well.
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