TrainzLover09
New member
im looking to buy a new laptop .. but do i need a desktop pc to play TRS2004 / 09 ?
new computer or laptop
- Thread starter TrainzLover09
- Start date
Most laptops don't have a powerful enough graphics processor chip for 3D programs such as Trainz. It's also much easier to replace or upgrade internal parts for a desktop. Against that of course are the obvious factors such as size and portability of a laptop. Only you can decide.
John
John
Wessex_Electric_Nutter
New member
Well, put it this way:
The smaller the laptop, the worse it is at playing Trainz, simple as, I've tried this on a Netbook (Atom processors) and got very poor frames although it did run anything upto TC3 reasonably well (with everything on low). Larger ones do give you good frame rates, but they are less portable and often are quite heavy. Look at the power my Aspire 9920G had for its time, then try and lug it around, I bet you, your back will give in pretty damm soon.
Again, its your choice, but I'll go for a desktop if I want the maximun performance and upgradablity. Having said that, you can upgrade the CPU, RAM, Hard drives and in most cases, the graphics cards (MXM ones), however, you really need to know what you are doing as not all MXM cards for example are built identically. One card built for one system, may not work in another system and vice versa.
And if that wasn't enough, your warranty is instantly screwed the moment you start carassessing your laptop.
Here is an example of performance with TS2010 and RailWorks on a three year old Dell XPS laptop -
http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=55295&page=2
If you are looking for decent gaming performance in a laptop this is about as good as it gets at the moment -
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3662/asus-g73jha2-affordable-xlsized-gaming
UnionPacificRules
NYC, PRR, UP, SP, BNSF...
If your new laptop can play Crysis smoothly, then u kno the answer
If u are thinking about the ipad, check out the thread for that
If u are thinking about the ipad, check out the thread for that
Dell gave up offering “high end” gaming options on their XPS line when they bought Alienware years ago.
You won't find any options (or quality for that matter) at Dell that can match that Asus G73Jh.
Fair enough, good idea, but don't forget that 3D programs such as Trainz also need a very powerful graphics processor and this is where most laptops fail to provide, due to cost and also heat dissipation problems.
John
norfolksouthern37
what's a normal map?
yea i really enjoy my laptop and i take it everywhere but its not for the faint of heart for sure. its heavy, i wouldnt want to use it on the lap since it gets hot and itll eat the battery in about an hour. luckily it works just fine for me since i normally use it on a hard surface with the power plugged in. if i switch off the SLI cards and use the 9400 gpu on bat power i can save bat power and still play trainz, but it isnt as enjoyable and smooth; the textures get all blurry sooner and i get like 20 fps. i wouldnt want to give up portability though, as i can work or play anywhere i like.
disclaimer: i dont want to make it seem like i claim that trainz works well with SLI, as it really doesnt without some tweaking of the settings, you may experience flickering menu's and such. i normally have a profile turn off one card when i am in ts2010. i did some testing on one of the built-in routes when i first got it that suggests there is no performance increase using SLI in trainz anyhow.
that asus is a nice piece, just kinda lame about the 1080p screen... of course, thats all up to whoever is using it.
in the end, yes you can get a laptop, but you have to be willing to shop around for it, and do some research. dont just go to best buy or fry's and pick one up as it probably wont do anything you want no matter what the floor geeks say. you will probably also have to spend a prettier penny than a desktop, but again thats up to you.
disclaimer: i dont want to make it seem like i claim that trainz works well with SLI, as it really doesnt without some tweaking of the settings, you may experience flickering menu's and such. i normally have a profile turn off one card when i am in ts2010. i did some testing on one of the built-in routes when i first got it that suggests there is no performance increase using SLI in trainz anyhow.
that asus is a nice piece, just kinda lame about the 1080p screen... of course, thats all up to whoever is using it.
in the end, yes you can get a laptop, but you have to be willing to shop around for it, and do some research. dont just go to best buy or fry's and pick one up as it probably wont do anything you want no matter what the floor geeks say. you will probably also have to spend a prettier penny than a desktop, but again thats up to you.
Last edited:
You don't see too many laptops offering a 1920x1200 display anymore but 1920x1080 (1080p) isn't going to be too different as far as image quality goes. My 3 year old Dell XPS has a 17” LCD with a 1920x1200 native resolution and it's coupled to, by to days standards, an anemic Go 7950 GTX GPU. It gets by with CPU dependent sims/games but with up to date game engines forget it.
Actually BestBuy does carry the Asus G73JH so I guess if you had to return it would be a little easier than dealing with shipping it back to an on-line retailer.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+...lack/9741729.p?id=1218165344675&skuId=9741729
norfolksouthern37
what's a normal map?
hm i didnt realize they had Asus G73JH there. i get people complaining to me about their notebook PCs they get, bc they dont do what they want them to, and normally it comes down to ' i went to best buy and got it for $500'. i cant help but laugh, but the sales people there will tell you anything you want to hear. my boss is one of those people. speaking of, have you tried this Asus G73JH at all? i have no personal experience with it, but normally i shy away from the ASUS computers. we got some ASUS laptops at work that i cant stand and regularly curse about.
Officially Auran does not support using Trainz on a laptop. So if you do use TRS on a laptop you can forget asking for support via the helpdesk. However that is not to say you can't get support here at the forums (maybe even from an Auran staff member).
My low-ish-end Sony Vaio will run TS9 decently (not great) and ran TC3 quite well. However it just sort of laughed at me when I put TS10 on it.
peter
My low-ish-end Sony Vaio will run TS9 decently (not great) and ran TC3 quite well. However it just sort of laughed at me when I put TS10 on it.
peter
No but it's getting some really good reviews. With the mobile i7 and 5870 it's one of the best combo's in a laptop that I've seen. It's not going to match an i7/5870 desktop setup but it's still as good as it gets as far as laptops are concerned.
I don't know what the low end Asus laptops are like but the high end ones have proven to be pretty reliable and of good build quality from what I've read.