Specs for new laptopuire

[behemoth14]

I intend to get a new laptop in the near future (no room for a desktop PC at the moment) so I'm hoping that those in the know could offer some advice on specs.

The basic specs I'm looking at are:

• 4th-gen. Intel Core i7-4700MQ (2.4 GHz); 8 Gb RAM; 2 Gb NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M graphics.

The storage on models I'm considering seem to be either a 1 Tb 5400 rpm SATA HDD or 1 Tb 5400 rpm SATA HDD + 24 Gb SSD.

Given TS12 is a 32-bit program, the 8 Gb of RAM is fine. Most laptops I'm looking at appear to be upgradeable to 16 Gb RAM (nice for when TANE comes out).

Some questions I have:

• I'd prefer to get a 7200 rpm drive but most laptops currently seem to be equipped with a 5400 rpm drive. The 7200 rpm drives are obviously better (faster) but does it really make much of a difference to Trainz performance?
• Some of the HP laptops have the additional 24 Gb SSD which I assume is for the software. However, I'm thinking a large Trainz installation could easily require more than half this space. Can I install Trainz on the accompanying 1 Tb drive or would it be better just to get a laptop with only one drive?
• Is there much of a difference quality-wise between, say, ASUS and HP given equivalent models have nearly identical specs?
• Is the 2 Gb NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M sufficient for running Trainz (I'm not sure where it is on a scale of low-end to high-end mobile graphics cards)? I guess the answer to this question also depends on how I tweak the graphics settings in Trainz itself.

How would Trainz perform on a laptop running these specs?

Does TS12 run on Windows 8?

Any other advice on laptop spec selection?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Sorry, the thread title got a little mangled!

 

[PC_Ace]

Some belated answers to a somewhat dated query or two...
Observations supporting some of your statements above:
1. Laptop specs look pretty good. What screen resolution are you going for? And what size screen (15.6" or larger?) Remember, you'll probably be able to drive a much larger external screen or projector with that GPU too, if needed.
2. HDD + SSD combos/ hybrids are cool, but pure SSD is better (but more expensive!) and in general 7200 rpm drives are faster than 5400 ones too, but disappointingly hard to find in notebooks these days.
3. Your 2GB GT 740m should be more than acceptable for TS12 SP1 performance at moderate detail settings, but T2 purportedly requires DX11-capable cards. Will that card run DX11 I wonder? Check the specs...
4. HP and ASUS both produce great quality and generally affordable laptops these days, but so too do Toshiba, ACER, Lenovo and Dell... Choose the one that matches your optimal specifications best and is within your budget.(Don't forget that the real value to you of any computer is not in the hardware, but in the software and applications you use it for.) Leave enough money to kit out your new beast with the best OS and apps to suit your needs.
5. In that connection, YES, Windows 8.1 runs TS12 really well and in many respects, even better than Windows 7. (I use both). You'll like the way Win 8.1 starts up and shuts down so much faster too, especially if you have the OS on an SSD boot drive.
It all comes down to making an investment in your own time too - in configuring and fine-tuning your machine for optimal performance, for Trainz and whatever else you need to run.
Cheers!
PC

 

[JCitron]

Some belated answers to a somewhat dated query or two...
Observations supporting some of your statements above:
1. Laptop specs look pretty good. What screen resolution are you going for? And what size screen (15.6" or larger?) Remember, you'll probably be able to drive a much larger external screen or projector with that GPU too, if needed.
2. HDD + SSD combos/ hybrids are cool, but pure SSD is better (but more expensive!) and in general 7200 rpm drives are faster than 5400 ones too, but disappointingly hard to find in notebooks these days.
3. Your 2GB GT 740m should be more than acceptable for TS12 SP1 performance at moderate detail settings, but T2 purportedly requires DX11-capable cards. Will that card run DX11 I wonder? Check the specs...
4. HP and ASUS both produce great quality and generally affordable laptops these days, but so too do Toshiba, ACER, Lenovo and Dell... Choose the one that matches your optimal specifications best and is within your budget.(Don't forget that the real value to you of any computer is not in the hardware, but in the software and applications you use it for.) Leave enough money to kit out your new beast with the best OS and apps to suit your needs.
5. In that connection, YES, Windows 8.1 runs TS12 really well and in many respects, even better than Windows 7. (I use both). You'll like the way Win 8.1 starts up and shuts down so much faster too, especially if you have the OS on an SSD boot drive.
It all comes down to making an investment in your own time too - in configuring and fine-tuning your machine for optimal performance, for Trainz and whatever else you need to run.
Cheers!
PC

Well said.

The new NV7xxM series GPUs should support DX11 fine as that's pretty standard today with most GPUs; it's us Trainz users who are behind the eight ball here.

You guys might find this interesting and helpful.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Notebookcheck-s-Top-10-Gaming-Notebooks.98628.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-740M.89900.0.html

"The NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M is a DirectX 11 graphics card of the middle class. It is based on the Kepler architecture and manufactured by TSMC in a 28-nanometer process. In addition to an older version with the GK107 chip (384 shader, 810 - 895 MHz, 128 bit memory), there also exist models with the new GK208 (384 shader, up to 980 MHz plus boost, 64 bit memory). Both versions usually use DDR3 memory; however, GDDR5 versions are possible, too."

The 740 is middle of the road. Perhaps look at other chips - more performance oriented rather than just multimedia oriented.

John