Getting a Laptop for "Trainz: A New Era"
- Thread starter Viroco
- Start date
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-1x8GB-Laptop-Memory-CMSO8GX3M1A1333C9/dp/B005T63BEM/
When buying memory you should be cautious about compatibility. Ideally you should upgrade your notebook RAM of the same speed. In rare cases (such as expensive DTR or gaming machines) it is possible to upgrade to faster speeds. Typical speeds are 1866, 1800, 1600 and 1333 MHz.
Additionally when installing modules of different capacities (ie. 4+8GB) you lose dual-channel functionality. If upgrading it's best to do it in pairs (ie. 4+4GB and 8+8GB).
When buying memory you should be cautious about compatibility. Ideally you should upgrade your notebook RAM of the same speed. In rare cases (such as expensive DTR or gaming machines) it is possible to upgrade to faster speeds. Typical speeds are 1866, 1800, 1600 and 1333 MHz.
Additionally when installing modules of different capacities (ie. 4+8GB) you lose dual-channel functionality. If upgrading it's best to do it in pairs (ie. 4+4GB and 8+8GB).
Which that is probably the best idea compared to a laptop.cascaderailroad
New member
An old XP desktop can be retrofitted for @ $500 or less, a Big Box store ready to run Gaming one, will run you @ $850 (mail order houses can get to one for @ $350).
Some of your Big Box store off the shelf $375 desktops have a Peuney 300 Watt Lite-OFF power supply, and a cheap CPU, with no video card.
Some of your Big Box store off the shelf $375 desktops have a Peuney 300 Watt Lite-OFF power supply, and a cheap CPU, with no video card.
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Viroco, you really don't want to follow this piece of advice.
[FONT=HPSimplified, arial]Would these specs make the cut? I don't need to run the settings on max, I have a laptop with i3 right now and it does ok, but I'm also running out of storage space and my laptop will be four years old here before long and its slowing down a bit. I am not a hard core gamer and I don't understand computer specs 100% I would just like something to run my games a little better.[/FONT]
- Windows 7 Professional 64
- 4th generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4210U Dual Core Processor + 2GB NVIDIA GeForce 840M Graphics
- 15.6-inch diagonal HD BrightView WLED-backlit Display (1366x768)
- 8GB DDR3L System Memory (1 Dimm)
- 750GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
If it's $500 or less, that's pretty good value with ample performance. The screen size is nothing to shout about, but that also means your graphics card (which is no slouch) has less to deal with and can give you smoother performance. It ticks all the T2 system requirements. The hard drive can be upgraded to a 7200RPM unit or SSD in future if you so desire.
NSWGR_46Class
Just call my Captain Rude
As a side note video editing on a laptop is not a good idea at all
About a month ago I got a laptop! It is much better than the ones I was looking at. Here are the specs:
HP Envy 17 Notebook PC
Intel Core i7-4510U CPU @ 2.00GHz 2.60GHz + 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M Graphics
16GB Ram
64-bit OS, x64-based processor
1TB Disk Space
Windows 8.1
I am very happy with it, even though the price tag was just over 1k. It runs everything I want. My current Trainz 12 game is running well, along with my video and photo editing software.
HP Envy 17 Notebook PC
Intel Core i7-4510U CPU @ 2.00GHz 2.60GHz + 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M Graphics
16GB Ram
64-bit OS, x64-based processor
1TB Disk Space
Windows 8.1
I am very happy with it, even though the price tag was just over 1k. It runs everything I want. My current Trainz 12 game is running well, along with my video and photo editing software.
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Ill just jump in, you might be best getting advice from pc builders like me(even tho retired), not really hard to build a basic Desktop pc, I could give you advice. Does take time to spec out what is required, then what you want. For example, get an AMD motherboard with a 6-core cpu, and finish building up from there. If you, or there is someone you know who can build a pc, id suggest that.
To add to what jbanetman has said, aim high within your budget, go for the most memory you can afford, the fastest processor and everything. What you don't want it to build a machine that's just OK today and one that will see some good use for a few years. My machine spec is similar to Mr. Banetman', except I have a slightly older processor, twice the RAM and a GTX780Ti. This runs TS12 nicely and TANE fine as it is.
For parts look at places such as Newegg - www.newegg.com They have bundles you can customize.
If you're not interested in building from scratch yourself. Digital Storm, although a bit pricey, also builds excellent machines. I know a couple of Trainzer that have machines built by them. One of them has had his for a few years and still loves it. The quality is top-shelf, and if I were every not into building machines anymore, I'd surely consider them. I too have retired from the industry with over 30 years in the technical side of things with the last 15 years of work spent in IT and support.
John
For parts look at places such as Newegg - www.newegg.com They have bundles you can customize.
If you're not interested in building from scratch yourself. Digital Storm, although a bit pricey, also builds excellent machines. I know a couple of Trainzer that have machines built by them. One of them has had his for a few years and still loves it. The quality is top-shelf, and if I were every not into building machines anymore, I'd surely consider them. I too have retired from the industry with over 30 years in the technical side of things with the last 15 years of work spent in IT and support.
John
Zeldaboy14
Owner of ZPW.
Even though I don't know much about the building a PC side, I can chime in on this. Go for the best you can get out of the PC. A good gaming rig may be spendy, but what you get out of it should be quite nice. I know this since my Dell Windows Vista (Now 7) has been upgraded by a good friend of ours who knows a bunch about PC's. Although it could barley handle Trainz when we got it, after getting it upgraded and such, it runs games like a charm. Even Trainz runs better on the new Nivida card we had to get put in it due to the older Nivida card we got put in it not working correctly. It pays to get a machine either built, or upgraded to run games better.
Do you think this will work for me to play Trainz a new era
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8992877&Sku=LCU-102411225
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8992877&Sku=LCU-102411225
I'd say not to a satisfactory level. First, you want an Intel i7 at least, and 8 GB or more RAM, and NVidia or AMD for the GPU, that is not "onboard", with at least 2 GB of GDDR5 (I prefer 3 to 4 or more) to actually have an acceptably good result. Don't waste your time on inferior laptops. Look up Asus ROG G751 if you want an example, and it has massive cooling. I have one, and quite a few guys on here have 'em. Of course, you could find similar in Alienware, or MSI, etc.
Paul