buy a new laptop

[ubgx]

I want to buy a new laptop, is this one enough powerful to play wii and gc games at full speed, and if yes, can it supports 720p resolution (I suppose it won't for 1080p).

ASUS R500VD SX402H with CPU i7 3630QM 2,4/3,4ghz turbo and nvidia geforce 610M / intel graphics hd 4000 - 2gb ddr3 sdram

[LordVador]

(07-22-2013, 04:04 AM)ubgx Wrote: is this one enough powerful to play wii and gc games at full speed

Some games will run full-speed. But the most demanding ones won't.

Which games are you planning to play?

[ubgx]

F-zero on gcube, new sup. Mario bros wii, maybe xenoblade, the legend of zelda (1or the 2), wii sports resort, tales of symphonia, ssx's on gc maybe, sin & punishment, ikaruga on gc, some metroid, Paper mario, fire emblem.

There are the games l m interested in but l certainly won t play them all
Thanks for your response

[admin89]

Do not buy it !
Nvidia GT 610M = Nvidia GT 520M (rename) = Intel HD 4000 = 480p = weak
The i7 3630QM contains integrated graphic Intel HD 4000 inside
If I was you , I would rather buy an i7 4700MQ or i7 4702MQ laptop
i7 4700MQ and i7 4702MQ contain integrated graphic Intel HD 4600 which 2 times as fast as Intel HD 4000
i7 3xxxQM is old ...

[ubgx]

Thanks for the advice

And what about this one :
Toshiba Satellite P770-117
With i7 2630QM 2/2,9 Ghz
And Geforce gt 540M 2gb

Is it better ?

Can it plays at full speed and in a quite good resolution some games ?

[linker357]

For a really good laptop that will not overheat and play most games on Dolphin full speed you'll need to spend A LOT of money (thousands of dollars) I'd advise you to buy or even build a desktop, you can build a really good one for a better price, unless you really NEED to have a laptop

[admin89]

Quote:Is it better ?

Nope
1) The CPU is much slower (2.8GHz - 2 cores active turbo vs 3.3GHz - 2 cores active turbo . Not mention Ivy Bridge is faster than Sandy Bridge clock for clock)
Explanation :
Ivy Bridge is code name of 3rd gen i7 3xxxQM with Intel HD 4000
Sandy Bridge is code name of 2nd gen i7 2xxxQM with Intel HD 3000
clock for clock : Ivy @ 2.8GHz is faster than Sandy i7 @ 2.8GHZ
2) The GPU is much faster
Nvidia GT 630M = Nvidia GT 540M (rename) = Intel HD 4600
3) All laptops you listed are multi-media laptop which is not designed for gaming . A multi-media laptop will run hot and might overheat with Dolphin . Why ?
_They use OEM thermal compound which is suck . OEM TC die fast -> overheat fast . See :
https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-100-c-is-too-hot-help-me-get-cool
_If the laptop doesn't have discrete GPU (AMD / Nvidia) but integrated GPU , you will be fine (temps is fine , I'm not talking about speed) . A discrete GPU will add more heat to laptop and cause it to overheat faster

Perhaps , you could buy this laptop but you have to keep 2 conditions to prevent it from overheating :
_ Playing PC game : Use Throttlestop to underclock CPU (to 1GHz for example) . Since PC games only care about GPU , underclocked CPu shouldn't cause any slowdown (I tried)
_Playing Dolphin emu : Go to Nvidia Control Panel - Add "Dolphin.exe" to Integrated Graphic -> You will run Dolphin with Integrated Graphic but Intel HD 4600 should be able to handle 2.5 Internal Resolution (1600x1320) So it doesn't matter

How to underclock / change CPU speed or switch GPU

[ubgx]

Thank you for detailed and fast explanations, l now understand better all this details about cpu's.
So The generation of the cpu is important, so it is to that that l saw in cpu benchmarks that some i3 are better than some i7 ?


I understand the problem of overheating but About intel integrated gpu's l heard they suck (their performances), so how it could be better ?

When you said at the end it doesn't matter at the end, you mean 2,5 x wii resolution is enough to have a good image ?


Finally l don't play pc games (l play on xbox) so laptop is for standard usage and some emulators, this is why l don't want to spend a lot for it, it is not to playing first. So, as l don't play pc games, could you indicate me a cheaper laptop but good for dolphin, i.e. with a good cpu (with integrated gpu) and a poor gpu ?

[admin89]

Quote:intel integrated gpu's l heard they suck (their performances), so how it could be better ?

So you say they should suck forever ? No improvement at all after so many years ?
Integrated GPU get faster and faster just like discrete GPU
Intel HD 4600 is on par with Nvidia GT 540M now
See Skyrim and BF3 and some other benchmarks :
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4600.86106.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-540M.41715.0.html
then compare results with the slower GT 610M
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-610M.63759.0.html

Quote:you mean 2,5 x wii resolution is enough to have a good image ?

2.5IR = 1600x1320 = 1320p
720p = 1200x720
1080p = 1920x1080
Do the math . That laptop has 1366x768 built in display , 1600x1320 internal res is much higher -> it will downscale to 1366x768 and give you the best graphic as possible

Quote:could you indicate me a cheaper laptop but good for dolphin

Here , no discrete GPU :
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-S55-A5257-15-6-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B00D3F7FRU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1374468114&sr=1-1&keywords=i7+4700MQ

[ubgx]

Ok cool, there is just a last thing l don't understand, the diff. Between the i3 i5 and i7 : the laptop has a 4th i7 gen. (I believed there were only 3 !)
In a same generation of cpus is a i7 always above a i5 and a i5 above a i3 ?
Or maybe l am wrong ?
For eg. You, you have a i5 480m, and i suppose it's efficient, but why not a i7 ?

Sorry if l ask too many questions but l am a beginner in hardware and l want to understand.