Hi there forumers.

 

I'm brand new to PC gaming and am currently a console gamer. I'm looking to buy a laptop in order to run GTA IV and LCPD: FR on MEDIUM - HIGH SETTINGS. The only problem is that I'm not very "tech-savy" when it comes to picking out gaming PCs. I'll make this as easy to understand as possible:

 

What type of PC are you looking for?

-Gaming laptop

 

Are you sure you want a laptop?

-YES!!!

 

What games will you be playing on it?

-Primarily GTA IV but other such as CoD, Arma, SR2, and SRTT.

 

What price range?

-$1000 - $2000

 

What brand?

-Alienware, MSI, Asus, HP, whatever else can be found.

 

Processor?

-Preferably above recommended (2.4 GHz) or whatever is necessary to run GTA IV on medium to high settings.

 

Graphics Card?

-NVIDIA 580-700MB or whatever else runs GTA IV on medium to high settings

 

How many inches?

-Preferably 10''-15''

 

What mods do you intend to use?

-LCPD: FR, RealityIV, ICEnhancer, various car mods. (also accepting suggestions)

-http://www.gta4-mods.com/misc/simplenb-10-f18372 (Simple ENB 1.0 by Fabricuiz) **suggested by ScottLCPDYoung**

 

What settings do you want to run the game on?

-MEDIUM - HIGH

 

 

I appreciate all the help.

 

NOTE: I CHECK OFTEN!!!

 

 

 

 

HERE'S A FEW I HAVE IN MIND (*will be updated*):

 

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c03341568 (HP Pavilion dv6-7029wm Entertainment Notebook PC)

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-MSI-GT628-Gaming-Notebook.20357.0.html (MSI GT628 Gaming-Notebook)

http://sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=category_browse&selected_cat=special&mid=NP9150 (Sager NP9150-S) **JUST ADDED**

                                                                                                                                                              (HP ENVY 15) **suggested by ASTTrprDillon95**

 

Edited January 9, 201313 yr by LegendOfGta

Well I use a HP Envy 15 to play IV and other games. Do bare in mind that it has dual GPUs. Switch to the AMD GPU to run IV better. Plus There is a slight possibility that you have to upgrade the Laptop if you want to use FPS killing ENBs like me... I have yet to upgrade my Laptop but I using an FPS killing ENB....

I ran everything fine on my ASUS G71 Gaming laptop, i bought from best buy, just use it now to mess around with games but never game me any problem, but I would def recommend a custom built PC off ibuypower, but the asus laptop I have is awesome!

origin or alienware.

 

everything else meh.. asus is barely acceptable.

Hi there forumers.

I'm brand new to PC gaming and am currently a console gamer. I'm looking to buy a laptop in order to run GTA IV and LCPD: FR on MEDIUM - HIGH SETTINGS. The only problem is that I'm not very "tech-savy" when it comes to picking out gaming PCs. I'll make this as easy to understand as possible:

What type of PC are you looking for?

-Gaming laptop

Are you sure you want a laptop?

-YES!!!

What games will you be playing on it?

-Primarily GTA IV but other such as CoD, Arma, SR2, and SRTT.

What price range?

-$1000 - $2000

What brand?

-Alienware, MSI, Asus, HP, whatever else can be found.

Processor?

-Preferably above recommended (2.4 GHz) or whatever is necessary to run GTA IV on medium to high settings.

Graphics Card?

-NVIDIA 580-700MB or whatever else runs GTA IV on medium to high settings

How many inches?

-Preferably 10''-15''

What mods do you intend to use?

-LCPD: FR, RealityIV, ICEnhancer, various car mods. (also accepting suggestions)

What settings do you want to run the game on?

-MEDIUM - HIGH

I appreciate all the help.

HERE'S A FEW I HAVE IN MIND (*will be updated*):

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c03341568 (HP Pavilion dv6-7029wm Entertainment Notebook PC)

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-MSI-GT628-Gaming-Notebook.20357.0.html (MSI GT628 Gaming-Notebook)

the HP dv6 is epic! I use it for lcpdfr on low settings and loads of fps :p

origin or alienware.

 

everything else meh.. asus is barely acceptable.

 

I've thought of Alienware, but when I mention Alienware, it's either:

 

1) Boo! Alienware is too expensive!

2) You can find something cheaper.

 

What Alienware would you recommend then?

10 Inches! Thats tiny..lol.My netbooks is 11 "

Well I use a HP Envy 15 to play IV and other games. Do bare in mind that it has dual GPUs. Switch to the AMD GPU to run IV better. Plus There is a slight possibility that you have to upgrade the Laptop if you want to use FPS killing ENBs like me... I have yet to upgrade my Laptop but I using an FPS killing ENB....

This sounds promising...

 

I ran everything fine on my ASUS G71 Gaming laptop, i bought from best buy, just use it now to mess around with games but never game me any problem, but I would def recommend a custom built PC off ibuypower, but the asus laptop I have is awesome!

Recommended settings for GTA IV say "2.4 GHz"; this has 2.0 Ghz or are there 2 processors?

 

Am I required to have recommended settings or if I do over the minimum will I do fine?

 

the HP dv6 is epic! I use it for lcpdfr on low settings and loads of fps :p

Yeah; it looks good, but I'm confused. I believe I need to be OVER "recommended settings" in order for GTA IV to work. Is this a fallacy? Do I need to just be OVER "minimum settings" for GTA IV to work?

 

Again, I'm NEW to gaming on a Pc and need to know what laptop will be good for running GTA IV at medium to high settings and at least being able to support LCPD: FR. Some other I wish to add are RealityIV, ICEnhancer (if applicable) and some car mods.

 

Apologies for DP, didn't notice the "MultiQuote Option"  .

 

EDIT: @ScottLCPDYoung, I prefer the size of the laptop to be within ten inches to fifteen inches.

Edited January 9, 201313 yr by LegendOfGta

Just a quick note : ICEnhancer is over-rated,you can get much better ENB's that use 1/2 the resources and look 10x better

I've heard absolutely amazing things about these:

http://sagernotebook.com/

 

edit - Fixed the link.

 

I've heard these laptops are just as good, if not better, than alienware.

While alienware might be great, dell overprices them QUITE a lot.

 

Just as a note, before i built my current desktop, i spent a lot of time researching gaming laptops because i wanted to have a laptop that could play SW:TOR. I eventually settled on building a desktop because it's a hell of a lot cheaper, and i really don't need the portability of the laptop. After all the research i did, it was quite clear that sager / Clevo (pretty much exactly the same, just a different company) is the best bang for the buck, so to speak.

Edited January 9, 201313 yr by Ceril

Just a quick note : ICEnhancer is over-rated,you can get much better ENB's that use 1/2 the resources and look 10x better

What about REalityIV then? I'm looking for at least one mod where it will make the game more "belivable" and "realistic". I only know of ICEnhancer; what else would you prefer then? I have no clue what ENB series mods do. Again, I'm new.

 

I've heard absolutely amazing things about these:

http://sagernotebook.com/

 

edit - Fixed the link.

 

I've heard these laptops are just as good, if not better, than alienware.

While alienware might be great, dell overprices them QUITE a lot.

 

Just as a note, before i built my current desktop, i spent a lot of time researching gaming laptops because i wanted to have a laptop that could play SW:TOR. I eventually settled on building a desktop because it's a hell of a lot cheaper, and i really don't need the portability of the laptop. After all the research i did, it was quite clear that sager / Clevo (pretty much exactly the same, just a different company) is the best bang for the buck, so to speak.

Will definitely look this over.

 

Looks good; looks good. But again, I see that it is initially "2.4 GHz". Again I ask, will this make GTA IV run at medium to high settings? If I get BELOW "Recommended Settigns" will I still be able to run GTA IV well?

Edited January 9, 201313 yr by LegendOfGta

Definitley this one : http://www.gta4-mods.com/misc/simplenb-10-f18372

 

What about REalityIV then? I'm looking for at least one mod where it will make the game more "belivable" and "realistic". I only know of ICEnhancer; what else would you prefer then? I have no clue what ENB series mods do. Again, I'm new.

 

 

This sounds promising...

Recommended settings for GTA IV say "2.4 GHz"; this has 2.0 Ghz or are there 2 processors?

Am I required to have recommended settings or if I do over the minimum will I do fine?

Yeah; it looks good, but I'm confused. I believe I need to be OVER "recommended settings" in order for GTA IV to work. Is this a fallacy? Do I need to just be OVER "minimum settings" for GTA IV to work?

Again, I'm NEW to gaming on a Pc and need to know what laptop will be good for running GTA IV at medium to high settings and at least being able to support LCPD: FR. Some other I wish to add are RealityIV, ICEnhancer (if applicable) and some car mods.

Apologies for DP, didn't notice the "MultiQuote Option" .

EDIT: @ScottLCPDYoung, I prefer the size of the laptop to be within ten inches to fifteen inches.

with the DV6 you sometimes get lagspikes but its runs ok on low graphic settings got vdh mods and lcpdfr and car mods runs good :)

EDIT:: about the processors i think it has two because i run gta on it :D if its below 2.1GHz i cant play it but i can xD

Edited January 9, 201313 yr by WelshPancake

Definitley this one : http://www.gta4-mods.com/misc/simplenb-10-f18372

 

I like this! And it's better than ICEnhancer because it causes less "stress" on the grpahics card, right? I'll add it to the mods I'll be using.

with the DV6 you sometimes get lagspikes but its runs ok on low graphic settings got vdh mods and lcpdfr and car mods runs good :)

EDIT:: about the processors i think it has two because i run gta on it :D if its below 2.1GHz i cant play it but i can xD

The DV6 looks good and does have two processors (I see that now). One runs at 2.0 GHz; the other at 2.8 GHz.

 

How well will GTA IV run if I got a gaming laptop with a processor of 3.0 or 3.1 GHz and a Nvidia grpahics card of 660MB?

 

How do you even tell how good a graphcis card is? Maybe this will help in my search.

 

Again, thanks everyone for the continued help.

How do I check how good a graphics card is?

What card you getting?

What card you getting?

 

I'm specifically looking for a gaming laptop that will run GTA IV. Atm, Nvidia or ATI.

 

I'm not quite sure though how to tell the difference between VERSIONS of Nvidia and ATI graphics cards nor do I know how to identify IF one graphics card is better than the other. I'm guessing it has something to do with the numbers?

 

 

EDIT: If the processor falls JUST UNDER the recommended or minimum requirements, would a good graphics card make up for it and VICE VERSA?

Edited January 10, 201313 yr by LegendOfGta

This is just a VERY quick look at picking graphics cards for laptops. This is just the absolute basic, "graphics cards for dummies" kind of thing.

 

When picking a graphics card for laptops (and desktops as well), there is always a number involved.

For example:

Nvidia GeForce 650

 

The number is quite simple to explain, it works like this.

the 6 is the generation. With Nvidia, the higher the number, the newer the card.

the 50 is the version within the year. The higher the number, the better the performance.

Generally, performance has to do with the internal clock and all that good stuff.

People tend to assume that the first number (the 6) is what defines the performance, but it's not. For example, an Nvidia GeForce 480 is better than a 550.

 

The next thing you want to look at is the RAM the graphics card uses. The current best (as far as i'm aware) is known as GDDR5. 1GB GDDR5 ram should be enough for GTA IV, though i might recommend 2 just for security.

 

Now, in terms of the sager notebook, when you do the quick look, you see the 2.40 Ghz.

When you select the laptop, and before you purchase it, you get to customize what you get, everything about it.

 

This means you can put in a better processor, larger HDD, different graphics processor (if available), etc.

The Nvidia GTX 670MX with 3GB GDDR5 that comes standard with the Sager 17" NP9170 is definitely good enough for gta iv.

 

here are the CPU options:

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor ( 6MB L3 Cache, 2.40GHz)

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3740QM Processor ( 6MB L3 Cache, 2.70GHz) [+$170.00]

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3840QM Processor ( 8MB L3 Cache, 2.80GHz) [+$355.00]

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3940XM Processor Extreme Edition ( 8MB L3 Cache, 3.0GHz ) [+$875.00]

 

the i7-3740QM is definitely good enough for GTA IV.

 

 

I definitely recommend that you simply walk through the process of customizing a sager notebook, i'm not sure what screen size you want, but they have 15.6" and 17", and a whole bunch of others.

I think the 15" starts at 1099. When i was going through the process of customizing the one that i wanted, i think the end total was 1399, with a beefier processor and graphics processor.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited January 10, 201313 yr by Ceril

I would recommend getting a alienware

1: I7 Processor, more than anough for gta..

2: goodish graphics cards

@Ceril

 

Your post was extremely helpful...but not enough to mark "solved".

 

I applaud your "graphics for dummies walkthrough".

 

I have one more question to ask; okay, two.

 

What is the difference between recommended settings and minimum settings? And, if I got a laptop that is BELOW the "recommended" settings BUT ABOVE the "minimum" settings, would I still be okay with running the game well?

 

I'm definitely going to be looking more into these Sager Notebooks; they look like the real deal AND small enough to be portable.

 

I'm looking for something that is within 10'' - 15'' in length.

 

@WelshPancake, I would get an Alienware, but if I can find something a bit cheaper, than that's a benefit. How good is the RAM on Alienware? I read an article on Alienware, that they offer very little RAM.

Edited January 10, 201313 yr by LegendOfGta