Help!

[Lucienne]

I know this isn't BG tech, but those guys are scary.

I need a new laptop before I go to US and I'm a complete noob when it gets to technical stuff. Last time I went to the store alone they tried to sell me a pink PS3.

It will be mainly used for work, which is correcting essays and stuff, but I'd like to be able to use it to play on when I travel this autumn. It's not my gaming computer, so it doesn't have to have amazing graphics, just run games/ffxiv on decent resolution when new.

Basically I want to know if there's something I should avoid, graphic cards, brands etc.
How do the different graphic cards differ?

Also, please remember I'm a woman, use simple words.

Here's one thing I'm considering:
Intel Core i5-480M 2,66GHz
4GB DDR3(Max 8GB DDR3)
AMD Radeon HD 6370M 1GB DDR3

[Abandon]

simple words?

back to the kitchen woman

[Tajin]

Well it would help if you told where are you planning to buy; to check out the models and give a suggestion.

[Qalbert]

ill check out the model

[Qalbert]

iykwim

[Lucienne]

The specs you've already listed will do everything you say you want it to do.

Thank you!
About graphic cards, is intel fine or should I stick with Nvidia or Radeon?
Some of those things have ?dedicated video memory? (directly translated from Swedish), which of what I understand I need at least 512. If they don't have that, does it mean the card sucks or not necessarily? I think the video card is really my biggest concern, because I'm completely lost. I don't understand how the series work at all. There is no logic in it.

Well it would help if you told where are you planning to buy; to check out the models and give a suggestion.

I haven't really decided where to yet. It depends on what I find.
Also, I live in Sweden, I don't think you could help me with that.

[Tajin]

Intel graphics card means its an integrated graphics chip, which for games means is shit. And yes you're looking for dedicated video memory, anything 512+ is fine unless you want to your the very latest games smoothly.

Intel is fine for XI and XI only, anything new or decent will require a dedicated video card.

[Lucienne]

Excellent, thank you!
Is there anythign besides memory I need to consider when it gets to graphic cards? Those strange numbers and letters and stuff... do they mean anything or is that just a way to name things to confuse wiomen?

[Caiyuo]

idk, that graphics card seems a little butthole so if it is XIV-capable, it seems like it'd certainly be very low. The processor seems like it'd be more than fine for XIV and that's a healthy amount of memory, so I guess the only other considerations would be the display and the hard drive, the former being more about preference in both size and resolution.

this site helped a lot, I had no idea prior. lots of graphs and comparisons, even benchmarks for specific games but I'm not sure of what in the list would be a good comparison to XIV. sidebar has a lot of lists: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Noteboo...News.48.0.html

specifically this page http://www.notebookcheck.net/FAQ-Tip...ics.123.0.html

[Lucienne]

Intel Core i5-460M 2,53GHz
4GB (DDR3 1066MHz) (Max.8GB)
750GB (5400rpm)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 420M 1GB GDDR3

So based on the above, this thing should be better right?

[Caiyuo]

Okay yeah I got curious and wanted to check out actual benchmarks for the sake of comparison to see where you'd actually be landing. I found this list that allows you to compare both desktop and laptop against the same test and I think you're set: http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

I used the two you listed and the two cards FFXIV lists for their minimum system requirements and this was how they panned out in scores:

• 324 - Radeon 6370M (laptop #1)
• 508 - Radeon HD 2900 GT (minimum ATI)
• 523 - GeForce 9600 GS (minimum Nvidia)
• 592 - GeForce GT 420M (laptop #2)

The first one just seems like if it did run XIV, it'd do so pretty horribly while with the first you at least have a guarantee that it meets and even exceeds the requirements by a little. If you have other options you can check them against that list I linked to see where they'd fall too in case there's some savings to be had.

[Lucienne]

Awesome! Thank you so much!

[Tajin]

Derp somehow i read XI not XIV lol

[Lucienne]

Nvidia GeForce GT540M
Ends up at 731, which is nice.
Same price as the two above, but not in stock neither online nor in the store here, naturally. Still should be able to order it I hope.

Intel Core i5-480M 2,66GHz
4GB DDR3 1066MHz (Max.8GB)

Not sure what the max 8GB means in this case.

Btw, you guys are awesome!

Derp somehow i read XI not XIV lol

Lol
That is a very technically demanding game indeed!

[Krye]

Why the fuck are you playing XIV

[Caiyuo]

np! tech is generally more of the same, btw, many, many awesome and helpful posters. max just means what you could upgrade to if you wanted to, either by way of their services or on your own since it's pretty easy, but I think 4GB would be more than enough. Shocked that the better pick is the same price, but being out of stock seems to speak for it.

[Lucienne]

Why the fuck are you playing XIV

Started playing back in beta with some old friends from xi. I've never played anything from the start like this, which is un. I'm extremely casual about it, otherwise I probably wouldn't enjoy it at all.

np! tech is generally more of the same, btw, many, many awesome and helpful posters. max just means what you could upgrade to if you wanted to, either by way of their services or on your own since it's pretty easy, but I think 4GB would be more than enough. Shocked that the better pick is the same price, but being out of stock seems to speak for it.

I'm more comfortable looking dumb in front of people that already know me than approaching a whole new audience.

Also, this thing confuses me:
Intel Core i7-720QM Processor 1.6GHz
8GB DDR3, max. 8GB
ATI Radeon HD5850 1GB DDR5(3D)

Isn't i7 supposed to be good? Why does this thing have 1,6Ghz then? Why are they presenting it as a gaming computer? It's sickly expensive too.

[Tajin]

Because the i-series of processors have multiple cores inside them, therefore having low speeds is not an issue when the CPU can do multiple operations at the same time. Also marketingwise, the higher speed ones go stupid expensive.

Unless you can find a good deal, sticking with an i5 should do you good for a 'casual' laptop.

[Lucienne]

I have no idea what a core is, but I trust you!
This has been very educational and actually fun.

[Caiyuo]

Yeah, specifically that i5 has 2 cores while that i7 has 4. Traditionally one processor had one core but adding more is how they've expanded.