Wondering if this laptop might play Vanguard

[Silas Soggymaw]

Any ideas whether a laptop with this configuration will be able to handle Vanguard? The processor is slow, but it's dual core. And I can always upgrade to 2 MB of RAM. But will a GEForce 7800 handle Vanguard's graphics?


Inspiron E1705
Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2400 (1.83GHz/667MHz FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 Qty: 1
Unit Price: $2,083.00
Inspiron E1705 Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2400 (1.83GHz/667MHz FSB)
ZD18HN
[222-1023]

LCD Panel 17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ Display
17XGAL
[320-4558]

Memory FREE!1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
1G2DP
[464-9485]

Video Card 256MB NVIDA® GeForce™ Go 7800
256NV
[320-4562]

Hard Drive 100GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
100GB
[341-2944]

Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
WMCE
[420-5769]
[463-2282]
[420-5460]
[420-5476]
[420-5755]
[412-0689]
[420-4830]
[420-4928]

Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
INTNIC
[430-0493]

Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
ADOBER
[430-1048]

Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
8XDVDRW
[313-3866]
[420-5775]

Wireless Networking Cards Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card (54Mbps)
TM1390
[430-1518]

Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
ICOREL
[412-0803]

Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
NSNOR
[412-0871]

Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
6BAT
[312-0375]

Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr At-Home Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
S1OS
[960-6590]
[960-6910]
[983-2207]
[412-0360]
[950-3337]
[950-9797]

Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
AOLDHS
[412-0787]
[420-3224]
[420-5256]
[412-0687]

Operating System Backup & Recovery PC Restore recovery system by Symantec
PCR
[464-5503]

Media Center Enhancements TV Tuner w/ Remote Control
TVT2
[320-4257]

Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience
SEP
[412-0856]
[412-0865]




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Sub-Total $1,433.00

[Fozzik]

Will it play the game? Yeah. From what we've heard from Sigil on the official forums, that system should have everything needed hardware-wise.

That's actually a very powerful graphics chip, compared to other mobile graphics solutions...and I'd guess it would be great. It actually compares well against desktop graphics cards. The only problem I could see is that the native resolution of that display is probably pretty high (either 1680x1050 or 1920x1200) which means you need that much more power to push all those pixels.

The hard drive and processor are going to hold you back somewhat. A lot of newer games make heavy use of the CPU, although graphics is still the most important at high res. Considering the slower speed of the hard drive (makes a big difference when you have to page large textures in games), 2GB of RAM would probably be a very good idea. The more the better.

I'm guessing it also has integrated audio, and I don't know how good an integrated chip it is. Most likely, this will also affect performance somewhat. It seems that Sigil has hinted that the sound in Vanguard will be complex...and that means more processing load that will probably have to be done on the CPU.

All in all, as I said, it should work. I don't think it will be ideal, and you'll probably have to crank down the settings a bit to have smooth frame rates.

Also keep in mind that I'm guessing, using the information that's available right now. It's far from complete, and I think Sigil is quite a ways from releasing min/required specs. So...take all of what I said as just general info and a few educated guesses. ;)

[Silas Soggymaw]

Thank you.

I'd have bought the RAM right off the bat, but Dell was charging $350 for an upgrade to 2G, and I can get that at Crucial for $226 + shipping. That's my next step.

I'll have to live with the HD and sound chip. That said, I have no problem ramping down a few settings to play. I don't think I've ever played a game on max settings.

[Silas Soggymaw]

Followup question:

I know little about the applicability of dual core functionality to games. I bought this dual core laptop more because I intend to do some video editing and viewing wat the same time I'll be performing other basic tasks (web surfing, etc.).


Morrowind: Oblivion requires a 2 ghz processor. Assuming I meet all of its other requirements, is this PC still too slow?

[Lord_Vyper]

Morrowind: Oblivion requires a 2 ghz processor. Assuming I meet all of its other requirements, is this PC still too slow?
Flip a coin. Oblivion *may* be multithreaded, and allow you slide in, or not.
I'd lean to the "or not" though. They're recommending a 3Ghz processor, with 2Ghz being bare minimum.

[Fozzik]

It might run, but honestly, they are specifically talking about Intel processors when they give those arbitrary clock speed requirements. The fact is that until Intel releases their new architecture later this year... their chips just DO NOT perform well at lower clock speeds.

Although the pentium M is largely an exception, and newer Intel cores have made steps in the right direction... Clock speed still does matter more heavily on the Intel side.

[Slide]

The Pentium-M series chips do a lot more per clock cycle than the desktop Intel chips so i'd guess it would run Oblivion ok.

I've been pricing up a pair of those Inspirons recently and upgrading the Hard Disk to 7200 rpm was a purchase option and relatively cheap at that. With Dells, I always pick the smallest RAM option, then go off to crucial to get upgrades.

[Razorwire]

it also depends on how well oblivion handles a dual core chip, if it does it well then it should run fine.

[Silas Soggymaw]

The Pentium-M series chips do a lot more per clock cycle than the desktop Intel chips so i'd guess it would run Oblivion ok.

I've been pricing up a pair of those Inspirons recently and upgrading the Hard Disk to 7200 rpm was a purchase option and relatively cheap at that. With Dells, I always pick the smallest RAM option, then go off to crucial to get upgrades.

It was $200 for me to upgrade to the 7200 rpm drive. I put myself on a $1500 budget and decided to put my money into the video card instead.

Followed your strategy on the RAM though. Crucial saved me a bundle.

[Slide]

The other tactic to use with Dell is to compare prices for kit between home, small business and medium business - theres quite often big discrepencies in pricing between them.