How important is the CPU when running GTAIV?

[Lost-Fender]

As some of you might be aware, I'm looking for a brand new laptop, I have a thread for that over at Tech & PC Chat. Yes, I'm well aware that laptops are not good for gaming, let alone running a game like GTAIV, but I simply can't afford to build a desktop. But, that's irrelevant as far as this thread is concerned.

 

Now, on to my question: how important is the CPU when running GTAIV? I ask because here are the possible specs of the PC I'm buying:

 

Intel Core i3-380M processor (2.53GHz)

320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)

4GB DDR3-SDRAM-1066

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 GPU (1GB VRAM)

 

I don't have big expectations, I'm not expecting smooth FPS at high settings. I'm aiming for playable frame rates at medium or low settings, which I'm sure the Mobility HD 5650 can handle. However, I'm not sure if the i3 is enough, because I could get something with the same specs but with a i5-380M (2.66Ghz - 2.93GHz) instead, but that would be stretching my budget. Would the i3 handle GTAIV or should I get an i5 instead?

Edited March 26, 2011 by Lost-Fender

[Girish]

GTA IV is heavily CPU dependant. If I have to guess, the i3 should be able to manage it on low settings. But if you can, and to be on the safer side, go for the i5. The turbo boost will help when playing the game.

 

I have a similar laptop, except it has an i5-430M @2.27 GHz. I haven't tried the game on my laptop yet, so I won't really be able to comment on how well it performs, but as I said before, it should work on low settings. As for anything above that, you won't really know until you try it out.

[mkey82]

Laptops are really expensive when it comes to gaming. You will also have to take greater care when it comes to overheating as GTA causes a lot of heat.

[radioman]

 

Laptops are really expensive when it comes to gaming.

 

Just a friendly heads up, Laptops ARE NOT that expensive-you can get laptops for as low as $398. Also, there are great gaming laptops at Wal-Mart.com that are under $1,000(this is equally compared to gaming desktops, as those are around the same price). Just have a look here at these pages on Wal-Mart.com, and you will see that good laptops are not that expensive...Just a friendly heads up. I narrowed the search down to just the Intel I3,5, and 7 processors, as they are the better gaming processors it seems...that is why it will not show the $398 laptops on that link...

 

But, on topic, I would personally go with the i5 vs. the i3, as Girish said, the turbo boost technology can make a difference in how the game will run. That is if you can afford it..

[Girish]

@radioman: I believe mkey82 is talking about true gaming laptops; laptops that have been specifically designed for gaming. Not laptops that are marketed as gaming laptops but in reality, they are just marketing gimmicks to pull in the uninformed crowd.

 

Out of the laptops listed on that page you linked to, none of them are really gaming laptops and all of them will fall short when it comes to running GTA IV on medium settings or higher.

[yoječ]

It depends what is the definition of being expensive... Because true, for richer people buying a laptop might not be a great deal, but on the other side it'll cost far less to get a gaming PC (including mouse, kpad, LCD and all that stuff) than a laptop with comparable performance.

[nightwalker83]

Well, on my Vista PC:

 

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E6550 @ 2.33GHz,

RAM: 4GB

Operating System: 32bit

Video card: NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT

EFLC I found ran slow compared to my Win 7 laptop:

 

Win 7 laptop:

 

Processor: AMD Turion II Dual-Core Mobile 2.30GHz

RAM: 4GB

Operating System 64bit

Video card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD4670

 

The game runs much faster on the laptop than it did on my pc.

[mkey82]

 

a look here at these pages on Wal-Mart.com, and you will see that good laptops are not that expensive...

 

Intel HD Graphics

 

 

Intel HD Graphics

 

 

Mobile Intel HD Graphics with 64MB-1696MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory

 

 

Intel HD Graphics

 

Stop with your nonsense.

[radioman]

 

a look here at these pages on Wal-Mart.com, and you will see that good laptops are not that expensive...

 

Intel HD Graphics

 

 

Intel HD Graphics

 

 

Mobile Intel HD Graphics with 64MB-1696MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory

 

 

Intel HD Graphics

 

Stop with your nonsense.

Just a heads up, you didn't look at the right ones, I was referring to a few of the HP's and Acer's-I know pretty much all those Dell's and a lot of the Toshiba's have Intel cards. But the HP's and Acer's have ATI/Nvidia cards with 512MB/1GB Dedicated VRAM-with I5's, so those will definitely run IV pretty good at low to Medium settings. So, it is not nonsense. A few examples: here, and here,and here,and here. So, as you can see that I had my research done before pointing that out on my last post. Just a friendly heads up. So, Please look at more than just the first few items before calling it a false fact. Girish has even said that a few of the ones he looked at on that site could run the game at least on low, and the ones I linked to just now could more than likely run the game pretty well, as they have I5's with Turbo Boost and good video cards. And ALL those are under $1,000.

Edited March 27, 2011 by radioman

[YankeesPwnMets]

They are all ATI 65xx series or 63xx series. For AMD cards, anything under the x600 series isn't suffice (ex. Radeon 5550, 6370, etc). nVidia anything under the x60 is too weak except for the GTX 550 Ti (GT 240, 220, etc)

 

All those laptops you posted won't run the game well. Unless people enjoy playing games at all low at 800 x 600 res. Some of these laptops were over $200 off a couple months ago, but the price went back up. (The first PC listed was only $949.99 in January)

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....+laptop&x=0&y=0

 

These laptops will run IV easily at Medium High with a decent resolution. The more expensive ones could do 1080P with playable FPS and the cheaper ones will do 720P (since the screens on the cheaper one have a res of 1366 x 768)

 

The ones radioman listed will most likely only run the game at lowest settings and 800 x 600 res (trust me, IV looks TERRIBLE at 800 x 600)

 

 

Intel Core i3-380M processor (2.53GHz)

320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)

4GB DDR3-SDRAM-1066

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 GPU (1GB VRAM)

 

This will run it at low settings and low res, but on a 5400 RPM hard disk IV is gonna take quite a bit of time to load. All in all, if you enjoy playing games at low settings at 800 x 600 or 640 x 480, then get the cheaper one. I honestly can't enjoy playing a game unless the res is between 1280 x 720 to 2500 x 1600 (Triple and dual monitor setups are useless and make it harder to play IMHO)

[mkey82]

You post a link to 97 search results and then call it research?

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD...0M.41143.0.html > Not a gaming card

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD...0M.40970.0.html > Not a gaming card

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-Geforc...5M.34152.0.html > Not a gaming card

 

These cards compare to something like 3850 HD which is about 3 "generations" old. Those are NOT gaming cards. Sure, people still use them, but they are old and underpowered. Just a heads up, playing a game on low on 10-15FPS is not playing, that's baiting.

[radioman]

 

You post a link to 97 search results and then call it research?

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD...0M.41143.0.html > Not a gaming card

 

The reason I mentioned that about the search results, is you only posted the links to the ones with Intel cards-I know Intel cards are not supported by the game...this led me to believe that you did not look through the list, which only takes a few seconds thanks to the "Quick View" feature on that site and also thanks to fast internet of today...Just a heads up..

 

 

But, after looking at those links in your last post, the 6550 looks like a pretty good card, as it says in the Benchmarks section that it can run IV at the mid to upper 40's range fps wise...This looks like the best card of the 3 links. But, thanks for the heads up on the video card research. So, I think the 6550 looks like a pretty good gaming card...?

 

But, when I play games, I don't really care about what settings I have to use, as long as I get at least 25 fps, it's all good.

 

Also, just a heads up, anybody on these boards who knows me, knows that I don't post anything unless I have a knowledge of it and/or have done a little research first, as if I know nothing about something, I don't post. So, that is why I try to post links to reputable sites when posting references and facts. Just a friendly heads up...

[mkey82]

Also, just a heads up, anybody on these boards who knows me, knows that I don't post anything unless I have a knowledge of it and/or have done a little research first, as if I know nothing about something, I don't post.

... riiiiiiiiiiight.

 

Anyway, 6550M is about two-three times weaker then my 4870 and that one can't hit 40FPS on med settings (with a much better CPU it probably could). The GTAIV benchmarks on the site above are for 5650 and still make no sense whatsoever, with big fat "Approximation" written besides those results.