[Bubu91]

Hello:)

I was just to buy the G46 with i5, 4gb ram when i saw the news that witcher 3 will be a huge open world game. there is another variant that has an i7 with 8 gb ram. will the i7 increase my performance and handle the big map better than the i5?

[Guy N'wah]

Bubu91 said:

Hello:)

I was just to buy the G46 with i5, 4gb ram when i saw the news that witcher 3 will be a huge open world game. there is another variant that has an i7 with 8 gb ram. will the i7 increase my performance and handle the big map better than the i5? ›››

ASUS says that there will be better screens on later models of the G46, but without giving any useful details. It's unbalanced right now; a 660M is overdoing it with a 1366x768 screen. They have not been forthcoming about the availability of a better 1600x900 screen. I would be kicking myself if I bought just before the better screens shipped.

I don't know whether there will be a benefit to the hyperthreaded Core i7 with Red Engine 3. The current engine doesn't really take advantage of the 8 bogocores; a Core i7 won't outperform a Core i5 on TW2 or many other games unless it's clocked faster.

[Aver]

I have few years old CPU from 'middle shelf' and all my games are running 60+ FPS. Even apparently CPU sensitive games like real time strategies. Spend less on CPU and spend more on GPU - you will get better performance in games.

[Sirnaq]

Guy N said:

ASUS says that there will be better screens on later models of the G46, but without giving any useful details. It's unbalanced right now; a 660M is overdoing it with a 1366x768 screen. They have not been forthcoming about the availability of a better 1600x900 screen. I would be kicking myself if I bought just before the better screens shipped.

I don't know whether there will be a benefit to the hyperthreaded Core i7 with Red Engine 3. The current engine doesn't really take advantage of the 8 bogocores; a Core i7 won't outperform a Core i5 on TW2 or many other games unless it's clocked faster. ›››

This man speaks truth. It's better to wait little longer.

[Bubu91]

Guy N said:

ASUS says that there will be better screens on later models of the G46, but without giving any useful details. It's unbalanced right now; a 660M is overdoing it with a 1366x768 screen. They have not been forthcoming about the availability of a better 1600x900 screen. I would be kicking myself if I bought just before the better screens shipped.

I don't know whether there will be a benefit to the hyperthreaded Core i7 with Red Engine 3. The current engine doesn't really take advantage of the 8 bogocores; a Core i7 won't outperform a Core i5 on TW2 or many other games unless it's clocked faster. ›››

So the i5 is a dual core that can "become" a quad core when need be?

I was thinking about waiting for a better res, but won't that increase the load on the 660 and thus decrease the performance? From what I've read the g46 is a must buy for gamers because of the low res and the 660 combination.

[Guy N'wah]

Bubu91 said:

So the i5 is a dual core that can "become" a quad core when need be? />

I was thinking about waiting for a better res, but won't that increase the load on the 660 and thus decrease the performance? From what I've read the g46 is a must buy for gamers because of the low res and the 660 combination. ›››

The mobile Core i5's are dual core hyperthreaded; in effect, they are almost quad cores, because modern schedulers are much better at using the hyperthreaded bogocores than earlier attempts at hyperthreading.

Mobile Core i5 = desktop Core i3, more or less. And I know from experience that the Core i3 does a good job with this game.

As for resolution, if you don't play TW2 or, I'm going to predict, TW3 on the highest resolution and sharpest screen your computer can handle, you're missing out. The 660M isn't a 670MX or 680M, but it should be good enough for 1600x900.

[Colibrie]

Aver said:

I have few years old CPU from 'middle shelf' and all my games are running 60+ FPS. Even apparently CPU sensitive games like real time strategies. Spend less on CPU and spend more on GPU - you will get better performance in games. ›››

sounds.. too good to be true. What GPU do you have then? My FPS is around 25 and I'm not that pleased by it...

I have:
ATI Radeon HD 4770 (512Mbytes)
AMD phenom II X4 965
4Gb RAM
(ASRock (890GX Extreme3))

[Bubu91]

Guy N said:

The mobile Core i5's are dual core hyperthreaded; in effect, they are almost quad cores, because modern schedulers are much better at using the hyperthreaded bogocores than earlier attempts at hyperthreading.

Mobile Core i5 = desktop Core i3, more or less. And I know from experience that the Core i3 does a good job with this game.

As for resolution, if you don't play TW2 or, I'm going to predict, TW3 on the highest resolution and sharpest screen your computer can handle, you're missing out. The 660M isn't a 670MX or 680M, but it should be good enough for 1600x900. ›››

Thx:) Shouldn't the game look good in 1366x768 if that's also the max res of the screen? I'm afraid getting the 1600 screen because I might have to downgrade the res to keep a high fps (and a 1366 res look like crap on a 1600).

I'm talking about TW3:)

[Aaden]

Colibrie said:

sounds.. too good to be true. What GPU do you have then? My FPS is around 25 and I'm not that pleased by it...

I have:
ATI Radeon HD 4770 (512Mbytes)
AMD phenom II X4 965
4Gb RAM
(ASRock (890GX Extreme3)) ›››

Quite clearly, it's the graphics card's fault in this case. The HD4770 is close to the minimum requirements and you therefore can't expect it to perform well in high resolutions in TW2.
The CPU is fine and shouldn't be the bottle-neck for any game so far.

Bubu91 said:

Thx:) Shouldn't the game look good in 1366x768 if that's also the max res of the screen? I'm afraid getting the 1600 screen because I might have to downgrade the res to keep a high fps (and a 1366 res look like crap on a 1600).

I'm talking about TW3:) ›››

If it's the native resolution of the screen, you don't get bluriness caused by interpolation (as opposed to a smaller res on a 1600x900 screen), you're right about that.

But if you compare a screen of the same size that has 1366x768 pixels or 1600x900 pixels, the latter has a much bigger pixel density/smaller pixels - you won't see their edges so much. That makes the picture appear sharper, steadier and more natural.

Still, your worries are valid. There's no telling if that kind of mobile GPU will be able to handle TW3 in 1600x900.

[Aver]

Colibrie said:

sounds.. too good to be true. What GPU do you have then? My FPS is around 25 and I'm not that pleased by it...

I have:
ATI Radeon HD 4770 (512Mbytes)
AMD phenom II X4 965
4Gb RAM
(ASRock (890GX Extreme3)) ›››

I have Radeon 7970. In your case you really need way more powerful GPU. Your CPU is sufficient.

[Colibrie]

Aver said:

I have Radeon 7970. In your case you really need way more powerful GPU. Your CPU is sufficient. ›››

Thank you. I've been thinking that too. Do you happen to know if it's an easy task to change the GPU? Is there a chance that not any GPU fits in to my computer or something like that.
Aand is there a way to get a good GPU for 100-150€... or are they always closer to 400

[Aaden]

Colibrie said:

Thank you. I've been thinking that too. Do you happen to know if it's an easy task to change the GPU? Is there a chance that not any GPU fits in to my computer or something like that.
Aand is there a way to get a good GPU for 100-150€... or are they always closer to 400 ›››

There is that chance. Your case could be too short. The faster a GPU the longer it tends to be. Also your Power Supply could be too weak. For a high end GPU you'll usually need a quality PSU with at least around 500W.

The best value for money is usually offered by AMDs Radeon HD x8y0 models, for example 7850 or 7870, or Nvidias Geforce GTX x60 Ti models, e.g. the GTX 660 Ti. But those are closer to 200 to 250 euros. But I think it's worth the investment, because they'll last you considerably longer than lower end GPUs. For these GPUs a 400W PSU will usually suffice, if it's from a quality brand.

[Colibrie]

Aaden said:

There is that chance. Your case could be too short. The faster a GPU the longer it tends to be. Also your Power Supply could be too weak. For a high end GPU you'll usually need a quality PSU with at least around 500W.

The best value for money is usually offered by AMDs Radeon HD x8y0 models, for example 7850 or 7870, or Nvidias Geforce GTX x60 Ti models, e.g. the GTX 660 Ti. But those are closer to 200 to 250 euros. But I think it's worth the investment, because they'll last you considerably longer than lower end GPUs. For these GPUs a 400W PSU will usually suffice, if it's from a quality brand. ›››

Thanks Aaden. I have that.. was it Corsair 500W as a power supply. The last time I updated my comp I also got a bigger case. Hopefully it could be enough.
About the investment.. I would like to a) buy a cheaper yet better GPU and update it once more when TW3 comes or b ) buy a much better (+ expensive) GPU that could also work for TW3. I'm a bit afraid that if I use 300-400 to GPU now and it would be too weak for TW3..

[Colibrie]

Just a quick update/question: Would Ati Radeon 4800 be too weak? I have a chance to get that for free.

[Bubu91]

One more question mates:) do you think 4gb ram would be enough for tw3? Are games capable of taking advantage of 8gb ram?

[Aver]

Bubu91 said:

One more question mates:) do you think 4gb ram would be enough for tw3? Are games capable of taking advantage of 8gb ram? ›››

Yes, there are such games. TW3 will be one of them? Probably.

[Guy N'wah]

Colibrie said:

Just a quick update/question: Would Ati Radeon 4800 be too weak? I have a chance to get that for free. ›››

The 48xx cards were and still are quite powerful. But they do not support DirectX 11, so they will probably run the game without some significant portion of the eye candy. Free is a good price, though.

[Colibrie]

Guy N said:

The 48xx cards were and still are quite powerful. But they do not support DirectX 11, so they will probably run the game without some significant portion of the eye candy. Free is a good price, though. ›››

Thank you! I think it will be enough for now as I'm having only 25 FPS at the moment and "eye candy" is kind of luxury right now. It's enough if it will run on high with 40+ FPS

[minianthunter]

Bubu91 said:

So the i5 is a dual core that can "become" a quad core when need be? />

I was thinking about waiting for a better res, but won't that increase the load on the 660 and thus decrease the performance? From what I've read the g46 is a must buy for gamers because of the low res and the 660 combination. ›››

Can't believe you put those 2 bold phrases in the same sentence.

Aver said:

Yes, there are such games. TW3 will be one of them? Probably. ›››

What games exactly use more than 3gb of RAM alone (1gb reserved for the OS), because the Witcher 2 barely uses over 2 and I doubt TW3 will suddenly increase it by a whole gig? Now in terms of multitasking its a must. Do you want the game running, skype running, steam running, facebook up, and something else thrown in there? Then suddenly your 4gb looks much smaller.

TL;DR 8gb of RAM isn't "necessary" but it sure is nice to have so one less issue comes up.


For people that what to "build computers for TW3 the best thing you can do is save your money until there is a definitive release date, and then come back here and ask for advice. I am sure there will be several others doing the same. Computing power doubles every 18 months, you will get more bang for your buck for waiting.

[Guy N'wah]

minianthunter said:

Can't believe you put those 2 bold phrases in the same sentence.



What games exactly use more than 3gb of RAM alone (1gb reserved for the OS), because the Witcher 2 barely uses over 2 and I doubt TW3 will suddenly increase it by a whole gig? Now in terms of multitasking its a must. Do you want the game running, skype running, steam running, facebook up, and something else thrown in there? Then suddenly your 4gb looks much smaller.

TL;DR 8gb of RAM isn't "necessary" but it sure is nice to have so one less issue comes up.

The reason why "low resolution" and "660M" are considered a desirable combination is frame rate. Fewer pixels = more frames per second. I don't like it; I use notebooks for more than playing games, and there's always so much on my desktop that I want every pixel I can get. But my preferences are usually a loud minority.

If the Red Engine goes 64-bit, they are no longer limited to 2-3GB RAM. That memory would come in handy for avoiding resource reloads. Of course that would break XP (and 32-bit Vista/W7) compatibility, which they may be reluctant to do.

Quote

For people that what to "build computers for TW3 the best thing you can do is save your money until there is a definitive release date, and then come back here and ask for advice. I am sure there will be several others doing the same. Computing power doubles every 18 months, you will get more bang for your buck for waiting.

Absolutely. The only statement we can safely make about what computers will be the top of the line when TW3 comes out is that whatever prediction anybody makes is bound to be wrong. The corollary is that anybody who buys a computer now based on what anybody thinks will be needed to run TW3 is bound to be disappointed.