The Ultimate "What Laptop specs do I need/Can I run FM12 on this?" Thread

So after seeing a laptop thread almost daily around here, I've decided to create the thread to use as reference when someone decides to asks about running FM on a specific machine/what configuration they should buy. I will try to keep it up to date with regular updates as technology evolves quite quickly...If anyone has any opinion on the written below, please do let me know so I can add more info to this post. Also if you have any specific questions, please ask here and don't create a new thread as this becomes useless spam and constant repetition of the same things over and over again.

Please, note this Thread is going to discuss laptops, I am not so competent in desktops so someone else can make a similar thread (there used to be one in the FM11 thread I believe).

If used for FM12, movies and office applications - the following are of importance:

Processor speed

The processor is mainly responsible for running the calculations in the game and processing fixtures, news, etc, so it is essential for good game experience. So what processor do you need? For best processing of the game an "Intel i7 2***" is ideal but they come at a price. An "Intel i5 2***" runs the game well enough, while "Interl i3 2***" will struggle a bit with the processing and you will have to limit yourself to 6-7 active leagues for OK game experience. Obviously, this is the newest technology available and for laptops Intel beats AMD processors anyday due to their power consumption and temperature efficiency. AMD is currently lagging and if you can, you should go for Intel. Typically, for budgets up to 350£ you can afford in i3, for anything between 350-700 an i5 will do the job, and i7s start from £600 but you will need laptop with good cooling as they get hot, so I'd recommend with sticking to i5s up to 700-750£.

If you can't afford one of the above or think you have found a good deal with other processor it may still be OK to buy it with the following considerations:

Old gen i3/i5/i7 processors (3-digit numbers) are actually quite powerful (higher-clocked i3s for example are sometimes more powerful then the newest Sandy Bridge 2*** i3s, old-gen i5s are only slightly behind the new-gen ones, but old-gen i7 lag behind the newest i7s). Old-gen processors are good if you can get them quite a bit cheaper than a new-gen processor of equivalent processing power because they come with a few donsides: 1/2 the battery life, lower electricity consumption when on AC (thus lower electricity bill), slower integrated graphics card and a bit higher temperatures inside the chassis. If you can live with these consequences and are getting a very good deal on these you can get an old-gen processor.

For budget laptops, your best bet is currently getting a laptop with Intel Dual Core B940/B950/B960 - they aren't the fastest processors but are very efficient and come with okey integrated graphics card (slightly better than the old-gen i3/i5/i7s for the 3D match engine). They are quite cheap and if you can't afford any type of i3, you can get one of those instead (obviously you are losing some processing power but FM12 should run 3-4 active leagues easily).

Does GHz value matter - in essence yes, but it doesn't tell you the whole story. For example a lower clocked (lower GHz) i7 can easily and probably will be faster than an i5. Same goes for i5s and i3s. A quad core AMD rates at roughly the same level as an Intel i3 when they are clocked at the same frequency (GHz value). So yes, the clock frequency matters but only when you are comparing identical systems - for example Sandy Bridge i7 with Sandy Bridge i7. If you compare Sandy Bridge i7 with old-gen i7 then a lower clock value can still easily bring you better performance.

For a good guide to processing power refer to the following ranking:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

RAM

RAM is the capacity that your system can handle - each application requires a different amount of the RAM and the higher the RAM, the more applications you can run simultaneously. A larger DB in FM takes quite a bit of RAM so it is essential that you have enough capacity to run Win7, FM and a few background applications (multitasking).

If you are running with an Integrated Graphics Card - then your bare minimum is 3 GB RAM, do not go below that and expect good all-round performance. 4 GB is more than enough for the needs described above and if you an afford getting 4, buy it. If you have a separate graphics card, 3 GB should be fine, but if your budget is high don't limit yourself and go for 4 GB at least.

Please note, more RAM will not improve the speed of the computer, it will only improve the amount of programmes that can run simultaneously. RAM can improve your system speed by running in dual (2 sticks x2) or triple channel (3 sticks x2) compared to a single channel (1 stick x4). The improvement by running in dual or triple channel varies between different applications but is typically 5-20% faster than single channel. If you are not sure how RAM is configured on the laptop, just ask the salesperson - he should be able to tell you.

Screen

Typically consumer laptops these days come with a 15 inch screen and a resolution of 1366x768. Such a computer is at the same time small enough to be carried around and used in places like a train and large enough so that you have a nice screen size and things like letters and icons don't seem too small. With a budget of up to 600£ unfortunately it is very hard to get a laptop with higher resolution - it is a shame because this resolution is ot ideal for FM12. Not everything is displayed as it should. If you have a higher budget 1600x900 HD+ screen would be a much better option for FM, Office applications and even browsing as more stuff can be fit in the screen (especially, in terms of Height, width is sort of fine even on the lower resolution). It is also better for HD movies playback. However, if your budget is tight, don't bother - 1366x768 is acceptable for most daily uses (even FM), and upgrading comes at a price (money that can be spend on the so essential processor).

Graphics Card

Any modern graphics card is capable of running HD movies. For FM, the better the graphics card the better your 3D match engine will be. However, the integrated graphics cards in the latest i3/i5/i7 Processors (called HD 3000, but sometimes different websites make mistakes here - don't be mislead) are good enough to handle FM12 with medium-to-high details. You don't need to get a dedicated graphics card if you are not going to play 3D action games. The integrated graphics card in the old-gen i3/i5/i7 (Intel GMA HD Graphics) should run the game with low-to-medium details and the integrated graphics card in the B9*0/B8*0 (Intel Sandy Bridge Graphics) can handle roughly medium details. For laptops, I'd recommend running on the lowest acceptable for you level of detail to lower the GPU temperatures and thus extend the life of your laptop (obviously, that has nothing to do with desktop configurations) - as an example I have a dedicated graphics card that can handle very easily High settings but have left mine to medium only.

A good website for graphic cards comparison is:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

Laptop overall quality

Obviously, this is more of a subjective area as there are no benchmarks, etc only past user experience and scan of the chassis quality can lead us to some recommendations. As a basic guide, I can tell you the following:

For budget laptops I typically prefer Samsung RV/3 Series, ASUS K/X Series, Clevo Versions (custom-built laptops), Toshiba L Series and Lenovo G/B/Z Series.

I'd stay away if possible from Dell Inspirons (sometimes overpriced and with not very good chassis and cooling), Acer Aspires/TravelMates (poor cooling), HP Pavillions (can't say a single good thing about them), Sony VAIO (overpriced), MSIs (not very good chassis).

Obviously, all of the above depends on the price, if you can get a good deal on the not recommended laptops they might actually be a very good value-for-money (typical for Acers).

For 500-1000, there are quite a few good options:

ASUS P/N series, Samsung RF/RC/7 series, Apple MacBook Pro, Sony VAIO, Toshiba Tecra/L/Portege Series, Lenovo Z/Y, ThinkPad T Series, HP ProBook 4/5/6 Series, Dell Vostro/XPS/Latitude. I'd stick with one of those for the specific needs described above - obviously some of those are business class laptops that might have not very good hardware parameters, but have better quality screens and much more rigid chassis.

For extended reviews of models that you have shortlisted you can check the following two websites (very informative and cover most laptop models available - if you can't find something just google it and use some other rview website or even youtube):

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Reviews.55.0.html

http://www.notebookreview.com/reviews/

If used for FM12 and 3D Games like Battlefield/CoD/NFS etc:

Graphics Card and Processor combination - To be able to run such games you would typically need an acceptable processor (at least an entry i3 level) and a good graphics card - be it Nvidia or ATI Radeon. The difference here lies in the fact that while for FM12 the main focus is on the processor, for 3D shooters you should put more emphasis on the Graphics card. If you want to run both (like me), then you need a very well balanced system. From the links above (for processors and graphics) - I'd typically combine B9*0 processors with "3. Low-Midrange Graphics Cards"; i3/i5 processors with "2. Midrange Graphics Cards"; i7 processors with "1. High End Graphics Cards". To run such games you need a well-cooled laptop as temperatures can spike quite a bit and temperatures kill both laptops and batteries. So as a rule of thumb, don't buy an i7 unless you absolutely need it (they are VERY hot combined to i3/i5 processors). Obviously if you have a high budget and can afford a quality laptop (i.e. Samsung 7 Gamer, Dell Alienware, ASUS G series) you can get an i7 as these have the cooling to handle it and an i7 will provide some processing boost even for 3D games by increasing the FPS rate slightly. Most modern graphics cards have something called Optimus technology or Switchable Graphics, which means that having a dedicated graphics card won't put so much strain on your battery and on your cooling as the dedicated graphics is only used under high graphics load - so if you can afford a quality graphics card and want to play games don't be afraid to invest in it.

Regarding Laptops you should go for - the ones in the previous section will do for i5 lvl of processors. If you want to go for i7 and a powerful GPU and have really high budget - Samsung 7 Gamer, Dell Alienware, ASUS G, Toshiba Qosmio X series are your best bets.

If you are interested in specific GPU FPS, check out the graphics link above - find the related GPU - click on it and scroll down to see how the GPU performed in games testing. It will give you a good guide of what you should expect from it.

The only integrated graphics card that can handle 3D shooters, etc with moderate success is Intel HD 3000 in the new-gen i3/i5/i7 processors. It handles most titles up to 2009-10. If you want to play such games do not go for older-gen processor and integrated graphics solution - it won't work.

RAM - A minimum of 4 GB, 6/8 GB would be better if you can afford it but shouldn't be a must in the next few years. RAM is easily upgradable so don't buy something you don't need anytime soon - you can spend the money elsewhere.

Screen - As above. Also note that for 3D games, if you run the game at higher resolutions your FPS will go down so you might eventually run it at 1366x758 even if your screen supports 1600x900 or 1900x1080 for example. Obviously, this won't be the case with the top high-end graphics cards, but the screen resolution should be an extra if money is enough and not the priority in choosing such a configuration - chassis quality and GPU are the priority.

I have not commented on HDD size but minimum is 320 GB these days, if you feel you need more, go for it - it depends on how much storage you personally need, so I can't give you any guidance except to say that 7200 rpm are quite a bit quicker than 5400 rpm HDDs and will access the laptop memory quicker - so quicker load times of software, databases, games etc. If you can go for 7200, please do, it will improve your system slightly! Just find the right balance between HDD size (GB) and HDD speed (rpm). Especially for small, portable notebooks, an Solid State Drive (SSD) is very useful as it powers up quickly and when you need something quickly on the go, you can have it in half the time. Trouble is they are very pricey still for mainstream laptops. Some chassis (like Samsung Series 7 Gamer) have dual caddys, too, where you can use an ordinary HDD for files and an moderately-sized SDD for programs that you want to access quicker (say Win and FM). This balances the price as, if you need 1 big SDD, they are very expensive! Such HDDs are very popular in ultrabooks like (MC Air and ASUS Zenbooks), where quick powering up of Windows itself and other software on the go is of high importance.

As most users around here buy stuff from the UK, I thought I'd share a very good website for finding deals - http://www.idealo.co.uk/cat/3751/laptops.html.

You can use the advanced filters to specify exactly what you need. The website compares deals from all sorts of websites but not all so once you find a laptop, you might want to search around in places like pcworld (not included as their laptops details aren't very good I guess ).

That is all from me. For any further help or comments, please write below.

Or try looking at this link:

Game Requirements - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/279162-Football-Manager-2012-*OFFICIAL*-FAQ?p=7184741&viewfull=1#post7184741

If you can afford it get a Soild State Drive (SSD). Saves and loads FM quicker as well as windows in general.

Nice thread Alexy. I have an i5 2300 6M cached with 4GB, also have a GTX 550Ti card for other games.

Wackett, those requirements are minimum spec only. You need some juice to get the best out of FM imo.

Very true, especially for small, portable notebooks an SSD is very useful as it powers up quickly and when you need something quickly on the go, you can have it in half the time. Trouble is they are very pricey still for mainstream laptops. Some chassis have dual caddys, too, where you can use an ordinary HDD for files and an moderately-sized SDD for programs that you want to access quicker (say Win and FM). This balances the price as, if you need 1 big SDD, they are very expensive!

The trouble with the SI specs, is they give them in terms of desktops (I hate that). They do that for most games - I guess some people don't realize how many people use laptops and not desktops (not SI specifically, games manufacturers as a whole).

If you can't afford one of the above or think you have found a good deal with other processor it may still be OK to buy it with the following considerations:

Old gen i3/i5/i7 processors (3-digit numbers) are actually quite powerful (higher-clocked i3s for example are sometimes more powerful then the newest Sandy Bridge 2*** i3s, old-gen i5s are only slightly behind the new-gen ones, but old-gen i7 lag behind the newest i7s). Old-gen processors are good if you can get them quite a bit cheaper than a new-gen processor of equivalent processing power because they come with a few donsides: 1/2 the battery life, slower integrated graphics card and a bit higher temperatures inside the chassis. If you can live with these consequences and are getting a very good deal on these you can get an old-gen processor.

I'd say this is not the greatest way of comparing things... Nehalem i3s are out of the picture now. Sandy Bridge i3s are roughly equivalent to Nehalem i5s, and Sandy Bridge i5s are roughly equivalent to Nehalem i7s. Exceptions exist for high-end Sandy Bridge i5s (the i5-2500K destroys nearly all Nehalem chips, the exceptions being the 980X, 990X and 995X, which are unreasonable chips in themselves). If you like, the Sandy Bridge i3 is the new i5, and Sandy Bridge i5 is the new i7, so i3-i3 comparisons and the like don't really make sense.

For mobile processors, the gap is much less, but do note that the Sandy Bridge processors are really efficient. For a laptop, I would try to get Sandy Bridge purely for the low power consumption.

Also, here's a useful link to compare CPUs and graphics cards: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/191?vs=288 (I've compared the i5-760 and the i5-2500K here)

I've said it above - with old gen you sacrifice battery life quite seriously And I did try to open the thread just for laptops. The gap with desktops between old and new gen is quite extensive just as you said and buying Sandy-s is basically a must. Good point though, someone looking for desktops might read it.

brilliant thread! hadn t seen it b4 and i'm one of those who have started a thread asking about buying a new laptop (previous one burgled, i'm twitchy, no FM for months....)(

what about a pentium P6200? my budget this time is in the £300-350 range.

WAS looking at the lenovo site as they had a £50 discount for a decent AMD A6 or A8 processor-based laptop but that offer has ended.

the A6 or A8 were quad core but only clocked at 1.5/1.6 ghz? surely , as they were more expensive processors, they still had some serious grunt?

Good guide. I would just like to amend it slightly - an i3 second generation is a very capable processor, even in laptops.

i have one of the brand new acer aspires. i7 sandy bridge etc etc

your point about poor cooling is actually wrong. they must have fixed it. i have not once felt it get hot at all.

i have one of the brand new acer aspires. i7 sandy bridge etc etc

your point about poor cooling is actually wrong. they must have fixed it. i have not once felt it get hot at all.

Give it a few months. All laptops end up that way.

Good guide. I would just like to amend it slightly - an i3 second generation is a very capable processor, even in laptops.

I hope so. I don't plan on playing 3D on my new work laptop which has an i3 2nd gen in it, but would like to think I could have at least 4/5 countries maxed out on leagues on a large database. My cheap Acer from years ago could manage FM10 and 11 pretty well (2D only), with some fairly long waits for big fixture times which I didn't particularly mind. Would it be fair to expect the laptop with the 2nd gen i3 to run the above mentioned game settings? Once again... I'm not interested in the 3D match engine, I am perfectly happy with 2D.

Thanks and great thread!

I second the comment re: Acers - have a new Aspire Inter i7 2630QM and not felt any heat unlike my old Aspire that was essentially a radiator

I hope so. I don't plan on playing 3D on my new work laptop which has an i3 2nd gen in it, but would like to think I could have at least 4/5 countries maxed out on leagues on a large database. My cheap Acer from years ago could manage FM10 and 11 pretty well (2D only), with some fairly long waits for big fixture times which I didn't particularly mind. Would it be fair to expect the laptop with the 2nd gen i3 to run the above mentioned game settings? Once again... I'm not interested in the 3D match engine, I am perfectly happy with 2D.

Thanks and great thread!

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure with regards to FM because I haven't played the last few versions intensively, and what I have played has always been on a good desktop. But I would expect that it can manage four or five leagues.

Four or five leagues? Do you mean full detail? I don't know what people's expectations are but I play FM12 on a machine with an ancient single core AMD processor and 2GB ram and it can run 20-25 leagues on a large DB perfectly normally, though most are not on full detail of course. Sure it doesn't process in a flash but it's not a total crawl either.

Four or five leagues? Do you mean full detail? I don't know what people's expectations are but I play FM12 on a machine with an ancient single core AMD processor and 2GB ram and it can run 20-25 leagues on a large DB perfectly normally, though most are not on full detail of course. Sure it doesn't process in a flash but it's not a total crawl either.

Four or five countries. So I want England, Italy, Germany, Spain, France down to lower leagues, and ideally Scotland, Brazil, Argentina, and Russia's top divisions. I can live without Brazil, Russia, and Argentina leagues, but would ideally like large database of players/staff. Like I said, I will using a Core i3 for this but don't know how much more taxing that will be compared to previous versions as I haven't played FM at all for over a year and that was on my old laptop which crawled but was sufficient.

Cheers for replies.

REALLY thinking of taking a punt. Lenovo s205, E450 AMD processor, nice little 11.6".

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-IdeaPad-S205-11-6-Netbook/dp/B005TPRWNY/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1331637145&sr=1-1

some say runs games fine, some say won't. Not sure who to believe. intending to only run 3 leagues, UK 1-3 (prem to league 1), and only add brazil, germany, france, italy, holland, england to DB.

it SHOULD be ok, and i'm rather excited by the prospect of this little bit of kit, what do y'all think?

p.s. i ONLY ever play in 2d classic.

thanks, neil

ok,

STILL considering a smaller laptop with an AMD E450 processor. but won t jump in until i 'm sure. pretty tempted also by Pentium b940/50/60 or AMD A6/A8 as outlined below.

i still want a smaller laptop, mebbe 14" or 13"3. not sure what's available.

does screen size matter? amount of pixels? i recall in the preferences FM can be played at quite low-res.

back to that E450, soooo many people say they've played WoW on it, that they've mebbee got an old single-core processor etc and FM runs ok.

hmmmm.....

p.s. regarding leagues, DB size. i'll only have english prem to L1 active and playable, will only load players from 8-10 countries so db won t be huge........