Mods or people very well versed in Computers please respond.

Evening!

So my question or request to put it in correct terms.

I have read all through the laptop help needed thread and I am still none the wiser.

What is the best Desktop/Laptop/Macbook that would play FM with about 100k plus players and three-four leagues all the way down?

Lets say budget of about $1k.

I just need to be told straight. This you need to find one with a good processor etc etc is only helpful if I know what makes a good processor.

I imagine there is a difference in me purchasing a Laptop that has the ability to play for example Battlefield, or Call of Duty on and a Laptop that I use pretty much for surfing the net, listening to my music, and watching films and of course playing Football Manager.

I would like to be able to watch the matches in 3D in good quality and have the ability to do a marathon save with at least 60k plus players and 3 leagues fully loaded.

Please I beg you help a brother out!

Cheers,

Daniel

No need to beg! A desktop would get you the best performance, but then you say laptop. Is it a laptop you want? And you're based in the US?

In terms of price, I guess a desktop can become quite expensive if you are starting fresh (no case, no monitor, etc). My build is made of leftovers from other builds, so it's possible to get something similar on the cheap. It's runs FM smoothly with 100k players (15 divisions in 10 nations, large DB + all international players), and I have used it to play the odd FPS game (Far Cry 3, Stalker+Misery). I can put together a parts-list, but not if you're looking for laptop.

When it comes to laptop, prices go up somewhat in general, but in the states $1k might just be enough. I don't know. I bought a laptop from bhphotovideo a few years back. Even with $200+ in import taxes and shipping it still came out much cheaper than anything like it would have cost over here.

Had a very quick look and this one seems about right.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1042973-REG/msi_gp60_leopard_009_i7_4700hq_3g_8_750gb_windows_8_1_15_6_black.html

I would seriously consider getting an SSD though, but that brings you over the budget.

Ssd? Haha. That is how much I do not know about this.

I am based in the US. I would prefer laptop as that way I can also sit down with the misses when she wants to sit near me. Bloody woman! Haha.

Thank you for the reply too! Much appreciated.

If you have a $1k budget, i dont think you need to worry about what computer you can buy to support FM. Even $500 will get you a machine/laptop good enough to play FM to a suitable level.

Sorry, mate. SSD as opposed to a mechanical hard drive. They are a lot faster, but also more expensive.

You wouldn't see much change in regards to FM, but boot up time for the system, and start up time for programs and games would be much quicker.

Before I got an SSD I used to turn on my PC, go make breakfast and brew coffee, and when I returned it was just about ready to get going. Now, it takes about 20 seconds from when I hit the on switch until I have started up the first program.

The one above is good enough for what you asked, but it's not like I've trawled the web looking for a good deal. So maybe look around a bit for something similar to the specs.

It's got a quick CPU, good GFX card, a 7200rpm drive (laptops often come with 5400rpm drives), 1920 x 1080 resolution (many come with 720p or similar), 8 GB PC1600 ram, and a dvd burner/drive.

When you get a laptop like this though, it usually doesn't have long battery life.

I would be willing to sacrifice battery life if the I didn't have to worry about my pic blowing up. I find it hard to get in to the game if I feel that the laptop may blow out any time soon.

What would you recommend for a desktop, out of curiosity?

Ive got a Phenom II X4 965 BE with 8gb RAM and a 1tb HDD (normal not SSD). I run around 100k players and sometimes all the major European countries playable plus Argentina and Brazil. So anywhere between 15-40+ leagues playable depending on configuration (sometimes I have some leagues on view only but I have tried every league loaded as playable and it was ok-ish). It all depends on what you think is an acceptable speed to play the game at. Even with a lot of leagues loaded as playable, my day to day (in-game) continue time is fine. The only time I really notice any lag is at the end of transfer windows or when leagues reset. But if your willing to go and do something for 5-10 minutes while it all updates you should be fine.

For my set up, you should be able to get that now for only a few hundred dollars, if that. I think I paid just under £300 for the tower around 3 years ago (ish) and that was a very good deal at the time so you should be able to buy pretty much anything with a $1k budget and have a good FM experience.

It's kinda difficult as I don't know the price level over there.

This would be a very decent build

Component 		Selection                                                     	Base Price

CPU 		        Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor                	$237.97	

Motherboard 	        Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard 	                $169.99

Memory 	        	Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory        	$149.01

Storage 		Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk           	        $139.99

               	Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive    	$104.99

Video Card 		Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card   	        $149.99 

Case 	         	NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case                        $99.99

Base Total: 	$1051.93
Mail-in Rebates: 	-$30.00 	
Total: 	$1021.93 	

But as you can see, you would still need power supply, operating system, optical drive, keyboard, mouse and a monitor. And the know-how to put it together. It's very simple to do, really. And it's fun if you ask me. Lot's of video tutorials on youtube if you wanna go that route.

Ssd? Haha. That is how much I do not know about this.

I am based in the US. I would prefer laptop as that way I can also sit down with the misses when she wants to sit near me. Bloody woman! Haha.

my wife is now regretting her decision to let me trade up from a desktop to a laptop - now I can play FM in any room in the house at any time, and I'm not tied to a desk or power cord. I have a decent Toshiba with 8Gbs RAM and i3 processor and it does what it needs to keep FM running. Picked it up at Best Buy for $399 (although I can't find it presently on their website - it was an all-in-one package deal).

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-satellite-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-6gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-smart-silver/3336005.p?id=1219090456895&skuId=3336005&st=categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=3

Is it something like that?

well except for it's only an i3, black not silver, and more RAM. My last computer was a 7-year-old eMachines box with only 2 GB of RAM, so the laptop is blazing by comparison.

This is the one I have, the C55 Satellite. http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/378277

So the one I mentioned would play the game to the parameters that I mentioned before? Or only do half of that etc?

So the one I mentioned would play the game to the parameters that I mentioned before? Or only do half of that etc?

I've been playing a FIFA World League database with 23 levels, 500+ teams and over 100K players with no problem, so even if you step up one processor level you'd stay under budget and be able to play the game under your parameters.

I see newegg.com has pretty much the same computer as mentioned above for only $849.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152570

Seems like a decent computer which will run your game smoothly enough. Not sure where you're based, but newegg.com claims the following: Newegg.com only charges sales tax on orders shipping to California, Indiana, New Jersey and Tennessee.

I ideally just want a laptop that will easly handle FM for eons. I dont want to get to 2040 and all of a sudden my laptop sounds like a broken garbage disposal.

anywhere from 650-1k would be great in terms of my wallet.

So what I am hearing is good processor, i3 or better, with as high a Ghz as possible, ram above 4GB and a decent graphic card.

What would be a good graphics card where i can watch in all the 3d glory?

I see newegg.com has pretty much the same computer as mentioned above for only $849.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152570

Seems like a decent computer which will run your game smoothly enough. Not sure where you're based, but newegg.com claims the following: Newegg.com only charges sales tax on orders shipping to California, Indiana, New Jersey and Tennessee.

That is NOT in any way similar to the one I posted (aside from brand).

For one it's a dual core, which would be the most important thing, but it's worse in pretty much every department and only slightly cheaper.

See I would not have picked up on that.

What type or better yet would a good graphics card do for the match engine.

As I mentioned to someone, Im sure even if youre not FM savvy and know computers, if put the minimum specs out to someone who know computers inside out they could recommend a great value laptop that will have FM perform like battlefield would on the best rigs for less money. If that made any sense?

That is NOT in any way similar to the one I posted (aside from brand).

For one it's a dual core, which would be the most important thing, but it's worse in pretty much every department and only slightly cheaper.

OK, to me they look pretty similar apart from the processor actually. Same NVIDIA GeForce GT 840M 2GB graphics card, same 750 GB SATA drive, same 8GB DDR3L 1600MHz memory, same screen resolution, same USB configuration (2x 3.0 and 2x 2.0), same VGA and HDMI setup, same Super Multi DVD drive, both have an a/c WLAN adaptor, both are delivered with win8.1, both have a 6-cell battery.

Looks "pretty much the same" to me except for the CPU...

My bad, you are right. I must have had other tabs open cos I swear I saw it had a 5400prm drive and a 700series gfx card with 720p. Dunno what I was looking at.

For FM the dual core cpu is still crucial though, but looking at it again you are quite right.

My bad, you are right. I must have had other tabs open cos I swear I saw it had a 5400prm drive and a 700series gfx card with 720p. Dunno what I was looking at.

For FM the dual core cpu is still crucial though, but looking at it again you are quite right.

No problem and I must agree with you on the CPU part though. As the 3D in FM isn't exactly Far Cry 3 on extreme settings the processor is probably more important than anything else. I sometimes play FM on my work laptop (i7-2760QM @2,4GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA NVS 4200M - 510 MB GPU) and it works just fine. The only problem I have with that laptop is that the screen is so crappy matches are difficult to see properly, but as soon as I hook it up to an external monitor it's totally fine again.

The answer is simple really, Buy a laptp with an Intel Haswel I7 or a AMD A8-A10 Processor, 6GB or more Ram and Nvidio 740 or later GPU AMD 8000 Series can do. And there you go, for a better Reference you can check on HP Envy 15t Quad Edition which for the above specs named cost around 800usd

Thanks guys I appreciate all of your input.

I think It would be easier if you could just list the minimum requirements and then list the next step up that would mean FM would play smoothly. and run fairly quick. I am an absolute idiot when it comes to how and what to look for in computers. Normally I just throw the most money at it and hope that the more money means the better system. However I have just had a kid and now, im not in a position to walk in to best buy and say, I want the 2000$ laptop there!

Again, I appreciate all of the help you are all giving!!!!

Thanks guys I appreciate all of your input.

I think It would be easier if you could just list the minimum requirements and then list the next step up that would mean FM would play smoothly. and run fairly quick. I am an absolute idiot when it comes to how and what to look for in computers. Normally I just throw the most money at it and hope that the more money means the better system. However I have just had a kid and now, im not in a position to walk in to best buy and say, I want the 2000$ laptop there!

Again, I appreciate all of the help you are all giving!!!!

You mean the minimum specs for playing FM14? According to SI and the FM14 User Manual (http://www.footballmanager.com/manual/?id=408) those are so low I'm not sure you can realistically buy computers like that any more.

Here's the run-down though (for windows):

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 or Intel Core or AMD Athlon (1.6 GHz minimum for win XP, 2.2 GHz min for V, 7 and 8)

Graphics: NVidia GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, ATI Radeon 9800, or Intel GMA X3100. Must have 128MB VRAM as a minimum and be Direct X 9.0c compliant

Memory: 1GB RAM

Harddisk: 3GB HDD

I think pretty much any computer for sale today covers the minimum specs listed by SI in the User Manual. All the computers listed above should handle the game quite all right I think.

My desktop PC spec is:

Intel i5-4670 3.4GHz processor

Asus Z97-A motherboard

8GB Kingston Hyper-X DDR3-1600 RAM

Kingston 120GB SSD

1TB 7200RPM HDD

Intel HD4600 integrated GPU

Windows 7 64bit

And I could run 100k players all day long with 30+ leagues, and it cost me £700 when the processor was new out that day, so it would probably be cheaper now. Runs 3D match engine on med/high with all details on an integrated gpu.

My laptop (HP with 8GB) is only 12 months old and has loads of spare memory. Whenever i start a game on it the games performance always reads 1.5 stars and that is with a small database. Medium database and above and its 0.5 star performance.

Is there anything i can do?

My laptop (HP with 8GB) is only 12 months old and has loads of spare memory. Whenever i start a game on it the games performance always reads 1.5 stars and that is with a small database. Medium database and above and its 0.5 star performance.

Is there anything i can do?

Yes. Ignore the star ratings. If your happy with how the game is running, does it really matter if it says 1.5 stars or 5 stars? I have 5 star computer performance but my game speed is always half a star because of my setup, but im happy with my game speed so its irrelevent.

My laptop (HP with 8GB) is only 12 months old and has loads of spare memory. Whenever i start a game on it the games performance always reads 1.5 stars and that is with a small database. Medium database and above and its 0.5 star performance.

Is there anything i can do?

Yes. You can ignore the stars. They're cosmetic, and don't really have any bearing on how the game will consistently perform, just how it will perform at the moment that screen was loaded.

Yes. You can ignore the stars. They're cosmetic, and don't really have any bearing on how the game will consistently perform, just how it will perform at the moment that screen was loaded.

Also, memory will have little to no bearing on star ratings. It's the processor it judges mainly.

IMO if your on a budget or running low on funds towards the end of your build I'd sway towards a AMD CPU they are a lot cheaper but also offer great performance.

Thanks again guys! Would this play FM to decent 50 - players major leagues?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-satellite-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-6gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-smart-silver/3336005.p?id=1219090456895&skuId=3336005&st=pcmcat287600050003_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=3

Will you often need to use it without a cord for longer periods?

The reason I ask is that the parts in that laptop is optimized for battery life.

The U at the end of the CPU model stands for Ultrabook. It's market BS. Basically it's an under-clocked version of another CPU. It's got 1.6GHz with boost up to 2.6GHz, whereas the higher end models have nearly twice that. The laptop's also got integrated graphics and a slower drive. It's basically made for browsing the web and watching films.

It will probably run FM fine with a few leagues.. might struggle with very high graphics. But you can pay slightly more and get something that is vastly more powerful.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-17-3-laptop-4gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-anodized-silver/4933008.p?id=1219105380048&skuId=4933008&st=categoryid$pcmcat247400050000&cp=1&lp=2

I ended up getting this as a stop gap for about a year. Would this run fm ok? Maybe 2-3 league 50 - 75 players?

Thank you neil appreciate your feedback. Are SI anticipqting similar specs for 2015? Do you have a recommendation for after?