New Laptop/PC- Help Needed

[craigcwwe]

Haha, no worries and thanks for the help.

[callamity]

you guys see anything similar to this with less storage

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-15-ab254sa-15-6-laptop-white-10137891-pdt.html?awc=1599_1454595352_25428f445adf4e45eabf970b7ae9e621&srcid=369&xtor=AL-1&cmpid=aff~HotUKDeals~Communities%20%26%20UGC&istCompanyId=bec25c7e-cbcd-460d-81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istItemId=qqpxmxaq&istBid=t

I purely want a laptop for fm and if that can manage the 3d engine im happy enough with it, just dont need a 2TB drive, for anything xD

[martplfc1]

The 8gb would cover the boot drive, so the laptop would boot up in seconds rather than a minute or too...

Would it affect how FM runs?

[Welshace]

Very little.. Could only possibly affect loading and saving times, but it's nice to have on a day to day usage basis basically...

An sshd is probably the best way to go imo.

[callamity]

I ended up going with this from pcspecialist, £750 i dropped the expensive graphics card for the integrated hd graphics 530 after checking benchmarks for other games think this will work with fm for a good 4-5 real life years without the worry of getting a better processor or ram.

Chassis & Display

Cosmos Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)

Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)

Memory (RAM)

16GB HyperX IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 8GB)

Graphics Card

INTEL® HD GRAPHICS 530 - 1.7GB Max DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 12

1st Hard Disk

500GB SEAGATE HYBRID 2.5" SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 rpm)

[Guest]

Nice choice, just received delivery of my new laptop from PC Specialists & so far so good for the service & build quality.

[callamity]

Nice choice, just received delivery of my new laptop from PC Specialists & so far so good for the service & build quality.

Nice to see that, adds a bit of confidence to the order. I've never used them before but reviews do seem good.

out of interest how long did it take to arrive? the flow chart on the website is a bit skeewiff

[Guest]

Three weeks, could have been just over 2 weeks had I not gone for a Saturday delivery.

[Hazzard]

Hey Welshace

Can you recommend a desktop Pc for the same price as the Lenovo z51 laptop?

£550's a good budget for me and if you can't recommend a desktop then I'll happily be buying the Lenovo.

Thanks for your advice on here.

[Smurf]

Hey Welshace

Can you recommend a desktop Pc for the same price as the Lenovo z51 laptop?

£550's a good budget for me and if you can't recommend a desktop then I'll happily be buying the Lenovo.

Thanks for your advice on here.

This is pretty good http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/CB-CZ5840-644ES-Cube-Chameleon-CZ-5840_1778472.html

[Welshace]

Hey Welshace

Can you recommend a desktop Pc for the same price as the Lenovo z51 laptop?

£550's a good budget for me and if you can't recommend a desktop then I'll happily be buying the Lenovo.

Thanks for your advice on here.

Will happily recommend a desktop, but that would depend a lot on if you need an OS? a monitor? etc?

[Smurf]

Will happily recommend a desktop, but that would depend a lot on if you need an OS? a monitor? etc?

Oh yeh - for a desktop - good catch - dang!

[Hazzard]

Thanks for your reply. OS would have to be Windows 8 or above and was thinking of hooking it up to my T.V so no need for a monitor.

Definitely leaning towards a laptop but have been advised you can get more for your buck with a desktop. Had a look but there didn't seem to be a lot of difference but I don't know to much about computers to be honest.

Thanks again

[Welshace]

It all depends on what it's use is really, in the debate for laptop vs desktop...

In real world tests, a desktop will always perform better for your money in pure gaming, but as I say, depends on your needs...

something like this :

http://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/Primal-GS2-196p2453.htm

is great as it is still quite a small form size pc, but has a brilliant budget cpu, which can be overclocked if necessary for amazing results, it also comes with a decent gpu and decent ram etc....

but honestly, I love laptops and the lenovo is excellent value and will handle pretty much everything you throw at it...

I'd still go with it.

[Smurf]

Thanks for your reply. OS would have to be Windows 8 or above and was thinking of hooking it up to my T.V so no need for a monitor.

Definitely leaning towards a laptop but have been advised you can get more for your buck with a desktop. Had a look but there didn't seem to be a lot of difference but I don't know to much about computers to be honest.

Thanks again

This is really good for performance wise, it will be great for day to day progression - but not really for graphics - so you'd probably have to play 3d matches on low quality.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/10DU000TUK-Lenovo-ThinkCentre-E73-Small-Form-Factor_1857746.html

This also seems pretty good - and portablish - not sure about it but hey!

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/DQ.SUPEK.009-Acer-Aspire-U5-620_1863026.html

[Hazzard]

Cheers guys.

If you say the Lenovo's still tops that's good for me. Don't play many games other than FM, no massive platform games etc. As well like to have the T.V on in the background.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

[Welshace]

This is really good for performance wise, it will be great for day to day progression - but not really for graphics - so you'd probably have to play 3d matches on low quality.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/10DU000TUK-Lenovo-ThinkCentre-E73-Small-Form-Factor_1857746.html

This also seems pretty good - and portablish - not sure about it but hey!

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/DQ.SUPEK.009-Acer-Aspire-U5-620_1863026.html

Oh god Smurf, i'm as much a fan of saveonlaptops and it's sister sites as anyone.. but for the love of all that's holy, don't look on there for desktops... they are awful.

[Smurf]

Oh god Smurf, i'm as much a fan of saveonlaptops and it's sister sites as anyone.. but for the love of all that's holy, don't look on there for desktops... they are awful.

As I said, the 2nd one wasn't ideal, I just thought it looked ok for what it was and in price range.

And the first one - what's wrong with it... it's fine for FM.

However, I'm not in England, I'm not sure of other sites that you may use. If you have suggestions for other sites let me know.

I tried PC specialist, but couldn't work the budget there.

And as I said before, I only use Save on Laptops because of it's filtering system.

Again, any other suggestions for sites let me know.

[Welshace]

Ahh I see, well fair enough , wrongly assumed you were in the UK

For desktops, generally in the UK, people look inevitably find themselves at one of :

Amazon

PC world

Curry's

Pc Specialist

Chillblast

Mesh Computers

Dino PC

Cyberpowersystems has a great configurator...

Scan

I only mentioned it as you and I seem to be the only ones giving halfway decent advice on the thread regularly.

[Guest]

Based on my desktop I would recommend Chillblast, bought an overclocked i7 from them over 6 years ago & the rig hasn't skipped a beat since the day it arrived.

They also mistakenly installed a bluray drive & better gfx card, neither item was charged for when I contacted them about the error.

[Smurf]

Ahh I see, well fair enough , wrongly assumed you were in the UK

For desktops, generally in the UK, people look inevitably find themselves at one of :

Amazon

PC world

Curry's

Pc Specialist

Chillblast

Mesh Computers

Dino PC

Cyberpowersystems has a great configurator...

Scan

I only mentioned it as you and I seem to be the only ones giving halfway decent advice on the thread regularly.

No bother.

As long as I know where to look.

Amazon - can't filter by RAM or Graphics Card

Searched - but found pittance and wouldn't recommend

PC World & Currys are the same are both down

Customised sites

Can't filter - but great options

Chill Blast

Not bad - this is ok http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Typhoon.html

Perhaps up the Graphics Card

Mesh

http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx?PAGE=PRODUCTCONFIGPAGE&USG=PRODUCT&ENT=PRODUCT&KEY=1324631

Dino PC

http://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/configurePrd.asp?idproduct=2542&qty=

Not bad - add a graphics card

Don't really have time to get into more

However, if you're going to go custom I suggest contacting the relevant sites and asking.

Things to ask for would be

State your budget

Fast processor - no less than 2.5ghz - the faster the better

Cooling system for processor, like Arctic Thermal Paste, or an extra fan or whatever they recommend

RAM

8gb RAM minimum

GRAPHICS

If you want to view matches in 3D

I would ask for a Graphics Card that's Mid-Range to High End.

If 3D matches are not important then ask for something low end.

Hard Drive

Faster boot up times with SSD - and load and save games will be faster. But progression in game won't be faster.

The good thing about a desktop is that it's easy to upgrade a component in the future.

[Welshace]

Certainly, golden rule really.. phone or email them.. communication is key.

To be fair, i've found pcspecialist and chillblast in particular great at keeping you up with how they are getting on and they have always answered emails for me.

[Smurf]

Yes, I'm a big fan of PC Specialist too.

[zlatan_ibrahimovic]

I am a long time football manager supporter and I've been playing on mac.. But this year i might switch to PC gaming to play this game with many leagues and large players database.. Us this PC good enough?

Asrock H97 Killer & i7-4790k

8GB Corsair Vengeance Pro 1866MHz CL9

Samsung 850 EVO 250gb SSD SATA3

Palit GTX970 Jetstream 4gb GDDR5

Corsair RM series 950w modular gold

Corsair graphite series 780t (black)

Corsair H100i GTX hydro cooling

I hope this gaming setup is more than enough to play the game i love

[Guest]

I can't see any reason for the 950w PSU & you can probably save a decent amount by dropping it to a 550-650w option which will be more than enough.

Other than that the components all point to a good gaming rig, the key consideration is who's building it & how they review.

[zlatan_ibrahimovic]

I can't see any reason for the 950w PSU & you can probably save a decent amount by dropping it to a 550-650w option which will be more than enough.

Other than that the components all point to a good gaming rig, the key consideration is who's building it & how they review.

Thanks for the response.. I really appreciate it.. I actually build this rig based on the budget I currently have.. I am just asking for more opinions because I am still unsure if this is more than enough for football manager.. I might be playing other games with this rig but still the main game is football manager

[GriffiN94]

I'm looking for a laptop around £700 to play FM with a lot of leagues loaded (planning to go unemployed with a lot of leagues and work up). I play FM on 2D and I also play League of Legends , but I've bought a few games on steam I want to play but I currnetly cant (Skyrim and a few more). I usually have a few things open so 8gb ram would be good but apart from that I have no clue what to look for.

Is this good enough? http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/N551VW-FW258T-ASUS-N551VW-FW258T_1868709.html

[Smurf]

I'm looking for a laptop around £700 to play FM with a lot of leagues loaded (planning to go unemployed with a lot of leagues and work up). I play FM on 2D and I also play League of Legends , but I've bought a few games on steam I want to play but I currnetly cant (Skyrim and a few more). I usually have a few things open so 8gb ram would be good but apart from that I have no clue what to look for.

Is this good enough? http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/N551VW-FW258T-ASUS-N551VW-FW258T_1868709.html

not quite feeling the processor for FM

This looks good http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/9S7-16J312-208-MSI-GP62-2QD%28Leopard%29-208UK_1906043.html

This is pretty gnarly

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/7559-8045-Dell-Inspiron-15-7000_1856981.html

[Welshace]

I'm looking for a laptop around £700 to play FM with a lot of leagues loaded (planning to go unemployed with a lot of leagues and work up). I play FM on 2D and I also play League of Legends , but I've bought a few games on steam I want to play but I currnetly cant (Skyrim and a few more). I usually have a few things open so 8gb ram would be good but apart from that I have no clue what to look for.

Is this good enough? http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/N551VW-FW258T-ASUS-N551VW-FW258T_1868709.html

I've been looking around, and honestly, I can't find anything with a 6th gen cpu that can compete with that.. i'd say go for it..

And it will run most modern games at a decent level, certainly Skyrim and the like, the graphics card is really the only downside on it tbh, 2gb v mem isn't really enough these days to run at full detail... and the newest games coming out require at least 3gb v memory..

Nevertheless, unless you want an older gen cpu (which isn't a bad thing tbh) I can't find much better.

Suffice to say, fm will run like a dream on it.

[Smurf]

I've been looking around, and honestly, I can't find anything with a 6th gen cpu that can compete with that.. i'd say go for it..

This is pretty gnarly

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/7559-8045-Dell-Inspiron-15-7000_1856981.html

Maybe you missed my post...what do you think

[Welshace]

not quite feeling the processor for FM

This looks good http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/9S7-16J312-208-MSI-GP62-2QD%28Leopard%29-208UK_1906043.html

This is pretty gnarly

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/7559-8045-Dell-Inspiron-15-7000_1856981.html

You are one part insane and one part genius here..

Your first suggestion is much worse than the asus.. cpu included...

The second though is actually a lot better suggestion if he can spare the few extra notes.. good find!

[Welshace]

Maybe you missed my post...what do you think

Yeah I did! I was already writing mine before you made yours .. sorry!

[Smurf]

You are one part insane and one part genius here..

Your first suggestion is much worse than the asus.. cpu included...

The second though is actually a lot better suggestion if he can spare the few extra notes.. good find!

Yes, it was a tough decision on the first one.

One is a quad core and the other is a dual core.

However, the quad core has no hyperthreading, so it's 4/4 and the the dual core is 2/4.

The dual core has a faster base frequency - that's why I was edged more towards that.

Besides, I was thrown out by the initial budget being 700, however, after rechecking the link posted, it was circa 720 - so I was limiting myself to the 700 range.

Yes, it's a bit insane, but the dual core actually performs better when the processor is hot, and has the same turbo freq. That's why I leaned towards that.

[GriffiN94]

You are one part insane and one part genius here..

Your first suggestion is much worse than the asus.. cpu included...

The second though is actually a lot better suggestion if he can spare the few extra notes.. good find!

I'm guessing it's worth the extra £20? How will it fair with new releases as well as FM?

[Welshace]

Yes, it was a tough decision on the first one.

One is a quad core and the other is a dual core.

However, the quad core has no hyperthreading, so it's 4/4 and the the dual core is 2/4.

The dual core has a faster base frequency - that's why I was edged more towards that.

Besides, I was thrown out by the initial budget being 700, however, after rechecking the link posted, it was circa 720 - so I was limiting myself to the 700 range.

Yes, it's a bit insane, but the dual core actually performs better when the processor is hot, and has the same turbo freq. That's why I leaned towards that.

All sensible in theory, but when you look at real world performance and benchmarking, you can't compare them...

Do love the dell though..

[Welshace]

I'm guessing it's worth the extra £20? How will it fair with new releases as well as FM?

Oh it's certainly worth it.

You can't get much better cpu wise really, and it will run the next few releases of fm certainly, and it's much better equipped than the Asus for current gen games, has a better graphics card too..

Go for it

[Smurf]

All sensible in theory, but when you look at real world performance and benchmarking, you can't compare them...

Do love the dell though..

My experience with FM is the higher the base frequency the better. No point in having a 1.6ghz processor that can turbo boost to 3.2ghz, if it never gets there due to overheating and the processor to keep cool reduces automatically to 1.6ghz~

I thought there was a significant difference in base frequency to support my case. Especially going forward, another few itterations of the game and a low base frequency may not cut it.

[Welshace]

AFAIK FM only utilizes hyperthreading in the match engine?.. bare in mind my knowledge on the game mechanics is pretty slim..

That said, Physical cores will always outshine vs virtual cores, and honestly, the base frequency rate is negligible when you take into account the physical core advantages.. take that along with newer generation architecture etc and the 10% higher frequency loses it's advantage.

[Smurf]

AFAIK FM only utilizes hyperthreading in the match engine?.. bare in mind my knowledge on the game mechanics is pretty slim..

That said, Physical cores will always outshine vs virtual cores, and honestly, the base frequency rate is negligible when you take into account the physical core advantages.. take that along with newer generation architecture etc and the 10% higher frequency loses it's advantage.

For all other performance I agree.

But for FM my experience is different . I have 10 year old 2.5 ghz laptop dual core.

I have a I7 2.0ghz fairly recent. Quad core.

The 2.5 way out performs the 2.0 for FM.

Maybe it's not true for everyone. But that's my experience.

[Guest]

AFAIK FM only utilizes hyperthreading in the match engine?.. bare in mind my knowledge on the game mechanics is pretty slim..

That said, Physical cores will always outshine vs virtual cores, and honestly, the base frequency rate is negligible when you take into account the physical core advantages.. take that along with newer generation architecture etc and the 10% higher frequency loses it's advantage.

The AI transfer system now also utilises hyper-threading.

Still true that higher clock speeds & physical cores are more important for your average FM'er, only those wo like very large games &/or run in full detail who will benefit the most from cpu's that use HT technology.

It's also important for people to understand that laptop CPU's are to some extent over protected, my 6820HK by default is clocked down to 50% performance when running on the laptop battery on the high performance setting which for me is overkill & very likely catches out a lot of people who expected better performance.

[zlatan_ibrahimovic]

I am a long time football manager supporter and I've been playing on mac.. But this year i might switch to PC gaming to play this game with many leagues and large players database.. Us this PC good enough?

Asrock H97 Killer & i7-4790k

8GB Corsair Vengeance Pro 1866MHz CL9

Samsung 850 EVO 250gb SSD SATA3

Palit GTX970 Jetstream 4gb GDDR5

Corsair RM series 950w modular gold

Corsair graphite series 780t (black)

Corsair H100i GTX hydro cooling

I hope this gaming setup is more than enough to play the game i love

Bump for more opinions so that i can purchase this week

[Welshace]

Yes it's a good setup... would agree, I don't see the need for 950 modular...

The system is overkill for fm in many ways tbh...

[zlatan_ibrahimovic]

Or maybe the better question, what gaming rig can load more than 20 countries and large database? I love football manager and i am willing to spend to maximize the experience.

If there is someone in here, that can play many countries and large player database, i would really appreciate it if you can share your laptop or desktop specs.

[zlatan_ibrahimovic]

Yes it's a good setup... would agree, I don't see the need for 950 modular...

The system is overkill for fm in many ways tbh...

Thank you welshace.. I have spent thousands of hours on football manager even few years ago so now i am willing to purchase a better gaming rig and retire my 2011 macbook pro

[Guest]

An i5-6600K based desktop will be able to meet your needs, might even give you enough spare to push for a 980 gfx card or larger SSD.

[callamity]

It's also important for people to understand that laptop CPU's are to some extent over protected, my 6820HK by default is clocked down to 50% performance when running on the laptop battery on the high performance setting which for me is overkill & very likely catches out a lot of people who expected better performance.

t

I don't quite understand this bit,

does this mean that when on running on battery the CPU is running at 50%, but when on cable it runs normal?

[Guest]

pretty much & that's when selecting high performance, on the default balanced or power-saving modes the level of throttle back is even more severe.

Edit: The trade-off I have made by increasing the on-battery settings is that I get less time on the 100% charge.

[Welshace]

Suffice to say that the amount of throttling back performance wise while on battery will differ system to system, mine for one (a Dell) goes down around 20% while in my gaming plan..

But yes, there is usually always a performance loss when running just on battery.

[thomit]

You can of course go into the advanced power settings and make so it won't do that. Battery time will suffer, though. But he point is: if you're near a power grid socket - use it.

But if you want exactly the same behaviour from the laptop (in high performance mode) whether on battery or connected to the grid, go into the advanced power plan settings and make some relevant settings exactly the same on battery as it is when plugged in. The "minimum processor state", for example. Set it to 100%, like it is when plugged in. If you experience processor throttling after that, your laptop's BIOS has got additional power saving measures that can't be controlled by Windows, usually not tweakable even if you go into the BIOS settings ... and then you're screwed.

The best solution though, if you want max performance from your laptop, is to plug it into the grid whenever you can. Then it doesn't really matter if the power plan is "balanced" or "high performance" - just avoid the "power saver" plan.

[quino]

this thread and having a nosey at all the current ideas on best laptops for budgets/needs/wants etc. I've noticed the 2 from page 37

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/7559-8045-Dell-Inspiron-15-7000_1856981.html

Dell Inspiron 15-7000 - £739

Intel Core i7-6700HQ Quad Core Processor

15.6" Full HD Screen

Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit

8GB DDR3 RAM

8GB SSD + 1000GB Hybrid HDD (5400rpm)

Dedicated GeForce GTX 960M 4GB Graphics

USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth

Aluminum chassis with Backlit Keyboard

AND

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/N551VW-FW258T-ASUS-N551VW-FW258T_1868709.html

ASUS N551VW-FW258T - £719

• Intel Core i5-6300HQ Quad Core Processor

• 15.6" Full HD Screen

• Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit

• 12GB DDR4 RAM

• 128GB SSD + 750GB HDD

• DVD Rewriter

• Dedicated GeForce GTX 960M 2GB Graphics

• USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth | DisplayPort

• Includes Subwoofer

The 1st one seems to be the clear winner with posters on here, but my mate who games(not FM, but WOW, fallout 4 etc) seems to be more impressed with the 2nd

FM, I play Scottish, English Leagues, both down to bottom teir, sometimes throw in a bit of Spanish leagues. I’ve never played fm on a decent system, it’s always been pretty slow and 3D matches on low detail. I like a large database so as to unearth all these hidden gems.

Only other games I’m interested in are civilisation and sim city type games.

I don’t make videos or use photoshop.

Am I just wasting my money on these setups? Would something cheaper be better. Mate also says wait on HMB(?) gpus to hit if I’m not in a rush, but I wouldn’t need this for fm.

Cheers!