New Laptop/PC Advice -Please Read the Opening Post

[JordanMilly]

8 hours ago, cris182 said:

Apologies but me again, If i can stretch to 700 what would you recommend me? I may be able to do so now 

It's hard to say. The one I linked has probably the best processor you could get for under £8/900. Otherwise, I'd say maybe this: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8631622

Has an ever so slightly less good processor (barely noticeable though), but has a slightly better graphics card and adds a small solid-state harddrive, so booting and 1/2 games you could fit on it would load up faster initially. 

[Joshbcfc1]

8 hours ago, kevhamster said:

Should do you quite nicely then in fairness. 

Thank you for your help, last question though: is that the best laptop I can get for my money or is there anything else you would recommend? Sorry about all the questions just want to get this decision right 

[kevhamster]

47 minutes ago, Joshbcfc1 said:

Thank you for your help, last question though: is that the best laptop I can get for my money or is there anything else you would recommend? Sorry about all the questions just want to get this decision right 

That seems to be about the best one at that price, it has excellent specs. As long as you're happy that it is a big laptop! 

[SamheinWitchKilla]

Looking at getting a new laptop soon, possibly waiting til black Friday, will say my budget is around £600, but we'll see.

All I'll really be using it for is playing FM and Sims 4.

Currently when I play FM, my laptop sounds like a jet engine and I can hear it even without my hearing aids in.

I don't play in 3D, I use only commentary, however I load a lot of leagues.

[kevhamster]

12 minutes ago, SamheinWitchKilla said:

Looking at getting a new laptop soon, possibly waiting til black Friday, will say my budget is around £600, but we'll see.

All I'll really be using it for is playing FM and Sims 4.

Currently when I play FM, my laptop sounds like a jet engine and I can hear it even without my hearing aids in.

I don't play in 3D, I use only commentary, however I load a lot of leagues.

https://www.box.co.uk/HP-Pavilion-15-cx0999na_2485084.html

This would enable you to run a decent number of leagues in FM and is also capable of running the Sims 4 at the recommended settings.

[SamheinWitchKilla]

4 minutes ago, kevhamster said:

https://www.box.co.uk/HP-Pavilion-15-cx0999na_2485084.html

This would enable you to run a decent number of leagues in FM and is also capable of running the Sims 4 at the recommended settings.

Appreciate it mate, thanks.

[kevhamster]

7 minutes ago, SamheinWitchKilla said:

Appreciate it mate, thanks.

How is The Sims 4 by the way?  I've often been tempted, but get put off by the huge number of high-priced DLC packs.  I seems EA have shipped half a game at full price, and then release it in dribs and drabs and charge the player for that too!

I quite enjoyed the Sims 3, but I only ever bought the game and add-ons when I found them cheap.

[SamheinWitchKilla]

6 minutes ago, kevhamster said:

How is The Sims 4 by the way?  I've often been tempted, but get put off by the huge number of high-priced DLC packs.  I seems EA have shipped half a game at full price, and then release it in dribs and drabs and charge the player for that too!

I quite enjoyed the Sims 3, but I only ever bought the game and add-ons when I found them cheap.

I enjoy it from what I can play, since I do struggle with this laptop. I get all the DLC when it's on sale and it does help make the game more enjoyable.

I'd say as a game on its own, it isn't very good, but with the DLC it is much better.

[kevhamster]

8 minutes ago, SamheinWitchKilla said:

I enjoy it from what I can play, since I do struggle with this laptop. I get all the DLC when it's on sale and it does help make the game more enjoyable.

I'd say as a game on its own, it isn't very good, but with the DLC it is much better.

Thanks for that, I'll probably give it a skip then.  Given how expensive the DLC is, I don't want to be spending a huge amount of money just to be making a game part-way enjoyable lol.  Maybe just stick with the Sims 3 and buy expansions for that when I find them cheap!

[SamheinWitchKilla]

2 minutes ago, kevhamster said:

Thanks for that, I'll probably give it a skip then.  Given how expensive the DLC is, I don't want to be spending a huge amount of money just to be making a game part-way enjoyable lol.  Maybe just stick with the Sims 3 and buy expansions for that when I find them cheap!

No problem mate. I didn't play the Sims 3, so I can't really compare the two either to give a better judgement.

[Joshbcfc1]

2 hours ago, kevhamster said:

That seems to be about the best one at that price, it has excellent specs. As long as you're happy that it is a big laptop! 

Cheers for all your help mate, ive just ordered it!

Cant wait to get it tomorrow and then get my FM2020 journey started!

[homebasedgg]

Hi guys,

Spurs fan here.

I haven't played FM in a few years now due to time but looking to buy the new game.

Have been looking at getting a new laptop (budget £750) and have been reading this thread for the past day or two which has thrown up some really suitable laptops within my budget.

Would I be able to get some advice on the best option on the following:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8631622

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3039061

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-nitro-5-an515-54-intel-core-i5-gtx-1050-gaming-laptop-512-gb-ssd-10199732-pdt.html

I had a cheap ASUS (£300 ish) before and it just couldn't handle the game how I wanted to play it (large database 7-8 leagues loaded).

Thanks in advance for any advice. 

 

[kevhamster]

47 minutes ago, homebasedgg said:

Hi guys,

Spurs fan here.

I haven't played FM in a few years now due to time but looking to buy the new game.

Have been looking at getting a new laptop (budget £750) and have been reading this thread for the past day or two which has thrown up some really suitable laptops within my budget.

Would I be able to get some advice on the best option on the following:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8631622

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3039061

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-nitro-5-an515-54-intel-core-i5-gtx-1050-gaming-laptop-512-gb-ssd-10199732-pdt.html

I had a cheap ASUS (£300 ish) before and it just couldn't handle the game how I wanted to play it (large database 7-8 leagues loaded).

Thanks in advance for any advice. 

 

Out of those, I'd either go for the Lenovo from Argos, or the Acer from Currys.

The Lenovo has a slightly better CPU (but the benchmarking sites suggest there's very little in it), but the Acer runs on an SSD which would likely mean the computer would run things overall quicker.  Both have identical graphics cards, so literally nothing in it there.

If pushed (and you don't need the extra 500GB or so offered by having a mechanical hard drive), I'd probably opt for the one with the SSD, although it may run FM a smidge more slowly during to the Lenovo having the slightly better CPU.

 

The other one at Argos has the same CPU as the one at Currys, but a much smaller SSD (only 128GB), which is why I wouldn't go for that one.

Edited November 7, 2019 by kevhamster

[SamheinWitchKilla]

2 hours ago, kevhamster said:

https://www.box.co.uk/HP-Pavilion-15-cx0999na_2485084.html

This would enable you to run a decent number of leagues in FM and is also capable of running the Sims 4 at the recommended settings.

Apologies for asking about this one again.

Just checked FM and how many leagues I usually have loaded etc.

Says player count is 154,370 (recommended is 125,000)

This laptop still be enough to run all that?

Do having graphics such as player faces and logos slow down performance too? I use both of those.

Thanks again.

[kevhamster]

29 minutes ago, SamheinWitchKilla said:

Apologies for asking about this one again.

Just checked FM and how many leagues I usually have loaded etc.

Says player count is 154,370 (recommended is 125,000)

This laptop still be enough to run all that?

Do having graphics such as player faces and logos slow down performance too? I use both of those.

Thanks again.

Honestly, I couldn't say as I don't run quite that much.  However, the CPU on that laptop is pretty close to top of the range currently based on https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-8300H+%40+2.30GHz&id=3254, so although you can get slightly better than that, you are then getting into a considerably higher price range.

For example, the next laptop I can see on box.co.uk which offers any kind of upgrade on the CPU compared to that on is here: https://www.box.co.uk/30026124-Medion-Erazer-P6705_2614018.html.

That's an extra £200, and I couldn't say with any certainty you would gain enough of an upgrade on performance to make the extra price worth it.  It will be an improvement, but I simply don't know how much.

Installing graphic packs does come with a slight performance hit I believe, but again I'm not sure how much.  I've always installed logo packs myself as I hate the generic logos for the non-licenced teams, and FM20 will be the first time I'm also extending that to face and kit packs as well.  Will be an interesting experiment to me.

Out of interest, what are you using currently (specs etc, and which version of FM), and how do you find the speed?  I would say if you're running that kind of setup on FM19, and you're using an old laptop which handles it then these new ones also shouldn't have an issue with it.

Edited November 7, 2019 by kevhamster

[SamheinWitchKilla]

3 minutes ago, kevhamster said:

Honestly, I couldn't say as I don't run quite that much.  However, the CPU on that laptop is pretty close to top of the range currently based on https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-8300H+%40+2.30GHz&id=3254, so although you can get slightly better than that, you are then getting into a considerably higher price range.

For example, the next laptop I can see on box.co.uk which offers any kind of upgrade on the CPU compared to that on is here: https://www.box.co.uk/30026124-Medion-Erazer-P6705_2614018.html.

That's an extra £200, and I couldn't say with any certainty you would gain enough of an upgrade on performance to make the extra price worth it.  It will be an improvement, but I simply don't know how much.

Installing graphic packs does come with a slight performance hit I believe, but again I'm not sure how much.  I've always installed logo packs myself as I hate the generic logos for the non-licenced teams, and FM20 will be the first time I'm also extending that to face and kit packs as well.  Will be an interesting experiment to me.

Out of interest, what are you using currently (specs etc, and which version of FM), and how do you find the speed?  I would say if you're running that kind of setup on FM19, and you're using an old laptop which handles it then these new ones also shouldn't have an issue with it.

Appreciate the input.

Current laptop.

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2350M CPU @ 2.30GHz

8GB RAM

Running FM19. Honestly the speed at times seems fine, but other times not. Like I said, my laptop generally sounds like a jet engine whenever I'm playing FM or Sims and it really gets to me.

I've had this laptop now for at least 5 years.

[kevhamster]

16 minutes ago, SamheinWitchKilla said:

Appreciate the input.

Current laptop.

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2350M CPU @ 2.30GHz

8GB RAM

Running FM19. Honestly the speed at times seems fine, but other times not. Like I said, my laptop generally sounds like a jet engine whenever I'm playing FM or Sims and it really gets to me.

I've had this laptop now for at least 5 years.

In that case, if you've got a 2nd gen i3 handling that lot (and I have to say, I'm not surprised you've got the fans going some with that lot being thrown at it because that is quite a load for that CPU to handle lol), then you should find the 8th gen i5 in that laptop you linked a hell of a lot quicker, and should be a fair bit quieter too.

FM20 seems to have quite similar requirements to FM19.

Edited November 7, 2019 by kevhamster

[kalland92]

Hello!

Will this PC be good enough for FM 20:

Lenovo

intel core i5-9300H / 2.4 GHz

Nvida GTX gforce 1650 4gb

8GB ram

512Gb SSD

I think this is the best i can find for my budget around £850.

Edited November 7, 2019 by kalland92

[kevhamster]

4 minutes ago, kalland92 said:

Hello!

Will this PC be good enough for FM 20:

Lenovo

intel core i5-9300H / 2.4 GHz

Nvida GTX gforce 1650 4gb

8GB ram

512Gb SSD

I think this is the best i can find for my budget around £850.

Yes.

[kalland92]

3 minutes ago, kevhamster said:

Yes.

Thanks for the quick reply.

So the graphics card is also good enough for 3D matches?

[kevhamster]

29 minutes ago, kalland92 said:

Thanks for the quick reply.

So the graphics card is also good enough for 3D matches?

Yep, easy.

For info, I ran 3D at high settings on FM19 with my laptop's integrated graphics (no dedicated video card), so you don't need a super-powered GPU for FM at all.

You will need it for many other games, but FM isn't exactly graphics-intensive even in the 3D view.

[GG17]

Haven't had a laptop in a few years now and I'm looking to get one for the next FM only. Is £5-600 really the best price I'll be looking at? Thanks

[kevolver]

Been searching for a new laptop that is going to run FM20 well, current laptop is old and awful with the  Beta.  I've been looking at laptops with i5 processor, dedicated graphics cards and at least 8gb of RAM.  Looks like I'd be needing to spend at least £600 for that.

I've seen a few post suggesting dedicated graphics isn't essential.  What I'm wondering, if I was to drop dedicated graphics from my search, what other spec do I need to focus on to ensure it will still run at a reasonable speed and capable of playing 3d and a few leagues?

I'd prefer to keep cost down to £500, I can get 10% off at Currys so could go up to about £550 there.

[kevhamster]

54 minutes ago, kevolver said:

Been searching for a new laptop that is going to run FM20 well, current laptop is old and awful with the  Beta.  I've been looking at laptops with i5 processor, dedicated graphics cards and at least 8gb of RAM.  Looks like I'd be needing to spend at least £600 for that.

I've seen a few post suggesting dedicated graphics isn't essential.  What I'm wondering, if I was to drop dedicated graphics from my search, what other spec do I need to focus on to ensure it will still run at a reasonable speed and capable of playing 3d and a few leagues?

I'd prefer to keep cost down to £500, I can get 10% off at Currys so could go up to about £550 there.

https://www.box.co.uk/4AU93EAABU-HP-Paviilion-15-cw0008na_2356478.html

This one is decent for that money.  My own laptop has the same CPU as this, and it runs FM19 nicely with 8 leagues loaded with all divisions (England, Scotland, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain) and the integrated graphics is strong enough to play 3D at high settings.

I've been unable to test it with the FM20 beta as it's the laptop itself has been away for repair, but as it ran FM19 nicely, I don't think FM20 would be any different.

 

Or, there's this one:

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-inspiron-14-5000-14-amd-ryzen-5-laptop-256-gb-ssd-silver-10193797-pdt.html

This has a newer version of the Ryzen 5, and appears to be a bit stronger on the benchmarking sites.

The tradeoff here being the smaller screen (still full HD resolution, but 14" rather than 15.7"), and less storage space - but the storage is entirely SSD on this one, so the PC as a whole should run quicker (but I'm told SSD compared to mechanical hard drive has minimal impact on FM's performance).

Either of these should suit your needs - if you don't mind having a slightly smaller screen and less storage, the Currys one is probably the one out of these two to go for.

 

[kevolver]

39 minutes ago, kevhamster said:

https://www.box.co.uk/4AU93EAABU-HP-Paviilion-15-cw0008na_2356478.html

This one is decent for that money.  My own laptop has the same CPU as this, and it runs FM19 nicely with 8 leagues loaded with all divisions (England, Scotland, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain) and the integrated graphics is strong enough to play 3D at high settings.

I've been unable to test it with the FM20 beta as it's the laptop itself has been away for repair, but as it ran FM19 nicely, I don't think FM20 would be any different.

 

Or, there's this one:

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-inspiron-14-5000-14-amd-ryzen-5-laptop-256-gb-ssd-silver-10193797-pdt.html

This has a newer version of the Ryzen 5, and appears to be a bit stronger on the benchmarking sites.

The tradeoff here being the smaller screen (still full HD resolution, but 14" rather than 15.7"), and less storage space - but the storage is entirely SSD on this one, so the PC as a whole should run quicker (but I'm told SSD compared to mechanical hard drive has minimal impact on FM's performance).

Either of these should suit your needs - if you don't mind having a slightly smaller screen and less storage, the Currys one is probably the one out of these two to go for.

 

Thanks for advice.  Is the Ryzen 5 better than the i5 or about the same?

Changing my search on Currys to look at the Ryzen 5 laptops I came across this one, would this run as well as the other 2 you've suggested?

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-inspiron-15-3000-15-6-amd-ryzen-5-laptop-256-gb-ssd-silver-10190038-pdt.html

[PrincessHammer]

Which laptop should I buy to play FM20 with more leagues?

It's about time to replace my 4 year old Dell XPS 13. It currently runs Fm19/20 on about 2 stars with 30K players loaded (typically custom database w/ national rep and all England loaded). It's playable but I'm noticing 20 is running slower (maybe because it's beta?) I've also always wanted to load a ton of leagues and do a journeyman save, or just have a ton loaded but not playable for more realism. 3 stars or better for speed would be great. :)

​

Here are the options I'm considering, Football Manager is probably the most intensive game I play on my laptop so I'm sticking with 13 inch options. (Current laptop has i7, 8 gb ram, 256 gb ssd, integrated graphics card)

Surface Laptop 3: Intel Ice Lake i7, 16 GB RAM, Iris Plus Graphics, 256 GB SSD. I hear CPU is more important than graphics for Football Manager, but will this still be good?  
Dell XPS 13: Intel Comet Lake i7 (6 cores so apparently super fast for the size??), Iris integrated graphics (100 higher than my current XPS), 16 GB RAM, 512 SSD  
Macbook Pro: i7, likely 16gb RAM, Iris Plus Graphics, 256 GB SSD. I've never owned a Macbook so this one is tempting since I own the rest of the Apple products. But feels very expensive for what it is so I'd love a Macbook Pro owner to chime in on game quality and how long the Macbook lasts :)

[kevhamster]

9 hours ago, kevolver said:

Thanks for advice.  Is the Ryzen 5 better than the i5 or about the same?

Changing my search on Currys to look at the Ryzen 5 laptops I came across this one, would this run as well as the other 2 you've suggested?

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-inspiron-15-3000-15-6-amd-ryzen-5-laptop-256-gb-ssd-silver-10190038-pdt.html

That one has the older variant of it that's in the one at Box, so yes it would do. 

In terms of whether Ryzen 5 is better or worse than an i5 isn't a yes/no answer, given how many generations of the i5 there have been. 

That said, if you're talking a current gen i5, the i5 would likely be stronger.  But, the Ryzen CPUs are very good and the first decent alternative to Intels in quite a long time. 

[bigmattb28]

On 05/11/2019 at 16:37, kevhamster said:

https://www.box.co.uk/7DC73EAABU-HP-255-G7_2580199.html

This one is very similar spec to the laptop I currently use (same CPU and amount of RAM as mine), which runs FM19 pretty quickly and with more leagues than you've mentioned.  In fact, it should be quicker than mine as it uses SSD rather than a Hard Drive.

It's got a U processor, I've read on this thread that U processors aren't the best for FM. Glad to be proved wrong however.

[kevhamster]

51 minutes ago, bigmattb28 said:

It's got a U processor, I've read on this thread that U processors aren't the best for FM. Glad to be proved wrong however.

My laptop has the Ryzen 5 2500U, and I was happy with its performance for FM.

It is widely stated that the Intels do have superior single-core performance, which is the bigger factor with FM.  But, I have no complaints with it.

[kalland92]

19 hours ago, kevhamster said:

Yep, easy.

For info, I ran 3D at high settings on FM19 with my laptop's integrated graphics (no dedicated video card), so you don't need a super-powered GPU for FM at all.

You will need it for many other games, but FM isn't exactly graphics-intensive even in the 3D view.

I see.

I was looking over the laptop again, and now im getting confused...

Yes, it says its using Nvida GTX gforce 1650. But at the same time it says its a integrated graphics (Intel UHD 630)

From what I can see, there are big difference between those two...? So my question is... Does this laptop use Nvida or Intel uhd?....

[kevhamster]

2 minutes ago, kalland92 said:

I see.

I was looking over the laptop again, and now im getting confused...

Yes, it says its using Nvida GTX gforce 1650. But at the same time it says its a integrated graphics (Intel UHD 630)

From what I can see, there are big difference between those two...? So my question is... Does this laptop use Nvida or Intel uhd?....

If you can provide the link to it I can tell you for sure.  Saying GTX GeForce 1650 suggests it does have a dedicated graphics card.

But, for clarification, all CPUs will have integrated graphics, which are generally very basic but may be ok to run a) older games, or b) games which aren't very graphically demanding, such as FM.

However, some computers will also have a dedicated graphics card, which is essentially an additional unit with its own processor and RAM which will be dedicated to graphics, therefore enabling the newer and more demanding games to be played.

[kalland92]

14 minutes ago, kevhamster said:

If you can provide the link to it I can tell you for sure.  Saying GTX GeForce 1650 suggests it does have a dedicated graphics card.

But, for clarification, all CPUs will have integrated graphics, which are generally very basic but may be ok to run a) older games, or b) games which aren't very graphically demanding, such as FM.

However, some computers will also have a dedicated graphics card, which is essentially an additional unit with its own processor and RAM which will be dedicated to graphics, therefore enabling the newer and more demanding games to be played.

There are so many versions of the 'same laptop'... I think its this one, but im not sure; https://laptopmedia.com/laptop-specs/lenovo-ideapad-l340-15-gaming-27/

Im using a norwegian site, so that may be difficult for you to read. But you could try; https://www.netonnet.no/art/data-og-nettbrett/laptop/laptop-14-15-tommer/lenovo-l340-15irh-gaming-81lk00dfmx/1009048.10997/

Just scroll down a little, and click on 'teknisk spesifikasjon', and you will get all the information for this laptop. 

 

[kevhamster]

7 minutes ago, kalland92 said:

There are so many versions of the 'same laptop'... I think its this one, but im not sure; https://laptopmedia.com/laptop-specs/lenovo-ideapad-l340-15-gaming-27/

Im using a norwegian site, so that may be difficult for you to read. But you could try; https://www.netonnet.no/art/data-og-nettbrett/laptop/laptop-14-15-tommer/lenovo-l340-15irh-gaming-81lk00dfmx/1009048.10997/

Just scroll down a little, and click on 'teknisk spesifikasjon', and you will get all the information for this laptop. 

 

Ah yes, I know what you mean.  I have a Lenovo IdeaPad 330, which I've seen online with at least 10 different variations of what CPU, RAM etc it has.  Why they can't just give each different iteraition a slightly different model number is beyond me!

Yes, this laptop has a dedicated graphics card.  It is giving you the details of both the dedicated graphics card and the onboard intergrated graphics with the CPU.  You may find that you need to ensure it's using the dedicated graphics card when playing games (which would be in a menu somewhere, but I've never had a laptop with a dedicated GPU, so I can't say for sure).

Edited November 8, 2019 by kevhamster

[kalland92]

Just now, kevhamster said:

 

Yes, this laptop has a dedicated graphics card.  It is giving you the details of both the dedicated graphics card and the onboard intergrated graphics with the CPU.  You may find that you need to ensure it's using the dedicated graphics card when playing games (which would be in a menu somewhere, but I've never had a laptop with a dedicated GPU, so I can't say for sure).

Thank you very much for youre help! 

It makes sense now. It says that the laptop has two modes. One for work, and one for gaming.

Appreciate youre quick replys!

[kevhamster]

4 minutes ago, kalland92 said:

Thank you very much for youre help! 

It makes sense now. It says that the laptop has two modes. One for work, and one for gaming.

Appreciate youre quick replys!

You're welcome.

[zBlackDread]

Quick question - the minimum requirements : Processor:
Intel Pentium 4, Intel Core 2 or AMD Athlon
2.2 GHz or higher

Memory: 2 GB RAM

 

How would the below processor run? (Or will it at all, given the base speed is lower than minimum)

 

Intel Core i5 (8th Gen) 8265U / 1.6 GHz (3.9 GHz) / 6 MB Cache

 

8GB Ram

[kevhamster]

8 minutes ago, zBlackDread said:

Quick question - the minimum requirements : Processor:
Intel Pentium 4, Intel Core 2 or AMD Athlon
2.2 GHz or higher

Memory: 2 GB RAM

 

How would the below processor run? (Or will it at all, given the base speed is lower than minimum)

 

Intel Core i5 (8th Gen) 8265U / 1.6 GHz (3.9 GHz) / 6 MB Cache

 

8GB Ram

Should be absolutely fine - the base clock speed is lower, however these processors have a turbo feature which basically automatically overclocks it as necessary (as long as the PC isn't running too hot to allow it) - here it will go to a max 3.9Ghz - which is what that refers to.  That's a simplifed explanation, but is effectively what it does.

For reference, the Ryzen 5 in my laptop has a "base" clock speed of 2.0GHz, but has a similar feature and runs FM just fine.

 

[zBlackDread]

1 minute ago, kevhamster said:

Should be absolutely fine - the base clock speed is lower, however these processors have a turbo feature which basically automatically overclocks it as necessary (as long as the PC isn't running too hot to allow it) - here it will go to a max 3.9Ghz - which is what that refers to.  That's a simplifed explanation, but is effectively what it does.

For reference, the Ryzen 5 in my laptop has a "base" clock speed of 2.0GHz, but has a similar feature and runs FM just fine.

 

Thank you very much for your quick response. 

Any idea of how many leagues it will run effectively? I only play on 2D out of preference so graphics aren't that important too me. 

 

P.S. Also managing Leicester and Tielemans is an absolute sniper from long range!

[kevhamster]

4 minutes ago, zBlackDread said:

Thank you very much for your quick response. 

Any idea of how many leagues it will run effectively? I only play on 2D out of preference so graphics aren't that important too me. 

 

P.S. Also managing Leicester and Tielemans is an absolute sniper from long range!

Couldn't tell you for sure, but on my laptop (which has a CPU which is weaker than the i5 you've asked about), it very happily ran a FM19 save with Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Scotland and Spain, with all divisions and a large database.  And I'm in the 5th season on that, so it's held out so far!  The processing is a speed I'd consider reasonably quick too - but again, this is subjective.  But, it should be more than adequate for even a reasonably large database.

So, not sure how many leagues you intend to run, but those i5's are very good CPUs and can handle a fair bit.

Leicester is my FM19 save (managing Southampton in the FM20 beta).  Tieleman isn't in my team, but I'm not sure when he came to Leicester in the real world.

Edited November 8, 2019 by kevhamster

[zakbrown96]

9 hours ago, PrincessHammer said:

Which laptop should I buy to play FM20 with more leagues?

It's about time to replace my 4 year old Dell XPS 13. It currently runs Fm19/20 on about 2 stars with 30K players loaded (typically custom database w/ national rep and all England loaded). It's playable but I'm noticing 20 is running slower (maybe because it's beta?) I've also always wanted to load a ton of leagues and do a journeyman save, or just have a ton loaded but not playable for more realism. 3 stars or better for speed would be great.

​

Here are the options I'm considering, Football Manager is probably the most intensive game I play on my laptop so I'm sticking with 13 inch options. (Current laptop has i7, 8 gb ram, 256 gb ssd, integrated graphics card)

Surface Laptop 3: Intel Ice Lake i7, 16 GB RAM, Iris Plus Graphics, 256 GB SSD. I hear CPU is more important than graphics for Football Manager, but will this still be good?  
Dell XPS 13: Intel Comet Lake i7 (6 cores so apparently super fast for the size??), Iris integrated graphics (100 higher than my current XPS), 16 GB RAM, 512 SSD  
Macbook Pro: i7, likely 16gb RAM, Iris Plus Graphics, 256 GB SSD. I've never owned a Macbook so this one is tempting since I own the rest of the Apple products. But feels very expensive for what it is so I'd love a Macbook Pro owner to chime in on game quality and how long the Macbook lasts

@Smurfor @kevhamster is best to ask I’ve got an dell XP’s 15 inch i7 and it’s incredibly fast if that helps 

[kevhamster]

9 hours ago, PrincessHammer said:

Which laptop should I buy to play FM20 with more leagues?

It's about time to replace my 4 year old Dell XPS 13. It currently runs Fm19/20 on about 2 stars with 30K players loaded (typically custom database w/ national rep and all England loaded). It's playable but I'm noticing 20 is running slower (maybe because it's beta?) I've also always wanted to load a ton of leagues and do a journeyman save, or just have a ton loaded but not playable for more realism. 3 stars or better for speed would be great.

​

Here are the options I'm considering, Football Manager is probably the most intensive game I play on my laptop so I'm sticking with 13 inch options. (Current laptop has i7, 8 gb ram, 256 gb ssd, integrated graphics card)

Surface Laptop 3: Intel Ice Lake i7, 16 GB RAM, Iris Plus Graphics, 256 GB SSD. I hear CPU is more important than graphics for Football Manager, but will this still be good?  
Dell XPS 13: Intel Comet Lake i7 (6 cores so apparently super fast for the size??), Iris integrated graphics (100 higher than my current XPS), 16 GB RAM, 512 SSD  
Macbook Pro: i7, likely 16gb RAM, Iris Plus Graphics, 256 GB SSD. I've never owned a Macbook so this one is tempting since I own the rest of the Apple products. But feels very expensive for what it is so I'd love a Macbook Pro owner to chime in on game quality and how long the Macbook lasts

Could you provide links for the ones you're looking at?  That doesn't include full processor models so it's hard to gauge which is better - however what I would say is I imagine these are both including quite up-to-date i7 processors, so will more than likely be capable of running FM very well indeed.

In terms of Macs, I really can't comment as I know very little about them.  That said, all the Macbook Pro models I can see on the Apple store are 8th Gen i5 CPUs, not i7's, so I'm not sure which one you're looking at.  I would imagine these would also be more than adequate for FM.  And I wouldn't like to say whether you're better off with a Mac compared to Windows. 

[PrincessHammer]

1 hour ago, kevhamster said:

Could you provide links for the ones you're looking at?  That doesn't include full processor models so it's hard to gauge which is better - however what I would say is I imagine these are both including quite up-to-date i7 processors, so will more than likely be capable of running FM very well indeed.

In terms of Macs, I really can't comment as I know very little about them.  That said, all the Macbook Pro models I can see on the Apple store are 8th Gen i5 CPUs, not i7's, so I'm not sure which one you're looking at.  I would imagine these would also be more than adequate for FM.  And I wouldn't like to say whether you're better off with a Mac compared to Windows. 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-laptop-3/8vfggh1r94tm?activetab=techspecs

Basically the highest specs for the 13.5 inch 

 

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/new-xps-13-touch-laptop/spd/xps-13-7390-laptop/xn7390dpcrh

Not sure if this leads to the correct one, but i7, 16gb memory, 512 ssd

 

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/13-inch-space-gray-256gb-2.4ghz-quad-core-processor-with-turbo-boost-up-to-4.1ghz?afid=p238%7Cskx5veegd-dm_mtid_1870765e38482_pcrid_389377272417_pgrid_13945976647_&cid=aos-us-kwgo-mac--slid---product-#

I can Configure the MacBook

[GG17]

17 hours ago, kevolver said:

Thanks for advice.  Is the Ryzen 5 better than the i5 or about the same?

Changing my search on Currys to look at the Ryzen 5 laptops I came across this one, would this run as well as the other 2 you've suggested?

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-inspiron-15-3000-15-6-amd-ryzen-5-laptop-256-gb-ssd-silver-10190038-pdt.html

So is this the best one going for the cheapest price? I'll only need it for FM20 really so is the cheapest one I can get to play it on at high settings? Cheers 

[liverpool-fc]

The Dell 14" laptops have caught my eye this week during my search...need some advice though on which one?

This https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-inspiron-14-5000-14-amd-ryzen-5-laptop-256-gb-ssd-silver-10193797-pdt.html 

or https://www.johnlewis.com/dell-inspiron-14-5490-laptop-intel-i5-processor-8gb-ram-512gb-ssd-14-inch-full-hd-silver/p4789683

Obviously the latter is significantly more pricy, but I am a little nervy about going with the cheaper one due to the fact it has an AMD processor - feel safer with Intel somehow? Can anyone offer their opinion on this and whether the i5 (plus the larger SSD) would be worth the upgrade? Thanks!

[kevhamster]

1 hour ago, PrincessHammer said:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-laptop-3/8vfggh1r94tm?activetab=techspecs

Basically the highest specs for the 13.5 inch 

 

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/new-xps-13-touch-laptop/spd/xps-13-7390-laptop/xn7390dpcrh

Not sure if this leads to the correct one, but i7, 16gb memory, 512 ssd

 

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/13-inch-space-gray-256gb-2.4ghz-quad-core-processor-with-turbo-boost-up-to-4.1ghz?afid=p238%7Cskx5veegd-dm_mtid_1870765e38482_pcrid_389377272417_pgrid_13945976647_&cid=aos-us-kwgo-mac--slid---product-#

I can Configure the MacBook

I'll be honest here, I don't know. 

The base clock speeds are low on these, however they actually have the best benchmarking scores I've seen out of all the ones I've looked at, including on single core performance suggesting that they should be fine. 

Out of the two Windows machines, the Dell scores best on the benchmarking sites. 

I won't comment on the Mac any further than I already have as I really know very little about them, so anything I say would be entirely guesswork. 

[kevhamster]

1 hour ago, GG17 said:

So is this the best one going for the cheapest price? I'll only need it for FM20 really so is the cheapest one I can get to play it on at high settings? Cheers 

I can't say for sure its the cheapest you can get to play at high settings. 

What I can say is that my laptop has the same CPU, and ran FM19 nicely whilst enabling me to play in 3D at high settings with only the integrated graphics. 

[PrincessHammer]

27 minutes ago, kevhamster said:

I'll be honest here, I don't know. 

The base clock speeds are low on these, however they actually have the best benchmarking scores I've seen out of all the ones I've looked at, including on single core performance suggesting that they should be fine. 

Out of the two Windows machines, the Dell scores best on the benchmarking sites. 

I won't comment on the Mac any further than I already have as I really know very little about them, so anything I say would be entirely guesswork. 

Thanks! So are you saying by looking at specs you'd think the clock speeds would be low, but they both outperform any other laptop you've seen?! Or what are you comparing them to? If that's the case, I'll just go with the prettier one. 

[kevhamster]

4 minutes ago, PrincessHammer said:

Thanks! So are you saying by looking at specs you'd think the clock speeds would be low, but they both outperform any other laptop you've seen?! Or what are you comparing them to? If that's the case, I'll just go with the prettier one. 

Basically they've got the best benchmarking scores I've seen, suggesting they're very good! 

These computers have CPUs have what are advertised as super efficient CPUs. What I read this as is the base clock speed is kept low so they're more power efficient, but the clock speed gets increased automatically up to the turbo speed as required. 

So, whilst the clock speeds appear low, I would imagine these run FM nicely? 

Can I guarantee that? No. But the benchmarking sites work by getting users to get their computers to do certain tasks, the sites record how they perform in these tasks and that's where the scores come from. And the CPUs these machines use have the highest scores I've seen.

 

 

[CAGSEN]

https://laptopmedia.com/laptop-specs/lenovo-legion-y520-3/

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Legion-Y520-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B077QXGF6R

These are same laptops guys. Is it good for FM19 and FM20?

[kevhamster]

15 minutes ago, CAGSEN said:

https://laptopmedia.com/laptop-specs/lenovo-legion-y520-3/

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Legion-Y520-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B077QXGF6R

These are same laptops guys. Is it good for FM19 and FM20?

In short, yes they should be very good for FM.