FM24 - PC/Laptop advice thread *** PLEASE READ OPENING POST BEFORE POSTING ***

[Rachel89]

Hi just wondering would this laptop be as good as a Lenovo legion 5 or acer nitro 5 or something in that range ? It seems like a good price but I can’t see this model on other sites to compare.

https://www.komplett.ie/lenovo-ideapad-gaming-3-15imh05-81y400dwmh/80056638/product

[kevhamster]

50 minutes ago, Rachel89 said:

Hi just wondering would this laptop be as good as a Lenovo legion 5 or acer nitro 5 or something in that range ? It seems like a good price but I can’t see this model on other sites to compare.

https://www.komplett.ie/lenovo-ideapad-gaming-3-15imh05-81y400dwmh/80056638/product

Good spec and decent price too.

[Rachel89]

Thanks a mil for replying. I was hoping to get a Ryzen 5 4600h processor but from reading other comments there doesn’t seem to be a major difference, I hope! Thanks again I think I’ll go with this!

[kevhamster]

22 minutes ago, Rachel89 said:

Thanks a mil for replying. I was hoping to get a Ryzen 5 4600h processor but from reading other comments there doesn’t seem to be a major difference, I hope! Thanks again I think I’ll go with this!

Yep, based on the various benchmarking sites I look at, there doesn't appear to be a huge amount between them.  Either should do a fine job.

[Deacon174]

I’m looking for a good but cheap laptop for FM21 as I’m sick of not having the right requirements for fm20 but I want the game speed to be quicker than 2 star as I’m sick of the same problems, would a dell inspiron 15 be any good? 

[Finch141]

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1959318 this is a laptop im getting. Specs look fine what do you think?

[Smurf]

1 minute ago, Finch141 said:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1959318 this is a laptop im getting. Specs look fine what do you think?

It will work.

[Finch141]

49 minutes ago, Smurf said:

It will work.

Will I have any  performance issues or everything will run fine on it? Also thanks for the reply.

[kevhamster]

5 minutes ago, Finch141 said:

Will I have any  performance issues or everything will run fine on it? Also thanks for the reply.

Depends what you mean by "everything".  If you're wanting to play modern AAA games, then no, you'll need something more powerful and with a dedicated graphics card.

If you're just playing FM and doing basic computing tasks, it'll be OK.  It's not going to be blisteringly quick - but, I don't think you'll find better for that price, and it'll play the 3D match engine at medium settings, or thereabouts.  It'll certainly do the job for FM.

[Finch141]

12 minutes ago, kevhamster said:

Depends what you mean by "everything".  If you're wanting to play modern AAA games, then no, you'll need something more powerful and with a dedicated graphics card.

If you're just playing FM and doing basic computing tasks, it'll be OK.  It's not going to be blisteringly quick - but, I don't think you'll find better for that price, and it'll play the 3D match engine at medium settings, or thereabouts.  It'll certainly do the job for FM.

Im mainly getting it for football manager. My current laptop is very slow playing FM so like a laptop where it doesn't take a long time to a season.

[kevhamster]

1 minute ago, Finch141 said:

Im mainly getting it for football manager. My current laptop is very slow playing FM so like a laptop where it doesn't take a long time to a season.

Ok, should be fine then.  The Ryzen 5's are pretty good for the most part, even the ultra-low power ones like this.  And as I said, you'll not be likely to find better for the same money.

[Smurf]

13 minutes ago, Finch141 said:

Im mainly getting it for football manager. My current laptop is very slow playing FM so like a laptop where it doesn't take a long time to a season.

What's the spec of your current computer? 

How many leagues do you load? What size database? 3D matches? 

 

[Rachel89]

Hi do refresh rates matter when it comes to FM21? Would a 60hz display be ok? The laptop I ordered has 60hz display but I know some have 120 and up but maybe these don’t have any benefit with fm?!

[Offish]

Hello Smurf and Kev,I like the work you are doing on here,keep it up!

Im looking for a laptop which I’ll only be using for FM21.I want to be running it in 3D with as many leagues as possible.My budget is £800.

Are you able to have a look please?   P.S Only products from Curry’s lads.

[Smurf]

38 minutes ago, Offish said:

I want to be running it in 3D with as many leagues as possible.

It is always possible to run as many leagues as possible.

[kevhamster]

36 minutes ago, Smurf said:

It is always possible to run as many leagues as possible.

True that, it's just how quickly (or slowly) the game will run! 

1 hour ago, Offish said:

Hello Smurf and Kev,I like the work you are doing on here,keep it up!

Im looking for a laptop which I’ll only be using for FM21.I want to be running it in 3D with as many leagues as possible.My budget is £800.

Are you able to have a look please?   P.S Only products from Curry’s lads.

From the stuff available at Currys, this one looks the best bet to me within your budget:

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/msi-bravo-15-15-6-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-rx-5500m-256-gb-ssd-10206090-pdt.html

[Deacon174]

I’m needing a decent laptop at a reasonable price for the game speed to be brilliant instead of the lowest rating it can be, I’ve been told a dell inspiron 15 is decent but I would like a laptop £400 under if possible any ideas 

[jonnysnipe]

Simple query, I would like the most budget friendly laptop that doesn't sound like a jet engine running FM I usually select one major nation with the top.leagues and then maybe a few others. But realistically it would be nice to have a smoother experience! Max budget is 350 ideally lower would be better but know that's a huge ask! Would only use it other times for the occasional stream of netflix

[Spatial45]

On 27/11/2020 at 22:42, Spatial45 said:

Hi guys,

Just been reading through this thread as I'm looking to buy a new laptop after my old one of 6/7 years looks to be finally packing in.  I appreciate you have responded to a huge amount of requests, so thanks in advance for your help!

I'm looking to spend around £500-£600 on a new laptop which can run FM21 (3D, a few nations and leagues loaded etc) alongside standard everyday use such as Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, browsing the internet, basic Excel/Word etc. 

I'm in bit of a unique situation in that I've earned some rewards at work which can only be reclaimed from mainstream stores (John Lewis, Currys etc) - do you have any recommendations on models/have you seen any particularly good deals over the last few days?  

Thanks again for your help!

Hi both,

Do you have advice on the above?  Your help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

[Offish]

Thanks Kev!

[kevhamster]

15 hours ago, Rachel89 said:

Hi do refresh rates matter when it comes to FM21? Would a 60hz display be ok? The laptop I ordered has 60hz display but I know some have 120 and up but maybe these don’t have any benefit with fm?!

60Hz is absolutely fine for FM.  Higher refresh rates can make a difference with action games and FPS titles, but with FM there's not really much benefit to it.

[kevhamster]

11 hours ago, Deacon174 said:

I’m needing a decent laptop at a reasonable price for the game speed to be brilliant instead of the lowest rating it can be, I’ve been told a dell inspiron 15 is decent but I would like a laptop £400 under if possible any ideas 

You won't get anything with brilliant speed at that price.

Also, I can't see anything £400 or under I could justify the purchase for, as most have processors which are frankly not very good.  If you can stretch to £430, I'd suggest this as you won't find anything better in the price range, at least as far as I can see: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1959318

[kevhamster]

12 hours ago, jonnysnipe said:

Simple query, I would like the most budget friendly laptop that doesn't sound like a jet engine running FM I usually select one major nation with the top.leagues and then maybe a few others. But realistically it would be nice to have a smoother experience! Max budget is 350 ideally lower would be better but know that's a huge ask! Would only use it other times for the occasional stream of netflix

I'm going to be honest - there's very little in that price range which is worth considering.

The best all-rounder I can find is this: https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/avita-pura-14-amd-ryzen-3-3200u-4gb-256gb-ssd-14-inch-fhd-windows-10-s-lap-ns14a6uku441-sr/version.asp

However, it still will not be great.  Processing speeds will be on the lower side and it only has 4GB RAM so you'll be wanting to make sure you have as little running in the background as possible when playing FM.

If £350 is your maximum, then the above will play the game.  You'll just need to manage your expectations about how quick it'll be.

[kevhamster]

10 hours ago, Spatial45 said:

Hi both,

Do you have advice on the above?  Your help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Can you specify all stores your voucher can be redeemed at?  The decent ones from Currys are currently out of stock and the selection at John Lewis is terrible.

[jonnysnipe]

13 minutes ago, kevhamster said:

I'm going to be honest - there's very little in that price range which is worth considering.

The best all-rounder I can find is this: https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/avita-pura-14-amd-ryzen-3-3200u-4gb-256gb-ssd-14-inch-fhd-windows-10-s-lap-ns14a6uku441-sr/version.asp

However, it still will not be great.  Processing speeds will be on the lower side and it only has 4GB RAM so you'll be wanting to make sure you have as little running in the background as possible when playing FM.

If £350 is your maximum, then the above will play the game.  You'll just need to manage your expectations about how quick it'll be.

How much would I have to push my budget for something that you would say is good enough.

 

Don't want to buy one for the same of buying one and it once again sounds like a jet engine ha

 

[kevhamster]

14 minutes ago, jonnysnipe said:

How much would I have to push my budget for something that you would say is good enough.

 

Don't want to buy one for the same of buying one and it once again sounds like a jet engine ha

 

The cheapest one I can find that I'd truly call acceptable is £430, which is this one here: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1959318

Even that still isn't ideal, and you will still get fan noise with almost any laptop.

[Russell10]

1 hour ago, kevhamster said:

The cheapest one I can find that I'd truly call acceptable is £430, which is this one here: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1959318

Even that still isn't ideal, and you will still get fan noise with almost any laptop.

Hi mate I am looking for a laptop under 450

is the Argos one better than this one https://www.tech-bazaar.com/product/dell-latitude-7480-intel-core-i5-6300u-2-4ghz-8gb-ddr4-256gb-ssd-win-10/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImYeJ4M2s7QIVSOztCh0zKw3pEAQYCiABEgK8_vD_BwE

 

[Russell10]

Or is this one suitable 

 

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/laptop-computers-for-businesses/inspiron-15-3000/spd/inspiron-15-3505-laptop/bn30505?cjevent=e55520a433c411eb815f06d70a18050c&dgc=CJ&publisherid=4493793&gacd=9684977-24628710-5750457-280362152-136708306&dgc=af&VEN1=14298868-7763369-16068206312842260997312011000008005&dclid=COuPg6jRrO0CFXThuwgdLZQHrA

[kevhamster]

1 hour ago, Russell10 said:

Or is this one suitable 

 

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/laptop-computers-for-businesses/inspiron-15-3000/spd/inspiron-15-3505-laptop/bn30505?cjevent=e55520a433c411eb815f06d70a18050c&dgc=CJ&publisherid=4493793&gacd=9684977-24628710-5750457-280362152-136708306&dgc=af&VEN1=14298868-7763369-16068206312842260997312011000008005&dclid=COuPg6jRrO0CFXThuwgdLZQHrA

I've just replied to your PM, but in this price range, I'd go with this for an extra £10: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1959318

[Tamb81]

Hi, can you advise what laptop would be good to run the game at 3D settings large database and a few leagues. Preferably 14”. Budget £700-£1000

[Smurf]

27 minutes ago, Tamb81 said:

Hi, can you advise what laptop would be good to run the game at 3D settings large database and a few leagues. Preferably 14”. Budget £700-£1000

https://www.box.co.uk/ASUS-ROG-Zephyrus-G14-GA401II-BM027T_2860289.html

[Deacon174]

4 hours ago, kevhamster said:

You won't get anything with brilliant speed at that price.

Also, I can't see anything £400 or under I could justify the purchase for, as most have processors which are frankly not very good.  If you can stretch to £430, I'd suggest this as you won't find anything better in the price range, at least as far as I can see: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1959318

What would you advice then? What type and price? 

[Truetalk]

Hi guys thanks for the help & advice, which of the following would you guys recommend for good speed for 20 plus playable leagues & nations & over 115k players I don’t play any other games really just general use other than FM had a look at box but their reviews didn’t look too good so I’ll be trying elsewhere probably curry’s just need advice on which would be better from the following https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/dell-g5-15-5505-15-6-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-rx-5600m-512-gb-ssd-10210644-pdt.html or https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/acer-predator-triton-300-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-rtx-2070-1-tb-ssd-10205998-pdt.html or https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/hp-omen-15-ek0503na-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-rtx-2060-512-gb-ssd-10207902-pdt.html or https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/acer-predator-triton-300-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-rtx-2070-1-tb-ssd-10205998-pdt.html

your advice is appreciated, thanks 

[kevhamster]

30 minutes ago, Deacon174 said:

What would you advice then? What type and price? 

I've linked the best one I could find near to the price range in my previous post.

If you cannot go above £400.00, then I would suggest this as the next option: https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/lenovo-v14-ryzen-3-3250u-4gb-256gb-ssd-14-inch-full-hd-windows-10-home-lapt-82c6005guk/version.asp

It's only got 4GB RAM, so you'll need to make sure you don't have loads of stuff running in the background when playing.  It also won't be amazingly quick, but it does meet the minimum requirements of the game.

[kevhamster]

1 minute ago, Truetalk said:

Hi guys thanks for the help & advice, which of the following would you guys recommend for good speed for 20 plus playable leagues & nations & over 115k players I don’t play any other games really just general use other than FM had a look at box but their reviews didn’t look too good so I’ll be trying elsewhere probably curry’s just need advice on which would be better from the following https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/dell-g5-15-5505-15-6-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-rx-5600m-512-gb-ssd-10210644-pdt.html or https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/acer-predator-triton-300-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-rtx-2070-1-tb-ssd-10205998-pdt.html or https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/hp-omen-15-ek0503na-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-rtx-2060-512-gb-ssd-10207902-pdt.html or https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/acer-predator-triton-300-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-rtx-2070-1-tb-ssd-10205998-pdt.html

your advice is appreciated, thanks 

I'd go with this one as it has the stronger processor: https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/dell-g5-15-5505-15-6-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-rx-5600m-512-gb-ssd-10210644-pdt.html

As per the first post, we cannot guarantee the speed you get will be to your liking due to the subjective nature of how fast (or slow) the processing appears, especially when you're looking at an intensive setup for your game like the one you've started.  

But that Ryzen 7 4800H is one of the strongest CPUs you can currently get in a laptop, so you won't find much that can beat it.

[Spatial45]

8 hours ago, kevhamster said:

Can you specify all stores your voucher can be redeemed at?  The decent ones from Currys are currently out of stock and the selection at John Lewis is terrible.

Hi Kev,

 

Stores are Currys, John Lewis and Amazon - even if out of stock would you mind letting me know what you would recommend up to £600 in Currys, as I can keep an eye on them if they restock after black Friday sales?

Thanks very much

[Deacon174]

3 hours ago, kevhamster said:

I'd go with this one as it has the stronger processor: https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/dell-g5-15-5505-15-6-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-rx-5600m-512-gb-ssd-10210644-pdt.html

As per the first post, we cannot guarantee the speed you get will be to your liking due to the subjective nature of how fast (or slow) the processing appears, especially when you're looking at an intensive setup for your game like the one you've started.  

But that Ryzen 7 4800H is one of the strongest CPUs you can currently get in a laptop, so you won't find much that can beat it.

Nothing cheaper?

[kevhamster]

9 minutes ago, Deacon174 said:

Nothing cheaper?

That wasn't a response to your post - I was responding to someone else with the choices they gave. 

Best thing I can suggest is post your actual budget and I'll see what I can find.

[kevhamster]

18 minutes ago, Spatial45 said:

Hi Kev,

 

Stores are Currys, John Lewis and Amazon - even if out of stock would you mind letting me know what you would recommend up to £600 in Currys, as I can keep an eye on them if they restock after black Friday sales?

Thanks very much

This is the best I can find at any of those stores: https://www.amazon.co.uk/HUAWEI-MateBook-Multi-Screen-Collaboration-Fingerprint/dp/B08HR3W84V/ref=sr_1_21?dchild=1&keywords=ryzen+5+4500u&qid=1606846090&s=computers&sr=1-21

The equivalent in Currys, which is out of stock and slightly more expensive: https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-flex-5-14-2-in-1-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-256-gb-ssd-teal-10208569-pdt.html

Bear in mind, these aren't gaming laptops, but should manage the 3D match graphics at medium or higher.

[Deacon174]

1 hour ago, kevhamster said:

That wasn't a response to your post - I was responding to someone else with the choices they gave. 

Best thing I can suggest is post your actual budget and I'll see what I can find.

£450-£600 

[kevhamster]

11 minutes ago, Deacon174 said:

£450-£600 

Best in the price range that I can see that is actually in stock anywhere is this: https://www.box.co.uk/M413IA-EB573T-ASUS-Vivobook-14-M413IA-EB573T_2955297.html

[Offish]

Hello Kev & Smurf.Thanks for the advice,much appreciated .The laptops below seem pretty much identical.

If up to you,which would you recommend ?

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/msi-bravo-15-15-6-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-rx-5500m-256-gb-ssd-10206090-pdt.html

vs

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/huawei-matebook-14-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-256-gb-ssd-grey-10215081-pdt.html

Thanks!

[Deacon174]

4 hours ago, kevhamster said:

Best in the price range that I can see that is actually in stock anywhere is this: https://www.box.co.uk/M413IA-EB573T-ASUS-Vivobook-14-M413IA-EB573T_2955297.html

Would the dell inspiron 15 3000 be any good? 

[kevhamster]

8 hours ago, Deacon174 said:

Would the dell inspiron 15 3000 be any good? 

Here's the thing.  There are at least 2 models with that name that I can see.

Of the two, this is the one I'd go for: https://deals.dell.com/en-uk/productdetail/6mt3

[karlmarx9]

I recently ordered a lenovo ideapad gaming laptop. The specs are as follows:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 4800h
• Memory: 8gb (DDR4-3200 DDR4 SODIMM 3200MHz)
• Storage: 256GB SSD (M.2 2242, PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe, TLC+1TB 5400 rpm)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR6

Do you reckon I can run around 15 leagues from 5 countries with a large database running the 3d match engine, while listening to Spotify at the same time? FM is about the only game I play, maybe sims 4 as well. 

Was looking at the same laptop with 16gb RAM but was sold out!

Edited December 2, 2020 by karlmarx9

[kevhamster]

31 minutes ago, karlmarx9 said:

I recently ordered a lenovo ideapad gaming laptop. The specs are as follows:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 4800h
• Memory: 8gb (DDR4-3200 DDR4 SODIMM 3200MHz)
• Storage: 256GB SSD (M.2 2242, PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe, TLC+1TB 5400 rpm)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR6

Do you reckon I can run around 15 leagues from 5 countries with a large database running the 3d match engine, while listening to Spotify at the same time? FM is about the only game I play, maybe sims 4 as well. 

Was looking at the same laptop with 16gb RAM but was sold out!

RAM-wise, that won't be an issue.  Spotify doesn't seem to be RAM-hungry at all, at least that I've seen.

In terms of leagues, any computer can run any amount of leagues - it's just that the speed of processing will decrease the more you have loaded up, as there's more results for the games to process, more players to factor in etc.  The thing we can't answer is whether the processing speed is acceptable to you, as that is entirely subjective.  However, what I will say is that the Ryzen 7 4800H is a very strong processor, and so there won't be a great deal that is faster than it.

What would be really helpful is, once you have your laptop, if you could take a little time to run the benchmark tests here and post your times in the thread.  This sort of thing is enormously helpful when it comes to recommending computers for people:

 

[joshpmilton]

Ended up going with this Lenovo Legion 5 thanks to the feedback in this thread. The PC Specialist ones you guys recommended were great and helped me to look deeper into what I was really after. Ultimately, this one gave me the best CPU I could realistically afford, whilst not compromising too much on the GPU - certainly as far as FM is concerned.

For what it is worth, I've run the benchmarking as mentioned by kevhamster and from what I can tell it places pretty well. Based on the tables as they appear right now, it is comparable to the top non-customised laptops on Benchmark A & B and is the fastest off the shelf laptop so far on Benchmark C & D. It also runs the 3D match engine display on High across the board.

[Rachel89]

On 01/12/2020 at 09:17, kevhamster said:

60Hz is absolutely fine for FM.  Higher refresh rates can make a difference with action games and FPS titles, but with FM there's not really much benefit to it.

Ok perfect thanks Kev!

[kevhamster]

1 hour ago, joshpmilton said:

Ended up going with this Lenovo Legion 5 thanks to the feedback in this thread. The PC Specialist ones you guys recommended were great and helped me to look deeper into what I was really after. Ultimately, this one gave me the best CPU I could realistically afford, whilst not compromising too much on the GPU - certainly as far as FM is concerned.

For what it is worth, I've run the benchmarking as mentioned by kevhamster and from what I can tell it places pretty well. Based on the tables as they appear right now, it is comparable to the top non-customised laptops on Benchmark A & B and is the fastest off the shelf laptop so far on Benchmark C & D. It also runs the 3D match engine display on High across the board.

Awesome stuff.  It's more or less what I'd have expected with that CPU - thanks for the feedback.  Enjoy the laptop!

Thanks also for doing the benchmarks and posting the results - it really does help us with recommendations.

[samrph]

Apologies if this isn't allowed but I recently purchased this Acer Nitro 5 i5 1660ti but managed to pick up another great deal just after. I'm therefore selling it at a cheaper price than paid and the laptop has only been used to install windows and then rebooted to factory settings. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313325765759

 

Edited December 2, 2020 by samrph