New Laptop/PC- Help Needed

[demodave]

Hi saw this computer on ebay? looking for a bit of advice with it.

AMD Bulldozer FX 6100 3.3Ghz Six Core Processor / CPU

8GB DDR3 1333Mhz RAM

AMD / ATi HD 3000 Integrated Graphics With 1GB Shared DDR3 Graphics Memory

500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive

22x DVD-RW Optical Disc Drive

MSI 760GM-P21-(FX) uATX Motherboard (Full specifications of this board can be found here)

500W Power Supply

X-BLACK Desktop PC Micro Gaming Case

FE 10/100 LAN

6 X High Speed USB 2.0 Ports on Back Plus 2 On Front

8 Channel HD Audio

4 X SATA II 3GB/s Ports

1 X PCI Express X16 Slot

1 X PCI Express X1 Slot

1 X PCI Slot

2 X PS/2 Port (For Keyboard / Mouse)

1 X VGA Port (On Motherboard)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Six-Core-3-3Ghz-AMD-FX-6100-8GB-500GB-3000-Desktop-PC-Home-Office-Computer-/190745858842?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item2c6956d31a

How well will this play FM? I know the integrated graphics may cause n issue but not bothered using 2D for now. how many leagues can i use smoothly? also i already got Win7 for it so presuming the extra ram is not going to waste.

Thanks

[tucker1984]

so best laptop out there for FM for between £450-£500max, i need a newcomputer right now!!!

mine is slow as hell

[Welshace]

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Packard_Bell_EasyNote_TE11_1288430.html

that's around the £400 mark and a brilliant little machine.

If you want to push further to £500:

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_V3-571G_1209283.html

which gives you a dedicated card but a ever so slightly inferior CPU

[tucker1984]

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Packard_Bell_EasyNote_TE11_1288430.html

that's around the £400 mark and a brilliant little machine.

If you want to push further to £500:

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_V3-571G_1209283.html

which gives you a dedicated card but a ever so slightly inferior CPU

will that run a few leagues at a time while processing everything really quickly?

if the answer is yes, then im gonna buy right now, appreciate your help and advice on this as im clueless

[Welshace]

both should run 20 leagues and 60k player database smoothly yes

[tucker1984]

legend, thanks mate, thats all i needed to know,

[Aguero_16]

Further to my query last night would this laptop be ok for what I need? Or are they better ones out there for similar price?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/asus-x501a-xx280h-15-6-laptop-white-17056519-pdt.html

[Welshace]

Further to my query last night would this laptop be ok for what I need? Or are they better ones out there for similar price?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/asus-x501a-xx280h-15-6-laptop-white-17056519-pdt.html

There are much better ones out there for similar price..

This is 50 notes more or so but something like this is much much better and much more suitable...

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Packard_Bell_EasyNote_TS13_1296973.html

If the £350 mark is your absolute maximum:

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Packard_Bell_EasyNote_TS11_1287957.html

which has a decent i3 cpu, more ram, more HDD space

[Smurf]

For £50 more

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Products/cat/Laptops/refine/max~450$46567~59712$46563~67690$46563~63984$46563~47530$46562~144410

*sorry thought it was going for the £400 mark starting

[Harper]

very good harper... unfortunately .. its best buy.. in the states..

yeah, I tried seeing if Lenovo had a similar product on UK sites, but couldn't. Posted anyway incase any other Yanks were looking for new hardware.

[Craglyboy]

I don't know why I didn't go to pc specialist sooner. Get so much bang for your buck, doesn't look as pretty but need a workhorse.

So ordered this and now I play the waiting game.

Chassis & Display

Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)

Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)

8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - 1st Hard Disk

120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk

500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive

SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE

Memory Card Reader

Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste

ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card

Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Network Facilities

GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options

3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD

Battery

Optimus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)

Power Lead & Adaptor

1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor

Operating System

Genuine Windows 8 Standard Edition 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software

FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus

BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Keyboard & Mouse

INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Mouse

INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam

INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

Warranty

3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Dead Pixel Guarantee

1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£19)

Insurance

1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery

STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time

Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days

[Welshace]

How much was that? about £800 or so?

Yeah PCspecialist are great when you've got a fairly decent budget.. but they don't cater for those in the £300 - £500 bracket tbh.

[Craglyboy]

900 but only because went for an SSD and a HDD. yeah can see what you mean but what I like is I can open it up and not void the warranty.

Even so the asus I was looking at before in the thread was 900 with a lower processor gfx card and no SSD so I'm quite happy.

[GJS93]

budget of around 400, maybe 450 at a push, whats the thoughts on these...

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-series-3-np355v5c-15-6-laptop-silver-17056502-pdt.html

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-aspire-v3-571-laptop-15254170-pdt.html

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-series-3-np3530ec-15-6-laptop-blue-silver-17056552-pdt.html

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lenovo-g580-15-6-laptop-blue-17056544-pdt.html

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lenovo-ideapad-z750-15-6-laptop-silver-12377721-pdt.html

the first samsung one in the currys link, i found an acer at comet today with the same specs but its 8gb ram not 6gb but thats it maximum for £449. any decent deals out of those? any advice would be great

[ChrisLewis]

I've actually got the following laptop and I'm considering getting involved in FM13 again after a two year hiatus.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-series-5-13-3-ultrabook-silver-17056551-pdt.html

Anybody able to offer up any thoughts on how FM13 would run on this laptop before I spend £30 to find out?!

I know that my graphics card is integrated but that doesn't concern me because I've always been a 2D / Commentary Only sort of player.

Thanks

[Welshace]

not bad at all chris... the processor is low on the clock speed , but it's a late gen i5 , which will be optimised pretty well.

10-20 leagues and a 50k player database will be smooth I'd hazard a bet.

If in doubt... try the demo

[ChrisLewis]

Yeh the demo is a good shout - completely forgot about that!

To be honest I tend to only run 3-4 leagues so it sounds like I'll have no problem.

Spot the pattern here - I don't play intense games but have very limited idea about spec and what works / doesn't work.

Demo here I come..

[Welshace]

Oh you'll have no problem running that much mate

[ChrisLewis]

Thanks for your help

[QuincyOwusu-Abeyie]

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/product/id/1266029

Will this run all leagues comfortably?

[Smurf]

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/product/id/1266029

Will this run all leagues comfortably?

It would take a super computer of a lot more value to run all the leagues.

However, it's a pretty good computer and you'll be able to run a lot of countries and leagues - I think.

==================================================

If you think you can spend a bit more - I think you should try get a computer with a 650m graphics card if you intend to play other games on the computer.

What's your budget?

===================================================

There are alternatives that offer cashback http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Lenovo_Z580_1292736.html

On research of the above link - I found that the screen can be a bit dim and the fan has a slight whine.

If you can live with that?

The only downside is that it doesn't say what model graphics card - but any basic level graphics card will be fine for football manager - you'll just have to set your graphics to low detail etc for the matches.

[Smurf]

Just found out it's same model graphics card as what QuincyOwusu-Abeyie posted in their link.

[QuincyOwusu-Abeyie]

Just found out it's same model graphics card as what QuincyOwusu-Abeyie posted in their link.

Yeah, all leagues was just a rash bit tagged on the end, but should be enough for a long term career game. The main reason for that is the 1080p screen and 17in screen

Budget is really £550, but can stretch if it's something that ticks all boxes

[Smurf]

Yes it will be ok.

[Toffee_Lad]

Looking for some more help please. I'm looking to buy a refurbed Lenovo R61 - Intel core 2 due 1.8/2.0 ghz Running on XP

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-67707

I'm not bothered about the graphics as i only play 2D. Will this run FM12 & 13 ok? If so how many leagues?

Advice would be much appreciated.

[Smurf]

Sorry about this but I don't see a price on that page.

What is your budget?

[Toffee_Lad]

No price on the page, that's just the specs of the machine. It will be a refurbed laptop for around £150. I want to do it as cheap as possible really which is why i was looking at refurbs.

[QuincyOwusu-Abeyie]

What would the laptop I posted above be comfortable playing league and player wise without slowdown?

[Smurf]

What would the laptop I posted above be comfortable playing league and player wise without slowdown?

It would only ever be a guess - but it's a very good computer, it's a good price too.

[QuincyOwusu-Abeyie]

Well i'd be looking at around 40 - 50 odd leagues I suppose

[Smurf]

It will be a refurbed laptop for around £150.

I'm not able to find any refurbs that would be sufficient to run FM13 - sorry.

[Smurf]

Well i'd be looking at around 40 - 50 odd leagues I suppose

Again, it's impossible to know. You might be able to - you might need to set some countries to be background and just have the leagues there. You can activate them to full though as game goes on. Or you could deactivate leagues if you feel it's running too slow.

[BCFC_Mike]

Cheers for your help yesterday welshace, however I have decided to cut a big chunk in my budget from 700 to a maximum of 550.

Reason being, I only really used my laptop to browse, download, watch videos, and play FM, and I feel a high end machine worth 700quid for all that seems slightly pointless.

Can someone tell me what I can expect from THIS machine here?

FM is really the main subject point here, so how fast will the processing time be, will I be able to run 3D ME smoothly with no lag, and will I be able to run many leagues? Ideally around 20 leagues..

or THIS, maybe I am missing something, but these seem really cheap considering the specs...

EDIT - And i've just kind of noticed why, no operating system

[Welshace]

actually, they aren't that bad... particularly if you only intend every day stuff like browsing music etc

and for the price.. you can't really go wrong.

16gb ram is a bit OTT and the processor isn't the best.. but it will certainly play FM etc fine i guess.

I'm not really up on AMD cpu's but AFAIK it's about equivalent to an i3...

so expect anything over 10- 15 leagues to slow down.

Now take what I say on this with a pinch of salt... I'm sure somewhere in here can give you a much more accurate idea.

Note. also be wary, that that system doesn't include an OS or monitor etc.

[BCFC_Mike]

actually, they aren't that bad... particularly if you only intend every day stuff like browsing music etc

and for the price.. you can't really go wrong.

16gb ram is a bit OTT and the processor isn't the best.. but it will certainly play FM etc fine i guess.

I'm not really up on AMD cpu's but AFAIK it's about equivalent to an i3...

so expect anything over 10- 15 leagues to slow down.

Now take what I say on this with a pinch of salt... I'm sure somewhere in here can give you a much more accurate idea.

Note. also be wary, that that system doesn't include an OS or monitor etc.

Thought the same about the ram, so might try look for one WITH an OS. Would like to get 20 leagues with no sudden slow down TBH.. is that even possible for under 500quid?

[Welshace]

Does that budget need to include a monitor etc too?

[mysticeye]

Hi 'welshace', I've virtually decided on the Acer Aspire 5755G priced just under £600. There are two options though at the same price, so just wondered if you could give me a nod as to which you think would be better. The main difference appears to be the optical drives, but one also has 2GB graphics as against 1GB. Nvidia 630 graphics I presume is good enough, and would you upgrade to windows 8 as offered at £15? Hope you don't mind before I fork out the readies? Thanks. Oh, this price was at www.saveonlaptops!

[Welshace]

Wow, weird one Mysticeye.

The main difference is a 2gb card over a 1gb card..... the 2gb bit is a bit of a gimmick really, in that being on a laptop and with the setup, you'll never need the 2gb bit really. But it's nice to have I guess.

The other difference is , as you say the optical drive, A blueray over a normal optical drive.

So, I guess the choice comes down to whether you'll need a blue ray drive or not?

If not, get the 2GB card version.

[QuincyOwusu-Abeyie]

What about between these two? http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/product/id/1266029 or this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-NX-RZJEK-010-V3-571G-15-6-inch/dp/B009R15I3W/ref=pd_sim_sbs_computers_3

Obviously the screen size and screen is the main difference but for FM playing ability and amount of leagues loaded

[Smurf]

Yeh advertisers love numbers and the graphics cards have been exploited by using 2gb RAM - which is completely overkill. It won't increase game performance. 1gb is more than efficient. The only thing RAM is good for is 1) to meet the requirements of the game you're playing. 2) For the resolution of the screen you're playing on. 3) Increasing anti aliasing.

YOu don't need a 2gb graphics card to play most games. Usually 512mb will perform as well as a 2gb card providing the game doesn't require more than 512mb RAM on the graphics card.

*didn't get a chance to review gotta run*

[Welshace]

@QuincyOwusu The Amazon one has a smaller screen but more ram and a bigger HDD (hard drive).

So as far as FM is concerned, not much difference at all.. but 8bb ram is always better than 6gb

Depends if you can live with 2 inches less screen.

[QuincyOwusu-Abeyie]

@QuincyOwusu The Amazon one has a smaller screen but more ram and a bigger HDD (hard drive).

So as far as FM is concerned, not much difference at all.. but 8bb ram is always better than 6gb

Depends if you can live with 2 inches less screen.

It's what I've got atm and It's fine for me so will probably go with that one, does one have a faster rpm hard drive than the other?

[BCFC_Mike]

Does that budget need to include a monitor etc too?

Ideally, yes...

[Welshace]

@QuincyOwusu Nope.... both wonderfully average.

[BCFC_Mike]

[TABLE=class: pcShowBTOconfiguration, width: 100%]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2]Customizations:[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]CPU:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%]NEW! Intel Core i5 3470[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]CPU Cooler:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%] Xigmatek Loki SDS963[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]Operating System:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%]11014 - Microsoft® Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]Motherboard:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%] NEW! Asus P8H61-MX USB3[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]RAM:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%] 8GB Corsair 1600mhz Vengeance (2x4GB)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]Hard Drive:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%] 120GB SSD S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]Additional Storage:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%]6027 - 500GB S-ATAIII 6.0Gb/s[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]Optical Drive:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%] 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]Graphics card:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%] NVIDIA GeForce GT 610 1GB[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]Sound card:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%] Onboard 7.1 Audio[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]Keyboard and Mouse:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%] Keyboard, mouse and speakers[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]Monitor:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%]15030 - NEW! LG 21.5" E2242C-BN LED[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]Case:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%] Zalman Z9 Plus[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]PSU:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%] 500W Xigmatek[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=width: 30%]Warranty:[/TD]

[TD=width: 70%]sc-1 - 3 Year SureCare Warranty[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Pretty sure I am going for this, will hopefully have it in then next couple of weeks, early Christmas/Birthday present

Total price of £657.68

[QuincyOwusu-Abeyie]

Think I'm gonna go with the 15inch one

[fallacy]

not bad at all chris... the processor is low on the clock speed , but it's a late gen i5 , which will be optimised pretty well.

10-20 leagues and a 50k player database will be smooth I'd hazard a bet.

If in doubt... try the demo

Was thinking about this Samsung as well as I'm looking for a 13'3 ultra book that will also be mu main FM source. Looking into the processor, I5 - 3317U, it ranks 100th in the benchmarks here

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

Also read some reviews which said it was a bit hit and miss - seems like a lot of the 13'3 have this processor around the 600 quid mark.

Is this the best processor I can expect for this amount of money (purely on a ultra book). Hoping to run around 30 leagues, just wonder if I should spend a bit more and try and get a better processor?

Any help appreciated

[mysticeye]

Ha ha, so it's a weird choice 'welshace', not surprised with my lack of technical accumen. Would you like to expand on that theory before I sell my soul? Main reason I went for the two Aspire models was i7 processors, thinking they would be an improvement on i5 processors. Is it important do you think? You mentioned screen size previously, and I wonder if it's worth paying more to increase the screen size from 15" to 17". Would it make a big difference? Last, but not least, a technical question. A good graphics card is mentioned as important, but what about screen resolution? Does low figures in this area defeat the object of paying for a better graphics card? Think I'm beginning to blind myself with science now.....

[Welshace]

Simply put mystic... If you don't mind the extra weight, the bigger screen is always a good thing

Resolution wise (particularly with fm as it has dynamic screens, and you can get more info on screen at once with a higher resolution)

i7's .... Generally speaking, are better than i5's. Certainly for general tasks and such...for gaming in particular? not so much... but if you can afford an i7, go for it, always a good choice, particularly the 3rd gen chips (which yours are).

The cards you have in both machines really are good enough for what I imagine you have in mind.. they only become weak (comparatively) when you start to get into heavier stuff, like mid to high end gaming and such.

Summary: both are kickass and will make you happy

P.s... you calling me 'welshace' with the quotations is making it seem like you are doubting I am who I say I am

[Welshace]

Was thinking about this Samsung as well as I'm looking for a 13'3 ultra book that will also be mu main FM source. Looking into the processor, I5 - 3317U, it ranks 100th in the benchmarks here

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

Also read some reviews which said it was a bit hit and miss - seems like a lot of the 13'3 have this processor around the 600 quid mark.

Is this the best processor I can expect for this amount of money (purely on a ultra book). Hoping to run around 30 leagues, just wonder if I should spend a bit more and try and get a better processor?

Any help appreciated

Yeah Ultrabooks are a bit of an enigma really, obviously they are brilliant, but in essence they just don't allow the room to put in anything too powerful. But it's not bad, it will play the game, just not super fast. And obviously, you can get better, just not a lot better in ultra book form without the price going up.