New Laptop/PC Advice -Please Read the Opening Post

[MickyMozay]

Hi guys,

Hope everyone is well.

I feel like the time has come to purchase a new laptop as the current one is so slow it’s really hampering my enjoyment of the game.

Initially I came up with a budget of £500 but having looked online at Amazon, Argos, Curry’s etc I haven’t found much. Is a £500 budget unrealistic? Is there anywhere else I could look?

Ive found the below at Argos which seems to meet most requirements as far as I can see (I’m far from being an expert on this type of thing!). Would this be able to cope with a medium-large database of major nations? I’m not overly fussed about graphics/3D matches.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/5029976

Thanks in advance!

[Smurf]

4 minutes ago, MickyMozay said:

Hi guys,

Hope everyone is well.

I feel like the time has come to purchase a new laptop as the current one is so slow it’s really hampering my enjoyment of the game.

Initially I came up with a budget of £500 but having looked online at Amazon, Argos, Curry’s etc I haven’t found much. Is a £500 budget unrealistic? Is there anywhere else I could look?

Ive found the below at Argos which seems to meet most requirements as far as I can see (I’m far from being an expert on this type of thing!). Would this be able to cope with a medium-large database of major nations? I’m not overly fussed about graphics/3D matches.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/5029976

Thanks in advance!

It would run FM - but depends on what way you have it setup - and no, I can't tell you how many leagues/database size it can do.

Realistically, what's your budget?

[MickyMozay]

8 minutes ago, Smurf said:

It would run FM - but depends on what way you have it setup - and no, I can't tell you how many leagues/database size it can do.

Realistically, what's your budget?

Ideally around £500 but would go up to £600/£700 if I really have to. I want something which will be able to cope with running FM for the next few years ideally. Other than FM and the odd Excel spreadsheet, checking emails etc it won’t be used too much!

[Ross Ingersoll]

would this be half way decent, its for a friend who isnt a hard core fmer buts looking to play it. this is around what he can afford. i wasnt sure because the processor type didnt ring a bell

[Gangor]

13 minutes ago, Ross Ingersoll said:

would this be half way decent, its for a friend who isnt a hard core fmer buts looking to play it. this is around what he can afford. i wasnt sure because the processor type didnt ring a bell

That is overpriced for what it is. In that budget look for a Ryzen 5 3500u or an i5 with a model number starting with 9 or 10 and finishing in U. A Ryzen will run the 3D matches a bit better (though still not great) while the Intel CPU should give longer battery life. 

If the budget could stretch to a little over £600 I've been suggesting Lenovo's L340 which has the virtues of having the higher performance i5 9300H and a discrete GPU which will run the 3D matches much better. You can find the link a bit further up in the thread.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Gangor

[Weasek]

I brought the Lenovo with the specs in the link.i-5 9300 h 2.4 with turbo of 4.1 ghz,16 gb of ram plus nvidia geforce gtx 1650 4gb for £650.mine will be delivered this week I will let anyone know what I think if anyone interested in buying one for fm 20.plus how many leagues it will run.

[Ross Ingersoll]

1 hour ago, Gangor said:

That is overpriced for what it is. In that budget look for a Ryzen 5 3500u or an i5 with a model number starting with 9 or 10 and finishing in U. A Ryzen will run the 3D matches a bit better (though still not great) while the Intel CPU should give longer battery life. 

If the budget could stretch to a little over £600 I've been suggesting Lenovo's L340 which has the virtues of having the higher performance i5 9300H and a discrete GPU which will run the 3D matches much better. You can find the link a bit further up in the thread.

I will let  him know, thanks. 

[Smurf]

13 hours ago, MickyMozay said:

Ideally around £500 but would go up to £600/£700 if I really have to. I want something which will be able to cope with running FM for the next few years ideally. Other than FM and the odd Excel spreadsheet, checking emails etc it won’t be used too much!

At 700 this is your best https://www.box.co.uk/81LK010TUK-Lenovo-IdeaPad-Gaming-L340-15_2834990.html

At 600 - https://www.box.co.uk/FX505DD-BQ121T-ASUS-FX505DD-BQ121T_2902781.html

At 500 (all roughly the same)  - https://www.box.co.uk/X512FA-EJ025T-ASUS-X512FA-EJ025T_2495317.html
https://www.box.co.uk/6HRY3-Dell-Inspiron-15-3585_2792768.html
https://www.box.co.uk/NX.HEFEK.007-Acer-Aspire-3-A315-54-58XN_2580618.html
https://www.box.co.uk/NX.EFREK.010-Acer-Extensa-15_2612002.html

 

13 hours ago, Ross Ingersoll said:

would this be half way decent, its for a friend who isnt a hard core fmer buts looking to play it. this is around what he can afford. i wasnt sure because the processor type didnt ring a bell

There's an Honour Magic laptop linked on this page - it's 549. I see you're buying Dollars though - not sure how that relates?
What's the max budget?

[HuwL]

18 hours ago, Smurf said:

One of the guys who posted above got this and thinks it's good - not sure about 3D - but it's not a dedicated card - so low detail and features turned off but it would be fine.

https://www.box.co.uk/53010WHW-001-Honor-MagicBook-14_2916294.html

Plus it comes with a free smart watch.

https://www.box.co.uk/81LK010TUK-Lenovo-IdeaPad-Gaming-L340-15_2834990.html

This would be good.

Cheers, Smurf! Order placed!

[Mr Tom]

Can this play fm20 well?
 

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-aspire-3-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-1-tb-hdd-black-10203784-pdt.html

[andywlfc]

19 hours ago, Gangor said:

Within your budget @Smurf's suggestion is sound, but if you can stretch it a bit you'd have a much better experience with this:

https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/ideapad/l-series/IdeaPad-L340-15IRH-Gaming/p/81LKCTO1WWENGB0/customize?

 

Edit: if you do go for this definitely add the extra RAM they're not charging for and I'd also change the Hard Drive out for an SSD. You don't need the space for your use case and the SSD will be much faster.

Thanks for the recommendations, I dont mind stretching my budget abit and I'm tempted by the lenovo one and upgrading the RAM but its 3-4 weeks delivery which is abit of a pain. 

Would there be much noticeable difference between that and the other one recommended?

https://www.box.co.uk/53010WHW-001-Honor-MagicBook-14_2916294.html

I prefer to watch the games in 3d but I'm not too bothered if its low detail and so long as it runs the one nation smoothly I'm happy. 

[Gangor]

35 minutes ago, andywlfc said:

Thanks for the recommendations, I dont mind stretching my budget abit and I'm tempted by the lenovo one and upgrading the RAM but its 3-4 weeks delivery which is abit of a pain. 

Would there be much noticeable difference between that and the other one recommended?

https://www.box.co.uk/53010WHW-001-Honor-MagicBook-14_2916294.html

I prefer to watch the games in 3d but I'm not too bothered if its low detail and so long as it runs the one nation smoothly I'm happy. 

Apart from the GPU, the difference is in the type of processor. Not the brand so much but the amount of power each is designed to use. The 3500U in the Magicbook is a 15w CPU, whereas the i5 9300H in the Lenovo uses 45w. This allows it to run at higher clock speeds and deliver higher performance - somewhere in the region of 25-30% better. 

Edit: if you just want to run one nation and not worry about 3D then the 3500U should be fine.

Edited April 20, 2020 by Gangor

[Smurf]

1 hour ago, andywlfc said:

Thanks for the recommendations, I dont mind stretching my budget abit and I'm tempted by the lenovo one and upgrading the RAM but its 3-4 weeks delivery which is abit of a pain. 

Would there be much noticeable difference between that and the other one recommended?

https://www.box.co.uk/53010WHW-001-Honor-MagicBook-14_2916294.html

I prefer to watch the games in 3d but I'm not too bothered if its low detail and so long as it runs the one nation smoothly I'm happy. 

Intel cpus are typically better than AMDs - in this price range. 

The 9750H would be a much better processor

[Ross Ingersoll]

6 hours ago, Smurf said:

At 700 this is your best https://www.box.co.uk/81LK010TUK-Lenovo-IdeaPad-Gaming-L340-15_2834990.html

At 600 - https://www.box.co.uk/FX505DD-BQ121T-ASUS-FX505DD-BQ121T_2902781.html

At 500 (all roughly the same)  - https://www.box.co.uk/X512FA-EJ025T-ASUS-X512FA-EJ025T_2495317.html
https://www.box.co.uk/6HRY3-Dell-Inspiron-15-3585_2792768.html
https://www.box.co.uk/NX.HEFEK.007-Acer-Aspire-3-A315-54-58XN_2580618.html
https://www.box.co.uk/NX.EFREK.010-Acer-Extensa-15_2612002.html

 

There's an Honour Magic laptop linked on this page - it's 549. I see you're buying Dollars though - not sure how that relates?
What's the max budget?

he said 400 pounds or whatever. I told him thats a bit low but high as he could go. i said 500 dollars because i used some currency calc to change into dollar , was easier for me. 

[Smurf]

400 isn't a lot. Those in the 500 to 600 range would be good.

[Ross Ingersoll]

15 minutes ago, Smurf said:

400 isn't a lot. Those in the 500 to 600 range would be good.

thanks, i will let him know. 

[andywlfc]

3 hours ago, Smurf said:

Intel cpus are typically better than AMDs - in this price range. 

The 9750H would be a much better processor

Ok thanks for your help, I ended up going with the lenovo one as I found a voucher code online for £50 off so didnt work out too much difference in price. Might be handy to know if theres anyone else considering buying from lenovo 👍

[samboing]

Hi there, I’m not the best with spec etc, my pc recently died and I’m looking for a laptop to run fm20, I’m getting withdrawal symptoms! 
Can someone tell me if the following is good enough to run the game I so desperately need back in my life please! any help is greatly appreciated 

• Intel Celeron N4000 Dual Core Processor
• 14" HD Screen
• Windows 10 Home S 64-bit
• 4GB DDR4 RAM
• 64GB Storage
• Integrated Intel UHD 600 Graphics
• USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth
• NX.GWAEK.010
•  

[Gangor]

24 minutes ago, samboing said:

Hi there, I’m not the best with spec etc, my pc recently died and I’m looking for a laptop to run fm20, I’m getting withdrawal symptoms! 
Can someone tell me if the following is good enough to run the game I so desperately need back in my life please! any help is greatly appreciated 

• Intel Celeron N4000 Dual Core Processor
• 14" HD Screen
• Windows 10 Home S 64-bit
• 4GB DDR4 RAM
• 64GB Storage
• Integrated Intel UHD 600 Graphics
• USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth
• NX.GWAEK.010
•  

Well, it'll run (a Potato would run FM), but not well. If at all possible try to find something with an i5 or Ryzen 5 and 8GB of RAM. Do you have a budget in mind?

[JordanMilly]

26 minutes ago, samboing said:

Hi there, I’m not the best with spec etc, my pc recently died and I’m looking for a laptop to run fm20, I’m getting withdrawal symptoms! 
Can someone tell me if the following is good enough to run the game I so desperately need back in my life please! any help is greatly appreciated 

• Intel Celeron N4000 Dual Core Processor
• 14" HD Screen
• Windows 10 Home S 64-bit
• 4GB DDR4 RAM
• 64GB Storage
• Integrated Intel UHD 600 Graphics
• USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth
• NX.GWAEK.010
•  

That laptop won't run FM20. The main reasons being that the processor is very poor, and that laptop is also running the "Home S" version of Windows 10, which won't run Steam, and so won't let you install FM20, nevermind try to play it.

What budget are you looking at? Ideally, you'd be looking at £500-600 minimum for a laptop that'll run FM20 at least fairly well.

[Gangor]

30 minutes ago, JordanMillward_1 said:

That laptop won't run FM20.The main reasons being that the processor is very poor, and that laptop is also running the "Home S" version of Windows 10, which won't run Steam, and so won't let you install FM20, nevermind try to play it.

Well it would. The minimum specs call for a Pentium 4 with 2 GB of RAM. Sure you couldn't install it with Windows S, but it's possible to change it to regular Windows 10 without too much bother. Whether you'd want to do that is another matter. If you were stuck with a laptop like this your best bet probably would be to play using streaming services like Google Stadia or X-Box Game Pass for Windows. This laptop would be fine for that. 

30 minutes ago, JordanMillward_1 said:

What budget are you looking at? Ideally, you'd be looking at £500-600 minimum for a laptop that'll run FM20 at least fairly well.

This is accurate. 

[BogueMan]

Hi just wondering would this laptop run FM with no lag when I click advance, I'd only be playing matches in classic style so graphics won't really matter, is the processor of this laptop sufficient? Thanks in advance. I'd have maybe about 8 different nations loaded up hopefully.

HP Pavilion 15-cw1004na 15.6 Inch Full HD Touch-screen Laptop, AMD Ryzen 3-3300U, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Windows 10 Home, Silver https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B083T1Z3LW/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_api_i_.xGNEbABDF7DT

[Gangor]

12 minutes ago, BogueMan said:

Hi just wondering would this laptop run FM with no lag when I click advance, I'd only be playing matches in classic style so graphics won't really matter, is the processor of this laptop sufficient? Thanks in advance. I'd have maybe about 8 different nations loaded up hopefully.

HP Pavilion 15-cw1004na 15.6 Inch Full HD Touch-screen Laptop, AMD Ryzen 3-3300U, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Windows 10 Home, Silver https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B083T1Z3LW/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_api_i_.xGNEbABDF7DT

Well it would run of course, but it will be quite slow. If you can stretch to a Ryzen 5 or i5 processor you'll have a better time. 

[Deansy85]

Hello guys, new to this after being out of playing Football Manager for 5/6 years so unsure of what laptops out there can do the trick. Looking at spending 5-700 on a decent laptop.

 

Id most likely play 2D and I do like to load up a lot of leagues to get a better gaming experience.

Could anyone recommend 2/4 laptops at the moment which would be a great benchmark for me to start looking?

Thanks in advance!

[samboing]

2 hours ago, Gangor said:

Well it would. The minimum specs call for a Pentium 4 with 2 GB of RAM. Sure you couldn't install it with Windows S, but it's possible to change it to regular Windows 10 without too much bother. Whether you'd want to do that is another matter. If you were stuck with a laptop like this your best bet probably would be to play using streaming services like Google Stadia or X-Box Game Pass for Windows. This laptop would be fine for that. 

So would Windows 10 home be any better? Without the S? Budget is my issue at the moment with the current situation! 
Ive found a Lenovo ideapad 330s with this spec

• AMD Ryzen 3 2200U Dual Core Processor
• 15.6" HD Anti-Glare Screen
• Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
• 4GB DDR4 RAM
• 128GB SSD
• Integrated AMD Radeon Vega 3 Graphics
• USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth
• 81FB004XUK
• 52.5Wh Battery Model
• Up to 8 hour battery life (with power management)

would this be better?? Again thank you and apologies for dumb questions

[Gangor]

23 minutes ago, samboing said:

So would Windows 10 home be any better? Without the S? Budget is my issue at the moment with the current situation! 
Ive found a Lenovo ideapad 330s with this spec

• AMD Ryzen 3 2200U Dual Core Processor
• 15.6" HD Anti-Glare Screen
• Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
• 4GB DDR4 RAM
• 128GB SSD
• Integrated AMD Radeon Vega 3 Graphics
• USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth
• 81FB004XUK
• 52.5Wh Battery Model
• Up to 8 hour battery life (with power management)

would this be better?? Again thank you and apologies for dumb questions

Well that would be better than the Celeron but still not great. As I said, you'll be able to play FM but you're not going to have a great experience. I'm guessing from a quick search that your budget is around £300 then? This is probably as good as you're going to get at that price point, but I think you may find it disappointing. 

Edit: The next sensible price point to look at is around £500. Either an AMD Ryzen 5 or an Intel i5 - there are many options. I found this one which seems decent value - if you can stretch your budget up to £450: https://ao.com/product/nxhf9ek019-acer-laptop-black-73809-251.aspx

Edited April 20, 2020 by Gangor

[Gangor]

1 hour ago, Deansy85 said:

Hello guys, new to this after being out of playing Football Manager for 5/6 years so unsure of what laptops out there can do the trick. Looking at spending 5-700 on a decent laptop.

 

Id most likely play 2D and I do like to load up a lot of leagues to get a better gaming experience.

Could anyone recommend 2/4 laptops at the moment which would be a great benchmark for me to start looking?

Thanks in advance!

Well for £500 you should be looking at a laptop with an i5 or Ryzen 5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. This is a very standard configuration and price point and you should be able to find plenty. Pick one that you like the look of or that has other features that you want.

For £700 you can start looking at the lower end gaming laptops. The important point with that is they have processors which are designed to prioritise performance over battery life, so will run processor heavy games like FM a lot better. I think Lenovo's L340 offers good value for this tier: https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/ideapad/l-series/IdeaPad-L340-15IRH-Gaming/p/88IPL301161?IPromoID=LEN189106 (note the shipping times)

[Smurf]

14 hours ago, andywlfc said:

Ok thanks for your help, I ended up going with the lenovo one as I found a voucher code online for £50 off so didnt work out too much difference in price. Might be handy to know if theres anyone else considering buying from lenovo 👍

Lenovo are a good brand. Many good brand manufacturers out there for PCs, Dell, Samsung, Apple, HP, Microsoft, LG, Medion (owned by Lenovo), etc.

There's nothing special about them, Lenovo.

[Daniel1234]

What's the cheapest laptop I could buy that could run just the english leagues on 2d graphics?

[Smurf]

2 hours ago, Daniel1234 said:

What's the cheapest laptop I could buy that could run just the english leagues on 2d graphics?

Subjective - £1000 is cheap to me - but might be expensive to someone else.

Subjective - you could buy a laptop to run the game at the cheapest price - but it might run slowly for you - however, I might think it's running fast enough - each person has their own idea of how quick the game will progress for them and what is acceptible to them. I might like a week going by in the game at 4 hours - you might want a week to progress in the game in 4 minutes. Each to their own.

Truthfully the cheapest way to play the game is with Google Stadia - https://stadia.google.com/home - which they are offering a free 2 months upfront.

 

What's your budget for a laptop?

This is a laptop that will run it https://www.box.co.uk/NX.HEEEK.009-Aspire-3-A315-54_2903747.html

This will also run it https://www.box.co.uk/Box-Pentium-15.6-Laptop_2889329.html

 

But it really depends on your expectations here. 

[abois]

Can I ask what youth rating you had with Oxford? Because Im managing Northampton Town, just started the 29/30 season, youth rating 1, excellent facilities. No invitation to an u23 league, however got the u23 team back in league 1 8/9 years ago and compete in the leasing.com trophy every year.

[Gangor]

7 hours ago, Daniel1234 said:

What's the cheapest laptop I could buy that could run just the english leagues on 2d graphics?

To carry on from @Smurf's thoughts you will need to match your expectations to your budget.

£250-300 - would technically be able to run FM, but it will be painful. Would be OK for Stadia though so long as you have a constant internet connection.

£500-600 - will be able to run FM fine with a modest number of leagues. 3D matches won't look great as you don't get a discrete GPU at this price point

£700+ This is roughly where gaming laptops - and pretty good FM performance - start. At this price point so long as you make sure you choose a laptop with a processor that has an 'H' at the end of the model number then you should be able to expect at least pretty good performance with a reasonable number of leagues loaded. Pretty much all laptops in this category have discrete GPUs so 3D matches will play well. Spending a great deal more than this is probably not warranted as it would go mostly into more expensive GPUs which aren't needed for FM. An Intel i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 with a Nvidia GTX 1650 would be about the highest I'd recommend and that would cost somewhere in the region of £900-1200 depending on the model you choose.

To answer your question though I spotted this recently which seems to be a good deal. Usually this spec would cost at least £500

https://ao.com/product/nxhf9ek019-acer-laptop-black-73809-251.aspx

[MickyMozay]

Would these run FM20 with a fairly large database (10+ nations/20+ leagues) comfortably?

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-14-ce3501sa-14-laptop-intel-core-i5-512-gb-ssd-silver-10198859-pdt.html

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-14-ce3606sa-14-laptop-intel-core-i5-512-gb-ssd-silver-10203359-pdt.html

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-14-ce0505sa-14-intel-core-i7-laptop-256-gb-ssd-silver-10180942-pdt.html

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-14-ce3520sa-14-laptop-intel-core-i7-512-gb-ssd-silver-10198863-pdt.html

Which, if any, would be the ‘best’ equipped? Or would they all be much of a muchness?

Thanks in advance

[Gangor]

10 minutes ago, MickyMozay said:

Would these run FM20 with a fairly large database (10+ nations/20+ leagues) comfortably?

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-14-ce3501sa-14-laptop-intel-core-i5-512-gb-ssd-silver-10198859-pdt.html

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-14-ce3606sa-14-laptop-intel-core-i5-512-gb-ssd-silver-10203359-pdt.html

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-14-ce0505sa-14-intel-core-i7-laptop-256-gb-ssd-silver-10180942-pdt.html

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-14-ce3520sa-14-laptop-intel-core-i7-512-gb-ssd-silver-10198863-pdt.html

Which, if any, would be the ‘best’ equipped? Or would they all be much of a muchness?

Thanks in advance

The last one is clearly the best, but then it's also the most expensive. If your budget is £700 or upwards you should also consider a laptop with an H series processor. This has a higher power target and so can run at consistently higher frequencies. I like to suggest Lenovo's L340:

https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/ideapad/l-series/IdeaPad-L340-15IRH-Gaming/p/88IPL301161?IPromoID=LEN189106

Of course this does depend on your use case. The low power processors in the laptops you list will yield longer battery life and probably a more compact and lighter laptop. 

[nathans22]

Hi all

New to the forum

 

I haven't played fm in years. I've just downloaded it on my laptop. Specs are below it is only a budget laptop so I'm not expecting fireworks 😁 but what are some basic , general things to keep the speed as best as I can from the below.

 

• General. Brand. Lenovo. ...
• Display. Size. 15.60-inch. ...
• Processor. Processor. Intel Pentium Quad Core 4th Gen N3540. ...
• Memory. RAM. 8gb ( has been upgraded). ...
• Graphics. Graphics Processor. Intel Integrated HD Graphics.

 

I remember playing the game years back on a budget laptop and it was playable and now returning years later ....with these specs will 3/4 leagues with minimal preferences be okay? Biggest thing speed wise I'm looking for is the progression from one day to the other that's about it and just to play the game as best I can

 

the trial didnt seem to bad. On one league.. so just look for  basic speed tips based on an entry level laptop 

 

Thanks for time in reading and all your help.

Nathan 

Edited April 22, 2020 by nathans22

[FrazT]

@nathans22Few leagues and small database- detail level to small- graphics settings to low-maybe play in 2D if required- reduce your expectations

The processor and graphics card are not built for 3D games so set your sights low.

[MickyMozay]

7 hours ago, Gangor said:

The last one is clearly the best, but then it's also the most expensive. If your budget is £700 or upwards you should also consider a laptop with an H series processor. This has a higher power target and so can run at consistently higher frequencies. I like to suggest Lenovo's L340:

https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/ideapad/l-series/IdeaPad-L340-15IRH-Gaming/p/88IPL301161?IPromoID=LEN189106

Of course this does depend on your use case. The low power processors in the laptops you list will yield longer battery life and probably a more compact and lighter laptop. 

Would all of the above run FM20 well enough to be worth considering though?

Budget would be £500-£800. Ideally I’m looking for something to run FM but also use occasionally for work etc rather than an out & out gaming laptop.

I’n not fussed about 3D matches etc, it’s more about general smoothness of the gameplay, loading times, ability to run a medium-large database etc.

Generally speaking, is the difference between a i5 10gen CPU (eg i5-1035G1) and a i7 10gen CPU (e.g i7-1065G7) great enough to warrant spending an extra couple of hundred pounds?

Edited April 22, 2020 by MickyMozay

[Smurf]

50 minutes ago, MickyMozay said:

Would all of the above run FM20 well enough to be worth considering though?

Budget would be £500-£800. Ideally I’m looking for something to run FM but also use occasionally for work etc rather than an out & out gaming laptop.

Is the difference between a i5 10gen CPU (eg i5-1035G1) and a i7 10gen CPU (e.g i7-1065G7) great enough to warrant spending an extra couple of hundred pounds?

What type of work do you do?

This is how your processors are ranked that you picked - plus I choose the 2 most popular that come up in the price range most people are which are the top 2.

You can see 9750h is ranked quite high - and 9300h is almost double over the 1065G7 which is about the same as the one below, and a lot better than 8550u, which is the worst.

This would be decent - it has 16gb of RAM and the middle processor listed above. It has no dedicated graphics card so best to play 3D on low detail or in 2D mode. But nonetheless, for a few leagues and a few divisions, and a medium size database it would be good for FM.
https://www.box.co.uk/Lenovo-ThinkBook-14_2860897.html

 

The easiest way to get a really good computer is to think of the 2 things that cannot be upgraded in a laptop - which are typically 

1) Processor

2) Graphics Card

These 2 things typically cannot be updated. 

What can be updated easily is 

1) RAM

2) Hard Drive Space

 

If you keep that in mind - your best bet for longevity is get the best processor and best graphics card you can at your price point - as it will work for you easily for a long time - and you can save up for extra RAM and extra storage (hard drive).

With that in mind I'll start at £800 and see where it leads me:0

Difference between these 2 are the Hard Drive - so you can save yourself £100 by going the cheaper option and adding larger hard drive down the road.
It has a nice good graphics card in this too. 8gb RAM which is fine - but consider upgrading this to 16gb.
https://www.box.co.uk/NH.Q59EK.01H-Acer-Nitro-5_2873716.html
https://www.box.co.uk/81LK010TUK-Lenovo-IdeaPad-Gaming-L340-15_2834990.html

Next up is this and it's £650 - graphics card is fine for FM - and again it needs a bump in RAM and Hard Drive - but will work perfectly fine out of the box. 
Processor is a little lower in this but would be perfectly fine for FM.
https://www.box.co.uk/8PL55EAABU-HP-Pavilion-Gaming-15-cx0019na_2891397.html

As we go down graphics card models I find this one, we're back up to £700 - but this has the slightly newer Processor model - and it also has an SSD drive which will give you fast boot times - but it also comes with that extra storage - which is super handy - again you will need to bump up the RAM eventually.
https://www.box.co.uk/30027142-Medion-Erazer-P15601_2756373.html

 

So that's your lot really - I'd go with the 1st one in the list I posted - it has the better graphics card and processor - which is something  you won't be able to upgrade later. 

And you can update the RAM and SSD at a later point.

 

Best of luck with your choice - if you don't buy from them - then look out for the same specs on other sites:

Processor: i7 9750H or i5 9300H - alternatives would be i7 8750H or the i5 8300H (slightly older models)

Graphics Card: if it's important to you get the best you can (but you should anyway as this typically cannot be upgraded in a laptop)

RAM: 8gb Minimum - but this is easily upgraded and often cheaper to do rather than on purchase of laptop.

SSD: Minimum 256gb - not a lot of space, but adequate and easily upgraded. Look out for larger storage like 256gb SSD + 1TB HDD. 

 

Other than that - there's not much to it - stick in your price at your choosen website - and filter first for 1) Price - then input 2) RAM, then input choice for 3) graphics card then look for 4) Storage space

In regards to 3) above

Search for the site here

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

And for processors check here
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmark-List.2436.0.html

Higher on the list the better

[MickyMozay]

53 minutes ago, Smurf said:

What type of work do you do?

This is how your processors are ranked that you picked - plus I choose the 2 most popular that come up in the price range most people are which are the top 2.

You can see 9750h is ranked quite high - and 9300h is almost double over the 1065G7 which is about the same as the one below, and a lot better than 8550u, which is the worst.

This would be decent - it has 16gb of RAM and the middle processor listed above. It has no dedicated graphics card so best to play 3D on low detail or in 2D mode. But nonetheless, for a few leagues and a few divisions, and a medium size database it would be good for FM.
https://www.box.co.uk/Lenovo-ThinkBook-14_2860897.html

 

The easiest way to get a really good computer is to think of the 2 things that cannot be upgraded in a laptop - which are typically 

1) Processor

2) Graphics Card

These 2 things typically cannot be updated. 

What can be updated easily is 

1) RAM

2) Hard Drive Space

 

If you keep that in mind - your best bet for longevity is get the best processor and best graphics card you can at your price point - as it will work for you easily for a long time - and you can save up for extra RAM and extra storage (hard drive).

With that in mind I'll start at £800 and see where it leads me:0

Difference between these 2 are the Hard Drive - so you can save yourself £100 by going the cheaper option and adding larger hard drive down the road.
It has a nice good graphics card in this too. 8gb RAM which is fine - but consider upgrading this to 16gb.
https://www.box.co.uk/NH.Q59EK.01H-Acer-Nitro-5_2873716.html
https://www.box.co.uk/81LK010TUK-Lenovo-IdeaPad-Gaming-L340-15_2834990.html

Next up is this and it's £650 - graphics card is fine for FM - and again it needs a bump in RAM and Hard Drive - but will work perfectly fine out of the box. 
Processor is a little lower in this but would be perfectly fine for FM.
https://www.box.co.uk/8PL55EAABU-HP-Pavilion-Gaming-15-cx0019na_2891397.html

As we go down graphics card models I find this one, we're back up to £700 - but this has the slightly newer Processor model - and it also has an SSD drive which will give you fast boot times - but it also comes with that extra storage - which is super handy - again you will need to bump up the RAM eventually.
https://www.box.co.uk/30027142-Medion-Erazer-P15601_2756373.html

 

So that's your lot really - I'd go with the 1st one in the list I posted - it has the better graphics card and processor - which is something  you won't be able to upgrade later. 

And you can update the RAM and SSD at a later point.

 

Best of luck with your choice - if you don't buy from them - then look out for the same specs on other sites:

Processor: i7 9750H or i5 9300H - alternatives would be i7 8750H or the i5 8300H (slightly older models)

Graphics Card: if it's important to you get the best you can (but you should anyway as this typically cannot be upgraded in a laptop)

RAM: 8gb Minimum - but this is easily upgraded and often cheaper to do rather than on purchase of laptop.

SSD: Minimum 256gb - not a lot of space, but adequate and easily upgraded. Look out for larger storage like 256gb SSD + 1TB HDD. 

 

Other than that - there's not much to it - stick in your price at your choosen website - and filter first for 1) Price - then input 2) RAM, then input choice for 3) graphics card then look for 4) Storage space

In regards to 3) above

Search for the site here

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

And for processors check here
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmark-List.2436.0.html

Higher on the list the better

Thanks Smurf, that’s great! I’ll carry on looking using the above specs.

I work in insurance 🙄 so would just be using word, excel etc.

[Gangor]

1 hour ago, MickyMozay said:

Would all of the above run FM20 well enough to be worth considering though?

Yes, they'd all run FM fine. 

1 hour ago, MickyMozay said:

Budget would be £500-£800. Ideally I’m looking for something to run FM but also use occasionally for work etc rather than an out & out gaming laptop.

I’n not fussed about 3D matches etc, it’s more about general smoothness of the gameplay, loading times, ability to run a medium-large database etc.

Generally speaking, is the difference between a i5 10gen CPU (eg i5-1035G1) and a i7 10gen CPU (e.g i7-1065G7) great enough to warrant spending an extra couple of hundred pounds?

So the two things to consider are thread count and clock speed. Instructions Pec Clock (IPC) is also a consideration, but that's harder to tell from a spec sheet so this can be ignored as long as you choose a modern processor. The benefit (generally) with i7 (and Ryzen 7) over their less expensive counterparts is that they have more threads. With fewer leagues this won't make too much difference, but more threads will allow you to run more leagues more smoothly. H series processors will run at a higher clock speed giving better and smoother performance in all circumstances. 

If you're also doing work on the laptop you'll have other considerations such as the keyboard, trackpad, webcam etc. It would be worth reading a couple of reviews of any laptop you decide on. I suggest copying the model number of the laptop and pasting it into Google with "review" added at the end. 

[Smurf]

24 minutes ago, MickyMozay said:

Thanks Smurf, that’s great! I’ll carry on looking using the above specs.

I work in insurance 🙄 so would just be using word, excel etc.

Work out your best budget that you can afford.

Then the same applies - the list of processors I gave you ranks them - which is a good indicator. 

Things to get in your laptop are the best processor you can afford and the best graphics card you can afford - as said earlier - these are not upgradeable in most laptops - or at least it can be very difficult.

The RAM and the Hard Drive are easily upgradable - so concentrate on the lists of the processor and the graphics card - this will get you the best laptop you can afford.

[MickyMozay]

1 hour ago, Gangor said:

Yes, they'd all run FM fine. 

So the two things to consider are thread count and clock speed. Instructions Pec Clock (IPC) is also a consideration, but that's harder to tell from a spec sheet so this can be ignored as long as you choose a modern processor. The benefit (generally) with i7 (and Ryzen 7) over their less expensive counterparts is that they have more threads. With fewer leagues this won't make too much difference, but more threads will allow you to run more leagues more smoothly. H series processors will run at a higher clock speed giving better and smoother performance in all circumstances. 

If you're also doing work on the laptop you'll have other considerations such as the keyboard, trackpad, webcam etc. It would be worth reading a couple of reviews of any laptop you decide on. I suggest copying the model number of the laptop and pasting it into Google with "review" added at the end. 

 

48 minutes ago, Smurf said:

Work out your best budget that you can afford.

Then the same applies - the list of processors I gave you ranks them - which is a good indicator. 

Things to get in your laptop are the best processor you can afford and the best graphics card you can afford - as said earlier - these are not upgradeable in most laptops - or at least it can be very difficult.

The RAM and the Hard Drive are easily upgradable - so concentrate on the lists of the processor and the graphics card - this will get you the best laptop you can afford.

Thanks again you two, I feel slightly more clued up as to what I’m looking for now!

Top guys! 👍

[nathans22]

6 hours ago, FrazT said:

@nathans22Few leagues and small database- detail level to small- graphics settings to low-maybe play in 2D if required- reduce your expectations

The processor and graphics card are not built for 3D games so set your sights low.

Thanks for your help buddy.

I did have a little mooch this morning with 4 major eu leagues with just the top division active and med database .. for instance I went on holiday for 5 days which included a game between and I think it took just over a minute when processing? That didnt seem to bad for me? This is just in pre season would you say that would be ok going forward? Dont wanna invest in a career to be lagging about well based on the specs as little as possible:p 

 

Cheers!

[FrazT]

9 minutes ago, nathans22 said:

Thanks for your help buddy.

I did have a little mooch this morning with 4 major eu leagues with just the top division active and med database .. for instance I went on holiday for 5 days which included a game between and I think it took just over a minute when processing? That didnt seem to bad for me? This is just in pre season would you say that would be ok going forward? Dont wanna invest in a career to be lagging about well based on the specs as little as possible:p 

 

Cheers!

Trial and error is the best way to decide what is acceptable.  Remember that your save game will grow in size as you progress and will slow down naturally, so you really need to start small if you intend to have a career game.

[cricketdave]

How would this run FM20?

https://www.apple.com/uk-business/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/16-inch

I want something which will do business and pleasure.

[Smurf]

1 hour ago, cricketdave said:

How would this run FM20?

https://www.apple.com/uk-business/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/16-inch

I want something which will do business and pleasure.

Depends what model you buy - but Macs will be fine in general - exepensive, but ok.

For that price though you could buy a really powerful laptop.

[Gangor]

3 hours ago, cricketdave said:

How would this run FM20?

https://www.apple.com/uk-business/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/16-inch

I want something which will do business and pleasure.

I understand that the i9 model thermal throttles and so doesn't perform better than the i7 in many workloads. Something to keep in mind.

[Amnesia92]

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7807550

 

Any good for fm20??

[Smurf]

12 hours ago, Gangor said:

I understand that the i9 model thermal throttles and so doesn't perform better than the i7 in many workloads. Something to keep in mind.

That's not true - it was only in special circumstances and Apple have released a patch to address this https://www.applemust.com/apple-quickly-solves-macbook-pro-throttling-complaints/

The news is 2 years old - and it's simply wasn't a big issues and it was fixed easily.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Smurf

[Thug-angel]

Hello Fellow FM-ers

I am looking for a new laptop, my current Laptop is slow with FM2019 and FM 2020.
LENOVO Legion Y520-15IKBN
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
16 GB RAM

What kind of specs do i need to look out for to run FM 2020 really good, my budget is 1300 Euro's.

Damn me, did not read the full post title

Edited April 23, 2020 by Thug-angel