Hi, everyone.
We are thinking of buying a laptop for my gaming needs (NWN2 and DA). I have a bunch of questions here for the good folks who have experience with running DA and NWN2 on PC laptops:
-Does NWN2 run smoothly on Windows 7?
-How much RAM would you recommend for NWN2 gaming laptop?
-Which Video Processor/3D 'graphic chip' would you recommend for best performance?
Thank you kindly for the answers!
Laptop specs for NWN2 best performance questions
Débuté par
Domi_Sotto
, juil. 21 2010 09:09
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#2
Posté 21 juillet 2010 - 09:23
NWN DM
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W7 and NWN2 play nicely together in the sandbox. Some people (myself included) have had challenges installing and updating, but these people are in the minority. I'd say W7 is a better option than Vista, pretty well for everything, not just NWN2.Domi_Sotto wrote...
Hi, everyone.
We are thinking of buying a laptop for my gaming needs (NWN2 and DA). I have a bunch of questions here for the good folks who have experience with running DA and NWN2 on PC laptops:
-Does NWN2 run smoothly on Windows 7?
-How much RAM would you recommend for NWN2 gaming laptop?
-Which Video Processor/3D 'graphic chip' would you recommend for best performance?
Thank you kindly for the answers!
These days even your standard laptop seems to have four gb... six would be better.
Nvidia has had problems with recent drivers. That said, your big thing will to be absolutely metaphysically indubitably certain that you have a dedicated video card, not 'shared memory' or "just as good as" like the sales person will try to hook you with.
I play NWN2 on a Dell Inspiron 1720 that was new 30 months ago. It's a dual core @ 1.6 Ghz with 3 gb of ram and a 256 mb dedicated Nvidia video card. No problems here, but I don't do any Toolset work beyond simple item creation and area cleaning/exporting with it.
#3
Posté 22 juillet 2010 - 01:46
Domi_Sotto
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Thank you.
My computer wiz hubby wants a clarification that the 64 bit W7 is Okay.
My computer wiz hubby wants a clarification that the 64 bit W7 is Okay.
#4
Posté 22 juillet 2010 - 02:42
MindYerBeak
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You don't need a wizz bang laptop to play NWN2 or DAO. I have a Samsung RS10 which should be as cheap as chips now. It has a Vista OS and a dual Pentium 2Ghz microprocessor with 2Gb of RAM as standard, which I've just upgraded to 4Gb. The graphics card is a Mobile Intel 4 Series and is more than adequate for DAO, let alone NWN2, and can even run both games in 3D with shutter glasses. Purchase an older model if you can, not much point in forking out big bucks for the latest up to date model.
If money isn't a problem I would reccommend a Quad microprocessor which would make DAO run like the wind on steroids. My next computer build in fact.
If money isn't a problem I would reccommend a Quad microprocessor which would make DAO run like the wind on steroids. My next computer build in fact.
Modifié par MindYerBeak, 22 juillet 2010 - 02:50 .
#6
Posté 22 juillet 2010 - 10:31
Domi_Sotto
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Thank you. I want a bit more upgraded machine because I intent to mod NWN2 on it & it takes more resources, plus newer games will be coming as well.
#7
Posté 22 juillet 2010 - 01:18
Domi_Sotto
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Someone just mentioned that the toolset crashes for them under W7. Is that a common occurence? I really need to run the Toolset, not just the game. Huh.
#8
Posté 22 juillet 2010 - 02:30
Gorath Alpha
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1. I always disagree than any graphics chip from Intel is anything other than pure, unadulterated CRAP.
2. There is a step up between NWN2 and DA: O for shaders. NWN2 is only a pixel shader SM-2 game, so six year old Radeon 9800s run it OK, while the next-newer Radeons, the Xn00s from X800 Pro through X850 XTP cannot do Medium Textures (so no eye colors other than dark brown, and no blood splatter) in Dragon Age, bumping the minimum Radeon for Medium Textures to either an X1650 XT or an X1800 GTO. .
2. There is a step up between NWN2 and DA: O for shaders. NWN2 is only a pixel shader SM-2 game, so six year old Radeon 9800s run it OK, while the next-newer Radeons, the Xn00s from X800 Pro through X850 XTP cannot do Medium Textures (so no eye colors other than dark brown, and no blood splatter) in Dragon Age, bumping the minimum Radeon for Medium Textures to either an X1650 XT or an X1800 GTO. .
#9
Posté 22 juillet 2010 - 02:43
Quixal
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I have heard the complaint about W7 crashing the toolset before but cannot confirm. I still run XP.
Modifié par Quixal, 22 juillet 2010 - 06:03 .
#10
Posté 22 juillet 2010 - 05:57
NWN DM
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The toolset needs the right version of DirectX (v 9c I believe... someone will correct me if I'm wrong).
a) if you don't have that the toolset will behave badly
and
if you get the 64-bit version of W7 (suggested IMHO), you need to make sure you get the right version of DirectX v 9c - the one for 64-bit OSes.
If you do that (there should be a link somewhere to the actual file download from MS), your toolset will be stable as it can be (make sure you've got at least 6 GB of ram).
On my new system, I've had one toolset crash in the past three months, and that's leaving it open for hours and hours. On my old computer, it would crash every 45 minutes or so... the difference between a new system and one that was 6 years old.
a) if you don't have that the toolset will behave badly
and
if you get the 64-bit version of W7 (suggested IMHO), you need to make sure you get the right version of DirectX v 9c - the one for 64-bit OSes.If you do that (there should be a link somewhere to the actual file download from MS), your toolset will be stable as it can be (make sure you've got at least 6 GB of ram).
On my new system, I've had one toolset crash in the past three months, and that's leaving it open for hours and hours. On my old computer, it would crash every 45 minutes or so... the difference between a new system and one that was 6 years old.
#11
Posté 22 juillet 2010 - 06:35
dunniteowl
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Yes there is, but I have to work my Delete Key Magic on it. Don't know why, in this modern age, we cannot self delete our own mistakes, but there it is.
Post deleted by User Request.
dunniteowl
Post deleted by User Request.
dunniteowl
#12
Posté 22 juillet 2010 - 06:50
dunniteowl
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Now for a bit of information for your question:
Win7 is a sneaky tricky beast. Sometimes it runs the game and toolset with no issues whatsoever, even without DX 9.0c Redistributable I didn't know there was a 64 bit version of any DX distro, but if there is, I'd certainly think using that would be preferable on a 64bit system.
On Win7 64bit, you will have to make sure that you install .Net 64, I believe this is still on the original NWN2 OC disc. There is a folder called: [your CD/DVD drive]\\ NWN2\\ Prereq.
This has the installation procedure for .net. Yes, yes, yes, I know Win Vista and Win7 both come with .net installed already. If you install NWN2 and have trouble opening and using the toolset, then I would recommend running the .net installation program off the disc. Yeah, it's gonna tell you that you already have .net (and a new shinier one to boot) installed. That's cool. Just give it your best shot.
There is reason to suspect from anecdotal sources that sometimes the ,net doesn't switch on the appropriate bells and whistles for NWN2 to run in some cases. I'm now betting that this relates to hardware, firmware differences in the computers themselves, based on things like processor, graphics cards, chipsets, etc. Windows sort of "analyzes" the system when it installs and if these hardware, firmware differences are noted, it may (I am hypothesizing here only) not activate certain 'legacy' functions that NWN2 may utilize to operate properly.
This is a "Best WAG" based on what I've read so far and the supporting posts that indicate what thing it was that 'fixed' the problem. These are always ONLY toolset related. The toolset must use .net to run, the game doesn't.
If you're going laptop, I strongly recommend a dedicated Graphics Card for any sort of heavy duty gaming or modding. IGPs are just not up to snuff, I don't care who makes them. IGP = Integrated Graphics Processor. In other words, they insert the graphics chip on your mother board and there is just NO WAY that is as powerful or capable as a true Graphics Card. Period. This is not even an argument. It's simple, verifiable fact.
That said, be careful. Heat is heat and dedicated Graphics Cards in Laptops generate almost as much heat as a desktop card does RELATIVE to the space and airflow available. IN other words, find a good way to make sure heat/airflow dissipation is addressed with any gaming/modding laptop. And as a BTW, your legs or lap make a really bad thermal conduction tool for various reasons.
Other than that, more memory is always good. The one thing I was taught over and again in any of my computer training courses was this: The single cheapest improvement to any computer in terms of performance for price is more RAM. It's just as true now as it was 12 years ago.
If you have any other questions, by all means toss 'em here. We're here to help.
best regards,
dunniteowl
Win7 is a sneaky tricky beast. Sometimes it runs the game and toolset with no issues whatsoever, even without DX 9.0c Redistributable I didn't know there was a 64 bit version of any DX distro, but if there is, I'd certainly think using that would be preferable on a 64bit system.
On Win7 64bit, you will have to make sure that you install .Net 64, I believe this is still on the original NWN2 OC disc. There is a folder called: [your CD/DVD drive]\\ NWN2\\ Prereq.
This has the installation procedure for .net. Yes, yes, yes, I know Win Vista and Win7 both come with .net installed already. If you install NWN2 and have trouble opening and using the toolset, then I would recommend running the .net installation program off the disc. Yeah, it's gonna tell you that you already have .net (and a new shinier one to boot) installed. That's cool. Just give it your best shot.
There is reason to suspect from anecdotal sources that sometimes the ,net doesn't switch on the appropriate bells and whistles for NWN2 to run in some cases. I'm now betting that this relates to hardware, firmware differences in the computers themselves, based on things like processor, graphics cards, chipsets, etc. Windows sort of "analyzes" the system when it installs and if these hardware, firmware differences are noted, it may (I am hypothesizing here only) not activate certain 'legacy' functions that NWN2 may utilize to operate properly.
This is a "Best WAG" based on what I've read so far and the supporting posts that indicate what thing it was that 'fixed' the problem. These are always ONLY toolset related. The toolset must use .net to run, the game doesn't.
If you're going laptop, I strongly recommend a dedicated Graphics Card for any sort of heavy duty gaming or modding. IGPs are just not up to snuff, I don't care who makes them. IGP = Integrated Graphics Processor. In other words, they insert the graphics chip on your mother board and there is just NO WAY that is as powerful or capable as a true Graphics Card. Period. This is not even an argument. It's simple, verifiable fact.
That said, be careful. Heat is heat and dedicated Graphics Cards in Laptops generate almost as much heat as a desktop card does RELATIVE to the space and airflow available. IN other words, find a good way to make sure heat/airflow dissipation is addressed with any gaming/modding laptop. And as a BTW, your legs or lap make a really bad thermal conduction tool for various reasons.
Other than that, more memory is always good. The one thing I was taught over and again in any of my computer training courses was this: The single cheapest improvement to any computer in terms of performance for price is more RAM. It's just as true now as it was 12 years ago.
If you have any other questions, by all means toss 'em here. We're here to help.
best regards,
dunniteowl
Modifié par dunniteowl, 22 juillet 2010 - 06:51 .
#13
Posté 22 juillet 2010 - 09:48
Domi_Sotto
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Thanks, folks, all the information is golden! I remember having to do both .net and DX 9.0c on my XP machine, so it's good to know that the same things will go for Win7.
Will look into the 64 bit version of DX.
Kind of scary, I probably should keep NWN2 running on the desktop for a while until I am sure it works well on the laptop.
I do not look forward to the whole re-installation and possible problems thinggie, but I really would benefit from a gaming laptop.
Thank you everyone again!
Will look into the 64 bit version of DX.
Kind of scary, I probably should keep NWN2 running on the desktop for a while until I am sure it works well on the laptop.
I do not look forward to the whole re-installation and possible problems thinggie, but I really would benefit from a gaming laptop.
Thank you everyone again!
#14
Posté 22 juillet 2010 - 09:56
E.C.Patterson
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Domi_Sotto wrote...
Thank you. I want a bit more upgraded machine because I intent to mod NWN2 on it & it takes more resources, plus newer games will be coming as well.
Very glad to hear that. Welcome back.
Modifié par E.C.Patterson, 22 juillet 2010 - 09:57 .
#15
Posté 23 juillet 2010 - 01:05
JasonNH
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E.C.Patterson wrote...
Domi_Sotto wrote...
Thank you. I want a bit more upgraded machine because I intent to mod NWN2 on it & it takes more resources, plus newer games will be coming as well.
Very glad to hear that. Welcome back.
Same here, good to see you back.
#16
Posté 23 juillet 2010 - 02:37
Therenow
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NWN2 is notorious on my laptop. No other game runs my GPU temperature so high. I've run high end stuff like Prototype or Crysis on it with minor heat issues but NWN2 seems to just set the place on fire.
#17
Posté 23 juillet 2010 - 05:39
NWN DM
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It's just that good!Therenow wrote...
NWN2 is notorious on my laptop. No other game runs my GPU temperature so high. I've run high end stuff like Prototype or Crysis on it with minor heat issues but NWN2 seems to just set the place on fire.
#18
Posté 23 juillet 2010 - 05:48
Domi_Sotto
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*Giggle* It is that good!
And thanks everyone for the welcome back RL's ebbs away a little...
Anyway, apparently buying a gaming laptop is increadibly difficult enterprise. We have something called wireless 5 khz thing & it seriously limits my options. So, DA might be out of the question, but NWN2 might be a go....
And thanks everyone for the welcome back
RL's ebbs away a little...Anyway, apparently buying a gaming laptop is increadibly difficult enterprise. We have something called wireless 5 khz thing & it seriously limits my options. So, DA might be out of the question, but NWN2 might be a go....
#19
Posté 24 juillet 2010 - 07:06
SkywingvL
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Dunnite, the .NET support for DX9 should work exactly the same as 'plain' DX9. For the folks where it seemed to work 'out of the box', I suspect that they had previously installed something else that brought the appropriate .NET runtimes along with it.
#20
Posté 25 juillet 2010 - 01:26
dunniteowl
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Thanks Skywing, my suspicions run along those lines as well, however I have absolutely no way to verify it. In this case, I'm just glad that most Win7 operators are able to get their NWN2 game on. One way or another.
dno
dno
#21
Posté 26 juillet 2010 - 08:35
Domi_Sotto
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OMG, OMG, got the LapTop. It's a Sony. It's apple-green, and plays nice with our 5 Khz wireless! Hubby thinks I can be using it on the bus by Thursday! I hope it will give me many happy hours of modding and gaming!
#22
Posté 26 juillet 2010 - 09:01
Adam024
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I have a HP 9700T, which played NWN2 and NWN very well, but it fell victim to the HP/Nvidia defect. Within two weeks of replacing the motherboard (which had it working), the hard drive went bad. I am hoping to be up and running by the end of the week, but have to make due w/my old desktop for now.
