Playing A-10C on a Laptop

[etrader01]

Hi, I recently changed from a PC to a laptop - too much noise from the PC, anyway I want to buy A-10 but I need to know what sort of experience will it deliver, here are my specs:-

 

CPU I5-2410M

GPC GeForce GT540M

RAM 6Gb

HD 540mb 5400RPM

VDU 24Inch

 

At least the CPU is a quad core but i am not sure about the graphics card, thanks in advance.

 

Simon

[secret1962]

It should work fine in my opinion (really not sure about mobile VGAs, I don't trust them). You meant 540 GB in the HD right ?

[Eddie]

Download the DCS:World beta and try it for yourself.

 

http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/index.php?scr=product&ProductId=18&end_pos=135&lang=en

 

You only need the 4 DCS:World files, not the P-51D module.

[Jona33]

Download the DCS:World beta and try it for yourself.

 

http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/index.php?scr=product&ProductId=18&end_pos=135&lang=en

 

You only need the 4 DCS:World files, not the P-51D module.

 

Eddie, we're still 1.1.1.1 DCS A-10 here. Though the patch might be coming soon.

[AtaliaA1]

That 5400RPM harddrive may cause some stuttering in heavy game action seens. If you can update that to a SSD and you will have a very modern, easily capable of running A10.

[WildBillKelsoe]

we're somewhat close in specs. I also play all DCS modules on my lappy (the only PC I got).

 

Mine is i5-520M Processor 2.40~2.93GHz TB

HDD 500 GB, ATi HD mobility 5650 1 GB

Memory 4 GB stock updated to 8 GB. A10 takes 2 mins to load from <fly> to pit.

P-51D takes 2 and 20 seconds to load

BS1.0 loaded under a minute (Steam)

BS2.0 loaded in 1 min 49 secs.

 

And also have sniper elite V2 of recent, Silent Hunter 4 (reinstalled cuz of boredom).

[etrader01]

Many thanks for those replies.

 

WildBillKelsoe - yes our kit is similiar - what sort of frame rates do you get? does the sim play well with a reasonable amount of detail?

 

thanks

Simon

[Eddie]

Eddie, we're still 1.1.1.1 DCS A-10 here. Though the patch might be coming soon.

 

And? Downloading and actually running DCS:World is still the only sure way for someone to get a good idea how it'll run on their system.

[WildBillKelsoe]

Many thanks for those replies.

 

WildBillKelsoe - yes our kit is similiar - what sort of frame rates do you get? does the sim play well with a reasonable amount of detail?

 

thanks

Simon

 

I get between 21-25 fps under most conditions. But sometimes, if the map is overfilled with units, specially immediately adjacent units, like those trucks and 4 wingmen missions, I have to look up to the sky in order to get smooth. But other times, it's entirely the mission status that dictates the FPS. like for instance, I once had an air-to-air brawl with a Su-24, the frame rate where high for continuous head movement to look normal on a video. Other times, specially in campaign mission 4 (the one you have moved airbase to senaki-kolkhi), takeoff, engaging TGP is a slideshow, until most of the units on the map are destroyed for the FPS to begin to rise.

 

These are my settings:

 

 

But when I'm rendering a track to a movie, they are all set high.

[Dudikoff]

Hi, I recently changed from a PC to a laptop - too much noise from the PC, anyway I want to buy A-10 but I need to know what sort of experience will it deliver, here are my specs:-

 

CPU I5-2410M

GPC GeForce GT540M

VDU 24Inch

 

At least the CPU is a quad core but i am not sure about the graphics card, thanks in advance.

 

Hmm, the CPU is not a quad core (quads are i7 and their name ends with a "QM" on laptops) and the graphics card *used* to be a midrange card (e.g. around 7-8k 3d Mark 2006) To prove my point, my laptop's GPU has almost double the power and I'm not happy about its performance in this game on the 1920*1200 resolution at all (which you'll use on that 24" screen).

 

It's surprising that you moved to a laptop from a desktop only because of the noise, especially if you play games as laptops get rather noisy when under full load with a dedicated GPU. You could have gotten someone to change your CPU/GPU cooler or the PSU or the case fan (whichever was making the noise) and get you a much stronger graphics card than you got with the laptop. Too bad you already did the switch as I would have strongly advised you against it.

Edited May 17, 2012 by Dudikoff

[jp203000]

Eddie, we're still 1.1.1.1 DCS A-10 here. Though the patch might be coming soon.

 

Right, might be,we know the difference between "may be" and "might be".:D

[Teapot]

Hmm, the CPU is not a quad core (quads are i7 and their name ends with a "QM" on laptops) and the graphics card *used* to be a midrange card (e.g. around 7-8k 3d Mark 2006)

 

An i5 is a quad core ... and so is an i7.

 

Mate (ETrader01), your specs are better than mine except for the CPU ... I run all the latest DCS products on my Toshi @ medium settings (I think its an A500 series, has 4 Mb RAM and the graphics card is a 'something 330M' .. @ work so can't check).

 

But ... things really start to slow down in big missions.

 

I'm planning on going the other way ... planning and building my penultimate flying rig ... which I now have a compelling reason to do thanks to DCS.

[Wichid]

I'd always recommend a desktop PC for gaming. If you look closely at the specs you usually notice lower bus or clock speeds because they want to balance in some battery life and also manage the temperature.

[Fleshpiston]

has 4 Mb RAM

 

Sure about that? Not maybe GB of ram...... unless its a 386 or 486 and then I would be impressed.

[Wichid]

Sure about that? Not maybe GB of ram...... unless its a 386 or 486 and then I would be impressed.

 

Yeah hopefully a 486 Dx2!

[Teapot]

Sure about that? Not maybe GB of ram...... unless its a 386 or 486 and then I would be impressed.

 

Woopsies, of course 4 Gb! My bad

[hitman]

I went straight from high end laptop to my high end desktop in 6 days flat, and all it took was a few hundred dollars more. Spent 1200 bucks on that laptop, and added 300 dollars worth of SSD. I promptly returned the laptop and used that money, spent an additional 300 bucks on this video card, and voila. Dont waste your time with a laptop...their time is at an end. If you must have a portable, get a netbook or something.

[EtherealN]

CPU I5-2410M

GPC GeForce GT540M

RAM 6Gb

HD 540mb 5400RPM

VDU 24Inch

 

At least the CPU is a quad core but i am not sure about the graphics card, thanks in advance.

 

Assuming you didn't mispell the model name: no it is not.

http://ark.intel.com/products/52224/Intel-Core-i5-2410M-Processor-(3M-Cache-up-to-2_90-GHz)

 

It is a dualcore processor with hyperthreading, which looks as if it's quad-core on the operating system, since there are four concurrent threads being executed, but physically, and in actual computation resources, there are only two cores.

 

An i5 is a quad core ... and so is an i7.

 

Not all of them. See the actual Intel information page about the processor on the original post'ers laptop above. And regarding mobile i7's and hyperthreading: http://ark.intel.com/products/53464

 

The whole i3, i5 and i7 lingo is just Intel marketing speak for "we consider this a budget product, or a mainstream product, or an upmarket product". In the desktop space this has lead to a sort of acceptably easy-to-track demarkation regarding which features are where - for example HT = only i7 etcetera. But on the mobile processor market they've unleashed the most confused mess of model numbers in history. On there, you can get HT on i3's and everything that has a "core anything" has hyperthreading.

[Teapot]

... Dont waste your time with a laptop...their time is at an end. If you must have a portable, get a netbook or something.

 

Totally agree with Hitman!

 

And thanks for the insight EtherealN ... I never knew that ...

 

Just reread what you said before.

... which looks as if it's quad-core on the operating system, since there are four concurrent threads being executed, but physically, and in actual computation resources, there are only two cores.

Does this mean that the CPU Usage in Task Manager (Windows) is an unreliable indicator to show the number of cores in a CPU?

Edited May 18, 2012 by Teapot
clarification

[EtherealN]

Does this mean that the CPU Usage in Task Manager (Windows) is an unreliable indicator to show the number of cores in a CPU?

 

I'd go as far as say that you should never trust the Task Manager for anything at all, beyond possibly force-closing applications. :P

 

But yes, it shows logical cores. If a processor is able to operate 8 hardware threads, it will look in there like an 8-core processor, and as far as the operating system is aware it is an 8-core processor. Even if it is a single core, just with 8 hardware threads.

 

See below, from my machine just now:

 

That is a 4-core processor, but the Task Manager sees it as an 8-core because each of the cores are able to execute two threads. In this case the OS is smart enough about it though to only run as a 4-core unless it's needed (which you can see on how 4 threads run empty).

[EtherealN]

Regarding the OP's question: it should definitely be playable, but don't expect to max out the graphics settings. Some settings will probably need to be run on low.

[WildBillKelsoe]

I'm thinking about upgrading my laptop to a 3.2GHz processor. Is there anything out in the market that comfortably, would play all DCS merchandise at high settings? Geforce GPU's are immensely appreciated.

[hitman]

I'm thinking about upgrading my laptop to a 3.2GHz processor. Is there anything out in the market that comfortably, would play all DCS merchandise at high settings? Geforce GPU's are immensely appreciated.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+17.3%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+8GB+Memory+-+1TB+Hard+Drive/5176239.p?id=1218621250769&skuId=5176239

[JimMack]

This is the laptop I use for testing - see below in signature.

I also use a Dell Precision M4500 for both office work and testing.

[WildBillKelsoe]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+17.3%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+8GB+Memory+-+1TB+Hard+Drive/5176239.p?id=1218621250769&skuId=5176239

 

 

thats great, but @ 2.3 GHz? I mean the processor will literally scream when

1TB is waist full..

 

I think one has to compromise between mobility and gaming.... they can't be both on same boat.

Edited May 18, 2012 by WildBillKelsoe