Computer / Gaming help

[TRDfan]

My son got Skyrim for his birthday but said his laptop wasn't powerful enough for it to work right.

He did some research and we upgraded the RAM from 2 GB to 8 GB. Today he tried playing it and there was no improvement.

Now he thinks he should upgrade the graphics card.

Ideas? Keep it as non-geeky as possible.

[SteveH]

Laptops don't have graphics cards, do they?

[Pilgrims Drop]

Laptops have graphics cards these days... you can actually get one that is almost as powerful as a desktop... cooling issues is as ever the problem though...

Skyrim requirements:

Minimum System Requirements

* OS: 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
* CPU: Dual Core 2.0GHz or equivalent processor
* RAM: 2 GB
* HDD: 6 GB
* Graphics: 512 MB card
* Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible
* DirectX: Version 9.0c
* Internet for Steam activation

Recommended System Requirements

* OS: Windows 7/Vista/XP (32 or 64 bit)
* CPU: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
* RAM: 4 GB
* HDD: 6 GB free disk space
* Graphics: 1 GB Graphics Memory
* Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible
* DirectX: Version 9.0c
* Internet for Steam activation

Supported Graphics Cards:

Minimum – nVidia GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 3850
Recommended -Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or higher; ATI Radeon 4890 or higher


In my experience you need atleast to meet the recommended requirements in order to have a somewhat pleasant experience...

And the non-geeky way to repsond is that it is probably a lack of support for DirectX that is causing the problem... or graphics memory that is available...

What are the specs on the laptop? Or just the make and model??

[cameraman]

The the laptop boasts "Intel HD Graphics" then it ain't gonna work...

[TRDfan]

I think this will help. I'll talk with the local computer shop and see what they can do. The kid had his wisdom teeth out Monday and playing Skyrim was something he wanted to do as he recovered, so now he is pretty bummed.


It's a Toshiba laptop "Satelite C655" There is a sticker that says "Intel Premium inside"

[cameraman]

The video can't be upgraded on the C655 models. It is tied in with the main processor and it is essentially all one part.

[Rogue Leader]

The video can't be upgraded on the C655 models. It is tied in with the main processor and it is essentially all one part.

THIS unfortunately.

Some laptops have upgradeable graphics, but most don't.

[Pilgrims Drop]

How old is the laptop??

All of current C655 should atleast be able to start the game and run it especially as you've upgraded the internal memory which is shared between the processor and the graphics parts...

And there is currently 31 different C655 models :) so if you could check the actual model number(on a label underneath) then it'll be easy to find out if it's hardware or something else :)

[cameraman]

Skyrim requires Intel HD Graphics 4000 and the i3-2310M that seems to be in many of the c655s runs Intel HD Graphics 3000.

Graphics is not the strong suit of that series of laptops.

[Andrew Longman]

I suggest you PM Trevor. He built his own computer just for gaming. He seems to know a thing or two but doesn't check the Community board here much.

[TRDfan]

Appreciate the feedback.

The lap top is less than a year old.

The full model is C655-S5225 sounds like it has a bit of a graphics deficit.

I'm home with him today, so maybe we'll be able to do some more research.

[cameraman]

A Pentium T4500 @ 2.3 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB
GL40 Express Chipset
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M

btw it says that the board only can address 4 GB of DDR3 so bumping it up to eight might not have been worth it.

There's no way a 4500M will run that game.

[Insomniac]

Everyone here is pretty much on the nose. I'd throw out it seems like you can run it, but poorly? Make sure you have the latest graphics drivers and try running it at the lowest graphics settings/resolution. It won't be pretty, but it may be playable enough.

I'm not familiar with the game, but my experience with the Intel graphics is it does a lot better with DirectX than OpenGL (if you have any type of choice).

Finally, if you are determined to get it running on the laptop, rather than replacing it, there may be a DIY path: http://forum.notebookreview.com/e-gpu-external-graphics-discussion/418851-diy-egpu-experiences.html

Referring to specs for a Satellite C655-S5049, it won't be. It also doesn't have much in the way of a CPU. A single core Celeron.

[Pilgrims Drop]

Intel 4500M supports DirectX 10 and the processor is a dualcore so it "should" start...

From Notebookcheck.net

The gaming performance of the 4500M is not really good. Only less demanding 3D games and very old games may run fluently in low detail settings. Sims 3 and F.E.A.R. for example achieved 30 fps (with stutters) in low deatails and low resolustions (combined with a fast CPU). 2D applications, games and Windows Vista / Windows 7 Aero are supported without any performance problems.

Compared to other modern integrated chipsets like the GeForce 9400M or the Radeon HD 3200, the 4500M is clearly the slowest especially for 3D games. Still the power consumption of the chip is quite competitive, so it may be the right choice for office tasks.

BUT... the requirements I listed earlier also mentions a minimum requirement on graphics chipsets of Geforce 8800 or Radeon HD 3850 and these chipsets are vastly more capable than the 4500M... so C-man is correct in his conclusions... it will not start on your laptop Im afraid...

[TRDfan]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I knew I could get an answer here.

When my son got the laptop, I asked him: "Are you ever going to want to do some serious gaming?" He said no, so we didn't pursue a more powerful machine.

Now he wants to, so the saving process for a new machine has begun.