Cheapest GW2 Notebook!

[dpodblood]

Hey Guys,

I've been playing the guild wars for years and with the release of GW2 I am completely addicted. I already have a gaming PC which is very capable of running the game, but I am looking for a cheap laptop that can run the game while I'm away from home. I'm perfectly fine with running the game at bare minimums as long as I can get a decent framerate (30 FPS average is preferable).

My budget is ~$500. Right now the laptops in this range seem to have an i5 with Intel HD 4000 graphics, or AMD Fusion A8-4500m. I follow desktop benchmarks and reviews quite closely, but I'm not as knowledgeable about notebook hardware, and there don't seem to be a lot of gaming benchmarks for these systems yet. What are your thoughts? Can I play GW2 on a notebook with this low of a budget, or is it a pipe-dream?

 

[Hmoobphajej]

From what I could find it's not entirely a pipe dream but you will have to give up a lot. And when I mean a lot I mean a lot graphic wise. Even then I'm not sure how the laptop would fair in more intense situations. For example WvWvW, PvE World Bosses, or even some very pack areas would cause difficulties for when you're playing IMO.

 

[gorcorps]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b3nvVevqMFM

That's a video of the HD4000 playing GW2, though he's also recording the video on the same machine which adds to the stutter. It seems like it's playable on med-low settings, and if that's good enough for your uses then that's what I'd go for as that's really the best you're going to get for $500.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2269637
This is a good deal for something like that.

 

[Chiropteran]

That's a video of the HD4000 playing GW2, though he's also recording the video on the same machine which adds to the stutter. It seems like it's playable on med-low settings, and if that's good enough for your uses then that's what I'd go for as that's really the best you're going to get for $500.

I don't have any benchmarks handy to prove it, but I strongly suspect a $500 llano based notebook would do much better than any HD4000 based device.

I have an A6-3400 based cheapo laptop(cost $380 some 9 months ago), and it runs GW2 reasonably well at 1366X768 and low/mid settings. Talking 20-40 fps in most leveling situations, although it gets worse in town and in busy WvWvW battles with dozens of players on the screen.

It's not perfect but it works.

 

[dpodblood]

Looks like it runs pretty decent. Hard to say what it would be like in crowded area like a group even or boss, but it seems like it would at least be playable. I'll have to keep an eye out for a deal like the one you linked. I'm in Canada so I wouldn't be able to buy from Tigerdirect.com.

 

[Bryf50]

The laptop in my sig runs the game decently(above 30fps most of the time) at 1366x768 low-med settings. I haven't tried anything with many players yet though.
This is the cheapest Laptop I could find with an equivalent GPU.(the 630m is a rebranded 540m)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215552

I'm not sure how accurate it is but Notebook Check seems to show the HD4000 doing inordinately well in GW2 compared to low end discrete options. I might be tempted to just stick with the integrated at your budget.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4000.69168.0.html

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

The laptop in my sig runs the game decently(above 30fps most of the time) at 1366x768 low-med settings. I haven't tried anything with many players yet though.
This is the cheapest Laptop I could find with an equivalent GPU.(the 630m is a rebranded 540m)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215552

I'm not sure how accurate it is but Notebook Check seems to show the HD4000 doing inordinately well in GW2 compared to low end discrete options. I might be tempted to just stick with the integrated at your budget.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4000.69168.0.html

Get this. At that price it's a steal.

The CPU is much, much faster than an A8 or even an A10 and you also get a faster GPU to boot. All at the same price as an A8-equipped laptop. Win-win.

 

[Cozarkian]

For comparison purposes, my ASUS G50vt with a Core Duo 2.1 GHz processer and a 9800M GS can barely (as in lots of lag/stutter) run GW2 on "default" settings. I believe a large part of the problem is that my laptop is old and ailing and the cooling system is no longer adequate. When I dropped it to the bottom settings below my default, it made the game playabe (but noticeably uglier).

That Acer is a small upgrade over my ASUS and it won't be on life support, so it should be able to handle GW2 at fairly low settings.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

For comparison purposes, my ASUS G50vt with a Core Duo 2.1 GHz processer and a 9800M GS can barely (as in lots of lag/stutter) run GW2 on "default" settings. I believe a large part of the problem is that my laptop is old and ailing and the cooling system is no longer adequate. When I dropped it to the bottom settings below my default, it made the game playabe (but noticeably uglier).

That Acer is a small upgrade over my ASUS and it won't be on life support, so it should be able to handle GW2 at fairly low settings.

Your GPU is probably downclocking because of the high temperatures, and Guild Wars 2 is very CPU-dependant. The Core i3-2370M is around twice as fast as a Core 2 Duo P7450, which is probably what your laptop has. The Acer would probably be significantly faster in Guild Wars 2 than your ASUS.

 

[dpodblood]

Get this. At that price it's a steal.

The CPU is much, much faster than an A8 or even an A10 and you also get a faster GPU to boot. All at the same price as an A8-equipped laptop. Win-win.

Unfortunate that deal is not available in Canada. I will keep an eye out for deals on 630m equipped notebooks though.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Unfortunate that deal is not available in Canada. I will keep an eye out for deals on 630m equipped notebooks though.

Ah, darn it.

Well, it's not like we can't look at other options. There's an HP G7 with a Core i3-2350M, Radeon HD 7670M, 6GB DDR3 and 750GB HDD for $500 with free shipping on Amazon.

The CPU is 2-3% slower and the GPU 5% slower than the Acer and it's bigger (has a higher resolution screen to go along with it, though), but it does have more RAM and a higher-capacity hard drive. It will play Guild Wars 2 the same as the Acer. It will be a 1-2 FPS difference at most.

I'll see if I find any other deals, but this looks very good for the price.

 

[dpodblood]

Ah, darn it.

Well, it's not like we can't look at other options. There's an HP G7 with a Core i3-2350M, Radeon HD 7670M, 6GB DDR3 and 750GB HDD for $500 with free shipping on Amazon.

The CPU is 2-3% slower and the GPU 5% slower than the Acer and it's bigger (has a higher resolution screen to go along with it, though), but it does have more RAM and a higher-capacity hard drive. It will play Guild Wars 2 the same as the Acer. It will be a 1-2 FPS difference at most.

I'll see if I find any other deals, but this looks very good for the price.

Nice! Didn't even think to look on amazon. Nice deal defiantly one to consider.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Nice! Didn't even think to look on amazon. Nice deal defiantly one to consider.

The more I look at it, the more I think you should jump on the deal. Most reviews for the G7 are very positive, and for a 17" laptop it's not very heavy given most 15" laptops weigh 5.5 pounds and this weighs 6.0 pounds. You get a higher-res screen for productivity and normal usage, too, and this has both a faster CPU and faster GPU than a comparably-priced A8 laptop. You're also getting a very good amount of RAM and high-capacity Hard Drive.

For $500 this is absolutely a steal.

 

[stateofmind]

can you order from the US?

 

[kelco]

I'm playing GW2 on blackgate, when im at the coffee shop and have time, the hd4000 plays it at 1080p on medium. Runs great on the i5/hd4000 for a laptop thats not even a gaming laptop.