HD4200 Adequate For Star Trek Online?

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scooterlibby

scooterlibby

Senior member
Feb 28, 2009
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Please see the 2nd rig in the signature below and subtract the GTX260. I am thinking of giving that rig with the on-board video for a friend who's sole goal is to play Star Trek Online.


Minimum requirements for the game:

* OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)
* CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 Ghz or AMD Athlon X2 3800+
* Memory: 1GB RAM
* Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 / ATI Radeon X1800 / Intel HD Graphics
* Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
* DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
* HDD : 8GB Free Disk Space
* Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
* Disc: 6X DVD-ROM


So I have it beat on everything except the video and I am unsure as how the x1800 compares to the HD4200. Resolution has not been determined, but I will recommend something low like x768. What to you guys think, playable with the rig in my signature?
 
Dankk

Dankk

Diamond Member
Jul 7, 2008
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Most MMO's I've seen aren't as graphically-demanding as other genres of video games, so normally I wouldn't be worried too much, however Star Trek Online is a recent game (Steam says it was released Feb 2010) which is the only thing that makes me hesitate.

All things considered, I'm actually going to say yes... you can run it. Here's why: I have a laptop with an HD4200, and a mediocre Athlon II x2 2.1Ghz processor. It can run games like Guild Wars and Company of Heroes at my native resolution (1366x768) with everything else turned all the way down, quite smoothly. Even though you have the same video card as me, you also happen to have a much more powerful processor, and many MMO's are actually processor-limited, so that's good.

I also see Intel HD graphics are listed on those minimum requirements. Intel integrated graphics are notorious for being cripplingly-bad, and since the integrated HD Radeon is definitely a step up from that, you can rest easy on that too.

The reason NOT to do it is if your friend wants to play it on high settings. He'll have to accept that he needs to considerably turn down the graphics quality if he wants to run it at a good framerate (resolution can still be reasonably high though. I'm just talking about the other settings.)

I've never played Star Trek Online before, but I'm just going off of the system requirements listed above and the screenshots of the game I see. If anyone else wants to correct me, go for it.
 
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R

Rifter

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,522
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as long as he runs it at a low res like 720p or under with lowest settings and obviously dont even think about AA it should work ok.
 
H

HurleyBird

Platinum Member
Apr 22, 2003
2,818
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STO is a bit more demanding. It can scale pretty low, but it will look pretty bad.
 
F

faxon

Platinum Member
May 23, 2008
2,109
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at 1080p the game lagged some on a single 5870 with a q9550 @ stock unless i set some of the graphics lower, had only 2xAA running, was usually smooth but performance could still drop down enough to be an annoyance. graphically the quality isnt to high, its the sheer number of items being rendered that makes everything slow down. at 2560x1600 my friends 920 @ stock and 5850 wouldnt max the game out, he had to turn the settings back on render distance and disable AA, i think he might have even dropped texture quality back a notch. i doubt my 5870 would have been much better. i would say get him a reasonable gaming gpu if you wanna give him an STO box
 
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HurleyBird

Platinum Member
Apr 22, 2003
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In any case, STO just isn't worth it right now. It's the most expensive MMO -- with enough microtransactions to rival a free-2-play games, on top of a $15/month fee. It's also not really ready for prime time -- I'd wait at least another 6-months to a year.
 
IntelUser2000

IntelUser2000

Elite Member
Oct 14, 2003
8,686
3,787
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LessThanDan said:
I also see Intel HD graphics are listed on those minimum requirements. Intel integrated graphics are notorious for being cripplingly-bad, and since the integrated HD Radeon is definitely a step up from that, you can rest easy on that too.
Click to expand...

The HD graphics are listed there because Bioware used Intel's Graphics Performance Analyzer suite to optimize the game. So I don't think you can compare identically in this case.

The top end HD Graphics is competitive with the HD4290 so its not that far behind.
 
crazylegs

crazylegs

Senior member
Sep 30, 2005
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Sorry to thread-jack, but STO is terribad.

Invest time into showing your friend some better alternatives the gaming world has to offer!
 
Piotrsama

Piotrsama

Senior member
Feb 7, 2010
357
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Convince your friend on putting a bit more money and get a nice GPU.
The game has nice graphics, it will make for a better gaming experience.
 
scooterlibby

scooterlibby

Senior member
Feb 28, 2009
752
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Thank you for the replies.

I have no idea why he wants to play it, but hey, to each his own. I convinced his girlfriend to cough up $50 and will either get a 4650 or get a better used card from craigslist. That should be adequate for him.
 
Dankk

Dankk

Diamond Member
Jul 7, 2008
5,558
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IntelUser2000 said:
The top end HD Graphics is competitive with the HD4290 so its not that far behind.
Click to expand...

Oops, I just realized this. The "Intel HD" graphics processor is actually quite faster than the HD4200 in benchmarks. I stand corrected.

Still though, Intel integrated graphics of any type are not quite ideal for gaming.
 
N

nsafreak

Diamond Member
Oct 16, 2001
7,093
3
81
HurleyBird said:
To be fair, the graphics are quite nice. Probably the best graphics in an MMO. Look at this mock-up someone did using the recording feature:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSCyhAWY3ss&hd=1
Click to expand...

The best graphics in an MMO? Not even close, not by a longshot. That would go to games like EVE Online and Aion.

I agree with the previous posters, upgrade the GPU in the PC that you're giving to him and he should be just fine.
 
H

HurleyBird

Platinum Member
Apr 22, 2003
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Did you watch the video? That's in game :p

Not saying the game is good, but it can be pretty.
 
bryanW1995

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
um, how many ways can you say "hijack"?

back OT: for $50 you can get a much better card than a 4650. shoot for 4830, gts 250, 8800 gt 512 or something similar for $50. if you have time to wait, you're in the US and don't mind mir's you can probably get something similar to those brand new for that price, too.
 
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