Need advices on a mobile gpu

[SunStonedKitty]

Hi folks,

 

 I'm really happy with my tower gaming rig, but I am considering to buy a laptop for multiple purpose (office and a little gaming when i'm around).

I found a littke one (11.6 inch display) with an i5 and 8gigs of ram.

The dedicated GPU is a 2gb nvidia GT650m.

Does anybody has an experience to share about playing modded skyrim with that gpu? What load can it get?

Thanks a lot for your feedback!

[woodenstick]

My 670m plays skyrim fine at high, and even lets me use some lower end enb. But if you want really nice graphics mods + high performance a laptop simply won't cut it. Benchmarks for the 650m http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-650M.71887.0.html The fact that skyrim is less than 30fps on ultra is not good, so definitely avoid the high rez texture packs/enbs. Other than that it should run fine, though i can't understand how you could game on a 11" display...

[SunStonedKitty]

My 670m plays skyrim fine at high, and even lets me use some lower end enb. But if you want really nice graphics mods + high performance a laptop simply won't cut it. Benchmarks for the 650m http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-650M.71887.0.html The fact that skyrim is less than 30fps on ultra is not good, so definitely avoid the high rez texture packs/enbs. Other than that it should run fine, though i can't understand how you could game on a 11" display...

 

Because I want portability for a laptop . As I said I already have a gaming rig that can max out skyrim with HD packs/ENB.

 

I've already looked at some benches but what I would like is true users feedback!

[fifteenspades]

Only problem with laptops is the fact they heat up very fast due to poor design. 

a dedicated 2gb card will play skyrim just fine ( vanilla ) even at max. you could play 3 skyrims for that matter it's when you start adding mods 

that you have to worry am i nearing my VRAM cap? but if you don't really add anything texture wise, even then the card is great.

 

But you also can't throw $ at a better card thinking it would make skyrim better ( unless you want more VRAM for mods ) bc skyrim in itself is a work of

just pure "genius" so it can only handle so much. 

[Ingun Black-Briar]

Only problem with laptops is the fact they heat up very fast due to poor design. 

a dedicated 2gb card will play skyrim just fine ( vanilla ) even at max. you could play 3 skyrims for that matter it's when you start adding mods 

that you have to worry am i nearing my VRAM cap? but if you don't really add anything texture wise, even then the card is great.

 

But you also can't throw $ at a better card thinking it would make skyrim better ( unless you want more VRAM for mods ) bc skyrim in itself is a work of

just pure "genius" so it can only handle so much. 

 

This. Seriously. Don't play Skyrim on a laptop. My gaming rig, which is pretty decent, shows signs of suffering the warm weather without additional cooling on my part. I don't even want to imagine what that'd do to a laptop. Now, we all know that Skyrim suffers from crappy code syndrome and a lot of performance issues are caused by poor coding, for which there are multiple fixes, but I absolutely do not recommend playing this game on a computer you can't cool. It won't last long, trust me.

[panzerlover]

Hi everyone,

 

To SuperGromimi, My laptop has a 650m based chipset in it though you'll want to look at the memory type that the one your looking at has because there are two flavors (DDR3 vs. GDDR5) mine has the GDDR5. My Results for Skyrim vanilla sets everything to ultra settings and runs very smooth. Now on to the modding of it ENB's slow it down drastically, i've gone with ULO + Enhanced running plenty fast and smooth. My Spec's are I7-3610QM, 8GB Ram, 1TB HD, 650m 2GB GDDR5 - 1920x1080. Hope this might help you some.

 

Couple of Screens

 

 

 

This is my Mod List currently

Skyrim.esm=1
Update.esm=1
Dawnguard.esm=1
HearthFires.esm=1
Dragonborn.esm=1
SPIKE.esm=1
Skyrim Project Optimization - Full Version.esm=1
ApachiiHair.esm=1
ClimatesOfTamriel.esm=1
hdtHighHeel.esm=1
SexLab.esm=1
Schlongs of Skyrim - Core.esm=1
RaceCompatibility.esm=1
ApachiiHairFemales.esm=1
Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp=1
Unofficial Dragonborn Patch.esp=1
Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp=1
Appropriately Attired Jarls Redux.esp=1
Brawl Bugs CE.esp=1
SPTConsistentOlderPeople.esp=1
Dead Body Collision.esp=1
fFastTravelSpeedMult_4.esp=1
Guard Dialogue Overhaul.esp=1
Weapons & Armor Fixes_Remade.esp=1
Acquisitive Soul Gems.esp=1
BetterQuestObjectives.esp=1
BetterQuestObjectives-DBForevertoMisc.esp=1
dD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.esp=1
FNISspells.esp=1
SkyUI.esp=1
RaceMenu.esp=1
RaceMenuPlugin.esp=1
Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp=1
Cloaks.esp=1
skyBirds - Airborne Perching Birds.esp=1
83Willows_101BUGS_V4_HighRes.esp=1
Realistic Lighting Overhaul - Major City Interiors.esp=1
Realistic Lighting Overhaul - Major City Exteriors.esp=1
Realistic Lighting Overhaul - Minor Cities and Town Interiors.esp=1
Realistic Lighting Overhaul - Dungeons.esp=1
Realistic Lighting Overhaul - Dawnguard Interiors.esp=1
SkyTEST-RealisticAnimals&Predators.esp=1
BLESSINGS - Altar Descriptions.esp=1
Disease Descriptions.esp=1
DD_Dawnguard Additions.esp=1
DD_Dragonborn Additions.esp=1
DungeonQuestAwareness.esp=1
Chesko_LoreBasedLoadingScreens.esp=1
NoxUE2.00.esp=1
Better Dynamic Snow.esp=1
StaticMeshImprovementMod.esp=1
Skyrim Flora Overhaul.esp=1
WetandCold.esp=1
WetandCold - Ashes.esp=1
zzEstrus.esp=1
Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp=1
TavernClothes-MTM.esp=1
AllowAmuletRing.esp=1
NewmillerHighHeelsBlck.esp=1
DCSorceress.esp=1
EliteRogueArmour.esp=1
FullBootForKKSA.esp=1
FlameAtronachArmor.esp=1
WestWindAssault.esp=1
NiruinsBusinessPlan.esp=0
kittyehprojectwhiteblack.esp=1
KittyehdogretextureprojectAUSSIEVER1.esp=1
SexLab Submit.esp=1
WestWindMisfit.esp=1
SexLab Romance.esp=1
Estrus Chaurus DG.esp=1
Estrus Chaurus.esp=1
Futa equippable.esp=1
SexLabProcreation.esp=1
Bouncy-Bodices-Booties-Belts-Stockings.esp=1
Skyrim_Strap_Ons.esp=1
calyps-investigator.esp=1
SexLabWorkingGirl.esp=1
Schlongs of Skyrim.esp=1
SOS - Smurf Average Addon.esp=1
SOS - Dawnguard Armors.esp=1
SOS - Dragonborn Armors.esp=1
Osare OnePiece.esp=1
Sovngarde Steel Armor and Weapons.esp=1
SplashofRain.esp=1
Footprints.esp=1
WATER.esp=1
WATER Plants.esp=1
WATER DB Waves.esp=1
Fairytale.esp=1
HeavyMetal.esp=1
SexLab Dangerously Nude.esp=1
SexLab_Paycrime.esp=1
Feminine Females.esp=1
Better Vampires.esp=1
CharacterMakingExtender.esp=1
EnhancedCharacterEdit.esp=1
CuteNordPreset10.esp=1
TheEyesOfBeauty.esp=1
SGHairPack01.esp=1
SGHairPack02.esp=1
SGHairPack03.esp=1
SGHairPack04.esp=1
SGHairPack05.esp=1
SGHairPack06.esp=1

 

[lidowxxx]

My advice, don't play Skyrim on a laptop, especially on a screen that small. I know it sounds funny because I play the game on a laptop myself, but it's a 17'' inch desktop replacement with i7-2630qm/6970M 2GB DDR5/12GB RAM, my experience is not happy, sure my 6970M can handle vanilla game and some light ENBs without problems at 1080p. But out of many ENB I've tried, with SSAO and DOF on, my fps often slows to a crawl in some heavy areas. 6970M(on par with 670M) is a lot more powerful than a 650M, but again I play at 1080p, the 11.6'' inch screen most likely has a resolution like 1366x768 or 1280x720, you probably will do fine at that resolution if you can stand staring at a screen with such low resolution, but don't expect it can handle any ENB with fancy features.

 

Also the heat could be a problem with such a small laptop, most of the below 14 inchers I've seen on the market have very poor cooling capacity, you will be very likely forced to take your laptop apart and re-apply aftermarket quality thermal paste/thermal pad(breaks the warranty at the same time), and even then it will only help to a degree, you will probably experience more frustration with it than the pleasantness it brings you.

 

On a side note, I'm planing to ditch my current rig and build a desktop in the next months or so, laptop simply don't have enough power to run the game beautifully, unless you want to go extreme and buy a 18'' behemoth with 780M SLI, but it's hardly a laptop, isn't it?

[The DarkSlayer]

This thread makes me giggle cause I play the game on my laptop since I'm pretty far away from home

College life sux

[Rayblue]

I've seen too many times that playing a graphics-heavy game on a non-optimized laptop (read: business or general usage) don't cut easy. Including modded Skyrim.

 

This means that either you'll play only on your main rig, or risk a couple of grand greenbacks for, let's say, one of those fancy Alienware or Razer lappies (fancy they may be, but these are built for mobile gaming -- as long as you have the power cord plugged in).

[Ingun Black-Briar]

I've seen too many times that playing a graphics-heavy game on a non-optimized laptop (read: business or general usage) don't cut easy. Including modded Skyrim.

 

This means that either you'll play only on your main rig, or risk a couple of grand greenbacks for, let's say, one of those fancy Alienware or Razer lappies (fancy they may be, but these are built for mobile gaming -- as long as you have the power cord plugged in).

 

Usually, it's not even necessary to shell out the monies to buy an Alienware or Razer. They charge way too much if you have a closer look. I looked for a semi-local smallish company to build my rig based on the specs you find on the Alienware website, for example. It was much cheaper and I got the same (if not better) hardware, plus personal support since it's basically one dude and his smallish company selling those rigs. It's worked like a charm ever since. :-)

[fifteenspades]

Please for the sake of PC enthusiast everywhere, never buy a alienware. 

But yeh, laptops really aren't the best things for gaming no matter how advanced they are. The battery life is just a bust, the heat, among other things~

Better off just using a desktop. IF you have to use a laptop though i will reccomend you buy some air coolers. and possibly something for the battery

[Rayblue]

 

I've seen too many times that playing a graphics-heavy game on a non-optimized laptop (read: business or general usage) don't cut easy. Including modded Skyrim.

 

This means that either you'll play only on your main rig, or risk a couple of grand greenbacks for, let's say, one of those fancy Alienware or Razer lappies (fancy they may be, but these are built for mobile gaming -- as long as you have the power cord plugged in).

 

Usually, it's not even necessary to shell out the monies to buy an Alienware or Razer. They charge way too much if you have a closer look. I looked for a semi-local smallish company to build my rig based on the specs you find on the Alienware website, for example. It was much cheaper and I got the same (if not better) hardware, plus personal support since it's basically one dude and his smallish company selling those rigs. It's worked like a charm ever since. :-)

 

 

Sorry, just mentioned those because they're the only fancy gaming laptops I can only recall from my head, and that there's too many laptops of make to know which any of them are good for playing (I use an MSI Wind, but it's good only when I'm in the field; I play only on my desktop PC).

 

Somebody name me a laptop that does better than those boutique lappies (they're fancy in the sense they're very expensive Rolexes, just for manchildren to show off), but realistically unmodded games will work best on lappies with the right hardware, but with reduced settings.