Under the thumb (laptop query)

[chris51]

Current PC has gone to meet its maker and just about ran the original DX and I have been waiting with my tongue hanging out for the next instalment to upgrade.

Fact: My wife hates PCs. "They are an eyesore and bugger up the Feng Shui of our living room".

Question: As I have to get a new PC anyway, and don't want to upset my darling wife, will Invisible War play on a decent laptop and if so what spec should it have?

...Or should I give her a good slap and get a top-notch desktop for the same money?

Cheers

I have read the system requirement thread but 'heard' that the game wouldn't run on any laptop

[Catman]

If the notebook computer meets the system specs, it might run the game just fine. However, Eidos does not provide support for notebook computers, so if you have problems, you'll need to rely on the knowledge of those on the forums for workarounds.

I'd go for the desktop computer. Stick it in the spare bedroom or the family room, and you won't upset the Feng Shui of the living room.

[chris51]

Thanks, I have some serious thinking to do

Chris

[thegrommit]

You don't have to get a huge honking box for a desktop system. Shuttle make smallish cubes that can still handle most AGP video cards (don't use the onboard video), and come with everything else (sound, networking) integrated.

An example:

http://tech-report.com/reviews/2003q2/shuttle-sb61g2/index.x?pg=1

That particular cube is 20 x 18 x 30 cm. Just add a CPU, memory and drives.

Pair it with a decent LCD screen, and you'll get more power (and less compatibility problems) than a similarly priced laptop.

[MaxxQ]

Just keep in mind that some of the small form-factor boxes also have small power supplies (both in size and power output). This means you'll be limited in your choice of video cards. I don't know about the newer nVidia cards, or the cards lower than a 9700 Pro, but my 9700 Pro requires its own hookup to the PS and would not work on one of these mini-boxes.

Also, the Shuttle box mentioned above only has one AGP slot and one PCI slot, so if you want to use one of the doublewide nVidia cards, there will be no PCI peripherals for you.

[chris51]

This is exactly the type of feedback I was hoping for.

Thanks everyone

[thegrommit]

Originally posted by MaxxQ
if you want to use one of the doublewide nVidia cards,

Why would you? ;)

chris51 - don't forget that upgrading a SFF system will be easier and cheaper than upgrading a laptop.

http://www.tech-report.com have done a few reviews of various SFF systems, but http://www.sfftech.com/ would also be a good place to look.

[Emperor Mordred]

DX2 doesn't work on my laptop:

dell latitude
2.4ghz
GeForce 440 go 64mb
512 mb
win2k
latest drivers

almost all other games run great:(

[thegrommit]

Originally posted by Emperor Mordred
DX2 doesn't work on my laptop:

dell latitude
2.4ghz
GeForce 440 go 64mb
512 mb
win2k
latest drivers

almost all other games run great:(

http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32764

As a general rule, most laptops don't make good gaming machines. Unfortunately for you, yours is one of those.