Possible to get laptop for Diablo 3 for ~500? What to look for?

[GreenGhost]

I'm not familiar with the graphics capabilities of modern laptops, so are there laptops around $500 that would be adequate for Diablo 3 (reasonable quality/frame rates)? Thinking of a i5 with 4 or 6GB.

Also, what kind of dedicated graphics to look for?
Wait for Ivy Bridges or look for bargains in the next weeks?

Thanks,

 

[BrightCandle]

For a gaming laptop you are always looking for the best graphics you can get within budget and you ideally want a 1080p display. Laptop graphics chips are already well down in terms of performance compared to their desktop counterparts and while they might share the same numbering they are no where near the same level of performance or capabilities.

For $500 I dont know of a single gaming laptop, its all Intel embedded HD 2000/3000 at those sorts of prices. To get even moderate graphics you are looking more at $1000 realistically.

Ivy Bridge should bring quite a lot more gaming performance to the low end laptops, but I still wouldn't buy it for actual gaming as its a recipe to be disappointed with the results.

 

[nardz84]

I haven't seen benchmarks for D3 but a Llano A6/8 processor might be able to do pretty well and would be a bit closer to $500. Unfortunately with Ivy Bridge you won't see a cheaper model for a bit because they are supposedly only launching the quad core i7s in the near future, it will be closer to summer for the other models.

 

[God Mode]

Buy used. At the $500 level, all you'll find are i5 notebooks with integrated HD graphics and a 5400rpm HDD. 1080p screen options are usually $100-150 extra.

 

[Chiropteran]

If I can remember, I'll test diablo 3 on my llano tonight and let you know how it runs. Beta weekend woohoo.

 

[Chiropteran]

Yeah okay. With lowest settings, 1366X768, it runs at 25-35 fps. I was suprised at how smooth it was though, usually when a game averages 30fps it dips down to 10 fps here and there, but it seemed to very consistently stay above 25 fps at least. Not ideal, but it runs and it isn't a total slideshow.

This is a cheap samsung with a llano a6-3400m. I paid $380 for it. It's not the lowest end llano but it's not the fastest either. Just looking at the increase frequency and GPU capability, I'd guesstimate that a laptop with the a8-3550mx (fastest laptop llano) would do 35-45 fps.

Playable, albeit at low settings, probably the best you can do below $500.

 

[lobbyone]

Yeah okay. With lowest settings, 1366X768, it runs at 25-35 fps. I was suprised at how smooth it was though, usually when a game averages 30fps it dips down to 10 fps here and there, but it seemed to very consistently stay above 25 fps at least. Not ideal, but it runs and it isn't a total slideshow.

This is a cheap samsung with a llano a6-3400m. I paid $380 for it. It's not the lowest end llano but it's not the fastest either. Just looking at the increase frequency and GPU capability, I'd guesstimate that a laptop with the a8-3550mx (fastest laptop llano) would do 35-45 fps.

Playable, albeit at low settings, probably the best you can do below $500.

Are those at stock clock settings? I wonder if an overclocked A6 @ 2GHz will be able to play it at 30FPS and a bit higher settings considering stock runs only 1.4.

 

[Chiropteran]

Are those at stock clock settings? I wonder if an overclocked A6 @ 2GHz will be able to play it at 30FPS and a bit higher settings considering stock runs only 1.4.

Yeah that was stock settings with the laptop plugged in. The GPU under-clocks by default when running on batteries so it would be running slower in that case, and with fusion tweaker you could probably get a little better performance from the wall.

It just slipped my mind to try overclocking, I even have fusion tweaker installed, but now the beta is over :/

 

[rabbitz]

I've read that the intel 4000 graphics on ivy bridge processors can rival the power of an A8 with integrated graphics....

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

My GF played the D3 demo last night and she just has a dual core AMD with the crappy 4200 IGP. She was able to play with an acceptible level of performance.
I haven't tried it on my laptop, i5 2450 8GB RAM, Nvidia 540m, but I can play Bad Company 2, and all the Mass Effect games pretty well and the laptop cost $599.

 

[Manic1]

I picked up a Acer Timeline X with a GeForce GT520M and a I5 for $569 in Canada. I don't know how it compares to the A8 but it will be better than Intel graphics.

 

[rabbitz]

I picked up a Acer Timeline X with a GeForce GT520M and a I5 for $569 in Canada. I don't know how it compares to the A8 but it will be better than Intel graphics.

Apparently you can get an 13'' i3 timelinex with gt540 for $386.74 after 10% coupon from staples....

 

[WhiskeyD]

I bought a Clevo laptop last May with a SB quad core, GT540M, 1080P screen and 8 gigs of ram for $900. That was a year ago and I still love the laptop today. It plays BF3 just fine on low settings so I know it will play Diablo.

 

[MrX8503]

Get the most powerful GPU that your budget allows. I wouldn't get a 1080p screen, that'll outdate your GPU faster than anything else.