Will this laptop work for SL?

[shaneethepain]

I'm asking if it can handle todays gaming on SL. I'm only paying $330 for this computer.

• Manufacturer: ASUS Computer International
• Manufacturer Part Number: F50SF-A1
• Manufacturer Website Address: usa.asus.com
• Brand Name: ASUS
• Product Series: F50SF
• Product Model: F50SF-A1
• Product Name: F50SF-A1 Notebook
• Product Type: Notebook
• Processor Manufacturer: Intel
• Processor Type: Core 2 Duo
• Processor Model: P8700
• Processor Speed: 2.53GHz
• Processor Core: Dual-core
• Standard Memory: 4GB
• Maximum Memory: 8GB
• Memory Technology: DDR2 SDRAM
• Memory Standard: DDR2-800/PC2-6400
• Hard Drive Capacity: 320GB
• Solid State Drive Capacity: Not Included
• Optical Drive Type: DVD-Writer
• Optical Media Support: DVD-RAM/?R/?RW
• Screen Size: 16"
• Graphic Mode: WXGA
• Display Screen Type: Active Matrix TFT Color LCD
• Widescreen: Yes
• Graphics Controller Manufacturer: nVIDIA
• Graphics Controller Model: GeForce GT 220M
• Graphics Memory Capacity: 1GB
• Network Technology: Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
• Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

[jwenting]

CPU and RAM (remember most laptop videoRAM is taken out of their main RAM, not dedicated) seem rather low. You should be able to run SL, but will almost certainly have to tune down the video and sound settings to (nearly) the absolute minimum.

[Ann Otoole]

It has 4gb ram and a geforce 220. It should run SL in high mode ok but shadows and ultra would have fps issues. The SL client pretty much caps at 1.5gb mem use before crashing anyway.

 

you really need a 560ti or better to have all the bells and whistles. I am already planning an upgrade to a 590.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

I'm going to say pretty much the same thing I said the other day when you first posted this question.  I just did another search for that computer on Google.  Here's what I found:

Newegg.com                 Out of stock (with a note that unknown when it will be available)

Tigerdirect.com             Out of stock (with a note that unknown when it will be available)

Excaliber.com               Discontinued product

ABT.com                       Discontinued product

Superwarehouse.com   Discontinued product

Shopzilla.com                No price, no specs (probably discontinued product)

That's 6 of the better known computer online stores.........nothing about the computer except that it exists somewhere and that, as far as I can tell, the computer was manufacturered early to mid 2009.  That's all I could find about the computer except the lone listing on Overstock.com at a price of $1,028,61 USD with a $100 mail in rebate.  The specs listed are identical to the specs you listed in your post (it's the same computer).  There is no indication of when that computer was listed on Overstock......it could be a quite old listing for all I know.  There were no customer reviews or any other information about the computer.

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Asus-F50SF-A1-Intel-Core-2-Duo-P8700-Laptop-w-100.00-Mail-in-Rebate/4108447/product.html

I tried to find an independant review for the computer and I was unsucessful.  I found only one review for the computer at CNET.com but when I went there there was no review under the computer model number, no product discription either.  CNET either did not review the computer or they deleted the review for some reason or another.  Also no date.

 

Here's my conclusion.  It's a fairly old laptop.  It's not particularly powerful (though it should run SL at low to mid settings.....no shadows or depth of field).  It's got the next to the lowest performing card for the nVidia 400 series (it's a gaming entry level card at best......for SL you need a little better than entry level card).  With all the discontinued product listings and the lack of reviews it appears the computer was a dog when it came out.  Personally, I'd steer clear of the computer (especially at the $1,000 price tag)...........however you say you can get it at $330.  I wouldn't spend $300 for an unknown quality computer myself by maybe you would (that's your choice). 

I think you are probably getting a used computer.  Buyer beware is all I can say.......you have no way of knowing what that computer has been through in the past (and poorly maintained computers tend to just not work well at all).

[VRprofessor]

Listen to Peggy,  this is an older computer that you need to buy pretty cheap for it to be considered a deal.  Really cheap.  You can get much better specs for $500 - $600.   (Not great specs, but a lot better than you are looking at.)

[Nickel Briand]

Guys .... give up with your notebooks ; they can t handle SL . They never been able , so i don t see why they suddenly could .

If you want to run at low graphics or to run under 15 FPS it s ok , but you will suffer big pains . And with sims with crowd , your computer will be often frozen

 

And a GT220 can t handle high graphics , even on a desktop . They will run maybe 10 FPS at this mode

 

Trust me , i have run SL on a notebook in the past

[Jer Pierson]

@ Nickel - I'd have to disagree with that assessment, as I run SL on my Notebook with a gt230M nvidia graphics card and I get  anywhere from 25-50fps on high settings, depending on where I am in sl. I do run into problems though when I try to run shadows though. That simply degrades my performance dramatically (fps drop to like 5), pretty much making it unplayable, so I choose to play without shadows.

I am upgrading to an Asus G74sx (a notebook as well) with a GTX 560M card though which should run sl flawlessly and run it ALOT better with shadows.

It all depends on the type of graphics card  and processor you have in your computer - whether desktop or notebook. I've had my hp Dv8T for probably a little over 2 years with the 230M and it has ran SL and continues to runSL at good framerates without the shadows.

@shaneethepain - The best advice I have for you , is to try do some research on some other notebook Graphics cards if you insist on getting a laptop. This site is a good reference http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html and it pretty much has most of the notebook GPUs out there with benchmarks/performance. The list I linked is sorted from highest ranked performance to lowest, so you can use that as I guide. I'm pretty sure you will find the gt220M some where in that list and you can see the type of performance it has compared to the rest (if you dont see it you can use search, or use CTRL F and find it that way on the page). 

Then when you finally find a card you like, do a search on google and see if you can find a notebook with that particular model. Price may be a factor for you, but there are always sales out there so I'm almost sure you could find a notebook with a better card and better specs for maybe a little more than the $330. Oh, and try to go with a laptop with a nvidia gpu, as the ati cards tend to have more issues with SL (picked that up from what I've read) Hope This helps you

[jwenting]

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Ann Otoole wrote:

It has 4gb ram and a geforce 220. It should run SL in high mode ok but shadows and ultra would have fps issues. The SL client pretty much caps at 1.5gb mem use before crashing anyway.

 

you really need a 560ti or better to have all the bells and whistles. I am already planning an upgrade to a 590.

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I own a Dell XPS17 that has (on paper at least) superior specs to this one, and it will only run sl in medium graphics or everything turns into untextured pink blobs (i5, 6GB RAM, NVidia 550).

Might be the drivers of course, but afaik I've the latest production release for those.

 

[Seven Overdrive]

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jwenting wrote:

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Ann Otoole wrote:

It has 4gb ram and a geforce 220. It should run SL in high mode ok but shadows and ultra would have fps issues. The SL client pretty much caps at 1.5gb mem use before crashing anyway.

 

you really need a 560ti or better to have all the bells and whistles. I am already planning an upgrade to a 590.

---

I own a Dell XPS17 that has (on paper at least) superior specs to this one, and it will only run sl in medium graphics or everything turns into untextured pink blobs (i5, 6GB RAM, NVidia 550).

Might be the drivers of course, but afaik I've the latest production release for those.

 

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I have a XPS17 too but with a little higher specs.  Does yours also have integrated intel graphics?  The first time I tried to run SL with my laptop it had defaulted to the Intel graphics card and I had to go into the NVidia control panel and set the preferred graphics processor to NVidia.  

If you are running Windows 7 you can also right click the viewer shortcut and select 'Run with graphics processor' and choose Nvidia.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

" I'm almost sure you could find a notebook with a better card and better specs for maybe a little more than the $330."

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That depends on your definition of "a little more".   $330 for a full notebook (as compared to a netbook) is pretty much out of the question unless it's a used computer........refurbs cost more than that if there is discrete card in them.  A low priced laptop (notebook) will not have a discrete card.  Nor will it have the capability of installing one later.  A low priced laptop begins at about $500 (without a discrete card).  A laptop capable of running SL decently without running the risk of burning it up is going to have a price closer to $700 to $800......then you move up to the laptops that will give good performance without too much worry about hardware issues.  Heat is one of the biggest problems with any computer when running high graphical demanding programs like SL........laptops are prone to the heat problems more than desktops simply because of the space available inside the case makes everything much closer to each other with very little room for air to circulate to both cool and dissipate the heat that is generated.  Anyone using a laptop and does not pay attention to heat is asking for premature hardware failures or complete computer destruction.  The heat does not go away with a high end laptop either (though the higher performance laptops have better designed cases and more efficient fans to get the heat out of the machine.......but it's still a concern even in the most powerful laptops on the market).  A $35.00 cooling pad to help with heat dissipation on a $2,000.00 to $3,000.00 machine is a no brainer in my opinion.

One other thing people tend to forget with laptops.  Batteries.  You see those battery runtimes listed in the sales pitch for the computer like 5 hours or even 6 hours.  You won't be getting anywhere near that time out of your batteries running SL.  Cut the time in half if you are lucky.  BTW.......batteries, themselves, generate heat when under load.  Discrete graphics cards put an extra load on the batteries.........the higher performing cards will put a big load on the batteries.  The card is generating heat (a lot of heat) which puts a heavy load on your batteries which then generate even more heat, then the case fans kick in high gear and put a little more load on the batteries........it won't take long to reach the point that the heat is building up faster than it can be evacuated from the machine.  The saving thing is your batteries are probably going to run down before the computer can burn itself up (if you're lucky).  Using your AC adapter/charger while running SL will help because it will transfer most of that load the graphics cards produces to the adapter which is outside the case.  But that tethers you to an electrical outlet......you lost mobility which is what most people like about laptops.  You might as well have a desktop with a wireless keyboard and mouse.

Along that same line of thought.  For SL to run reliably and smoothly you need an Ethernet connection to your router.  There, again, you are tethered by a Cat 5e cable.  Just like using the AC adapter, you lost one of the primary reasons laptops were invented........mobility, portability.  Laptops cost just about twice as much as comparable desktop.  They have more issues with hardware.  And they are practically impossible to clean and maintain yourself.  If you are getting a computer with SL in mind expect to pay $1,000 to $3,000 (depending on just how high you want to set your graphics in SL), higher maintenance costs, and loosing the mobility that laptops are designed for.  If you want a laptop for occasional SL use and don't mind low to mid settings, 10 to 20 FPS on a consistent basis, and mobility is more important that occasionally loosing your connection to the servers then get a $500.00 to $800.00 laptop.........those machines will work in most cases.

Oh and on the video cards.  I'm an nVidia fan myself........it's just a preference of mine.  I constantly read that AMD/ATI cards are bad, or not good enough, for SL.  I think that's false.......AMD/ATI cards are just as capable of running SL and OpenGL programs as nVidia.  2 or 3 years ago ATI fell down on their OpenGL support......that went on for about a year.  During that time the talk about nVidia being best or better for SL was correct.  But not anymore.  ATI cards support OpenGL just as well as nVidia.  Recently both chipset manufacturers had issues with OpenGL..........nVidia was the "bad" card for a number of months, then AMD/ATI cards were the "bad" cards.  All those issues are now fixed by both manufacturers......for now (there will always be occasional issues for any video card manufacturer).  It's unfair to keep hammering AMD/ATI for something that they fixed a couple years ago..........they are good cards.

[Orca Flotta]

Apart from what you all said about laptops in general I only have one advice for the OP:

 

STAY THE FRACK AWAY FROM ASUS!!!!

 

Ever wondered why Asus machines are so cheap? They are cheap and poorly made. My own Asus laptop had ok-ish specs and was running SL ok-ish ... for around 3 months ...

Then it started to overheat, even after numerous cleanings by myself and the Asus repair center. At least I had a very clean machine, inside and out.

Then the keys started flying off the badly made keyboard. SPROINNNG! Also the letters rubbed off the keys so I couldn't see actually what I was typing.

Then some USB ports stopped working.

Then the DVD writer broke.

Then I had a nice desktop built for me and am happy ever since. As it turned out I'm using my computer 99.9% from home, so no need for a laptop. And when I travel I can still fall back on my Asus lappy and experience bad computing again.

 

 

[Ann Otoole]

Yes you must select the correct GPU and (in the case of desktops) connect the monitor to the correct output (in case it is one with a seperate GPU card. You might be surprised how many people connect to the blue integrated video vga adapter connector)). And anyone with a dell needs to get the service tag code off the computer, go to support.dell.com, and go into the drivers section, enter the service tag, and find out what all driver updates you need. In particular what bios and chipset drivers are needed as these play a critical role where handling graphics through the system buss is concerned. If you need a bunch of drivers then remember to do system/bios first, then chipset, then audio, then the rest. If you find you are so out of date that the drivers you need first are not listed then you will have to figure out the file name pattern (the update installer should tell you what version is needed first) you need and go to ftp.dell.com and dig around to find them. (good luck but it is possible).

Enjoy.

[renatasteele]

Nice discussion....I am planning to buy a loptop soon and these info would be of great help....

[windrider07]

Yes you should be able to run SL just fine.  Those specs aren't the best but you should be able to play the game.  And I agree with netbooks and whatnot not being able to play SL.  Technically, you can run SL but you would need to run SL on the lowest possible settings and expect a lot of lag.