2007-2010 RPG with demanding graphics (for the time)

So I'm saying goodbye to my laptop with a T3400 and saying hello to my new one with an i5. As a welcoming treat, I'd like to test its capacities ; I could just run a benchmark and look at the number but I wouldn't so much have a feel of it. I was going to have it pass the test that the old one failed, TES IV: Oblivion, in which I had to tweak all possible options and lower the graphics to the point it looked like a game 3-5 years older then it did, however I forgot my game is a 5 hours bus ride away so that's out of the question for now ; maybe I'll have to go there next month or maybe just in 6 months.

My gaming heydays are past behind but I sometimes do entertain myself in fictitious 3D worlds. Those days I have a liking for Japanese RPGs, especially FF7 (Final Fantasy VII) and Suikoden III, but just as I mentioned TES I'm not against occidental RPGs. I also like adventure games as I got the Penumbra collection (Black Plague, Requiem & Overture) and also spent a lot of time simply roaming outside in Oblivion. I can also be convinced by a FPS if there's a seductive theme as I like the Thief serie which has a steam-punk and mysterious elf-like nature theme.

I'm hoping that the game have the equivalent of a year or more development past Oblivion which had as recommended specifications: Windows XP or Windows 7, 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor, 2 GB System RAM or more, ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card ; see more at Oblivion:System Requirements - UESPWiki. However I'd be suspicious the i5 wouldn't properly run a game dating past early 2011.

Thank you kindly for your testing suggestions along my gaming taste

Witcher 2 - or Dishonored when it comes out.

So I'm saying goodbye to my laptop with a T3400 and saying hello to my new one with an i5. As a welcoming treat, I'd like to test its capacities ; I could just run a benchmark and look at the number but I wouldn't so much have a feel of it. I was going to have it pass the test that the old one failed, TES IV: Oblivion, in which I had to tweak all possible options and lower the graphics to the point it looked like a game 3-5 years older then it did, however I forgot my game is a 5 hours bus ride away so that's out of the question for now ; maybe I'll have to go there next month or maybe just in 6 months.

My gaming heydays are past behind but I sometimes do entertain myself in fictitious 3D worlds. Those days I have a liking for Japanese RPGs, especially FF7 (Final Fantasy VII) and Suikoden III, but just as I mentioned TES I'm not against occidental RPGs. I also like adventure games as I got the Penumbra collection (Black Plague, Requiem & Overture) and also spent a lot of time simply roaming outside in Oblivion. I can also be convinced by a FPS if there's a seductive theme as I like the Thief serie which has a steam-punk and mysterious elf-like nature theme.

I'm hoping that the game have the equivalent of a year or more development past Oblivion which had as recommended specifications: Windows XP or Windows 7, 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor, 2 GB System RAM or more, ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card ; see more at Oblivion:System Requirements - UESPWiki. However I'd be suspicious the i5 wouldn't properly run a game dating past early 2011.

Thank you kindly for your testing suggestions along my gaming taste

DynV

The Witcher 2 is one of the most demanding games on the PC.

And its Gpu?jonleeprice

Intel® HD Graphics 3000
on i5-2410M.

For the others:

I'm hoping that the game have the equivalent of a year or more development past Oblivion which had as recommended specifications: Windows XP or Windows 7, 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor, 2 GB System RAM or more, ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card ; see more at Oblivion:System Requirements - UESPWiki. However I'd be suspicious the i5 wouldn't properly run a game dating past early 2011.

DynV

I haven't specified the most demanding, I said demanding as in: not something 5 years or older.

If your just planning on using the integrated GPU on the i5 your not going to be able to run that demanding of games, you'll want to get a dedicated GPU if you plan running recent games on medium settings at standard resolutions.

To answer your question though, if your looking for a somewhat recent RPG to test it out you could try Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas. They will perform somewhat similair to Oblivion and are a ton of fun.

The Witcher 2

[QUOTE="jonleeprice"]And its Gpu?DynV

Intel® HD Graphics 3000
on i5-2410M.

For the others:

I'm hoping that the game have the equivalent of a year or more development past Oblivion which had as recommended specifications: Windows XP or Windows 7, 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor, 2 GB System RAM or more, ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card ; see more at Oblivion:System Requirements - UESPWiki. However I'd be suspicious the i5 wouldn't properly run a game dating past early 2011.

DynV

I haven't specified the most demanding, I said demanding as in: not something 5 years or older.

I'm looking mainly for games between late 2007 to late 2010. Can't it run a 2008 game? :shock:

If your just planning on using the integrated GPU on the i5 your not going to be able to run that demanding of games, you'll want to get a dedicated GPU if you plan running recent games on medium settings at standard resolutions.

To answer your question though, if your looking for a somewhat recent RPG to test it out you could try Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas. They will perform somewhat similair to Oblivion and are a ton of fun.

Croag821

Unfortunately it's a laptop. Thanks for the suggestion, Are they at least a year older than Oblivion, if you recall?

I'm looking mainly for games between late 2007 to late 2010. Can't it run a 2008 game? :shock:

DynV

Not really.

The GPU in your machine is the weak one they put on the Sandy Bridge processors to give them more floating point performance. Bascially, it saves battery life and increases preformance for non-graphical applications. That laptop is not a gaming laptop.

Sorry about that. The gaming preformance of the HD 3000 GPUs is very low.

The GPU in your machine is the weak one they put on the Sandy Bridge processors to give them more floating point performance. Bascially, it saves battery life and increases preformance for non-graphical applications. That laptop is not a gaming laptop.

Sorry about that. The gaming preformance of the HD 3000 GPUs is very low.

Wasdie

I'm not much of a gamer anymore so it's not a deal-breaker but I was expecting it to run a 4yo (year old) game at near-recommended level.

About the power issue, there is a High Performance settings, doesn't that help the CPU and/or GPU? Albeit to the detriment of the battery (I plan to run it plugged at that setting).

I'm looking mainly for games between late 2007 to late 2010. Can't it run a 2008 game? :shock:

[QUOTE="Croag821"]

If your just planning on using the integrated GPU on the i5 your not going to be able to run that demanding of games, you'll want to get a dedicated GPU if you plan running recent games on medium settings at standard resolutions.

To answer your question though, if your looking for a somewhat recent RPG to test it out you could try Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas. They will perform somewhat similair to Oblivion and are a ton of fun.

DynV

Unfortunately it's a laptop. Thanks for the suggestion, Are they at least a year older than Oblivion, if you recall?

Yes they both were released a year or more after Oblivion.

But I would still caution against getting them as I don't think you'll be able to run them comfortably on your PC. They are cheap though so if you want to take the gamble go for it, they are great games so if it doesn't run you can always save them for when you get access to a different PC.

Yes they both were released a year or more after Oblivion.

But I would still caution against getting them as I don't think you'll be able to run them comfortably on your PC. They are cheap though so if you want to take the gamble go for it, they are great games so if it doesn't run you can always save them for when you get access to a different PC.

Croag821

I could live with 20fps ; you think I'd get that at medium setting with my not-so-good-at-all GPU?

I could live with 20fps ; you think I'd get that at medium setting with my not-so-good-at-all GPU?

DynV

I honestly have no idea, a person with a i3 claims he gets 25 FPS in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQcFCVEN4O0) but he doesn't say at what settings or what resolution.

[QUOTE="DynV"]

I could live with 20fps ; you think I'd get that at medium setting with my not-so-good-at-all GPU?

Croag821

I honestly have no idea, a person with a i3 claims he gets 25 FPS in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQcFCVEN4O0) but he doesn't say at what settings or what resolution.

Urgh that game looks unplayable.

Has an i3 but may have a better gpu???

Urgh that game looks unplayable.

jonleeprice

No it says in the title that he's using the integrated intel GPU, but I agree it doesn't look to good.

I run Witcher 2 just fine at a lowish rez (1024x768) on my 4yr old desktop. It's a Core2duo at 3.0 ghz, 3 gigs of ram and a GeForce 9800gtx+. Its hardly a graphically intensive game imo as long as you keep the settings modest.

A few other recommendations:

Dragon Age Origins

Gothic 2

What a let-down!I just looked again at Oblivion:System Requirements and it seem I won't even be able to run the game at high settings. Intel HD Graphics 3000 - Notebookcheck.net Tech mentions First performance tests by Andandtech (with a desktop pre-sample without TurboBoost) indicate a gamingperformance on a level with the desktop ATI Radeon HD 5450 ; and running Oblivion (TES IV) at very high settings on Oblivion:System Requirements need a ATI HD 2900, ATI HD 3850 or ATI HD 4650 and the lesser of the 3 is seemingly better than the equivalent of what I have from gpureview:

I buy a laptop 3 years later, a good one too, it was refurbished so worth more than my last one at base price (so both were paid the same but the later is worth more), and I won't even be able to run the game at high settings. Yes it will surely be an improvement because running Oblivion on the T3400 was downright ugly ; perhaps would have been better looking to run Morrowind (TES III) at high settings. I'm very disappointed, I assumed 3 years AND a higher price bracket would have made a world of difference ; so much that I right away created this thread asking for a game 1-3 years later.

This means that albeit good recommendations I received, I will only be able to run what's around Oblivion. :( So the lowest demanding of these.

intel hd 3000 is about = to an hd 4350 not a 5450 XD

you can play unreal engine and source engines games okay. oblivion on default medium or low. you could play guildwars 1 on high at 40fps or medium @ 60. minecraft would also run flawlessly

Um talking about oblivion I've seen this 'mod' called oldblivion looks quite good vs lowest settings maybe you can use this also and maybe there are such things for other games as well.. just fyi ;)nilzg

Thanks, I still have the T3400 for a little while so I'll give it a try to compare both ; I'll make a video (froma a camera to get the real feel (a software recorder would slow it down)) if I can recall.

intel hd 3000 is about = to an hd 4350 not a 5450 XD

you can play unreal engine and source engines games okay. oblivion on default medium or low. you could play guildwars 1 on high at 40fps or medium @ 60. minecraft would also run flawlessly

ionusX

Are you serious? *drop jaw*

Where do you get this info? Personal experience from one of your own system or onw you worked on? Or just seeing it on an acquaintance system?

Somebody please back this up.

[QUOTE="nilzg"]Um talking about oblivion I've seen this 'mod' called oldblivion looks quite good vs lowest settings maybe you can use this also and maybe there are such things for other games as well.. just fyi ;)DynV

Thanks, I still have the T3400 for a little while so I'll give it a try to compare both ; I'll make a video (froma a camera to get the real feel (a software recorder would slow it down)) if I can recall.

intel hd 3000 is about = to an hd 4350 not a 5450 XD

you can play unreal engine and source engines games okay. oblivion on default medium or low. you could play guildwars 1 on high at 40fps or medium @ 60. minecraft would also run flawlessly

ionusX

Are you serious? *drop jaw*

Where do you get this info? Personal experience from one of your own system or onw you worked on? Or just seeing it on an acquaintance system?

Somebody please back this up.

how about assessments made by anandtech, the hd 4350 isnt a bad card by any stretch of the imagination but the hd 3000 routinely loses to a 5450 especially when it comes to visually demanding games especially ones which use amd's old friend the havok engine. especially ones that happen to be in first or third person.

this would be why your struggling. im atm pulling up the reviews ive seen where the hd 5450 chokeslams the intel 3000 to heck

here allow me:

winning 11 pro evo. soccer:

how about nba 2k11??

these arent even demanding games and the intel graphics failed to roll over 1 time and lost pretty badly the next.

winning 11 pro evo. soccer:

the intel graphics failed to roll over 1 time and lost pretty badly the next.

ionusX

Hmm! I just though thay haven't tested the HD Graphic 3000 for that game. What do you mean by "failed to roll over"?

[QUOTE="ionusX"]

winning 11 pro evo. soccer:

the intel graphics failed to roll over 1 time and lost pretty badly the next.

DynV

Hmm! I just though thay haven't tested the HD Graphic 3000 for that game. What do you mean by "failed to roll over"?

Skip Oblivion. Oblivion sucks. Go buy Skyrim. It'll run perfectly fine on your HD 3000. I've played it on a laptop before with that, and it runs fine at 720p and medium settings with FXAA.

What a let-down!I just looked again at Oblivion:System Requirements and it seem I won't even be able to run the game at high settings. Intel HD Graphics 3000 - Notebookcheck.net Tech mentions First performance tests by Andandtech (with a desktop pre-sample without TurboBoost) indicate a gamingperformance on a level with the desktop ATI Radeon HD 5450 ; and running Oblivion (TES IV) at very high settings on Oblivion:System Requirements need a ATI HD 2900, ATI HD 3850 or ATI HD 4650 and the lesser of the 3 is seemingly better than the equivalent of what I have from gpureview:

I buy a laptop 3 years later, a good one too, it was refurbished so worth more than my last one at base price (so both were paid the same but the later is worth more), and I won't even be able to run the game at high settings. Yes it will surely be an improvement because running Oblivion on the T3400 was downright ugly ; perhaps would have been better looking to run Morrowind (TES III) at high settings. I'm very disappointed, I assumed 3 years AND a higher price bracket would have made a world of difference ; so much that I right away created this thread asking for a game 1-3 years later.

This means that albeit good recommendations I received, I will only be able to run what's around Oblivion. :( So the lowest demanding of these.

DynV

Dude, I dunno how your dissapointed when games require a gpu, regular everyday laptops have never come with dedicated graphics. Can you still return the laptop? If you want to game get an Asus laptop that has something with a dedicated gpu from Nvidia or ATI. To get a laptop to decently play games your looking at $800+ in price range if you find something on sale, or around $1000 on average. You might want to think about getting a desktop instead (much cheaper in price for gaming performance), as you can usually either build your own, or buy a decent 600 desktop from a store that has a decent power supply, then buy something like a GTX 550ti for bit more and then you could game on decent graphical settings. But if you need a laptop, then getting a Asus Gamer Republic notebook or something would suite you better for gaming.

Skip Oblivion. Oblivion sucks. Go buy Skyrim. It'll run perfectly fine on your HD 3000. I've played it on a laptop before with that, and it runs fine at 720p and medium settings with FXAA.

ChubbyGuy40

Yes Oblivion main story suck but the side-campaigns (guilds) are nice ; I intend to finish it plus Shivering Isles before moving on to the next TES. Thanks for your compatibility feedback.

Dude, I dunno how your dissapointed when games require a gpu, regular everyday laptops have never come with dedicated graphics. Can you still return the laptop? If you want to game get an Asus laptop that has something with a dedicated gpu from Nvidia or ATI. To get a laptop to decently play games your looking at $800+ in price range if you find something on sale, or around $1000 on average. You might want to think about getting a desktop instead (much cheaper in price for gaming performance), as you can usually either build your own, or buy a decent 600 desktop from a store that has a decent power supply, then buy something like a GTX 550ti for bit more and then you could game on decent graphical settings. But if you need a laptop, then getting a Asus Gamer Republic notebook or something would suite you better for gaming.

ryangcnx-2

I know well what you're telling me, what I'm disappointed about is that with 3 year AND a higher price bracket, a laptop can't even make 1 year with a gaming PC. Thanks for your input though.

I'm not looking for gamig and I have old games I have to get to, which I bought for my 1st laptop 5-6 years ago which is 8-10yo ; so I surely can manage to play on the i5 w/ HD 3000.

[QUOTE="ChubbyGuy40"]

Skip Oblivion. Oblivion sucks. Go buy Skyrim. It'll run perfectly fine on your HD 3000. I've played it on a laptop before with that, and it runs fine at 720p and medium settings with FXAA.

DynV

Yes Oblivion main story suck but the side-campaigns (guilds) are nice ; I intend to finish it plus Shivering Isles before moving on to the next TES. Thanks for your compatibility feedback.

Dude, I dunno how your dissapointed when games require a gpu, regular everyday laptops have never come with dedicated graphics. Can you still return the laptop? If you want to game get an Asus laptop that has something with a dedicated gpu from Nvidia or ATI. To get a laptop to decently play games your looking at $800+ in price range if you find something on sale, or around $1000 on average. You might want to think about getting a desktop instead (much cheaper in price for gaming performance), as you can usually either build your own, or buy a decent 600 desktop from a store that has a decent power supply, then buy something like a GTX 550ti for bit more and then you could game on decent graphical settings. But if you need a laptop, then getting a Asus Gamer Republic notebook or something would suite you better for gaming.

ryangcnx-2

I know well what you're telling me, what I'm disappointed about is that with 3 year AND a higher price bracket, a laptop can't even make 1 year with a gaming PC. Thanks for your input though.

I'm not looking for gamig and I have old games I have to get to, which I bought for my 1st laptop 5-6 years ago which is 8-10yo ; so I surely can manage to play on the i5 w/ HD 3000.