Guild Wars 2

Hi everyone.
I’d like to know If this laptop would be able to run Guild Wars 2 at a medium or high graphics setting, with decent frame rates, with no serious lag. (but of course In WvWvW the settings will have to be adjusted etc & lag spikes are common)

Laptop: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/laptops/refurbished-laptops/sony-vaio-sve1512w1esi-cek-refurbished-15-5-laptop-silver-19572117-pdt.html

(I did call the pcworld customer service & spoke to an advisor & the advisor said this laptop would be able to play GW2 at a medium – high graphics setting.)

Thank you for all your help.
& A desktop Is not best suited to me, because I’m on the go a lot & not much space at home for a full pc desktop setup.

In a word.

No.

The GPU is VERY slow.
Ontop of that GW2 requirs a good CPU and the I5 3210m only turbos to 3.1ghz and thats only when 1 core is used, when 2 cores are used its turbo is 2.9ghz. It has 2 physical cores and 4 threads. meaning its weak for GW2.

It will ‘run’ the game, but ur likely looking at light PvE only, and low settings.

You need to look at £1000+ laptops to game , and for GW2 specificaly if u even think about doing WvW u will be looking more along the lines of £2000 as u will want a top of the line mobile CPU, or a hard to find LGA2011 desktop CPU bassed laptop.
Like for example:
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/omega-supreme/

That laptop only allows for SLI graphics which is over the top for GW2, but i bet you could get in contact with them and ask for a single GPU solution to save some money.
Ofcourse this is only if ur seriose about gaming on a laptop. Laptop gaming is more expensive and much less upgradable (so even more expensive in the long run) than desktop rigs.

Now another option u may not know about is, if u dont need to use the laptop when say, ur sitting at a cafe, on a plane, or some such, and only need it when ur say in a hotel, or office. Then u can always build a LAN gaming Desktop.
They are small and can be carried in a wheeled luggage type bag. Smal lenough to fit ina boot of a car or keep with u on a bus etc.
For example. This plus a small monitor,keyboard and mouse.
http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming+Range/LAN+Gaming+PCs/Gladiator+Punisher+7870+LE+i5-3570K+4.30GHz+LAN+OC+Gaming+PC+?productId=55342
Will destroy any current laptop for the same price.

SolarNova.1052:

In a word.

No.

The GPU is VERY slow.
Ontop of that GW2 requirs a good CPU and the I5 3210m only turbos to 3.1ghz and thats only when 1 core is used, when 2 cores are used its turbo is 2.9ghz. It has 2 physical cores and 4 threads. meaning its weak for GW2.

It will ‘run’ the game, but ur likely looking at light PvE only, and low settings.

You need to look at £1000+ laptops to game , and for GW2 specificaly if u even think about doing WvW u will be looking more along the lines of £2000 as u will want a top of the line mobile CPU, or a hard to find LGA2011 desktop CPU bassed laptop.
Like for example:
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/omega-supreme/

That laptop only allows for SLI graphics which is over the top for GW2, but i bet you could get in contact with them and ask for a single GPU solution to save some money.
Ofcourse this is only if ur seriose about gaming on a laptop. Laptop gaming is more expensive and much less upgradable (so even more expensive in the long run) than desktop rigs.

Now another option u may not know about is, if u dont need to use the laptop when say, ur sitting at a cafe, on a plane, or some such, and only need it when ur say in a hotel, or office. Then u can always build a LAN gaming Desktop.
They are small and can be carried in a wheeled luggage type bag. Smal lenough to fit ina boot of a car or keep with u on a bus etc.
For example. This plus a small monitor,keyboard and mouse.
http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming+Range/LAN+Gaming+PCs/Gladiator+Punisher+7870+LE+i5-3570K+4.30GHz+LAN+OC+Gaming+PC+?productId=55342
Will destroy any current laptop for the same price.

I’m Intrigued about the LAN Desktop & I would have to save up further.
But I could (hopefully) make space for a desktop area & would It be cheaper to build one up on my own or buy a fully functioning one brand new?
& I can’t Personal Message for some reason.

Well that LAN rig from Aria is actually rather competitavly priced. Each component inside it is of a good quality and its pre OverClocked. You could maybe save ~£100 to build the exact same spec urself and u would have to OverClock it urself, but u would have to check prices online. I would normaly check myself now, but i just came of my Desktop since my last post ankitten ow in bed on my laptop lol, going sleep in a few :P

Just remember u need to buy a monitor(£50-£100), mouse and keyboard ontop of that as it doesnt come with them, and if u do not get a monitor with speakers inbuilt(u can easily find ones with them inbuilt) u would want stand alone speakers also.

I actually think you could run GW2 just fine at medium settings. When I’m traveling I play on my laptop which has an older Core 2 Duo cpu and a slower Nvidia GPU and I get decent results at 1280 × 768 with settings on low/med and get ~30fps (I have it set to limit the fps to 30) in all but the biggest wvw zergs. My GPU isn’t a bottleneck; if I’m not in WVW or a crowded World Event, I can run at 1920×1080 just fine, but crowded areas the CPU cores both hit 90%+ utilization and things get laggy.

It won’t run at any high settings and YMMV, but I definitely think it would work.

Ah okay.
I’m not a hardcore player as well.
I’m new & I’m not looking Into WvWvW (pvp Isn’t for me)
But I’m still debating whether to go for the laptop or the LAN or set up myself a full desktop or buy a brand new one.
& Thank you for your advice Ben.
I’ve seen gameplays (on youtube)of laptop equivalents going at 20-30fps w/ faps with that graphics card.
But thank you so much for your advice, It’s much appreciated.
I just want to experience GW2 at close enough I can get It to It’s full beauty.

Ok so iv taken a look online for prices. Used PCpartpicker as its nice and easy and i can show u the list.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/11RzO

As you can see, if u include Windows 8 in the purchase, building it urself saves u barely £30, and that will likely be taken up by the variose delivery charges not shown on PCpartpicker.
So including delivery the Aria prebuilt PC costs £1017 , that includes identical parts as in the link above, and pre Overclocked and setup.
Building urself means u need to build it, set it up, and OverClock it which can take a couple days to a week depending on far u go and how u test its stability.

IMO for less than an additional £30 i would get the rig from Aria prebuilt.

Like i said, this particular rig is VERY well priced. in fact i would go so far to say its the best priced prebuilt rig iv seen , specialy when u take into consideration no corners have been cut. (like cheap PSU’s which is common in prebuilds)

Hm. So you would suggest buying the premade one & I know I can make space for a desktop & I wouldn’t mind playing GW2 on med-high settings, do you have any recommendations? (No more than £550)

For £550, although u could build a desktop to play GW2, it wouldnt last very long.

Also does that £550 include a monitor/mouse/keyboard/speakers ? Becouse if it does its deffinatly not enough.

SolarNova.1052:

For £550, although u could build a desktop to play GW2, it wouldnt last very long.

Also does that £550 include a monitor/mouse/keyboard/speakers ? Becouse if it does its deffinatly not enough.

I have speakers & my cousin has a 1920×1080p monitor he no longer uses.
& I would have to buy a keyboard & a mouse.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/11SVq
Add on about £50 for a keyboard and mouse.

So that includes a new OS also. It costs ~£70. Tbh u can ether transfer ur current version of Windows 7/8 to it, make sure its 64bit. Or u can always ‘aquire’ it elsewhere.

So thats about £650 all together, and u need to build it urself ofc.
Its £100 over ur budget but its already using a AMD CPU and a 650ti, both of which cant really be downgraded much further without having a big impact on gaming performance.
A rig like above should manage a mixture of medium and high settings in GW2, but the CPU will hold it back in WvW, the cooler listed will allow a mild OC which would help.
Also note its physical size is bigger than the Aira Prebuilt computer, u actually pay more for a smaller rig since u have to shrink everything whilst retaining performance.

The Aira perbuilt rig for ~£350 more would give u much better experiance andl ats longer. But whetheri ts worth it wil ldepend on how easy and how long it owuld take u to save up the extra cash.

I would prefer an i5 over the AMD. I’ve been looking & the Intel Core i5 3330(from reviews) seems to be good for high end games.. Do you know any full set up Desktops (monitor doesn’t need to be Included) that are In my price range & will run at med-high settings, with normal fps?
& I don’t think I would use the Aira to It’s full potential since I’m a casual gamer.

A intel rig within ur price range is next to impossible.
You would be looking at £700+ for self built and Custom prebuilt rigs, and £900+ for no customisation prebuilds in most casses.

:/ okay.
Could you link me a build (that I will do myself or get help with) that has intel core i5?
& I don’t want the most expensive version of i5, just a version that can handle GW2 well.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/11TWx

Above link is the same as the AMD build except it has a different CPU and Motherboard.

For a little extra you can get the top i5 (which can OC) and a slightly better mothebroard.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/11U01

EDIT: oh and u dont need to get that exact case, just get one with good airflow and looks ot suit ur tastes.

Thank you so much for your help. I think I’ll go with the first choice & build up parts & see If I can find them anywhere else cheaper.
& I have a friend who’s technological etc & I’m sure they have a Windows 8 64bit that they can Install for me.
Do you think the i5 would be better than the AMD build?
& I’ll look around for cases.
Btw this Is my cousins spare monitor. Is It compatible with this build?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/desktop-pc-monitors/monitor-projectors/pc-monitors/aoc-e2243fw-21-5-led-monitor-07677491-pdt.html

Yes its better than the AMD build. Even though its a locked i5 in the 1st list it can still OverClock slightly, to 4ghz i beleve. So i sugest u do that as its bassicaly free performance.

And yes that monitor is compatable, use the DVI connection.

DVI connection will not ruin the way the graphics are outputted onto the screen?

No .. DVI is fine.

VGA is limited on resolution so u wouldnt want to run that.

Ah okay thank you.
By the way I’ve been looking for a replacement Desktop Tower Case (this Is the one you suggested http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-lexs001bk )
Could you find one that Is cheaper & Is an equivalent, that Is still able to hold my components or Is that the only one?

Im not very knowledgable with the lower end casses tbh with you. I just tried to stick with the manufacturers i know. CoolerMaster(CM), Corsaire, NZXT. Thermaltake

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-rc430kwn1
Go for that, airflow ise its bassicaly the same as the NZXT one. It just looks different and is cheaper. And pcpartpicker has a good number of people that have rated it which is always nice(4/5).

Okay. Thank you so much for your help.
I can’t wait to ‘try’ to set It up ;P.
You’ve been exceedingly helpful.
Many thanks.
If I have any more questions can I personal message you?

Yea np feel free.