AboutBobbert Expertise I can answer technical questions about installation, use, and maintinence of most 3D Graphics hardware, and software. I can offer assistance with overclocking (while I do not suggest overclocking while under warranty) and I can give assistance with more complicated problems to the full extent of my abilities.
Experience I have been into computer hardware, especially 3D graphics and the hardware that drives them, for a number of years. I have knowledge in installation, use, troubleshooting, purchase suggestions and over clocking.
Question Hi there, I just got my son a new Lenovo n200 and am having issues getting games to run on it. I've tried both Gothic 3 and Neverwinter Nights 2 with no success. The card in the machine is a GMA X3100 and although it's not on the list of cards for the game, I've seen a youtube stream with it working on 800x600, low and shadows off. I can't even launch the toolset - I get a 'we have encountered an error and needs to shut down' error. Can you please help?
Celeron 530 1.73ghz
3 gb RAM
XP (has dual boot installed but we're using XP )
120gb HDD
Do I need to upgrade the video card or is there any chance to get this? This machine is only 5 days old :o(( I'm also a bit confused as to wether this is a general laptop issue (i.e. no laptop cards good enough?) or just got ripped off and given a crappy card?
Thanks so much in advance!
Answer Well, laptops are generally considered sub-par for gaming, because those that can't (such as yours) usually fail famously, and those that can (such as Alienware products) usually cost more than a used car. GMA X3100 not running Gothic 3 or NWN2 isn't surprising, given that either of those games poses a challenge to $200 discrete cards for the desktop, the stream running the game at 800x600 probably neglected to point out whatever modification to the .ini files to get the X3100 to work (not to mention thats a very low settings situation, honestly I wouldn't consider it good enough for consistent use).
The kicker is that upgrading the graphics card in a laptop is generally quite impossible, since laptops are proprietary devices with most of their hardware physically hardwired together, while desktops allow a massive degree of customization. If you contact Lenovo they may have a little bit different story (this is my standard line on laptops, no upgrades, but contact the manufacturer, because you might be lucky and have an upgrade path available, but don't hold your breath for it).
Honestly to get a game like Neverwinter Nights 2 or Gothic 3 to run, at a reasonable resolution (say 1440x900 or 1680x1050), on a desktop, you'd be looking at a ~$200 discrete graphics card, such as a GeForce 8800GTS 512MB, or Radeon HD 3870 512MB, along with a fairly powerful dual or quad core CPU, such as a Core 2 Duo E8400 or Core 2 Quad Q9300 (or Athlon64 X2 5600 (or higher) or Phenom X3/X4) or better.
As far as laptop gaming with such a game, look at the Core 2 Duo Mobile line, and the GeForce 8700M GT, it should pluck along at a decent clip, but don't expect "full maximum" on the settings panel.
