Camacha Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 (edited) If I need to use one on my lap then something flat and rigid to put under it helps. Large but thin books, like the Dorling Kindersley kids science books, do well.That would be a reasonable solution, indeed. Though posture might still be an issue, some health concerns and most heating concerns are removed that way. Edited March 26, 2015 by Camacha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain H@dock Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 A 512 MB SSD in 2013? That alone must have cost at least £500. Yet no dedicated graphics card at all? That seems like a very strange system to me, what was it's intended purpose?It was a Dell sale, but still pricey, but nothing like your figure, yes (I'd say 1400 AUD?). But I was in Australia back then, so money was less of a problem, as well as part of it being tax deductible. It was intended as a mobile dev linux computer (I only started KSPing in December 2014, I guess I'm working a lot less on it now:cool:). And yes this is a laptop, and a pretty portable one (macbook air analogy is fair) hence no dedicated GPU. Not meant for gaming, yet it works better than I would have thought.I was half scared about the SSD life-span at the beginning, but I've learnt to forget it and just enjoy the performance (boot time and KSP load time are just great). Laptops don't last more than 3-4 years at best anyway, so I very much doubt the SSD is going to be the limiting factor here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostElement Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Now, I want an AMD card (Please don't suggest Nvidia, I don't want to go through the hassle of making my PC Use Nvidia) The maximum I'll pay is 100 - 140$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
segaprophet Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Now, I want an AMD card (Please don't suggest Nvidia, I don't want to go through the hassle of making my PC Use Nvidia) The maximum I'll pay is 100 - 140$PowerColor PCS+ AXR9 270X 2GBD5-PPDHE Radeon R9 270X 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card - Newegg.com$159.99, $139.99 after $20.00 rebate card Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
segaprophet Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Right now, the R9 270X is such an amazing value for the money - it's just about as powerful as the Radeon HD 7950 I paid $300 for in 2012, at half the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikaneko Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 I have a thinkpad SL510. It has an excellent processing capability (recently updated the SSD) and is generally a sturdy performer. However, its graphics card is awful. As someone who likes some games as well as spreadsheets, can anyone offer any advice for how to upgrade it, (NOTE: It is a laptop) or just buy a new laptop/desktop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Iron Crown Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Laptops GPUs are almost never upgradeable. At best you might be able to add RAM or change the hard drive in most of them. If you must have a laptop for your gaming machine, your best option is to sell it and put that money toward a better one.If you don't absolutely need your gaming machine to be a laptop you can get much better performance per dollar (or Euro or pound or whatever) by buying or building a desktop, with the added bonus that you'll be able to upgrade it down the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camacha Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 If you really absolutely need to you could go the external video card route, but I would really not advice that unless you have great and specific reasons to do so. Upgrade or switch, but make sure you have enough of a budget to make it worth the trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eerf333 Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 I consider this to squeeze the most bang for your buck out. Easily over 60 fps in all games on max settings, 1080p. If you're building for the first time, I'm pretty sure you don't get much more value for money than this. The cooler may seem OTT, but I wanted to OC at a later date. A hyper 212 evo will do just fine for low levels of overclocking and near-silent operation. Constructive criticism (If there is such a thing) is welcome .CPU: Intel 4690kCPU cooler: Corsair H75Graphics card: MSI GTX 960 4GBRAM: Corsair Venegance 2x4GB DDR3 1600Mhz CL9Motherboard: ASRock H97M Pro4 Storage: WD 1TB caviar blue 7200rpm 3.5'' HDDCase: Corsair carbide series 200rOS: Windows 10 64 bit tech preview - I wanted windows but didn't want to fork out for 7 or 8 as I knew 10 was coming soon, at the time it hadn't been announced it was a free upgrade to win 8 users. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikaneko Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 snip.Any thought for cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
segaprophet Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Submitted for your perusal, a sub-$1000 configuration I composed on a whim in late December (prices not current) -CPU - Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz - $234.99http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116899PSU - CORSAIR CXM series CX600M 600W ATX12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Modular - $49.99 ($20.00 rebate)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139048CASE - Corsair Obsidian Series 350D - $79.99 ($10.00 rebate)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139021MOBO - MSI Z87M GAMING LGA 1150 Intel Z87 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - $129.79 (10.00 rebate)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130737GPU - MSI R9 270X GAMING 2G Radeon R9 270X 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 - $169.99 ($20.00 rebate)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127761ODD - Sony Optiarc High Speed DVD RW Drive Model 5280S-CB-PLUS - $31.99http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118073HDD - Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB 3.5" Hard Drive - $59.99http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339HEATSINK - Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan - $29.99 ($5.00 rebate)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099RAM - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9 - $86.99http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186$938.71$873.71 after rebates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloriousWater Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 (edited) snipLooks like a nice build, but bear in mind you won't be able to overclock that 4690k with a H97 motherboard. You'd need a Z97 for that.Any thought for cost?What's your budget? My similar i5 build cost about £800 and you can go quite a bit cheaper if you make a few cuts here and there. For a budget build I'd recommend the Pentium G3258 with some sort of GTX 750Ti, or an R9 280 as the price of those has dropped massively. Edited April 4, 2015 by GloriousWater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camacha Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 I consider this to squeeze the most bang for your buck out. Easily over 60 fps in all games on max settings, 1080p. If you're building for the first time, I'm pretty sure you don't get much more value for money than this. The cooler may seem OTT, but I wanted to OC at a later date. A hyper 212 evo will do just fine for low levels of overclocking and near-silent operation. Constructive criticism (If there is such a thing) is welcome .CPU: Intel 4690kCPU cooler: Corsair H75Graphics card: MSI GTX 960 4GBRAM: Corsair Venegance 2x4GB DDR3 1600Mhz CL9Motherboard: ASRock H97M Pro4 Storage: WD 1TB caviar blue 7200rpm 3.5'' HDDCase: Corsair carbide series 200rOS: Windows 10 64 bit tech preview - I wanted windows but didn't want to fork out for 7 or 8 as I knew 10 was coming soon, at the time it hadn't been announced it was a free upgrade to win 8 users.That thing is a far way off of 300 pounds, I must say. There is probably a happy intermediate, though I am not too sure of local prices. A good start might be to switch out the GTX for a R9 270X. That card is almost as fast and a lot cheaper. Though I see segaprophet had the same idea What's your budget? My similar i5 build cost about £800 and you can go quite a bit cheaper if you make a few cuts here and there. For a budget build I'd recommend the Pentium G3258 with some sort of GTX 750Ti.Why do you insist on Nvidia? It looks like Ikaneko needs to squeeze the budget quite a bit and a AMD video card becomes an almost default solution in that case.- - - Updated - - -Here is a 500 pound suggestion, though remember that local pricing might vary, so be sure to check that out and eliminate unfavourable options:AMD Athlon X4 860K MSI A78M-E45Crucial Ballistix BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU (or any other memory with roughly equal specifications)Sapphire Dual-X R7 270 2GB GDDR5Seagate ST1000DX001, 1TB (for improved performance) or WD Blue WD10EZEX, 1TB as the most budget conscious choice.Cooler Master GM G450MDepending on the exact games you want to play you could switch to a Intel Pentium G3258. That has a better single threaded performance (so is better for KSP), but a little less total calculative power. Both chips can be overclocked when paired with the right motherboard. It's not as fast as a computer with an i5, but to be fair, that's top tier performance while this is more budget concious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloriousWater Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Ah, I knew I had derped slightly. Was building a Linux machine for myself and forgot that AMD's drivers work better on other systems.Anyway the Seagate drive is slightly cheaper than the Western Digital for the same capacity and the cheapest 8GB DDR3 RAM I could find is Corsair Vengeance at £52 for an 8GB kit,I'd also like to add that the R9 280 is really cheap at the moment, you can get a Sapphire one for £130 on Amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/SAPPHIRE-AMD-Graphics-Card-DDR5/dp/B00IRTXPBM/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1428142074&sr=1-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camacha Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 (edited) Anyway the Seagate drive is slightly cheaper than the Western Digital for the same capacity and the cheapest 8GB DDR3 RAM I could find is Corsair Vengeance at £52 for an 8GB kit,I'd also like to add that the R9 280 is really cheap at the moment, you can get a Sapphire one for £130 on Amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/SAPPHIRE-AMD-Graphics-Card-DDR5/dp/B00IRTXPBM/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1428142074&sr=1-1Seagate, Corsair Vengeance and the 280 are all fine suggestions. No bad choices there. If those are cheap options, by all means, go for it.With the Corsair Vengeance memory - watch for cooler clearance if you have the version with large heat sinks, and if you like you can check the QVL/internet experiences for compatibility. I have never heard of Vengeance memory causing (non heat sink) compatibility issues and it is used quite widely, but checking will not hurt. Edited April 4, 2015 by Camacha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostElement Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I want an AMD Video card but I cannot Exceed 120$. My current PC is an AMD system, and no, I will not use Nvidia. I don't have anything against Nvidia but it's too much of a hassle to switch from AMD to Nvidia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansun1 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 I want an AMD Video card but I cannot Exceed 120$. My current PC is an AMD system, and no, I will not use Nvidia. I don't have anything against Nvidia but it's too much of a hassle to switch from AMD to Nvidia.This'll work. http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-r7260xoc2gd5I'm woundering why you think that switching to Nvidia would be a hassle though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camacha Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 (edited) I want an AMD Video card but I cannot Exceed 120$. My current PC is an AMD system, and no, I will not use Nvidia. I don't have anything against Nvidia but it's too much of a hassle to switch from AMD to Nvidia.You might want to have up just a little more. The 270X seems good value for money in some parts of the world, though you must make sure your PSU will handle it properly. That means enough power, the right plugs, and most importantly, a proper build and brand. Cheap and junky PSU's will not do.I agree with briansun1 though, switching can hardly be called a hassle. Drivers need to be uninstalled and installed anyway, so driver wiping to make sure is just a minor extra effort. It really is not much more than that. Edited April 6, 2015 by Camacha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostElement Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 For someone who does not know much on switching over, it's really a bit of a hassle. Let's please just leave it there.Anyhow, how do I find out whether my PSU can handle it? Do I post some normal specs an you can determine from there? I bought this computer for 650$ at best buy about 2 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cantab Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Open it up and read off what information you can from the PSU. You'll see the connectors of course, probably the rated wattage, and if you're lucky a brand and model number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camacha Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 For someone who does not know much on switching over, it's really a bit of a hassle. Let's please just leave it there.No, we will not leave it there, because it is nonsensical. It is flat out not true. Switching brands is not a hassle, even for the most inexperienced user. If that is too much trouble for you, you should not deal with computers at all, because you are not capable of the most basic use or maintenance.Could you please explain why you think it is a hassle? Because it sounds like you are misunderstanding what is needed.Anyhow, how do I find out whether my PSU can handle it? Do I post some normal specs an you can determine from there? I bought this computer for 650$ at best buy about 2 years ago.Brand and model name often do the trick. Also check the available plugs.Open it up and read off what information you can from the PSU. You'll see the connectors of course, probably the rated wattage, and if you're lucky a brand and model number.Without make and model it is almost impossible to say anything useful about a PSU. The wattage alone says nothing, as cheap PSUs will not provide their rated wattage in any useful way. See my earlier post for more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostElement Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 (edited) Well, I've been told it's been a Hassle, and when someone attempted to explain to me about how to switch over I found it complicated. Perhaps he didn't know what he was talking about or made it more than it is. When it comes to computer I know little about doing things internally. I know no coding. The extent of my knowledge is not much. I know how to slide in a Video card, and plug it in. I know how to put mods into games. That's about it.If switching over is easy that'd be nice. That means more options for buying and installing a Video Card.Where would I find the info on the PCU? My parents won't like the fact I'm poking around the internals of my PCEdit: It's a HP - Desktop - AMD A8-series - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive, Windows 8, 64bit, AMD Radeon 7560D, maybe that' ll help Edited April 6, 2015 by LostElement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camacha Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Where would I find the info on the PCU? My parents won't like the fact I'm poking around the internals of my PCOpening up the case and looking at the sticker is pretty much the only way of doing it, besides maybe digging up the receipt you got when you bought it. Besides, to change the video card you will need to open the computer up anyway.Most other parts can be checked out through software, but the PSU is not one of those parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostElement Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Ah. Can you explain to me how simple it is to switch over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansun1 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Ah. Can you explain to me how simple it is to switch over?Install new GPUUninstall your current video drives. Install new ones from AMD/Nvidia website.???Profit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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