PC Graphic Card - Help Appreciated

I recently purchased a Windows 8 laptop 64-bit / 8GB Ram / i7 Core / SSD..........

I currently have a PS3 sub, but also purchased a Windows sub so I can play the game when I'm on the road.

Anyway, while the computer has beautiful HD resolution and runs fast, the built-in graphics card is not made for gaming. It works fine for other purposes, such as day-to-day stuff.

What is a decent graphics card I can purchase that won't break the bank? I'm thinking something that costs me $200 to $250 will probably suffice, but I'm not well-versed in graphic cards.

The current graphic card is a standard Intel(R) 4000 HD

Any help or leads are appreciated :o

If it's a laptop, you might not be able to upgrade the video card anyway. Would need more details (model etc.).

The graphics with windows of 8 card makes for do issue with game. If you can make for get window of 7 then you'd be very much well off. Also not for very sure of SSD, as they're typical more slow due to being solid (the electric takes longer to pass through it).

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Originally Posted by Aethaeryn

If it's a laptop, you might not be able to upgrade the video card anyway. Would need more details (model etc.).

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What do you mean? Here's are the specs from my FF info:

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SYSTEM_OS Windows 8 64-bit (6.2, Build 9200) (9200.win8_gdr.130531-1504)
SYSTEM_CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3537U CPU @ 2.00GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
SYSTEM_CORE_NUM SYSTEM_CORE_LOGIC 4 SYSTEM_CORE_PHYSICS 2
SYSTEM_BIOS R0200DA
SYSTEM_MEMORY 8070.797MB
SYSTEM_VIRTUAL_MEMORY 2047.875MB
SYSTEM_PAGE_FILE 12678.797MB
SYSTEM_STORAGE C:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 900.229GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 843.317GB
SYSTEM_DIRECTX_VERSION DirectX 11
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY1
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER Intel Corporation
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 32.000 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 1760.000 MB

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That's what I've heard about Windows 8 so far :-/

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Originally Posted by MurakumoMillennium

The windows 8 graphics card has a lot of issues with games unfortunately. If you can get a 7 then you'd be very well off. Also I'm not sure on the SSD, as they're typically slower due to being solid (the electric takes longer to pass through it).

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Originally Posted by scootie12

What do you mean? Here's are the specs from my FF info:

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I mean the brand and model number of the laptop, so I can look online to see if it even has upgrade capacity and what kind of hardware backing it. Laptops are usually not very good for upgrades beyond memory/harddrive, and if you buy one that didn't already come with a gaming card, chances are that it's not built for gaming even beyond just the lack of a dedicated graphics card. Cooling generally ends up being a huge bottleneck for laptops with gaming even when graphics aren't.

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Originally Posted by Aethaeryn

I mean the brand and model number of the laptop, so I can look online to see if it even has upgrade capacity and what kind of hardware backing it. Laptops are usually not very good for upgrades beyond memory/harddrive, and if you buy one that didn't already come with a gaming card, chances are that it's not built for gaming even beyond just the lack of a dedicated graphics card. Cooling generally ends up being a huge bottleneck for laptops with gaming even when graphics aren't.

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ah, gotcha. It's a Sony Vaio:
SVF15A16CXS

I bought it primarily for work, but figured it could support the game too ha. Another idea I got was to put windows on my iMac, which has more than enough capacity to support the game.

1. Having an SSD does not make it "slower due to being solid". It's quite actually the opposite since the drive isn't required to spin up and then run out and fetch data that may be scattered over thousands of sectors.

2. As a general rule, unless you specifically got the laptop from a company that designs them with replacing/upgrading in mind you're not going to be able to upgrade the graphics card. I've only known a few companies that did this and all of them were desktop replacement grade laptops. Aethaeryn is right though in that we'd need to know make and model to be 100% sure but the odds aren't in your favor.

Unfortunately that laptop is not upgradeable in the graphics department. Sorry!

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Originally Posted by scootie12

Another idea I got was to put windows on my iMac, which has more than enough capacity to support the game.

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Depending on what the graphics card in the iMac is like, that is an option. I have no trouble playing off of my MacBook Pro's Bootcamp installation.

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Originally Posted by MurakumoMillennium

The windows 8 graphics card has a lot of issues with games unfortunately. If you can get a 7 then you'd be very well off. Also I'm not sure on the SSD, as they're typically slower due to being solid (the electric takes longer to pass through it).

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Wtf do you mean that SSD are slower because electricity takes longer?

I hope you don't mean their write/read speeds and transference bandwidth.

edit: Regardless, they are always faster, usually somewhere between 20 to 30% on sequential reading/writting, and between 10 to 20 times faster on random data reading. So you have an idea. (it really depends on the brands and models you're comparing, some SSD are faster than others and same goes for HDDs, some HDDs are actually quite fast. Could be even faster for sequential reading if I'm not wrong)

And yes! I sorta pulled the numbers outta my ass! Thought I've done previous comparison so I know what I'm talking about :P But yeah, not anything substantial, but rather to just give an idea.

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Originally Posted by NeruMew

Wtf do you mean that SSD are slower because electricity takes longer?

I hope you don't mean their write/read speeds and transference bandwidth.

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I purposely didn't reply to her post because I figured she was trolling.

And I don't think that model is upgradeable at all, OP. :/ Sony Vaio isn't exactly known for gaming friendliness with laptops... they're more for streaming movies and general office stuff on the go really. Even laptops that are built specifically for gaming generally cannot be upgraded. Even if it did have a PCIe slot or two, the processor would be a huge bottleneck on gaming, and I really doubt the cooling would handle it very well either. That being said, have you tried running it on the lowest settings anyway?

In the future if you're in the market for a gaming laptop, you want to look for ones that are built specifically with gaming in mind and already including a dedicated card. Then do LOTS of research and google around about benchmarks on that specific model for gaming before you make a purchase. They're pretty pricey usually, but you can probably find a decent one for the same $1100 your current model runs... Touch screens laptops are pretty expensive.

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Originally Posted by MurakumoMillennium

Also I'm not sure on the SSD, as they're typically slower due to being solid (the electric takes longer to pass through it).]

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What the hell?

Also, yea the Intel in-built graphics chipset is garbage for anything gaming related.

You're basically screwed on the laptop, outside of a small number of laptops designed for replaceable video cards (none of which are going to come with just the integrated intel chipset) your upgrade path is nothing. If "recently" is recent enough that you can still return it, do so and make sure that you get a laptop with an nvidia or amd graphics card in it. My wife's laptop has a GT640M in it that runs the game just fine.

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Originally Posted by MurakumoMillennium

Also not for very sure of SSD, as they're typical more slow due to being solid (the electric takes longer to pass through it).

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Am I the only one in tears over this? I thought that part was freakin hilarious! Seriously!

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Originally Posted by MurakumoMillennium

The graphics with windows of 8 card makes for do issue with game. If you can make for get window of 7 then you'd be very much well off. Also not for very sure of SSD, as they're typical more slow due to being solid (the electric takes longer to pass through it).

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This post is fucking legendary

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Originally Posted by MurakumoMillennium

The graphics with windows of 8 card makes for do issue with game. If you can make for get window of 7 then you'd be very much well off. Also not for very sure of SSD, as they're typical more slow due to being solid (the electric takes longer to pass through it).

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wasn't SSD = "Solid" State Drive? lol

Maybe he was thinking of SSHD, which I might agree would be slower than SSD.

anyways, Intel HD graphic processor there. Not game worthy, unless you use it to play old games. Sorry. ^^;

https://forum-ru.msi.com/index.php?topic=78679.0

Here it is possible to replace the video card
see screenshots
Russian forum, see your English forum MSI

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Originally Posted by scootie12

I recently purchased a Windows 8 laptop 64-bit / 8GB Ram / i7 Core / SSD..........

I currently have a PS3 sub, but also purchased a Windows sub so I can play the game when I'm on the road.

Anyway, while the computer has beautiful HD resolution and runs fast, the built-in graphics card is not made for gaming. It works fine for other purposes, such as day-to-day stuff.

What is a decent graphics card I can purchase that won't break the bank? I'm thinking something that costs me $200 to $250 will probably suffice, but I'm not well-versed in graphic cards.

The current graphic card is a standard Intel(R) 4000 HD

Any help or leads are appreciated :o

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Integrated cards have a really hard time running XIV. It's an intel 4000. I've heard of people making it work, but not very well. You'd have low settings at best and you would need to clock the GPU (if you can) to a higher tolerance while clocking up the CPU to try to compensate.

I suppose it could work, but it wouldn't be what you want.

As for picking up another GPU for the laptop, this is VERY RARE. Most laptops have their GPU's (even dedicated) soldered onto the mobo making it impossible to remove without destroying the PCB. There are SOME companies that have removable GPU's (ASUS, Gigabit, MSI) but the problem with these are they make their own pin out types so you can't take an ASUS GPU (Reverse MXM) and put it into a MSI. To top it all off, you have to remember that the PCB has to support the voltage parameters of the GPU, make sure the heat sinks are enough, and have the driver support in the BIOS for POST to not freak out (also laptops are designed to be compact. Taking one apart and putting it back together is no easy feat in itself).

Luckily, you can find pretty affordable laptops with dedicated GPU's in them used for around 300 dollars and up (I paid 400 for the play around one I use and I can run XIV on high settings with a cooler mat. AMD/OC'd/OV'd). It's more about finding what's right for you and how tech savvy you are.

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Originally Posted by MurakumoMillennium

Also not for very sure of SSD, as they\\\\'re typical more slow due to being solid (the electric takes longer to pass through it).

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lololololol

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Originally Posted by MurakumoMillennium

The graphics with windows of 8 card makes for do issue with game. If you can make for get window of 7 then you'd be very much well off. Also not for very sure of SSD, as they're typical more slow due to being solid (the electric takes longer to pass through it).

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Windows 8 actually streamlines RAM allocation and allows for heavy rendering to load faster than Windows 7 (VRAM/RAM caching).

SSD's (Solid State) have I/O speeds of 600MB/s while a mechanical drive is around 140MB/s. SSD's have no moving parts making them much more consistent and less prone to problems (MTBF is 500,000 hours on average). SSD's don't need to worry about heat, and can survive multiple critical power failures.

I believe you mean the flow of positive and negative electrons that send the 1/0 binary signal. Electron flow is constant and doesn't change. A hard drive is limited to R/W capabilities and the SATA/PCI bus speeds (which any SSD in the market today will out perform any mechanical drive that has ever been in production).

You signature leads me to assume that you might not take my word for it so here are some citations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive

http://www.micron.com/products/solid-state-storage

You should be able to use the thunderbolt port to add a few graphics cards using a PCIe external case. Just search "thunderbolt external gpu enclosure" in any major search provider and you will see some answers.

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Originally Posted by jackff

https://forum-ru.msi.com/index.php?topic=78679.0

Here it is possible to replace the video card
see screenshots
Russian forum, see your English forum MSI

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On an Alienware/dell laptop that is designed with that option in mind. OP has a Sony that cannot be upgraded this way.
Nobody said you can't upgrade any laptops graphics, Just that the OP Can't upgrade his.

As far as current laptops out there that can play this game. You can get away with anything that has an AMD A8 or A10 and play
this game fairly well. A6 and lower is only a little better then Intel HD graphics. So that really the option you have for Budget level
laptops. You can at times find sub $700 laptops with actual Graphics cards if you look around but you can find AMD A8's all day long
for $400-$600. Just depends how good you need the graphics to be.

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Originally Posted by gadzi_h

You should be able to use the thunderbolt port to add a few graphics cards using a PCIe external case. Just search "thunderbolt external gpu enclosure" in any major search provider and you will see some answers.

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I've always been really interested in playing around with the external GPU solutions. I know MSI touted the GUS/GUS II as an affordable and compact solution but it looks like they cancelled it: http://www.change.org/petitions/msi-...want-to-buy-it

Bums me out because that seems like such an awesome concept. I know Apple has their own external solution (for a disgusting amount of money that is): http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardwar...card-case-deb/

Sonnet has a more "put together" solution: http://www.sonnettech.com/

I appreciate the replies. Just to reiterate, I got the laptop primarily for work purposes a week ago, but maybe I'll see what the return policy is and just eat the fee for restocking.

I'd love to have the game on the go, and if I can find something better suited for gaming, that would be perfect.

I've never been tech savvy with graphic card side of computers so I always figured speed trumped most things, especially a computer with nice 1080 display.

I'll look into options this weekend. Luckily I haven't done anything with the computer yet other than playing around with FFXIV options......priorities :-D

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Originally Posted by scootie12

I appreciate the replies. Just to reiterate, I got the laptop primarily for work purposes a week ago, but maybe I'll see what the return policy is and just eat the fee for restocking.

I'd love to have the game on the go, and if I can find something better suited for gaming, that would be perfect.

I've never been tech savvy with graphic card side of computers so I always figured speed trumped most things, especially a computer with nice 1080 display.

I'll look into options this weekend. Luckily I haven't done anything with the computer yet other than playing around with FFXIV options......priorities :-D

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Look around for a mid end machine. Personally, I don't mind "legacy" machines. I have/had an Asus G60Jx that ran XIV just fine (BIOS bricked. Long story filled with frustration and hardware modifications I'll get that sucker back up and running). My testing laptop can run XIV on high (Acer 5560G). There are deals out there (I got both machines above on Ebay) you just gotta look for them and know what you can live with and a deal when you see one.

Happy hunting!

Definitely don't follow the guide that guy posted from the Russian forum. Best bet would be RMA and buy something else. I'm not really sure what's on the market in that price range for laptops these days, so make sure you read a lot of reviews and benchmark results before you buy one.

I was able to exchange my laptop with no issues.

Ended up paying a few hundred more for one with a dedicated graphics card 740, and also upgraded to 16GB RAM etc. now the game plays beautifully and looks awesome. Nice to finally be able to see it on PC running smoothly and looking very detailed :-)

Now I can toggle between PS3 and PC. Only sucky part on PC was having to redo my hear sets and hot bars, but I did it fairly quickly :)

Thanks again everyone

Forgot to mention. The guy that helped me plays FFXIV hahaha

Glad you found a good solution!