Seeking Suggestions on Laptop

[Khadawaru]

After playing this PC on low settings on a laptop with an ATI graphics card versus my desktop's NVIDIA graphics card, I feel as though it's time for an upgrade.

I'm wondering if anyone has a 3D laptop that runs this game at medium (8) graphics just fine. I'm currently looking at the Sony Vaio VPC-F215FX (specs below). I specifically want a 3D laptop for other games, and yes I'm buying into that fad because it's cool to "live" in Skyrim. But I specifically want to make sure I can at least run FFXIV (in 2D) before continuing.

Sony Vaio VPC-F215FX
2.0GHz Intel Core i7 2630QM
6GB 1333MHz DDR3
Nvidia GeForce 540M

Dell XPS 17
2.0GHz Intel Core i7 2630QM
6GB 1333MHz DDR3
Nvidia GeForce 550M

I know, the Dell XPS 17 is more powerful hands on the GPU, but will that 10 digits make a noticeable difference in performance?

[tymora]

Any M card sucks for this game - Maybe 2.0 will help but don't get your hopes up just yet.

[Khadawaru]

Any M card sucks for this game - Maybe 2.0 will help but don't get your hopes up just yet.

Is it M cards or just ATI cards? My ATI card runs very poorly, but I've seen on forums that generally ATI ranks lower in FFXIV as a whole compared to nVidia. I've seen a few posts where people are using laptops that run FFXIV full screen at normal resolution and even found a few images and videos that reaffirmed that as well. I just don't know how much of a difference the 10 digits really make. I made the same cut when picking my desktop's card and haven't noticed any performance issues.

[Vanguard319]

I have an ASUS G73 laptop, it has the same chipset, similar RAM, an Nvidia GTX 460M graphics card, and runs the game well enough at standard settings. I would assume that as long as you aren't trying for highest settings, either one of those laptops would work.

[Dhalmel]

edit misread the post as it seems you have a desktop that's playable with FF14.

A better question is why only nvidia only and why 3D? AMD's chipsets are just as good and you're going to be bound to a power outlet when gaming and when using passive 3D mode.

If you want 3D dont even waste your time with small laptop screens. Buy a Nvidia 3D vision kit and a 120hz monitor.

[Darkscorpion]

what you really want to make sure with the GPU(graphics video) on the Laptops on these date is that they are dedicated and no dynamic, if they are dedicated then you should be able to run the game on middle to high performance.

[Zenaku]

Any M card sucks for this game - Maybe 2.0 will help but don't get your hopes up just yet.

2.0 is going to make it so people with laptop can play the game so with both the laptop he can play the game without problem the only issue i see is how many players can he display before the Laptop can't take it.

[Antipika]

Any M card sucks for this game - Maybe 2.0 will help but don't get your hopes up just yet.

Not really, especially if you take high-end and/or SLI "M cards". A 580M SLi is faster than a 560Ti... A 580M is faster than a GTX460, which is already more than enough to play XIV... So yeah these cards suck a lot of power and you are pretty much forced to play while connected to a power outlet.

A 570M = HD5770, and still pretty decent.

[Khadawaru]

edit misread the post as it seems you have a desktop that's playable with FF14.

A better question is why only nvidia only and why 3D? AMD's chipsets are just as good and you're going to be bound to a power outlet when gaming and when using passive 3D mode.

If you want 3D dont even waste your time with small laptop screens. Buy a Nvidia 3D vision kit and a 120hz monitor.

I’m looking strictly at nvidia for the 3D capabilities because I want a 3D computer. Yes, it’s a fad, but I’ve fallen for it after seeing a few other games and movies in 3D and I’m getting a little tired of the red/blue 3D on my desktop.

I have a few issues with the AMD chipsets...

I bought a computer strictly because FFXIV would not run properly on it since that computer was 5 years old, one can tell why it didn’t work. It’s an i7 with an AMD Radeon HD 6570M 1GB, which *should* for all intents and purposes run FFXIV without any issues issues on normal settings; however, in-game no matter where I am the game is jittery on normal settings with both DOF and AO disabled. One can see why this would be a great disappointment when my desktop with an nvidia 260gt runs it just fine. I can only attribute the lag to it being a mobile chipset of AMD.

The second issue I have with AMD chipsets is that they do not natively support 3D gaming. They require 3rd party software, that may or may not work whereas nvidia develops both the software and hardware.

Yes, I realize that SE will be making the graphics more accessible in 2.0, but I experience the exact same issue in Skyrim. In order for it to be playable on my laptop, I have to have the game on lowest settings. Granted, the graphics there are still very good - particularly when compared to the FFXIV settings - it's more the principle of "my computer doesn't do what I want it to." I already have the laptop set to “high performance,” so it’s not an issue of power saver being on. And the power supply issue is not a problem since I do that already while on the go.

[Delsus]

I use a laptop with an ATI mobility radeon HD 5470 and with windows aero switched off it runs FFXIV on normal settings fine, however with windows aero switched on I would lag alot, perhaps you should try that, right click the FFXIV icon, properties, go to the compatibility tab and check disable desktop composition which will switch aero off while the game is running and not hogging your graphics resources.