New to PC Gaming, Bit of advice please?

Bmi5611 · 05 Aug 2012

Hi guys, I bought a new laptop nearly two weeks ago, mainly for work/college, and also gaming when i'm away in Milton Keynes for block training.
here is the spec of my laptop to my knowledge:

ACER ASPIRE V3-531,
Windows 7 64 Bit Home Premium,
Intel Pentium B970 Processor @ 2.3GHz, 2MB L3 Cache,
8GB DDR3
750GB HDD
Intel HD 4000 Graphics.

I also have Game Booster and Steam installed, if that helps?

I have ordered GTA 4 and a couple of Need For Speed Games, and i am wondering if this laptop will run them? P.S I'm not bothered about picture quality that much, just as long as the games, especially GTA4, run reasonably smooth without lags/glitching etc. it wont be used for games every day, just mainly when i'm away.
If anyone could give me any tips/advice for running them smoothly that would be much appreciated.
Thanks Guys!

Alsisgevat · 05 Aug 2012

Hi Welcome to Seven Forums.

Yes it will run gta4,and nfs. I would suggest ingame settings as a start. Disable bloom,v sync and make anti anilising as low as needed, start with off,then increase for better picture till it starts to get laggy,then switch back to that "sweet spot" Do the same with resolution, you will get a huge bonus on performance if you downgrade the resolution your playing on, so start at the bottom and increase it bit by bit till it looks as good as you want without lagging. Also make sure your graphics is up to date, so download the latest driver for it, update your direct x drivers to the latest and make sure the general drivers on the laptop is up to date. Just note that your laptop will get very hot if you play to long.

smarteyeball · 05 Aug 2012

Bmi5611 said:

especially GTA4, run reasonably smooth without lags/glitching etc.

For GTAIV - disable or use low settings for shadows.

Shadows are a big hit on performance.

As is the draw distance, and vehicle density.

The HD4000 is weak and GTA IV needs pure grunt. overall with some fiddling, you'll be looking at 20-~30 fps.

Bmi5611 · 05 Aug 2012

thanks for the warm welcome and advice guys. i ordered a cooling fanpad as it came with gta 4 as a special offer to help combat the temperature issues. i will let you know how i get on when the games and the fan pad turn up.
thanks guys!

Alsisgevat · 05 Aug 2012

Your welcome, enjoy the gaming!

Bmi5611 · 11 Aug 2012

the games came today, and gta runs a bit lumpy but not badly, and the need for speed games run brilliantly :)
thanks for the help!

The Ironclad · 11 Aug 2012

You have an Intel HD card, like me... You're gonna need something better than that to play any graphic-heavy games.

You will be able to play lighter games, but not more modern things such as Crysis, Skyrim, BF3, etc. And if you can it will have to be low detail and low screen-resolution.

That said, try this to see games you can run:
Can You RUN It | Can I run that game | Game system requirements

Just type one in or select one from the drop-down list to test it. Click the "Can you run it?" button, run the plugin and it will tell you minimal and recommended, and then compare with what you have. It's really helpful.