Is my son right, or is DAD right!! Please help??

rich1976rich

Novice Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2020
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Points
4
Age
47
Location
nottingham
Hello All,

My son keeps pestering telling me he requires a new laptop for this game "Football manger 2021"
Now the problem is i'm no laptop expert infact a complete novice so i keep telling him its fine and the laptop is fine.
His main issue he is reporting his its slow, freezing and lagging.

However i thought i best check given its black Friday etc before its too late to grab a deal anyways, his laptop he has is:

ACER ASPIRE E1-571
Intel Core I5 - 3230M 2.6ghz with turbo boost up to 3.2GHZ
Intel HD Graphic 4000 up to 1760 MB Dynamic Video Memory
8GB DDR3 Memory
750 GB HDD

The game Football Manger requirements from their web page states


Windows 7 (SP1), 8/8.1, 10 (Update 1903/May 2019 or later) – 64-bit
PROCESSOR
Intel Core 2 or AMD Athlon 64 – 1.8 GHz +
MEMORY
4 GB RAM
GRAPHICS
Intel GMA X4500, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT or AMD/ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 – 256MB VRAM
DIRECTX API
Version 11
HARD DRIVE
7GB available space



Apologies on the long message but hoping someone can help me, if i am wrong could some recommend a laptop that will be comfortable playing this game as this is the only game he plays he is obsessed!

Many thanks
 
He is right im afraid, he can tone down the graphics etc but older spinner hard drives are showing their age now too, so i imagine it is running a bit slow
 
the above specs are minimum specs for the game to work, i would hate to play it on those specs
 
Sure, thanks for the reply.
I will have to somehow make an excuse up haha.

I am prepared to buy a new laptop but want a laptop where its going to be decent for him i..e not in a months time going be complaining again, do you have any ideas or recommendations?

Thanks
 
Sure, thanks for the reply.
I will have to somehow make an excuse up haha.

I am prepared to buy a new laptop but want a laptop where its going to be decent for him i..e not in a months time going be complaining again, do you have any ideas or recommendations?

Thanks
He'd be better off with a tower PC so you can upgrade components ie graphics cards. Would work out cheaper than a gaming laptop
 
He'd be better off with a tower PC so you can upgrade components ie graphics cards. Would work out cheaper than a gaming laptop
Totally agree. Laptops aren't the best devices for gaming and upgrading means shelling out for a complete device which is expensive. They aren't as robust and are prone to damage if not handled respectfully. If you have space for a desktop, and if he isn't required to make house calls in his travels a desktop is a better option.
 
I also agree with what is said above although I recently became a laptop person. If your a person who doesn't travel alot the desktop makes more sense but if your a student going to college or other school or have a need to be mobile other than a cell phone the laptop makes more sense. Each one has its pros or cons Im no expert but I hope this helps.
 
Daughter games and streams on Twitch with a not dissimilar laptop. We fitted 8Gb of ram and a 500Gb ssd and for the most part it's totally fine.

She has asked for parts for a gaming PC for Christmas, as a discreet graphics card will allow her to increase frame rates and detail settings.

Some games are more processor dependent than others and do struggle, while another similar will fly along without her laptop breaking a sweat.
 
I guess some laptops are upgradable but its not a easy thing to do.
 
I agree, it's not as easy to upgrade a laptop, but a good percentage allow for more ram to be fitted and almost all can have the drives replaced. The biggest limitation is the graphics card which in most cases cannot be upgraded yet with gaming provides one of the biggest upgrades.
 
Better off with a desktop and you can always upgrade the spec on a budget and quite easy to do..lots of vids on you tube..
Laptops are restricted unless you pay a good wack.
If the purpose is mobility then I'm afraid it's a laptop...otherwise a PC.
 
I’ve not played a game like FM since Champ Man 96/97. I call these games ‘databases with colours’, back when I Played it looked like someone vommed on an Access Database and added some logic and epilepsy inducing flashing banners when someone scored.

I know they introduced some 3d bits in years gone by but I really can’t see them being GPU intensive. Unless they also use GPU processing...

On the basis your laptop is an i5-3xxx you’re looking at a machine that’s about 5-7 years old. Assuming that 750GB HDD Is still original, it’s well past is sell by date! Laptop drives in these kind of devices tend to be slow from the factory, 4500-5400 RPM, and I would never recommend running a spinning disk for more than 3-5 years, unless you have a back up. A failing disk could definitely be represented by ‘lags and locks ups’.

You might get away with sticking a £30-40 SSD in what you have. It’s certainly not going to make things worse, and would make that specific laptop, based on the spec supplied Good for another few years (even if not for FM).

Replacing HDD on devices that still have traditional HDDs has been my go to action/recommendation for the last 4-5 years. Now there’s really no excuse as the price of SSD just bottomed out.

It pains me that they still sell laptops with HDDs these days (mainly those with upwards of 250GB storage, in this <£500 laptop bracket). The result there is a massive trade off in performance, for size. I’d argue at this price bracket you’re not going to be editing large photos/videos, because the spec won’t allow for a pleasant experience. So drives of this size in laptops of this spec must be for Auntie Barbara who wants to store a lifetime of grandchild pics (who will feel the sting in the tail in 2-3 years when the drive fails and she has no cloud backup...)

I hear and understand the cries of get a desktop. The fact they are ‘upgradeable’ does ring true. However in more recent years, desktops and laptops for non-gaming purposes have somewhat aligned (if not in parity, they’re certainly a lot closer in terms of performance).

When comparing a laptop like yours, and I5-3xxxm cpu wouldnt even give 50% the performance of a desktop equivalent i5-3xxx. Laptop processors were crippled due to NM and temperatures they would generate. As above, we’re much more aligned these days in terms of processing power.

The reality of it is that a desktop upgrade IN generation would probably give negligible differences. And that a complete generation switch would probably set you back as much as a new laptop that’s suitable for a year or two.

For example, a desktop requiring a new Mobo/CPU/RAM would probably cost £300-500 (assuming you go mid-high range). [and were ignoring GPU completely here as they can be anything from £50-500 alone]

and a £300-500 laptop of the time, with SSD would probably offer suitable performance in comparison.


Just reading this and it reminded me that there’s in game tweaks you can make to improve performance too, like running only a select dataset (limited leagues etc) - ignore the fact it’s regarding 2018, it doesn’t seem much has changed since 96/97 😂


this is worth a read too


It doesn’t look like FM does GPU processing, so turning down the 3d engine settings would be recommended. Doing this you’ll be venturing close to the line of annoyance in terms of gameplay.
 
Last edited:
Whenever you want to check if the laptop will run a game, go to systemrequirementslab.com and run a check.
 
Hello all

So after some consideration I've decided that I am going purchase my son a new desktop gaming pc.

I've noticed this on costco which cost wise looks good what is everyone opinions please...firstly will it be decent enough to run this god damn game football manager 2021 haha

 
Everything looks ok spec wise but the Graphics card. I don't think is up to the task and really isn't good enough for a modern gaming machine anyway. Not sure what your options are but have you thought about getting a second hand machine? There tend to be a fair few going on here which may suit.
 
To be honest no I havent.
Is there a section, my main issue being clueless on computers is which one suits.

Thank you for the reply.
 
Here is the link to the computer classifieds LINK

Normally they are pretty clear one what's being offered but if your not really sure what your looking for you can can always about the capabilities if you're in doubt. I would start with placing a "Wanted" add with the requirements you have listed above, and go from there. The guys in the forum a pretty knowledgeable and will give you all the help you need to get the right spec machine. At the very least, it won't hurt you to get a better idea of what's out there and what you need.
 
Here is the link to the computer classifieds LINK

Normally they are pretty clear one what's being offered but if your not really sure what your looking for you can can always about the capabilities if you're in doubt. I would start with placing a "Wanted" add with the requirements you have listed above, and go from there. The guys in the forum a pretty knowledgeable and will give you all the help you need to get the right spec machine. At the very least, it won't hurt you to get a better idea of what's out there and what you need.
 
Hi Guys,

Bit of an update i got a few quotes through from 2 local computer stores near us...hopefully you guys can tell me within seconds if these are good or not and secondly am I being ripped off!!

So attachment 150717- quoted me £694 (Ryzen 3400)

Attachment 150836 quoted me £766 (Ryzen 3600)

Look forward to hear all your guys views and opinions on these.

Kind regards
 

Attachments

  • 20210115_150717.jpg
    20210115_150717.jpg
    369.7 KB · Views: 54
  • 20210115_150836.jpg
    20210115_150836.jpg
    435.4 KB · Views: 68
  • 20210115_150717.jpg
    20210115_150717.jpg
    369.7 KB · Views: 47
  • 20210115_150836.jpg
    20210115_150836.jpg
    435.4 KB · Views: 46
Of the 2 the ryzen 3600 is the better option.
 
Ok I've not replied immediately because I've had to mull this one over. I don't think either of these is a particularly good buy. He's only using it for gaming so doesn't need a really powerful machine, and yes these are both AM4 machines with 16gb or ram, so will probably run well outside of gaming, but the graphics card is probably where these rigs fall short. Your just not getting a lot of bang for your buck here.

Hey may be playing football manager 2021 now, but he will be playing other games too and a GTX1650 doesn't have that much horsepower for a wide spectrum of games, especially if you want to give it any degree of future proofing. I always say aim to have the unit for 3 years before you need or want to upgrade and I don't think this one will cut it.

They also only have a single SSD without another standard Hard disk drive (HDD) and that SSD is going to fill up real quick once he starts saving pictures, videos and god knows what on it (but probably not school work). I think both these machines are probably £100 too expensive, but that's just my opinion, but certainly for the more expensive model I would expect a GTX1660 or even a GTX1660 super.

I think something LIKE this LINK is a better bet, it has less RAM (which he probably won't notice so much, but you can easily upgrade more cheaply than a graphics card) but a much better graphics card that he probably will notice. it doesn't have a secondary drive, but again even if you want to do it yourself its a £50 upgrade.

I think your on the right track but I would go for at least a 1660 card since you are buying a new machine, possibly a 1660 super if you can swing it. There are plenty about but you may find you have to trade off a little with one component or another, for something else, plus or minus a few bucks.

Again something LIKE this LINK is closer spec wise, but is a bit more expensive than the better one you had earmarked. Same memory and a better Graphics card, plus a second drive, but the Main SSD is only 240GB.

Its just a coincidence that I've picked two intel machines in my examples. AMD are just as good for gaming and tend to come in slightly cheaper, so look there too. Again I've just submitted these rigs as examples, I'm not saying buy these ones. I found them in all of 2 minutes so a littler searching should reveal quite a bit. Also keep your eye out for second hand machines.

Till next post.
 
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
Ok I've not replied immediately because I've had to mull this one over. I don't think either of these is a particularly good buy. He's only using it for gaming so doesn't need a really powerful machine, and yes these are both AM4 machines with 16gb or ram, so will probably run well outside of gaming, but the graphics card is probably where these rigs fall short. Your just not getting a lot of bang for your buck here.

Hey may be playing football manager 2021 now, but he will be playing other games too and a GTX1650 doesn't have that much horsepower for a wide spectrum of games, especially if you want to give it any degree of future proofing. I always say aim to have the unit for 3 years before you need or want to upgrade and I don't think this one will cut it.

They also only have a single SSD without another standard Hard disk drive (HDD) and that SSD is going to fill up real quick once he starts saving pictures, videos and god knows what on it (but probably not school work). I think both these machines are probably £100 too expensive, but that's just my opinion, but certainly for the more expensive model I would expect a GTX1660 or even a GTX1660 super.

I think something LIKE this LINK is a better bet, it has less RAM (which he probably won't notice so much, but you can easily upgrade more cheaply than a graphics card) but a much better graphics card that he probably will notice. it doesn't have a secondary drive, but again even if you want to do it yourself its a £50 upgrade.

I think your on the right track but I would go for at least a 1660 card since you are buying a new machine, possibly a 1660 super if you can swing it. There are plenty about but you may find you have to trade off a little with one component or another, for something else, plus or minus a few bucks.

Again something LIKE this LINK is closer spec wise, but is a bit more expensive than the better one you had earmarked. Same memory and a better Graphics card, plus a second drive, but the Main SSD is only 240GB.

Its just a coincidence that I've picked two intel machines in my examples. AMD are just as good for gaming and tend to come in slightly cheaper, so look there too. Again I've just submitted these rigs as examples, I'm not saying buy these ones. I found them in all of 2 minutes so a littler searching should reveal quite a bit. Also keep your eye out for second hand machines.

Till next post.

Spot on thanks very much really do appreciate the effort and help your providing
 
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom