Best Graphic Settings?

Hi everyone, sorry if I posted this in the wrong place.

I recently bought this G51jx ASUS laptop. And since it's known as a gaming laptop, I've been trying out several games such as Red Alert 3, Command and Conquer 3 and Need for Speed Shift.

Now the question is, how do I know how high to set the graphic settings? I've tried out several settings, and realised that for games like Red Alert 3, if I set the resolution or graphic settings too high, the gameplay will lag. But does lagging = unplayable?

Also I would like to know whether setting the graphics too high will damage the graphics card. And if it will, how do I know whether it's damaged? Are there any signs or warnings? I really don't want anything to go wrong since it's just bought recently...

I'm quite new to this kind of things, so I would appreciate if anyone could help.

 

Hey Brah! Welcome to the ASUS club. In your ATI Catalyst control Center, put your slider to the max for "quality" rather than performance. Then just tweak things with each games video settings. I find this the best for visual graphics with ATI cards. Happy gaming.

ps. dont worry about "damaging" you graphics card..they have temp limits, and will shut down when you reach them

 

running at higher graphics settings doesn't really make the graphics card work harder. it is basically working as hard as it can all the time. it will take longer to render each frame if the settings and resolution is higher, which will mean less frames / second (this can make the game laggy)

unplayable is up to you to decide. most people like to get at least 30 frames / second in RTS type games.

 

The GTS 360m should be able to punt around Red Alert 3 with no problems at all. What's the native resolution of your screen, by the way? If it's 1080p, you mgiht need to lower some settings, like shaders and shadows.

If 720p, you should be fine with everything set to max.


And concerning damage, high heat damages your card. Just make sure to monitor temperatures if you're worried about about damage.

He has an nVidia card, not an ATI one.

 

u should be able to play games on high settings...but if u can , return it and get G73.. it will own G51JX...

 

I see. So I don't need to worry about the graphic card getting damaged, no matter how long I run the game? I guess as long as the game runs smoothly everything is ok?

Thanks. I've tried with the resolution set to 1920x1080, which is the resolution of the monitor, and set the graphic presets to High (lower than ultra high) and it still lags a bit. I tried with 720p and it runs with no problem. Does resolution play a bigger part than graphic settings?

About the heat damage, are there any preventive measures? I'm using a cheap cooler pad currently, but not sure whether if it's enough.

Wow, 17.3 inch screen? I think a laptop so big doesn't really serve the purpose of a laptop already, haha. I don't think it's available in my region yet though. Besides, I won't be able to buy any new ones for a few years. Getting this one already cost me a lot...

 

For years I limited myself to 14.1" (normal and best IMO) and then 15.6" (widescreen). Same reason, thought defeat point of laptop.

With this 17.3" I still use it everywhere in the apartment, the bed, couch, kitchen table, living room (for music/video).

I transport to work every work day, and I use it most of the time on the train ride.

You would be surprised since 17.3" laptops are not as bulky and heavy as they once were.

 

Yes, because the higher the resolution the more pixels the GPU will have to handle per frame. Some people are more comfortable with higher resolutions and low-mid settings, while some other prefer the extra nice effects at the cost of a lower resolution. Is up to you to decide.

 

An exception is with lower settings its possible and even sometimes common to reach a cpu bottleneck because the card is able to work so easily that the cpu cant keep up, then the gpu gets a break.

Some games do work the gpu harder than others, games like crysis may have it up near 100% load at all times resulting in more stress and heat than say team fortress 2 may cause even without the effects of a cpu bottleneck.

Lets not even get in what furmark and stuff can do

 

Hmm, what's a CPU bottleneck?

So actually when playing games with high graphic demand like those, it does actually stress the graphic card? Many hours of continuous play is not recommended?

 

It is where the cpu is running at the peak of its capabilities, and is the component that is limiting the framerates.

And tbh i don't see why continuous hours of play are bad, as long as temperatures are reasonable. Although i played many an hour on mine and it died, but i did OC it occasionally to handle games that would otherwise have been unplayable, but you should be fine. GAME TIL UR EYES FALL OUT I SAY

 

Well usually my laptop is kind of quiet, so it scares me when I hear the sound of the fan inside the laptop suddenly getting bigger. It's like, "omg is there something wrong?"

I guess I better maintain it well by cleaning the vents regularly~

 

No, the sound of the fan spinning faster means that more heat has been produced, and the fan is expelling it.