GE70 (i7-4700HQ & GTX850M) - Can this run Planetside 2 and how good?

Hey this is my first post to these forums!


MSI Global GE70 0NC

About to buy this laptop.

Here's the desktop requirements for my main game, Planetside 2...

Laptop specifications

I have never owned a laptop before, so I do not know how the laptop specs scale to these desktop ones?:hi2:

Here on my current desktop computer I have some i5 + 8gb RAM + ati 4870, and I can run the game on 1920x1080, 100% render quality, everything medium and I get 40-60 fps. In high population areas (more than 300 players nearby) // big fights, I get 35..

What kind of performance I could expect from this laptop?

 

Which i5 on the desktop? Is it overclocked?

If it's Sandy Bridge or newer I think you can expect around the same FPS on the new laptop but at High-Ultra settings due to the better GPU. PS2 is extremely bottlenecked by single-threaded CPU performance especially in battle so the higher the clock speed the more FPS you will get. You would need a 5-6 GHz Intel to never drop below 60 FPS. AMD CPU's are just trash for this game.

I have the i7-3630QM which is within 5-10% of the 4700HQ and there's nothing I can do to prevent abhorrently low GPU usage and drops down to 25-30 FPS in massive Biolab/Amp Station/Tech Plant fights, Crown Zergs, and while flying ESF/Lib. What's infuriating during these times is that my GPU usage hovers around 50-60% and CPU usage is only 25-30% since the game is brutally hammering just one core. I get almost the same FPS on lowest settings as I do at near max settings so of course I play with most of the graphics settings cranked up with the exception of Render Distance and Shadow Quality which should always be as low as possible or disabled as they are the biggest CPU killers in the game.

You'll get a big performance boost in other games with the new laptop but PS2 isn't one of them because it is just so horribly optimized. On my desktop with i5-2500K @ 4.8 GHz and Radeon 7950 @ 1150MHz/1600MHz I still get regular FPS drops with the game telling me that I am CPU-limited. I can increase GPU usage by maxing out the settings and applying 2x supersampling ( RenderQuality=1.41 in UserOptions.ini) but it doesn't really help at all as far as minimum FPS is concerned.

 

Planetside 2 had a patch yesterday for an 64bit client, performance went down quite a bit with some stuttering. Beside that PS2 need beastly single threaded performance CPU not a high end GPU.

That laptop will be able to run it but don't expect miracles.

 

Is it safe to play now or is the 64-bit client still crashing left and right for everybody? Or has it been pulled for the third (or is that fourth?) time?

I haven't dared to fire up the game since 64-bit came out on Wednesday, not with the countless horror stories coming out of the PS2 Forums and Reddit. And to think that SOE saved this cluster**** for a double XP weekend.

As for performance going down after the update, have you ruled out the game running on your iGPU instead of dGPU? I believe the new exe's downloaded in the patch caused the game to default to the iGPU on all systems with switchable graphics. You have to go into CCC/Nvidia Control Panel and manually set PS2 to run on your dGPU. If that's not the case then it's probably just the typical performance-draining PS2 patch.

I swear, this game has so much potential and is so enjoyable when it works, but most of the time it's more broken than the offspring of BF4 and Bugthesda.

 

Thank you for your replies.

I should maybe have mentioned that I have +1800 hours in Planetside 2 (also spent 190 EUR to ingame money) - it is the ONLY game I play nowadays.. And we're the highest ranking outfit on our side (NC) on our server (Ceres).. I am a crap player but a good teamplayer, always have been, in real life I do hospitality management.. So I am not one of the reasons we're up there but it's nice to have quality, adult team to back you up when you need it.

I know the crap with the 64bit client. On average with this new 64bit client I crash once every 1,5-2 hours... It's not unbeareable but annoying when it hits on a bad spot - like piloting a 3/3 liberator.

It won't stop me playing this game.

Anyhow I think your replies summed it up for me; Instead of buying this new laptop, I should just disassemble my other, better desktop computer (AMD X4 965 black edition, 12gb RAM and ATI 6670 1gb), pack the components well, send them with UPS (or some else packaging service, to avoid using regular mail), and only buy a new case in Barcelona (moving there for the summer)..

This will be a lot cheaper option, than spending 1300 EUR on a laptop that won't be even able to run the game I play. Note the above text about my outfit; we are not some random ghost cappers, you can find us where the battle is white-hot. So getting bad perfomance on bigger fights is a big no-go, even though we won't be in those types of fights all the time - it would suck bigtime if I'd have to face such crap as squad / platoon leader, it would basically make my leading very inefficient if I cannot even run the game proper.

Thanks guys for opening my eyes, really!

PS: You can skip the 64bit client by renaming the 32bit exe if you want, it's easy.

 

The 64-bit client isn't even live anymore. It got pulled and we're back to the 32-bit client but game crashes during every continent change.

i5 & Radeon 4870 is worse than Phenom II X4 965 & Radeon 6670. 6670 is a weaker GPU and AMD CPU's get slaughtered by Intel ones in this game.

You should just keep the desktop and upgrade the GPU and OC the CPU if you can. Which i5 is it?

 

The 64bit, heh, I last played before these easter holidays... And not surprised at all that they pulled it!

The i5 I have on this current computer I am writing now, is Clarkdale.. so 3.2ghz per core.

I will not upgrade anything, I already got too much old computers of mine to get rid of...

 

Clarkdale 3.2GHz...so i5-650/655K dual-core w/Hyper-Threading? That's still gonna be better than the Phenom II X4 for the purpose of this game because of its higher single-threaded performance. PS2 simply doesn't utilize more than 1-2 cores but you already knew that. And even non-K versions of the first-gen Core i- CPU's can be overclocked.

 

Yes its that CPU..

The thing is, this i5 computer is the "home" computer, used mainly by my girlfriend.

And this AMD one is the one I had in my apartment (on my last year of university, just turned 29 a few weeks back)...

So sorry bro no can do with the i5...

Thanks for all the info and help, mate. I really appreciate your efforts.

 

You should at least swap out the graphics cards then. Like I said, the 4870 is quite a bit better than the 6670. And have at it overclocking that Phenom to 4GHz. Believe it or not, the Phenom II's still have higher IPC than the newest FX chips. Yep, AMD is a basket case all right.

 

Getting back to the OPs question, yes those should be just fine. You wont be able to max settings obviously but you will find a medium quality setting that will let you run with the best of fights.

Planetside 2 favors RAM and Disc speed more favorable then anything else. My quad core q6600 with just 4 gb of ram turned into a planetside killer when I installed an SSD because it didn't matter if the game needed to constantly load data, it loaded so fast it was like a 5th ram cache right next to system memory. I havn't played in several months so I am not sure what the drama was with the 64 bit patch.

 

^ If you had read the thread you would see that the OP's question has been answered and they are sticking with a desktop. Please read.

 

No it doesn't. SSD has no affect whatsoever on frame rate, you just spend less time staring at the loading screen. Anything beyond 6GB RAM has no affect in this game as it's a 32-bit app so technically it can only access up to 4GiB (3.73GB) before crashing. Although SOE lowballs and says it crashes around the 3GB mark: https://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/major-live-issues.179848/

Seeing as how the game eats up ~2.5GB as soon as it launches, it doesn't take long before the infamous CTD. Explains why this game is nicknamed CrashSide 2.

Single-threaded CPU grunt is the most important thing which determines your performance in this game. This is a fact. Per Higby:

If you thought World of Tanks was badly bottlenecked by single-core CPU performance, well PlanetSide 2 is a million times worse. Good luck holding a steady 60 FPS in heavy fighting on anything short of a 5-6 GHz i5/i7.

 

Octiceps, you do know framerates drop when data isn't loaded fast enough right? I was running 4gb which for ps2 is kind of on the low side, so I was finding my frame rates come to a grinding halt on galaxy drops as I attempted to quickly load in a whole new battle. With SSD most (but not all) frame rate drops caused by not loading data quickly enough disappeared. The system was still hitting the drive like mad because of low memory, but loading was so quick that the frame rate loss was minimal.

 

Wow, more replies! Thanks guys!

My bad on the graphics card for the desktop. I checked it and it is 6870 on "my" desktop. So I guess I'd be taking that, in case I resort to taking the desktop.

Also have started to look for IT rental companies, and possible gaming internet cafes, with little luck.

My PS2 outfit mates are saying this:

And those laptops are the mentioned MSI GE70 and ASUS G750

So I have now contradicting information and I am going craaaaaaazy

Pressure is building everyday, as of today I have 12 nights to make a decision.

Maybe I should start looking for some loonie house to book myself into instead, I am sure I'll end up there before this computer stuff has been sorted out....






EDIT:

g750, the model that is stocked by a local IT store (there's obviously many variants)

Just for the reminder the MSI was:

 

That's stuttering caused by disk thrashing due to excessive page file/RAM swapping not low FPS. Not the same thing. I have a mechanical drive and adequate RAM and get nothing of the sort.

LOL 6870 is a waayyy better GPU than 4870, to say nothing of 6670. It's better than GTX 850M/860M. Why downgrade yourself?

Your outfit mates are BS'ing you. 70 FPS maxed out in a humongous battle in an enclosed space is impossible on anything short of an LN2-cooled i5/i7 @ 5-6 GHz. Look on YouTube. Is there anyone whose frame rate counter is showing such performance in a massive Zerg? That's right, because it doesn't exist.

There isn't a laptop under two grand that can outperform my desktop and it can barely hold 45 FPS when things get busy. My notebook has basically an identical CPU to the ones you're looking at and it can barely hold 30 FPS minimum. That's the kind of performance you can expect out of those laptops.

There's another avid PS2 player on this forum by the name of vulcan78 who plays on an AW M18x R2 with i7-3920XM and 680M SLI everything OC'ed. PM him if you wanna hear him b*tch about how this game looks and runs like sh*t even on his admittedly beast of a laptop.

 

Why downgrade?

Well, I dont have the original boxes of the components left anywhere - ofc I could buy some other boxes. But also I don't know if I trust my packaging skills enough. And the processor heatsink. I don't know what I did wrong but it took me freaking 6 hours to install and almost broke the mobo while trying. So let alone taking it off and having to reassemble it twice kinda scares me. Its a HUGE heatsink (I do not have a processor fan at all) as a side mention.

You might be right about the BS, as this guy owns two Alienware laptops (fully kitted out maxed out) and has no experience with the said equipment.

 

What do you mean by "original boxes?"

Passive CPU cooler?! ROFL. You should at least get a CM Hyper 212 EVO or something. That's what I have.

 

Wait, what? Yes, that is the cause of my disk thrashing which in turn kills my frames per second. Are you really arguing for the sake of arguing? FPS can be brought down by any number of things, including disk thrashing. And I didn't say the primary cause was a mechanical drive, the primary CAUSE was my low amount of ram. I partially SOLVED the issue with an SSD which lessened the impact the CAUSE had on my fps.

 

How is your issue relevant to the discussion here? The systems in question all have more than adequate RAM.

Before you got sidetracked I was simply pointing out the fact that low FPS in this game is most likely caused by CPU bottleneck. Hitching is a whole separate topic related to memory management.

 

It was relevant because you don't actually need a super serious system to get good frame rates out of planetside, and that planetside mainly just needed a lot of memory and maybe even an SSD to be ontop of everything. My old system compared to todays mid range game machines was getting long in the tooth and I know my Q6600 is nothing compared to todays intel procesors (and the 2.6ghz per core really rubs with planetsides 2's single core dependence) but I found that an SSD alone (my first purchase before my complete overhaul last fall) really made a colossal difference in planetside.

 

Okay boys stop the fight :hi2:

Its over

I mean this whole thread

After taking my afternoon pipefuls

I pipe dreamed to some "ebay" like site

Ended up getting this:

This one: https://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/ASUS_ROG_G750JH/

Why? It was sold at 450 EUR // 620 USD // 370 GBP cheaper than what it currently costs in my country, and it is brand new unused. Buying stuff from crackheads? Nah, this one has full warranty, unopened packages AND A STORE RECEIPT. I am fairly certain I can sell it again in 3 months at almost the same price that I bought it, if I want to.

Thank you for your efforts to help, everybody!

 

Nice! You know you are still gonna be badly CPU bottlenecked with that setup, right?

Anyway, let us know how the game runs when you receive the laptop, if you receive it. Since you didn't link to where you found it and it seems like a really great deal, well, it could be scam for all you know.

 

This one: ASUS G750jh-t4050h 17,3" kannettava tietokone Ei HV! - 1250 € - Kannettavat tietokoneet - Tietokoneet - Tietotekniikka - Huuto.net - (suljettu)

 

Must be an open box or refurb if it's this cheap. Sorry, Google Translate is not being very helpful with the Finnish. Anyway, congrats on a great find and keep us posted. :thumbsup:

 

Ah the amount of pessimism

Man, no offense but be more positive... really, NO OFFENSE, THE OPPOSITE.

Feel the love, brother.

I could die any moment

Any day

I've had this crap since birth

So I have no other intention than to tell you the truth

And love is the answer

Embrace it, do not fear it

...

I know how crap google translate is with finnish, the thing is that for good translating you need a human being able to think. It's sad and hilarious with google translate. It the recent years it has gotten better but when they started trying to translate finnish some years ago... It was even on the news here how bad it was.

Anyhow, WHY IS IT CHEAP?

Well it is not because it's some open box or refurbishment...

His friend got this as a wedding gift and he does not game at all and has already some apple laptop. All the seals and everything unbroken and unwrapped.

So yes, it is a dream come true? But I got it through love. Just through loving the world, and everybody.

Sounds crazy but I truly got it after going ex tempore to this guy's door who caused some 6 years of hell in my life (the actual physical/mental violence part, I took some 10 years to heal completely) to forgive him.

Here in Finland we have a saying...

The forest answers just like you shout in it.

So shout about love.

 

LOL whaaa?!

 

64-bit client just got re-enabled again and it is AMAZING. No more crashes and micro-hitches. I was holding 60 FPS constant in a Bio Lab 48+ vs. 48+. That's a 100-200% improvement compared to the 20-30 FPS I was getting before. So stoked!

 

Played today 1-2h no crashes, performance seems better overall, gonna test some more.