Recommend games for Intel graphics :(

Hey all,

I have a laptop with the following specs:

Graphics: Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family
Graphics Driver: 7.14.10.1504
RAM: 2GB
Processor: Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2080 @ 1.73GHz

I know I have a terrible processor and graphics card, so I was just wondering if anyone could recommend any games (probably a couple years old)? I was using System Requirements Lab but turns out their not that reliable cos I've been able to play Tomb Raider: Anniversary even though the graphics card falls well short of the required specs. So I'm not to sure what games I will be able to play, and don't have oodles of money to spend buying games which might not work. Can you guys recommend any good FPS/Adventure/RTS games which would work and are really good (doesn't matter when they were published).

Games I have tried recently which worked:

Sins of a Solar Empire: ridiculously well optimized, runs on Med spec well
Red Alert 3: struggles even on low settings but playable

Thanks.

 

The original Half life seriess. Warcraft II and all it's mods. Age of empires II. Quake III and UT. The list goes on and on.

 

The Intel site has put up a list of games that are compatible with your card. You might want to check there: http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/intel945g/sb/CS-020666.htm

 

Cheers guys, yeah checked out the Intel list but it isn't very comprehensive especially for older golden classic games. Played the half life series -brilliant. And the WarCraft series as well. Looking for some recommendations probably anytime after WarCraft III was published.

 

same spec as my fujitsu and i managed to play loads.
the orange box
infernal (just finishing this today and think its a great game)
hit man
alpha prime
attack on pearl harbour

easiest way is to have a look through the 40 pages of the steam sale HERE
and also try this Can You Run It. this is old software now but still is great for the lower spec computers like yours.

hope this helps

 

Thanks DJ,
was wondering how orange box mite run...on low settings? did you play hitman blood money? cos tried that but for some reason a lot of the game looks "invisible" to me...like the textures on a lot of objects just don't load. how was alpha prime? and finally thanks for the link to the steam sale...looks pretty sweet

 

yep it was hit man blood money. i had no problems with bits looking invisible.
i downloaded the demo from steam to check before i bought it.
try downloading alpha prime from steam on demo even though its only a couple of $ to buy.

i was also quite surpised how the orange box played.all on low settings but still managed to play it. it was only for a few weeks while i waited for my sager after sending my alienware m15x back.

 

sweet.thanks bro

 

both of the Kotors

 

like you, im also running x3100... no doubts you can play any titles but it will only cost you fps.
I can run gtaIV, nfs undercover, and most recent titles but you get very low fps.
Still trying to optimize carbon for x3100 for better play though

 

KOTOR is awesome, sucks that the new one is gonna be a MMO. Can I expect to play KOTOR on med specs? Also do you guys know of any good adventure games (eg. Grim Fandango or Monkey Island) which have come out recently which would work on my specs. I've played and thoroughly enjoyed Indigo Prophecy and it worked well on med settings.

 

don't want to keep beating a dead horse but was wondering if there are any 3rd party drivers i can download for my gpu as the latest official drivers have actually reduced my gaming graphics while slightly increasing my vista aero graphics.

 

games and intel graphics is an illicit term, and a minimum time of 2 days may be served.

On the upside, most games before mid 2007 on low settings will be fine.

 

yea tell me about it...problem is quite a few games which are incompatible according to Systems Requirements Labs like battlefield vietnam (which fails minimum spec) actually work so its a pain trying to sort the games which would work. but yea should have got steam a long time ago...the built in demo feature is a life saver...

 

oh battlefield 2 if it will run.

 

If games are unplayable, you shouldn't give false hope. No recent title runs half decently on an X3100.

 

no one lives forever 1 and 2 !!

i love these two you should be able to play the first one easily, second one on reduced settings

 

Red Faction and Serious Sam. I was stuck with a PM855 two years ago, and that's what I lived on.

 

serious sam has really good graphics for surprisingly low system requirements

its a really funny game, good way to de-stress

 

GTA IV? Ha! You wish... No offense. But seriously. I can't even dream of running GTA IV beyond 10 FPS with everything on low on my laptop.

I second No One Lives Forever 2. I just got it yesterday. Really awesome and the requirements are really light. Serious Sam 2 is okay but may give your Intel GPU a workout. NOLF2's missions are fairly lengthy though. I still don't know how long the game actually is. I'm past the first two missions, the one in Japan then Siberia and they it took me a single 4 hour sitting to finish them. BTW, just a tip, you'll encounter a lot of searchable things in NOLF. Make sure you search everything! You'll find little tidbits of humor everywhere. Don't miss them!

 

Thanks. Yeah did some digging and seems like NOLF2 is gold. Will definitely be searching through the entire game for power ups. Thanks. Heard Serious Sam 2 was a very simplistic game? Will check it out...whatever works! Now if I can only find decent copies on eBay.
Hahaha yea, I can only dream about playing GTA IV on my lappy but my 360 runs it well enough...or it used to... thing red-eyed on me. Haven't played Red Faction since the PS2 days. Loved it though so will probably give it a shot. Anyone know if any of the games mentioned above has any kind of active online community?
I remember playing Battlefield 1942 about 2 years ago and it still had a fair amount of servers. If only Battlefield 2 would work!!!! . Also do any of you guys know whether Jade Empire would work with my specs? Thanks guys.

 

serious sam names are confusing
you have

serious sam
serious sam second encounter
serious sam 2

you should be able to play the first two easily, but the last one you'll struggle....maybe on min settings

i liked both NOLF and NOLF2...but i think you might have to run NOLF2 at reduced settings. the frame rates will plunge when you have any snow/rain

also, 2 really old games, but i still love playing them : c&c:tiberian sun and the original starcraft and brood war expansion hehe...


maybe max payne? might have to use reduced settings.

 

oh yea, i did encounter problems gaming with the x3100, i think due to driver compatibility issues. sometimes objects dont appear, or you get messed up graphics....some titles really dont like it. there was one level in NOLF that i got stuck in because of that

 

Spore is a great game that can ideally run on integrated graphics

 

Yup played spore worked just fine. Not as good as I hoped but still pretty good. Anyone know if Tiberian Sun and StarCraft are compatible with Vista? Will NOLF2 run alrite with mid spec?
Anyone know any dated game with a strong online community (pls no CS) and anybody know whether Jade Empire would run? Thanks

 

Guild Wars should run just fine on med, and has a very strong community

 

I can play Starcraft fine on Vista without having to change any compatibility stuff. Tiberian Sun should work too, because I have Red Alert 2 installed on my comp and they're basically the same game with different units and story

 

diablo 1 and 2

red alert 1 & 2

just be careful of the heat build up. get a good cooler to keep the temps down.

 

No offense but i find that hard to believe, your running gtaIV even at low setting unless you call less than 10fps (a sideshow imo) playable even nfs undercover is poorly optimized as well.

@ original poster yeah there is quite a few older games that can be run quite efficiently on your card. I also vouch on the halflife engine as the scalability on this is very good even serious sam which is a fun game and decent graphics..

 

C&C Renagade

 

Thanks insane, will buy them right now. Will Guild Wars really work well? I know WoW works fine, but heard Guild Wars looks far better than WoW. C&C Renegade any good? And finally will the diablo series really push the laptop that much to overheat it? And how is it's online community?
Finally any1 know abt Jade Empire? Thanks.

 

Oh any good action RPGs which mite work? Obviously like Jade Empire? Thanks guys.

 

I think Jade Empire might be pushing it, although it MIGHT be able to run on insanely low graphics =/

Guild Wars doesn't use a very strong graphics engine, so it should run fine at medium-low settings. I can play Diablo 2 fine on my computer and while it does feel like the fan is working a bit harder during the game, I don't really feel any temperature change (I'll go download speedfan tonight and I'll give you a solid answer soon )

Oh BTW you can always play KOTOR for an RPG

 

Thanks insane, I'd be surprised if Diablo 2 really heated about the fans cos its a pretty old game.
Was looking forward to playing Jade Empire again, good story and good action. Will probably order Guild Wars soon then, heard good things about it and the screen shots look quite good. Plus it's free, always important.
Insane, I finished the original KOTOR for the Xbox a couple years back. Loved it. Instant classic. Haven't played it in forever so will likely get that and KOTOR 2 as well.
Heard a couple of months ago that some fans were modding KOTOR2 so that it would have a cohesive ending...any idea what happened to that. On a side note...KOTOR 3 a MMO? Poor, poor choice Bioware.

 

Counter Strike (the original one, the one referred to as 1.6) should run well, but you'll find that all the pros will be on there.

Source should run fine with some configuration.

 

My old laptop had similar specs (1.6GHz Core 2 duo, Intel 945GM, 2GB DDR2-667) and the few games that I could play on it were:

Age of empires 3 (high textures, everything else on low. 1280x800 res)
Empire Earth 2 (low, 1024x768)
Halo (low, 800x600)
Unreal Tournament (All high, 1280x800 )
Unreal tounament 2004 (low settings, 800x600)

I tried Sins of a solar empire, but it was practically unplayable, at 19fps.

 

I have the same Intel 945 on my laptop and i can play Day of Defeat source, Half Life, Half Life 2, Counter strike, Counter Strike CZ, Counter Strike Source, and Garry's Mod.

 

Ok so with Diablo 2 my CPUs ran at about 60C which is completely fine, so it doesn't heat up the comp that much

 

I have the same exact integrated GPU and I have an even slower processor 2020 1.6ghz.

Ive managed to play Quake III Arena and its mods without any problems (western quake urban terror)

I also can play BF1942 and its mod Desert Combat easily.

I also play this MMORPG Mabinogi, runs smooth.

I also play counter strike 1.6 (steam and nonsteam crack)...I tried a cracked version of source and it ran like .5 FPS.... There was at least a 5 second lag which sucked so Im glad I didnt just buy source.

Rune is also a nice game , hack n slash.

 

im surprised nobody suggested soldier of fortune 2! (the gold addition).
One of the best FPS for the X3100.
I mean the graphics look crisp and with the ability to blow up bits of human bodies (I like to de-scalp my enemies) combined with a ton of weapon mods and randomized missions (apart from the main game) it is a game with virtually unlimited replay value.

Other games I like to play:
-Postal 2 (download the week in paradise mod!)
-System shock 2 (MULTIPLAYER!!!!)
-Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time and majora's mask
-Morrowind (a staple of FPS RPG)
-Ultima VII (One of the best open world games for its time)
-Freelancer
-Unreal tournament (with mods of course)
-Planescape torment (A tearjerker to say the least)
-Balder's gate 1 and 2 (also amazing)
-Deus Ex (the first one)
*Note, these games should run perfectly on the X3100

Games pushing it:
-Deus Ex 2 (though playable, it is quite short)
-Far Cry

I hope you guys play a few of these games! Im sure you wont be dissapointed.

 

See games here:

www.gameeer.com

They are games that work on the Eee, which have GMA 950 GPU with a meager Atom 1.6 GHz or Celeron 900 CPU, so any CPU faster should play better.

 

Thanks insane for the temp. Just ordered Diablo. Avanish, I have no idea how you couldn't play sins, it works well even with some settings set to medium. AoE3 seems to be a well optimized game, will definitely buy that in the future. Finally Deus Ex! I've read around and its looking like a brilliant game...was wondering if anyone knows if its Vista compatible? Also the Gameeer.com site was great thanks htwingnut.