so does F.E.A.R. game on your laptop

I tought it would be amusing to see how does the demanding F.E.A.R. game score on your laptop! Please include in your reply :

NOTEBOOK CONFIG
Brand & model/CPU/RAM/graphcard/HD space and RPM

FEAR SETTINGS AND SCORES
resolution/graph options/score in FPS (mutiple games configs/score if wanted)

 

My Notebook: Sager NP-5320
1.86GHz Pentium M, 256MB Radeon X700, 2GB DDR2-533 OCZ Ultra Performance in Dual Channel, 80GB 5400RPM Samsung Spinpoint - Serial ATA interface and 8MB cache.

Res:800x600
Settings: All set to "Maximum", and 4X Antistrophic. Avg: about 44FPS. Catalyst Mobility 5.11 drivers. Playable all the time, no slow downs. Stays in the high 30's-low 40's framerate-wise most of the time.

 

My Notebook: Dell Inspiron 9300
1.86GHz Pentium-M, 256MB GDDR3 GeForce Go6800, 2GB PC2-4200 533MHz Dual-Channel, 100GB 5400RPM Fujitsu HD (UATA).

Res: 1440x900 (screen native)
All Settings to Maximum, Soft Shadows (A SM 3.0 Extenension) on, 2x AF - fully playable through and through.

If I turn SS off, I can crank AF and AA up to 4x each and maintian the nearly same frame rates. Proof of how poorly executed SM3 is on current cards.

 

I'll find out later next week and post back.

 

i've only played the demo so far...not sure if the full game is worth it or not

 

Confirmed : game is huge fun. Intense, violent and graphically awesome. Graph engine is demanding, obviously poorly programmed. Or it's a $$$ deal with nvidia... not sure!

 

Any FEAR testers ? Integrated graph owners maybe ? Dare to ?

 

Prestigio 1590W/[email protected] (overclock is a feature in BIOS)/2GB RAM/Ati x700 128MB + Intel GM900/Toshiba 60GB 5400 RPM

On max settings (aniso 2x, fsaa 2x, textures medium) plays well at 800x600.
Overclocked gives 30% better performance, so I play it at 1024x768 or 1280x800 with fsaa off. I always want shadows, light at least medium and max particles etc. fsaa is the biggest speed factor. I believe that new drivers/patches would make this game faster on ati cards. Sometimes game renders very fast, and sometimes I can see a big slowdown on some parts of the map. Multiplayer is visibly faster than single gameplay. More details are here.

Just for fun, I played (who dares, wins?) FEAR on integrated GM900 (there is a switch for integrated or external card). 800x600 on minimum works (only effects and decals on medium). 640x480 ( ) can sustain all medium (shadows and all). But if I leave it on autodetect it works at 800x600, and it turns on pixel doubling (I turn it off). Again - some areas are pretty fast, and some are, well, slideshow. It can be played, with a bit of a nerve. Autodetect also sets DX8 shaders, and GM900 is supposedly a DX9 GPU.

Another observation: If I turn on BIOS enhanced performance mode (FSB at 140 MHz - 5% overclock) GM900 gives tadaam 180 3dmark05 (no i didn't watch it). Otherwise 170.

 

Wow native resolution with your X700! Does your ATI stay cold ?

By the way, who is making Prestigio laptop ?

 

Hi cyberderf,

Do you mean 1280x800? My native LCD res is 1680x1050, and 1280x800 is the "smallest" widescreen that I can set up in FEAR (higher resolutions are not so playable if you know what I mean)
...
COLD certainly not. Actually I'm a bit worried about the temp that Everest is giving to me. X700 fully in action is around 100 degrees C. Without overclocking. Overclocked it gives almost the same. I might start a thread and ask people what temperatures they get.

Prestigio is I believe an Uniwill barebone sold overhere (Croatia, Europe, Davis Cup winners... ) under Prestigio brand. Check www.prestigio.com. Actually the model code under the notebook says 259EA1 and that is similar to other Uniwill models, but I couldn't find exactly that model on their pages. Ati BIOS header also gives Uniwill and IBM(?) names.
Cheap (relatively to other brands), robust and fast. I could choose whatever I wanted (even what stickers!). And the craziest thing was a big sticker underneath that holds a "Made in Europe" line instead of big sticker that is already there with "Made in China". Ha Ha

 

ok chazman and lowlymarine how do u run FEAR at that? i have only 1 gig of ram and the same graphics card as Lowlymarine? did u overclock or somethin else?

 

Asus Z70Va
1.86GHz Pentium M, 128MB Radeon X700, 2GB DDR2-4200, 80GB 5400RPM Hitachi.

Don't have exact numbers, but I was able to play without any glitches.

 

I haven't really looked too much, but my fps is kinda all over at 1600x1200, everything max, no FSAA, antialiasing 2x, and volumetric light density on too. I would say I average 50 or so, but it goes up past 100 at times, and in really intensive areas when I am shooting at everything, it drops down to 20 at times. It runs really smooth though, it doesn't dip down to 20 often.

Also, I still need to update to the latest version. I should do that...

 

overclocked or stock?

 

Holy crap chazman you can hold those framerates with those settings? Not bad, but for an FPS game I would have to say those numbers don't equal smooth playing.

Since you're averaging 44fps your minimum fps must be pretty low, which means stuttering or fps lag while playing. That translates into "floaty" mouse response/feel when moving around. I don't like playing FPS games if the framerates are low.

I too have played the FEAR demo on my laptop, I can't quite remember the video settings, but they weren't high, they were on medium settings I believe and high for other little things with soft shadows off. With soft shadows on it was unplayable, in my opinion because things weren't smooth, you could feel the delay in response when moving your mouse around. My resolution was at 800x600 on my Z70Va with a slightly overclocked x700 at 375/360 GPU/MEM.

I also noticed that the 5.11 catalyst drivers run and look better than the new 5.12 catalyst drivers. I haven't run full tests yet, but looks wise the 5.11 seem to represent colors more vibrantly and the 5.12's look dull and washed out. I'll get back to you guys on this.

All in all, yes you can play FEAR and enjoy it on an x700 128mb on lower settings. If you have 256mb I'm sure you can have smoother gameplay as the extra vram is really helpful for games requiring more texture space.

Cheers,
Mike

 

Sager 5720, 2.6 Sonoma pentium M, 2048mb DDR2/533 ,100gb Sata/150 7200rpm HD, Nvidia 7800 gtx ,17" sxga+[1680x1050] My FEAR performance test results FPS: min-48, max-193, avg-87 FPS Distribution: 0% below 25fps, 0% between 25 and 40 fps 100% above 40 fps. all settings on high res 1024x768x32.

 

That is stock.
I haven't seen the framerates dip below 31. Can't remember my high, but after going to the 5.11 drivers (tried the 5.12's, but was disappointed), I averaged ~44FPS.

Now, I'm running OC'ed at 375/400, and I can play Far Cry at "Very High" settings, 1680x1050 resolution. I will try F.E.A.R. later and post back

 

Whoa ChazMan421, you're running 375GPU and 400MEM? I never tested my max mem, but I wonder if your x700 has different ram modules since you have the 256mb version.

I'm gonna try out that setting and look for any artifacting that may result from running the ram too high.

Cheers,
Mike

 

Yeah -Mike, you have to be careful. I ran into artifacts when I went to 375/410, I found 400 to be quite stable. It is a matter of getting the right Core:Memory combo. I think I'm going to try kicking down the core speed and see if I can bump up the memory. I'll let you know how I make out.

Cheers

 

OK, I made some progress. I managed to get the memory up to 410, and after playing around with the settings a bit more, I actually upped the clockspeed to 380. So, now I have it at 380/410. Anything higher than 415 mem and I got artifacts right away. 410 is stable for now.
EDIT: I am now keeping the memory less than the core after some findings...the GPU just heats up too much with the memory higher. I now have them running at 400:400 stable.

So, I ran F.E.A.R. - now, it is playable at 800x600, 2X AF, med-med-high settings with Soft Shadows (looks awesome), or XGA with just about (all except one or two opts, can't remember what they were) everything turned to the "Maximum". Very cool I must say.

EDIT: Uploaded a few screenshots.

 

ChazMan421...sweet~!!! Gotta love finding out that you can overclock more eh? hahaha

I'm jealous because I couldn't get my baby to use softshadows without fps lag. I'm going to try overclocking to your settings to see if I can hold it stable, but as I mentioned either here or another thread, how do laptops handle power? The power supply for laptops are rated at what? I'm sure it's different per laptop.

The thing is if your power supply provides more power on different lines than mine then you will be able to overclock more and hold a more stable overclock.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Mike

 

I'd be really carful overclocking...remember to keep the core speed less than or equal to the memory, or things could get out of wack. I also recommend getting a notebook cooler pad - you'll need it.

I have a 90W AC adapter, handles everything just fine.

Here are my current settings, seem to work alright (from my previous post):
EDIT: I am now keeping the memory less than the core after some findings...the GPU just heats up too much with the memory higher. I now have them running at 400:400 stable.

I recommend using lesser settings if you're just starting out.

 

yep.. if you GPU got a temp chip, keep an eye on the temperatur, the GPU should never go higher than 105°C the ambient GPU temp should never be above 75°C or it's dangerous!
also think about this, there are some x700 that have ddr1 ram and there are some that come with ddr3.. you can clock your ddr1 ram to 800mhz, suuurreeee.. but how long will they survive that torture?

don't forget that YOU VOID YOUR WARRANTY IF YOU OVERCLOCK so don't go crazy because it's possible... keep cool, if your card comes with a default clock of 350/300, then clocking to 350/350 is the limit i recommend. if you got a card that comes with a clk of 350/350 i assume u got ddr3, then your ram can- no- should handle 800mhz i.e. clock of 400/400 but will the notebook handle the temp the gpu is producing. be careful guys

 

My X700 has has GDDR2 - default clocks of 351/331.

So, how far do you think I can go?

Yeah - another thing. I can't get the temperature monitor to function properly in ATI Tray for some reason..working on that now.

 

can you get it to work in ati tray tools? it's possible that your OEM removed it, the hardware is basically in every GPU but they cut the feature out of the bios.. btw, can you dump your bios for me using ati tray tools or ati tools?
have you got powerplay enabled on your system?

 

Yes - that's the problem, can't get it to work with ATI Tray...the option is grayed out, and no matter what I do (I tried changing all the settings), I can't get it to become an option.

I have powerplay on my X700. When I get home from work, I'll dump it for you. However, let me just tell you that I have an AXIOM (modular) X700 256MB.

 

ChazMan421, I am jealous. You do indeed have different ram modules than us lowly 128mb x700 owners. Your ram is clocked higher as well at default speeds. Lucky duck.

My current settings, which aren't max, but almost there (I'd rather be safe) are 380/370 GPU/MEM. Actual speeds are 378.00/371.25

Cheers,
Mike

 

i have a 6600 go, i think it will play it decently, but im still thinking. my friend has a 6800 in his desktop and he can run it pretty well and says my 6600 wont be able to handle any decent setting, hence a bad gaming experience.

 

I don't know about that BiG_B.

You should be able to play it fine since your 6600 is on par with the x700.

Just play with the settings and tweak your card. You should be fine since FEAR is an opengl game and you know how Nvidia cards run opengl MUCH better than Ati's cards.

Hey you might be able to run the game better than us with x700 cards afer some overclocking.

Cheers,
Mike

 

Agreed with Mike - the Go6600 will handle the game quite well. You won't be able to play at maximum settings - 99% of the video cards out there have trouble with that, especially in a notebook - but you'll be able to play at medium-high or so, 800x600 resolution.

 

ChazMan agreed with me...yay~!

Man I kind of want your Sager now. Since it overclocks higher.

 

Actually Mike, FEAR is a direct3d game. Check
http://www.3dcenter.de/artikel/nvidia_g70_benchmarks/index4.php
Also, there is no gain with new 5.11 ati drivers (the ones with fixed opengl) in FEAR.
Check
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/838/8/page_8_benchmarks_f_e_a_r/index.html

But nvidia 6600 still must be able to perform decently. My friend plays FEAR on old Radeon 9550 and it is OK.

Cheers,

 

you think chazmans ati overclocks high? then check out how you can overclock a x700 that's running on 350/300 on default!
http://www.thegamebooks.com/article:-the-true-performance-gain-overclockers-get!-t18-8.html
you can actually play fear on 1280x800 just fine

 

Quite amazing dutty. I would never push mine that far - he said it's running under 90*C- but that is extremely high...how to kill a GPU.

Thanks for the very interesting read!

 

say what? FEAR is direct3d??? Very strange I thought it was opengl.

Oh well I can't be right all the time, or can I? hrmmm...hahaha

But yes a Go 6600 should play FEAR just fine.

Holy crap dutty, your overclocks are insane. I found out my puppy's max overclock with no artifacts. it's 378/371.25...yes that's all without messing with latencies.

The programs that change memory latencies don't work on my Z70Va. It says adapter not supported or not recognized.

Oh well I'm happy with my baby's performance.

If I find out that she can overclock higher after some changes I will let you guys know

Cheers,
Mike

 

does ati tray tools work for you, shampoo?
most people don't know it, but rabit can actually change your latencies and mem/coreclock in realtime.
http://www.thegamebooks.com/download:-rabit-v17-t30.html
before you can play with latencies, you have to dump your bios with ATI tray tools and then load the bios with rabit, check the "realtime" box and all the sliders will be changed in realtime. once you have found some good settings you can also write them to a bios file and flash your card with it, so you wont have to adjust them everytime.

 

Actually that post about extreme speeds and res @ 1280x800 was mine (also posted on notebookreivew), and because this thread is about FEAR I must say that I went back to 800x600 (all max, only no soft shadows), because framerate is the best, and I actually don't mind the resolution. FEAR action is so intense that I forget about resolutions. I just enjoy better framerate (more than 15 FPS more on max settings) at same res that I already finished whole game on. Somehow FEAR is the game where I don't notice 800x600 resolution, and it doesn't bother me. Of course 1280x800 is great, but sometimes I obviously need more power.

And again I didn't see any more heat produced. For me 415/435 is the overclock setting I will use. Wish me luck.

 

yup your name is also written next to the post... i also play fear on 800x600 - enable antialiasing and it looks nearly as nice as 1024x768

 

dutty...no I didn't mess with Ati Tray Tools since it made my computer crash whenever I tried to access my advanced options menu to get to my control panel for ati.

I'm gonna give it another go sometime later.