computer games on your SZ

primarily, I want to splurge on an SZ so that I can play some 3D gaming on a light weight laptop which I could easily take round to my friend's place/ university wireless zone and belt out a few rounds of counterstrike:source etc.

I was wondering how people's experiences with the SZ and playing games on it has been? I'm used to a 15" screen, so am worried about the relatively smallness. Has this bothered many people? Is the screen nice and sharp? Is it a good little machine for gaming purposes? I know it's no high end games machine, but from people who've owned an SZ for a while now and have tried some 3D gaming on it, how does it bode?

Thanks

Canon :sony:

PS. I don't expect anything from the speakers, but does the dodgy keyboard take anything away from the gaming experience?

 

it runs well and large enough. I play call of duty 2 and im sure CS will run on it fine w some tuning.

 

I play wow, and I can run at 1280x800 with gfx on max. It's playable.

 

Any of you run BF2, if so on what settings

 

I'm playing neocron on mine at 1024x768 without any problems. Works fine in bnoth speed and stamina modes, although I am unsure if the switch actually does anything in my SZ as I get the same FPS (average 80) in both graphics modes...

 

I tried to install Black and White 2 earlier today and it crashed on install..... haven't tried since, but i am also curious to see what other people have loaded and played on an SZ

 

Total war ROme runs well.... and Battle of middle earth 2

 

any played obilvian on their SZ yet?

 

A buddy of mine has a 4 Ghz rig with a video card so big it takes up three PCI-E slots.

And it STILL doesn't run Oblivion well enough.

So... I don't think that game is a good benchmark

 

Hmmm, maybe i should test the game on my desktop. Im not really into pc games but i just thought oblivian might be fun since im gonna have this little notebook with me all the time.

Here are my desktop specs:

DFI LanpartyUT NF4 SLi-DR Venus #118 Bios Date - 3/29/06
AMD FX-60 0536 RPMW
Team Xtreem Cronus 2GB (UCCC)
Evga 7900GTX 512MB EGS
Western Digital Raptor 150GB
Western Digital Raptor 36GB
Western Digital Caviar 250GB
NEC 3550A (x2)
Silverstone ST60F
Vapo Li Phase change tower

If i cant run it maxed out with this........then i know its a no go for the SZ.

Wish me luck guys

 

It is playable, but you really have to cut back on the bells and whistles.

 

I have run:

Doom 3
Call of Duty 2
Black & White 2
Star Wars Empire at War
FarCry

ALL run fine, no problems at all. Most run at full resolution on high settings, with the exception of Call of Duty 2. I would install Oblivion but I have a Journal to finish... maybe when I'm done.

 

I have played:
Rome: Total War
Winning Eleven 9

With everythingturned on.

Hald Life 2 on average settings.

and Oblivion with averagesettings, cept when there is alot of action, where I have to reduce the draw distance to as close as possible. But whenyour walking around the world you can but the draw distance on maxand enjoy the view. But yea ifthere 2+ enemies you have to reduce the draw distance as much as possible ifyou do that there is no notecialbe lag.

 

I play CounterStrike: Source on it all the time. It runs very smoothly so long as the texture detail of the terrain is reduced to "medium" (frankly, I can't tell a difference between medium and high anyway so tis a major plus.) In summary, this laptop is the ****e.

 

I just installed and fired up "Far Cry" on my SZ120... it autodetected video settings (its more or less on "Medium" settings) and looks terrific

 

Don't personally have a SZ i have the Sony FE. Same graphics card though, i play Counter strike Source wide screen alot. Plays great, although i still get the **** kicked out of me reguardless of the system hah.

 

CS: Source is fine (max settings)
Civ IV is fine (max settings)
Doom III is ok (Medium settings)
DOD: Source is fine (Max settings)
HOMMV Demo is fine (Thank you for removing starforce, Ubisoft )

I plan on playing oblivion on it, but like many things, I only have time right now for the games listed above, and most of those in short supply.

 

DOD: Source runs great at max settings
COD2: Runs fine at medium to medium-high settings
BF2: Runs fine at medium settings
COH/COV: Runs fine at 1024 settings
Brothers in Arms 2: Runs great at almost max settings

That's about all I have time to play LOL.

 

Hey Vcdechagn, how'd you get CS: Source to run smoothly on your SZ? I have 2 x 512MB RAM on mine...possibly you've 2 x 1GB RAM? If this is case (*runs out door to computer hardware store.)

 

Yes it runs very well on medium settings
You can practicly play everything on it, even newer games.

 

I did not have HDR or Bloom enabled. I did not know what these were (been out of computer gaming except for Civ for about 3 years) and did not realize the performance hit they gave. It ran fine for me with 1gb but I do now have 2gb.

I have found a few custom maps where I need to turn down the detail a bit. But otherwise it runs fine on max settings. (These are all things I've learned since writing the above post).

 

I did, bunch of times.
1280x800 resolution and mid settings.

Ran at around 50fps.

 

Eh wha!?
At my local bestbuy, there was a Gateway desktop with a Radeon X800 and an Athlon X2 at 3.4 ghz I think running it at least 30 fps with high detail and graphics so I dunno what you're talking about.

 

Wow, that seems too good to be true, are you sure you were playing Oblivion and not Morrowind?

 

oblivion definatly doesn't run that smooth on that settings, honestly it doesn't run at all (under 10 fps, with 1 gb ram). But if you pull down the settings it'll run allright.

Can somebody tell me if hitman blood money runs on a sz?

thx, bye martin

//edit, btw ANNO 1701 runs smooth as hell on medium settings, it even runs on high, great game btw

 

On my SZ2 with T2500 and 2 GB Ram I play:

- Civilization 4 (with Warlords)
- Railroads
- Silent Hunter 3 Grey Wolves
- GTR2
- FSX
- Company of Heroes

Only in FSX and COH I've to lower the settings slightly. COH needs to run with medium textures, everything else on high and it runs great that way. FSX generally runs at a mid-high settings level and it very playable.

All other games run great with settings pretty much maxed out. Esp. GTR2 runs very well, that suprised me the most.

 

I play HalfLife2 at max settings, 1200x800 with no problems at all.

 

allright, now i got hitman blood money.. omg it runs perfectly, get this game!! so much fun.. so many possibilities...

 

anyone run battlefield 2142 on a sz330 yet?

 

BF2142 runs decently on my SZ150P (T2400 Core Duo with 2GB-533 RAM on the nVidia 7400). Runs on medium settings with dynamic shadows and AA off, at 1280x800. I don't use the Voip feature, so not sure if that will change gameplay settings/lag.

The most important thing is RAM. The more the better. With 2GB i get about 40fps or so. I play it on an external 20' dvi LCD but, sadly, still have to run it at 1280x800 to actually play properly.

The problems come mainly from the video card. The 7400 is a little weak but that's a trade-off of having a thin-lightweight laptop. In the game, draw distance is not very good at medium settings, but the game can run smoothly. Overall, a good time. Titan mode is a blast.