How well will a GT 750M 1GB run the game?

[jhelzei]

I will have to be working night shift over the next several weeks, and was thinking of picking up a cheap, used -*gaming laptop to run Fallout 4 with. The specs are below:

 

i7-4700mq

8GB DRAM

Nvidia GT 750M 1GB VRAM

750GB hard drive

14" 1080p screen

 

So would something this weak be capable of running Fallout 4 (or Skyrim SE) at lower settings?

 

I actually got Skyrim running on my current laptop, a 14" laptop with Intel HD 3000 graphics. As you might imagine, the experience is subpar, but I'm nonetheless getting framerates in the 35 - 45 fps range. So obviously Oldrim will run better on this gaming laptop, but I'd also like to be able to get FO4, Skyrim SE and other newer games running on a mobile system.

Edited November 9, 2017 by jhelzei

[iXenite]

I did some quick searches on YouTube, and this is what I found.

 

Fallout 4 Benchmark:

 

 

 

Skyrim Special Edition Benchmark:

 

 

 

A note about the Skyrim Special Edition benchmark. The settings they used are in the description of the video, and the framerate counter is in the top left hand side of the screen. It's very small, so it may be very hard to see - but it's there.

 

Skyrim (original version) Benchmark:

 

 

 

Overall, it's not the best experience you could probably get with the "newer" games. If you use the BethINI presets though - you might get a bit better framerates than shown in the videos. Especially if you get a mod that completely removes Godrays from Fallout 4 (setting them to off in the launcher doesn't actually do anything).

 

BethINI (works for all Bethesda games Oblivion onward):

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/4875/?

 

God Rays Disabler:

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18184/?

[jhelzei]

I currently have an older 14" laptop with Intel HD 3000 graphics. I got Oldrim to run on it at surprisingly decent framerates, though it looked pretty awful. One of the most helpful changes I made was to completely disable shadows (set interior and exterior shadow distance to 0, and set all shadow resolutions to 1024.) Would nuking shadows in FO4 help as much as disabling god rays?

[JimmyRJump]

V-RAM will be the biggest issue for FO4 since the latter needs loads of it. Evenwhen using ENBoost to be able to use system RAM as V-RAM you' probably have loads of CTDs, depending on what resolution you're playing the game.

 

Before buying that laptop, check if the video card is swappable and what amount of RAM the motherboard supports. If the GPU can be replaced, better also check the juice on the power supply.

 

But, speaking for myself, I'd get that laptop only if it was really, really dirt cheap, because you'll be buying a frustration machine instead of a gaming laptop...

[iXenite]

I'd personally suggest getting a gaming laptop that has a GTX 1050 in it. That would be a very respectable setup and will play all the games you listed very well. They typically go for around $800 USD, maybe even cheaper when they're on sale. You could also try and find a used laptop that has a GTX 960M in it I suppose as well.

[jhelzei]

A gtx 1050 would be ideal. However, my financial situation is not ideal. The laptop I posted at the top is going for about US$275. Does that seem reasonable for what Iâd be getting?

[iXenite]

A gtx 1050 would be ideal. However, my financial situation is not ideal. The laptop I posted at the top is going for about US$275. Does that seem reasonable for what Iâd be getting?

 

For $275 I'm not sure you could any better performance than that. Is that your maximum budget? Because if you can go a bit higher you might be able to find a working used GTX 960M or 860M laptop on eBay for around $500USD.

 

If that's too far out of scope - then I guess this laptop is really your best choice. For $275 USD I can't imagine it getting any better than that for a laptop. That's pretty much Chromebook prices for something that is much better at gaming. If that's your budget - then I think it's a deal. Just my opinion.

 

Just be sure to dial back your expectations - your fps may not always be great. Older games should run quite a bit better. Any Valve title for instance should be fine as an example.

[JimmyRJump]

A gtx 1050 would be ideal. However, my financial situation is not ideal. The laptop I posted at the top is going for about US$275. Does that seem reasonable for what Iâd be getting?

A 1050M is below par and not worth investing in when having gaming in mind. You need a GPU with at least a 60 at the end; preferably a 70. $275 is cheap, except when that's all you have.

 

Like I said, for FO4 you're bound to get in trouble because not enough RAM/V-RAM When you're facing a game that has spikes of over 10GB of RAM use, then you know you're going to choke when you GPU has only 1GB...

 

If I would be in the situation you are, I'd sweat it out for a few more months and try to save a bit of extra cash and see if you can get something with more oomph, both in the RAM department as on the GPU front. But hey, that's me. Get something with 16GB of RAM and a 960/970/1060/1070M. Keep in mind that the "M" variations of GPUs are less powerfull than their desktop counterparts because the laptop GPUs are clocked lower to generate less heat.

[iXenite]

 

A 1050M is below par and not worth investing in when having gaming in mind. You need a GPU with at least a 60 at the end; preferably a 70. $275 is cheap, except when that's all you have.

 

Like I said, for FO4 you're bound to get in trouble because not enough RAM/V-RAM When you're facing a game that has spikes of over 10GB of RAM use, then you know you're going to choke when you GPU has only 1GB...

 

If I would be in the situation you are, I'd sweat it out for a few more months and try to save a bit of extra cash and see if you can get something with more oomph, both in the RAM department as on the GPU front. But hey, that's me. Get something with 16GB of RAM and a 960/970/1060/1070M. Keep in mind that the "M" variations of GPUs are less powerfull than their desktop counterparts because the laptop GPUs are clocked lower to generate less heat.

 

 

The GTX 1050 is faster than the GTX 960M. The VRAM limitation doesn't come into play at all when comparing them. Nvidia dropped the "M" classification for the Pascal laptop GPU's for a reason, they're much closer to their desktop counterparts that the "M" classification is not necessary. Though many GTX 1050 laptops seem to come with 4GB's of VRAM, which not even the desktop variant of the 1050 has. Only the GTX 1050 Ti comes with 4GB's of VRAM, and that also has a laptop equivalent. The Pascal laptop GPU's have roughly 80% - 90% of the same performance of their desktop equivalents. That's a far cry from the days where a GTX 970M was not even comparable to a GTX 970.

[JimmyRJump]

When you're playing a game (FO4) that uses up to 12GB of RAM overall, then you're going to be faced with a problem when having only 9GB of RAM overall. Even when the GPU would have 4GB, that's still just 12GB with an OS and background programs that need roughly 2.5GB of system RAM.

 

I don't care too much how many letters and numbers NVidia drops on whatever laptop GPU. You're still dealing with a heat generating item in a tiny, badly ventilated box. That's why I will never consider a laptop for gaming purposes. Again, that's me. But I guess it's good news that laptop GPUs no longer suffer from being much slower than their desktop counterparts.