Laptop

[HalifaxTiger]

I have struggled on with my little laptop - mostly fine, sometimes crap - performance for a couple of months now but have got permission from the boss to buy a new one. Money is a little tight, but I have seen this : LENOVO Series 3 15.6" Gaming Laptop . I have checked it out and it looks ok for TS2021 but I have the tech skills of a moose.
Could someone also check its OK, please ?

[Felix.AVMP]

Give us full model "name" please. The one you posted is still rather generic.

[HalifaxTiger]

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/gaming/pc-gaming/gaming-laptops/lenovo-series-3-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i5-gtx-1650-256-gb-ssd-10205977-pdt.html

Thanks

[Felix.AVMP]

Not bad... however, memory is rather low (8 GB) and also the SSD has just 256 GB.

But all in all, not bad and usable (CPU is OK and GPU as well).

These laptops can be somewhat upgraded (usually), so perhaps an expansion might be later possible.

[HalifaxTiger]

Thanks very much, much appreciated. To put it into perspective, my present SSD has 50GB.

[Felix.AVMP]

Well, that is a considerable improvement, then!

[cuavas]

By default, the 64-bit version of Train Simulator will run without 3D acceleration, and you need to configure the NVIDIA drivers to use the GeForce for it. See these two posts for more explanation:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/24010/discussions/8/3120424524438740092/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/24010/discussions/3/2957166487942827071/#c2957166487946228318

[Felix.AVMP]

Originally posted by cuavas:

By default, the 64-bit version ...

Good point. We will have to work (one day, not today) on the terminology, though.


***

There is an alternative.
Lenovo has its own configuration application called Lenovo Vantage, where it is possible to completely switch off integrated (or so called "hybrid" graphics by Lenovo) and thus solving this problem "once and for all" (and saving some main memory in the process, which on 8GB machine will be rather crucial anyway).


Edit: I am happy owner of Lenovo Legion 5 gaming laptop (for approx. a year), just to clarify things...

[x1Heavy]

Laptops to me are not that good for gaming, I would not buy a laptop without two or more distinct nvidia graphic cards of Geforce 1080Ti or newer. I do own a generic think pad which is a spare to this machine I use. The thinkpad only handles games too old for my current machine that run pre 1998 games generally.

In buying a laptop I usually waited until the Annual E3 trade show for computers is over. That week they dispose of several hundred top of line lap tops that ran the latest and greatest video games during the show. Plan on bringing up to a thousand dollars and sniper bid to get them.

However the early covid lockdowns was putting people onto zoom for schools so we put down the 600 total dollars or so for the thinkpad while it was still in stock. We feel lucky to have it. It does depend on a 5 tera storage drive via USB to be of any use with just a 256 gb ssd which is no where near big enough.

[JJTimothy]

Very much agree with Felix who offered good advice when I was looking at a new system a year or three ago. Couple of questions though:

What else might you want to use the laptop for? The spec's are good for TS (more memory wouldn't hurt) and more than adequate for newer software. The SSD is a bit pokey especially if you want to install other games so...

How big is your TS install? Presuming you left Steam to install it in the default location you can find out by opening Windows' File Explorer then click on This PC, Windows (C:),
Program Files (x86), Steam, steamapps, common. That done you should see a folder called RailWorks- right-click on that and click "Properties" at the bottom of the list that brings up. (Forgive me if this is obvious- I'm taking your assessment of your technical aptitude to heart.)

If you're only interested in TS 256GB might see you but, for example, my system with a 222GB* SSD has about 50GB left with Windows, Steam, TS and a few applications installed. That doesn't sound too bad but any kind of storage device needs a certain amount of free space for the operating system to keep it organized- 20% or more as a rule of thumb. When I bought TSW there was no question but that it had to go on the second drive and if TS gets much bigger it may be moving too. FYI my TS install takes up just shy of 100GB and is not unusually large- about 30 routes.

*This is a 240GB drive as reported by Windows so that 256GB drive would be reported about 20GB down. Yes- for reasons I'll leave you to Google if you feel like it there are two different definitions of GB (and TB, KB, MB etc) and storage makers use the smaller ones to make their drives look bigger...

If the laptop uses an MVME SSD (Currys is coy about this I note) it may well have a slot for a second drive since they're pleasingly small. It would be an extra expense of course but one you might defer and adding the drive yourself shouldn't be too daunting.

[HalifaxTiger]

Originally posted by JJTimothy:

Very much agree with Felix who offered good advice when I was looking at a new system a year or three ago. Couple of questions though:

What else might you want to use the laptop for? The spec's are good for TS (more memory wouldn't hurt) and more than adequate for newer software. The SSD is a bit pokey especially if you want to install other games so...

How big is your TS install? Presuming you left Steam to install it in the default location you can find out by opening Windows' File Explorer then click on This PC, Windows (C:),
Program Files (x86), Steam, steamapps, common. That done you should see a folder called RailWorks- right-click on that and click "Properties" at the bottom of the list that brings up. (Forgive me if this is obvious- I'm taking your assessment of your technical aptitude to heart.)

If you're only interested in TS 256GB might see you but, for example, my system with a 222GB* SSD has about 50GB left with Windows, Steam, TS and a few applications installed. That doesn't sound too bad but any kind of storage device needs a certain amount of free space for the operating system to keep it organized- 20% or more as a rule of thumb. When I bought TSW there was no question but that it had to go on the second drive and if TS gets much bigger it may be moving too. FYI my TS install takes up just shy of 100GB and is not unusually large- about 30 routes.

*This is a 240GB drive as reported by Windows so that 256GB drive would be reported about 20GB down. Yes- for reasons I'll leave you to Google if you feel like it there are two different definitions of GB (and TB, KB, MB etc) and storage makers use the smaller ones to make their drives look bigger...

If the laptop uses an MVME SSD (Currys is coy about this I note) it may well have a slot for a second drive since they're pleasingly small. It would be an extra expense of course but one you might defer and adding the drive yourself shouldn't be too daunting.

Thanks again for your response.

To put this a little into perspective, I am currently using an Acer Aspire 1 with a 64GB SSD, 4RAM. This runs surprisingly well on most routes with tweaks to the operating system but on one or two performance is clearly far too slow. At the moment, I have room for about 25GB of memory with about 15 routes and 10 add ons, so I use the DLC function to install only part of my collection, changing the routes as required by uninstallling and installing again. The full install would be about 60GB and I don't intend to make it much bigger

Plan is to use the new laptop to run TS only, with anything else - including the other odd game - on my present laptop (to put that to perspective again, I don't use it for much more than internet access and E mail correspondence). If the memory availability on the new laptop goes a bit more than doubling - and being 4 times the size it should - that will be more than adequate. In truth I was more concerned about the other specs and whether they were up to the job.

Once again, my thanks for taking the time and trouble to respond.

[JJTimothy]

Originally posted by turnleft4:

To put this a little into perspective, I am currently using an Acer Aspire 1 with a 64GB SSD, 4RAM. This runs surprisingly well on most routes with tweaks to the operating system but on one or two performance is clearly far too slow.

Sounds like you're using the CPU's integrated graphics at the moment. Although far from ideal TS can be perfectly playable depending on the kind of DLC you favour. I used an i3 based laptop with integrated HD graphics for a couple of years and, since I spent much of my time pottering around the Weardale and Teesdale Network which is mostly rural branch lines, I had a ball with it. Although not cutting edge the GPU in the laptop you link to should manage anything TS will throw at it though you can't mitigate completely against occasional slow downs and stuttering because it's an old program.

Originally posted by turnleft4:

At the moment, I have room for about 25GB of memory with about 15 routes and 10 add ons, so I use the DLC function to install only part of my collection, changing the routes as required by uninstallling and installing again. The full install would be about 60GB and I don't intend to make it much bigger.

You're conflating memory and storage but it does sound like you'll be OK for a while.

If you ever need to expand the memory (system RAM) it's likely that you will be obliged to completely replace what you already have with larger modules rather than just adding some. That said most DLC still works within the 4GB RAM limit imposed by the 32 bit version so with 8GB you should be OK most of the time. That will more than double the amount of memory you currently have available because the GPU has its own RAM and won't need to borrow system memory. I had TS on a 6GB laptop (with a GPU) for a while and didn't run into memory problems. That said I've since bough the Stainmore Line from Steam Sounds Supreme and that really hoovers the bytes up.

[HalifaxTiger]

Originally posted by JJTimothy:

Originally posted by turnleft4:

To put this a little into perspective, I am currently using an Acer Aspire 1 with a 64GB SSD, 4RAM. This runs surprisingly well on most routes with tweaks to the operating system but on one or two performance is clearly far too slow.

Sounds like you're using the CPU's integrated graphics at the moment. Although far from ideal TS can be perfectly playable depending on the kind of DLC you favour. I used an i3 based laptop with integrated HD graphics for a couple of years and, since I spent much of my time pottering around the Weardale and Teesdale Network which is mostly rural branch lines, I had a ball with it. Although not cutting edge the GPU in the laptop you link to should manage anything TS will throw at it though you can't mitigate completely against occasional slow downs and stuttering because it's an old program.

Originally posted by turnleft4:

At the moment, I have room for about 25GB of memory with about 15 routes and 10 add ons, so I use the DLC function to install only part of my collection, changing the routes as required by uninstallling and installing again. The full install would be about 60GB and I don't intend to make it much bigger.

You're conflating memory and storage but it does sound like you'll be OK for a while.

If you ever need to expand the memory (system RAM) it's likely that you will be obliged to completely replace what you already have with larger modules rather than just adding some. That said most DLC still works within the 4GB RAM limit imposed by the 32 bit version so with 8GB you should be OK most of the time. That will more than double the amount of memory you currently have available because the GPU has its own RAM and won't need to borrow system memory. I had TS on a 6GB laptop (with a GPU) for a while and didn't run into memory problems. That said I've since bough the Stainmore Line from Steam Sounds Supreme and that really hoovers the bytes up.

A final thank you to you and others for your help. I bought the PC and so far it works superbly, much increased speed and graphics.