A Good Laptop to handle Cities Skylines properly?

[NoirMoutton]

I have £2000 to buy a laptop. I want to run a heavily modded game with large number of assets active. What do I need to look for regarding specs? Any assistance greatly appreciated

[RPG Gamer Man]

One good point i can mention is you need lots of RAM to be able to play with lots of mods and assets. The higher the ram the better. 32GB VRAM is pretty good, but if you can find even higher than that, it would be best for you.

[MarkJohnson]

This game is notorious for heavy CPU usage, which means it lags out laptops and forces them to run at base speeds like 2,0 Ghz, instead of 5Ghz turbo.

Make sure it isn't a small lightweight ultraportable as they overheat immediately and can run even lower than 2.0 GHz. They need to be very thick for best results.

I highly recommend 8-core/16-thread CPUs as this game will use 4-core/8-thread CPUs. This will make sure your CPU is never running at 100% load, and rarely go over 50% to keep temps low, so it keeps CPU running faster and preventing lag.

Make sure it has dedicated GPU. Integrated graphics use too much computer resources to run it effectively. Make sure it has GDDR5 or GDDR6 video memory.

A minimum of 32GB of RAM for lots of workshop. 16GB and a little workshop is doable.

I would look closely at MSI as they have very good cooling system and are constantly high rated for laptops.

[JUICY J]

Is a laptop absolutely necessary? If not, I'd highly recommend looking into custom building a computer. I recently upgraded to an i7-10700k/RTX 2070 Super based PC which is awesome for Cities. Absolutely zero lag and I don't start to see framerate drop off until about 100k population, with a lot of assets and mods, ultra settings 1080p.

Laptops will not give you nearly the same level of gaming performance as a traditional desktop, but if you absolutely need one, MarkJohnson's advice is what I would follow.

If you can get a desktop, you could always buy prebuilt if you don't want to build a desktop. You'll pay more money and likely won't have as nearly high quality parts, but they will do the job just fine. Just pay attention to what CPU/GPU the prebuilts have in them. For Cities you want at least a 10th gen i5/i7 or the latest Ryzen CPUs. The GPU doesn't matter as much as Cities is a CPU hog, but if you want to play other, more GPU intensive games, don't skimp. Don't forget about an SSD for your boot drive either.

No matter which way you go, your budget allows you to pick up a nice machine for gaming purposes. Desktops give you more bang for your buck, but laptops are nice because you won't have to buy any peripherals, and they're portable.

[LarryP]

I'm playing Cities half the time on a laptop, the other half on a big PC.

My laptop is an MSI, Intel i7 2.2ghz quad, 8 gigs ram, GTX 1050 Ti, and it plays pretty good. I have tons of addons, lots of DLC, graphics set to as high as I can. I would NOT go anything below what I have, I would call my setup bare bones minimum. It is not choppy ever, but it does get a bit warm even with a nice cooler running under it. It just takes a long time to initially load the first saved game.

[M.S.Referee]

Try "Alien" sereis of Laptop.

[LarryP]

Alien.

[CunkFeatures]

Originally posted by M.S.Referee:

Try "Alien" sereis of Laptop.

A Dell? Really?

Originally posted by JUICY J:

Is a laptop absolutely necessary?

Very much so. 8/16 threads and a mid/high end GPU in your lap! Kitchen, lounge, airport, train, toilet, park, garden.
After 20 years of buying top end desktop parts and tri GPU setups and custom water cooling... I just wanna play my games over 60fps.

Originally posted by NoirMoutton:

I have £2000 to buy a laptop. I want to run a heavily modded game with large number of assets active. What do I need to look for regarding specs? Any assistance greatly appreciated

Sandbox game mate, with mods. Laptops not the point, the game code will at some point struggle. The CPU will not be able to keep up. Thats normal.

2K went all on the GPU so I'm guessing a mid 30xx or a high end 20xx. 16 threaded 4+GHz CPU.

Tbh even the predecessor of this game did the same, on a desktop.

Best thing is to reduce load, and maybe check your system status in game via Task Manager. Really it depends on your save.

[Jesse Custer]

Laptop never! Try a desktop!

[CunkFeatures]

Originally posted by Lorem Ipsum:

Laptop never! Try a desktop!

Same thing, different power requirements.

[WhiteKnight77]

Originally posted by Lorem Ipsum:

Laptop never! Try a desktop!

whynotboth.jpg

I often take my gaming laptop on jobs with me. It makes it easier when waiting on people to finish their work if I can keep myself entertained. It is a bit hard to carry a desktop to a remote jobsite and play a game.

[M.S.Referee]

Yep, you can check look this, it made to a 'Laptop' outside but it got desktop inside.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWVlYP7QpEg

[Cahos Rahne Veloza]

Originally posted by CunkFeatures:

Originally posted by Lorem Ipsum:

Laptop never! Try a desktop!

Same thing, different power requirements.

You forgot that Laptops can not be upgraded, so no upgrading to a more powerful GPU for example.

[Axø]

Originally posted by Cahos Rahne Veloza:

Originally posted by CunkFeatures:

Same thing, different power requirements.

You forgot that Laptops can not be upgraded, so no upgrading to a more powerful GPU for example.

some laptops can be upgrade gpu & cpu but those tend to be more expensive like the Dell Area 51 (something model ###) & some Origin pc laptops with desktop grade hardware

Min: 7:21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-RXqNafscs

[NoirMoutton]

Thanks to EVERYONE who replied. I'm really grateful for all your advice. Ideally a desktop would be the perfect solution but due to other factors It has to be a laptop. I now have good solid data that will greatly ensure I can make the most informed choice. Thanks again guys.

[CunkFeatures]

Originally posted by Cahos Rahne Veloza:

Originally posted by CunkFeatures:

Same thing, different power requirements.

You forgot that Laptops can not be upgraded, so no upgrading to a more powerful GPU for example.

Didn't forget, just now how things work (at least for me).

When you spend 2k on a laptop, after 2 years you'll get most of that back when buying an upgrade.
Think of it as a brand new car you trade in each couple of years for the latest model. Low mileage, full warranty, the lot.

Works really nicely.