IGP AMD Radeon 680M

[Waltzz]

Anybody has any luck running this IGP AMD Radeon 680M on X4 foundations? Getting a new laptop with one of the better IGP, hoping to run X4 on low - medium graphics, else it will be back to X3: AP for me. Thank you.

[Laserak]

That isn't even close to meeting minimum GPU requirements. I would advise against trying.

[morikaane]

You need to use a discrete GPU, an integrated one won't cut it. If you want to remain mobile and not fork out for a laptop with a watered-down discrete GPU in it but still be able to play games like X4 when you're at a home, an external GPU dock would be the way to go (bit more pricey but you can keep it when you change laptops).

A DIY job would be significantly cheaper. My brother did this and it gets the job done in a way that he is satisfied with.

Obviously there are other pathways you could go, like just getting a desktop computer, using something like Nvidia GeForce Now or using a Steamdeck (I'm not sure how playable it is though, as I don't have one).

Others may have better suggestions than what I can think of offhand; hopefully they are shared.

[Lucifer69]

Actually you guys are rather incorrect. The 680M iGPU on the 6000 series mobile line up roughly rivals the GTX 780. On paper anyways.

The problem will be memory. iGPU's require RAM. So textures and other things that typically load on discreet card VRAM will all be loaded into RAM instead. Not only is RAM slower, it means you'll need to make sure to have enough for the base game plus GPU usage. 16 GB of RAM may not be enough. 4 GB or so for Windows, 8 GB or so for the game, and something like 4 GB for textures.

Low or medium might be possible, but my concern is actually the CPU itself. X4 is hugely CPU bound. The GTX 780 is plenty for 1080p 60, but even with the i9-13900k your frame rate is going to tank once you begin to expand. I've actually tried my 780 ti and it runs the game well enough at high settings, but my R9 5950X gets gimped by the sheer amount of overhead (my RX 6900XT isn't much of an upgrade over my old 780 ti, it's massively CPU bound).

Edit: This isn't me recommending it or saying it will work, I'm just saying on paper it should be able to scrape by. I'm not a fan of mobile gaming, personally. My laptop is purely streaming, social media, and other tasks that don't require my desktop.

[Laserak]

Originally posted by Lucifer69:

Actually you guys are rather incorrect. The 680M iGPU on the 6000 series mobile line up roughly rivals the GTX 780. On paper anyways.

The problem will be memory. iGPU's require RAM. So textures and other things that typically load on discreet card VRAM will all be loaded into RAM instead. Not only is RAM slower, it means you'll need to make sure to have enough for the base game plus GPU usage. 16 GB of RAM may not be enough. 4 GB or so for Windows, 8 GB or so for the game, and something like 4 GB for textures.

Low or medium might be possible, but my concern is actually the CPU itself. X4 is hugely CPU bound. The GTX 780 is plenty for 1080p 60, but even with the i9-13900k your frame rate is going to tank once you begin to expand. I've actually tried my 780 ti and it runs the game well enough at high settings, but my R9 5950X gets gimped by the sheer amount of overhead (my RX 6900XT isn't much of an upgrade over my old 780 ti, it's massively CPU bound).

"You guys are wrong, here is how you are right.."

Also, I upgraded from an RTX 2070 to a 6900xt and saw a very large increase in FPS, so I do not believe for one second you didn't notice a change between a 780ti and a 6900xt.

The 780 is the MIN for this game, that is more than likely something like 30fps 1080p low, in an empty sector. It will not be enjoyable gaming.

[Lucifer69]

Depends on you the player and how much you expand. At the start, yeah, sure, it's a huge boost. Once you expand? Lol. Nope. My 1000 hour save doesn't care about GPU. The 780 ti nets me nearly the same frame rate as my 6900XT.

Edit: 780 ti, granted better than the 780, was a 60 fps 1080p experience. Medium preset. Load my original save, 10 fps give or take. RX 6900XT like 12 fps. So 20% faster...? Rather unplayable but I guess those extra 2 are massive indeed.

The thousands of miners, combat ships, probes, and station modules destroy a CPU.

[connect_exe]

Originally posted by Waltzz:

Anybody has any luck running this IGP AMD Radeon 680M on X4 foundations? Getting a new laptop with one of the better IGP, hoping to run X4 on low - medium graphics, else it will be back to X3: AP for me. Thank you.

You need to use the old driver
AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 22.11.1 Release Notes
https://www.amd.com/en/resources/support-articles/release-notes/RN-RAD-WIN-22-11-1.html