New to PC gaming

I was considering buying a PS3 just to play Resident Evil 5 (big fan of the series) but then it occurred to me that my laptop might be good enough and save me a load of cash. I've never used it for gaming before though. How can I make sure? It has a 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 graphics card and a Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 2.53GHz. Would it be powerful enough for RE5 please? Apologies for my ignorance but this is all new to me.

ShadowHearth

Deleted User wrote: »

I was considering buying a PS3 just to play Resident Evil 5 (big fan of the series) but then it occurred to me that my laptop might be good enough and save me a load of cash. I've never used it for gaming before though. How can I make sure? It has a 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 graphics card and a Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 2.53GHz. Would it be powerful enough for RE5 please? Apologies for my ignorance but this is all new to me.

it should still run re5 on lowered settings. though i would not play RE5 unless you have a buddy to play with.

And how do people control the action? Are there pc joysticks/controllers that you need to buy or will a mouse and keyboard suffice? Thank you for your time and help!

ShadowHearth

Deleted User wrote: »

And how do people control the action? Are there pc joysticks/controllers that you need to buy or will a mouse and keyboard suffice? Thank you for your time and help!

keyboard + mouse works fine. i tried myself, but you got to be used to m+k setups on top of the RE5 control way with stop aim shoot style.

CastorTroy

I got an XBox 360 controller for my PC for games that I may find too awkward with mouse and keyboard. It's a wired controller so didn't need to worry about getting a wireless receiver

dibkins

or you can just get the wireless xbox controller, making sure to get the "for PC" version. it is around 10 quid more, but it comes with the wireless dongle.

Reekwind

System Requirements Lab is a good way of seeing how your hardware compares to the specs

ScumLord

dibkins wrote: »

or you can just get the wireless xbox controller, making sure to get the "for PC" version. it is around 10 quid more, but it comes with the wireless dongle.

The standard wired controller works on either and the cable is long.

Duggy747

On those specs you should be ok. I have one laptop with the exact same specs (I'm assuming you have 4GB on it, too) which handles majority of new games around the low-medium settings. Skyrim can be played at 1280x720 at full settings with AA turned off and run nice and smoothly.

Some games can be played on high (with AA off) depending on how well optimised the game is. That processor is the one that makes the impact though, some games run absolutely horrific on it like Battlefield 3 while Crysis 2 is smooth as butter.

cherryghost

Most modern games should be fine on medium settings, some on lower settings. Just youtube your specs and you'll see some benchmarks/live action games showing your laptops capability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSqh_e6Xl5M

There's some benchmarks here for your graphics card on a few games. Your CPU and can handle everything it throws at it for the most part.

Mad Mike

I use a standard Xbox 360 wired controller with my PC for third person action games and mouse and keyboard for first person games. Works well for me.

Welcome to PC gaming by the way. It is actually a great time to be a PC gamer. Foget the old accusations of snobby PC gamers. Most of us these days have consoles as well and enjoy the different experiences that each platform provides.

Highlights of PC gaming at the moment are:

1. Ridiculously good value in online sales (I mean ridiculous). Sign up to STEAM for starters and check their weekly bargains. Then check out other services like GOG (older games), Gamersgate and others.

2. You no longer need bleeding edge technology to play most games. The graphics race kind of ground to a halt about five years ago. There are still some system crunching games (anything by Crytek for example) but most games these days play well on average hardware.

3. Unrivalled back catalog. Play classic games from every era on a modern PC.

4. Free to play. Many high quality online PC games have adopted this model. You can enjoy a ridiculous amount of gaming for nothing. Two excellent examples would be "World of Tanks" - online tank battles and "Lord of the Rings online" = The world of Tolkien in an mmorpg. Be warned though even though you can play for free you can also spend lots of real cash on game items. I wouldn't reccommend this type of game for someone with poor self control.

5. A lot of great games that may never make it to consoles. There is a really thriving indie developer scene going on at the moment. The quality of the output varies wildly but if you are prepared to dabble you can find incredible gems. Minecraft, Majicka, Spacechem, Frozen Synapse are a few that stand out for me but there are many.

6. Humble and other bundles: A couple of years ago someone got the idea of selling a bunch of indie games in a bundle for "whatever you want to pay". This was a big hit and they made a pile of money so now everone else is trying it too. To be honest it has gotten hard to keep up. There seems to be a new bundle almost every week.

Andy!!

Your laptop is fine, but I would recommend staying away from Resi 5. ESPECIALLY if your a big fan of the series

Eggy Baby!

System Requirements Lab is a good way of seeing how your hardware compares to the specs

^ This, this, this.

There are still some system crunching games (anything by Crytek for example) but most games these days play well on average hardware.

This is also true. I have ARMA 2 (very system heavy game with huge requirements) and I have the same video card as the OP (but with half as much memory at 512MB) and a single-core processor, which is to current processors what Stevensons Rocket is to a bullet train and it admittedly runs rather well. Also, OP, you didn't mention this in your post but RAM is also very important for gaming. Check it by going to My Computer, right-clicking and then properties. I have 3.25GB which is more than enough. Also, what Operating System do you have? As this can have an effect on gaming too. I have Windows XP which is a dinosaur these days.

though i would not play RE5 unless you have a buddy to play with.

^This again. I have RE5 on my 360 and its very centred around co-op play.

A lot of great games that may never make it to consoles.

On a side note, Minecraft is coming to 360.

CastorTroy

Mad Mike wrote: »

mouse and keyboard

3. Unrivalled back catalog. Play classic games from every era on a modern PC.

Now have an urge to play Cannon Fodder.

ShadowHearth

CastorTroy wrote: »

Now have an urge to play Cannon Fodder.

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/cannon_fodder

CastorTroy

Hmmmm.... no I must resist....
"dum dum dum dum dum dum. War! Never been so much fun"
Damn it! That's in the head for the day now

Skerries

"War! never been so much fun!"

edit:

ah beaten to it

Reminds of when I completed Cannon Fodder on a Megadrive emulator years ago. Great game! Just wanted to say thanks for all the replies and help!

I just wanted to share something. My copy of Resident Evil 5 arrived and I went about installing it yesterday. I was alarmed though when the DVD drive started making strenuous sounds at installation. It said it was "copying files" but the DVD drive sounded like it was having a stroke. I left it going for 10 minutes until I eventually cancelled for fear of permanent damage to the drive. Just wondering if other people have encountered this? I eventually got it installed by making a iso of the disc with Daemon Tools and installing it gently that way.