Good laptop for playing old games (especially MTW)?

[Rhyfelwyr]

I would like to invest in a cheap old laptop that can play the old classics like MTW. I plan on getting one with XP, which I guess is OK?

The main issues I have had with MTW in the past is graphics card incompatability. So a bit of advice in that regard would be helpful.

I was wondering in particular if anybody here had a laptop/OS combination that successfully runs this game...

[Beskar]

The main issues with laptops and games is when they have an inbuilt card, usually labelled as 'Intel' blahblah. Recommended for game purposes that it comes with a separate one.

Though being honest... last time I played MTW was around 7 years ago, time really does fly.

[drone]

For MTW, Windows XP/Vista/7 are doable, I would avoid 8 though. Intel graphics adapters are evil, for best results get a laptop with an ATI card. I think most of the newer nVidia cards work as well, but avoid the 8/9XXX series cards. There may be some issues depending on what you you end up with, but there are workarounds for most of them (not the Intel graphics problem though).

WinXP is nearing the end of it's support cycle from Microsoft, so no new patches and vulnerability fixes will be available after April 2014.

[Beskar]

Win7 is better than XP too, so I would recommend that.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Well I think XP would be best for compatibility for some of the other old games, I know one does not work beyond XP.

What about this laptop? I know it is Intel but it is old so I would guess it might be OK?

[Beskar]

Well I think XP would be best for compatibility for some of the other old games, I know one does not work beyond XP.

What about this laptop? I know it is Intel but it is old so I would guess it might be OK?

Win7 comes with XP Compatibility mode. So anything that works for XP should work for Win7.

The laptop itself is worse than a netbook you can pick up from Tesco for similar prices, but the issue with laptops is the them having 'intel graphics accelerators' opposed to actual graphics cards and it is this which cause the vast majority of issues with games. So if you want to go something oldest or refurbished, having an independent card for maximum compatibility is best.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Win7 comes with XP Compatibility mode. So anything that works for XP should work for Win7.

The laptop itself is worse than a netbook you can pick up from Tesco for similar prices, but the issue with laptops is the them having 'intel graphics accelerators' opposed to actual graphics cards and it is this which cause the vast majority of issues with games. So if you want to go something oldest or refurbished, having an independent card for maximum compatibility is best.

I've never found compatibility mode to help with games, at least not with Windows 8.

The things is MTW doesn't work with a lot of proper graphics cards, certainly the whole GeForce 8 series is a no-no for MTW as I found on my old PC.

I'm struggling to find cheap laptops with ATI cards since I've heard they are the best for MTW...

[Rhyfelwyr]

OK, so maybe I could try just changing the graphics card? I checked the error log with MTW, and it seems to indicate a graphics card issue.

My laptop uses Intel integrated graphics. I've been looking at some cheap ATI ones, in the hope that they might offer a solution and I can install them on my machine.

Any thoughts on this, this or this?

EDIT: Just realised, my laptop in fact also has a NVIDIA GeForce GT 650 M graphics card as well as Intel integrated graphics. Should this work with MTW?

[Beskar]

EDIT: Just realised, my laptop in fact also has a NVIDIA GeForce GT 650 M graphics card as well as Intel integrated graphics. Should this work with MTW?

It should... though being honest, I cannot remember the actions you are required to take to deal with it, but there was some complicated mumbojumbo.

Assuming the graphics drivers and tool is up to date, you go through the program options to make sure the game uses the nvidia card. If this is not working, you have to go into your bios (you might have to unlock it) and make the card dominate and disable optiminus.

Google search brought this up:

authored a question on this subject a few years ago, so I might as well chime in with what I know.

Your laptop uses a technology called Nvidia Optimus to render video output from two GPUs (the integrated Intel graphics processor, [IGP], and the more powerful Nvidia graphics card [DGPU]). This is accomplished by connecting the laptop's screen to the framebuffer of the IGP only, and allowing the DGPU to write pages of memory directly into that framebuffer. In this way, both cards can render output to the same screen, even simultaneously. When an application calls for DGPU rendering, the DGPU writes output to the portion of the screen that the application occupies. In the case of a full screen application such as a game, the DGPU will write to the entire framebuffer of the IGP. A much more detailed description of this process is available in the Nvidia Optimus whitepaper.

When running a graphics-heavy application such as a game on an optimus-enabled machine and experiencing poor performance, it is logical to start by ensuring that the application is making use of the DGPU rather than the IGP. You can do this via the context menu entry you showed, or, somewhat more reliably, through the NVidia control panel. Simply select "Manage 3D settings" from the pane on the left, select your application, then set the "Preferred graphics processor" to the Nvidia chipset.

You can ensure that the application is running on the Nvidia GPU by using the Optimus Test Viewer. This tool will indicate whether or not the DGPU is enabled, and can list which processes are making use of it.

A final workaround for optimus-related issues exists in the hardware outputs of the video card. The Nvidia control panel, as in your screenshot, can display which physical outputs are connected to which monitors. From your screenshot, it appears that the Nvidia GPU has one physical output - You can try plugging an external monitor into this output and confirming that it appears connected correctly in the Nvidia control panel. If so, your montior is now hooked directly to the framebuffer of the DGPU, meaning that optimus is not in use, and all rendering on that monitor will take place on the DGPU.

Based on the discussion in the comments on your question, you have done the following:

Forced use of the DGPU for your game through the Nvidia control panel
Verified through use of the Optimus Test Viewer that the game is using the DGPU
Connected a monitor to the DGPU's hardware output and run the game on that monitor

[Rhyfelwyr]

Having done more looking up, it seems the problem I'm having is a Windows 8 one, due to the nature of the crash (CTD after intro videos when the main menu should pop up).

Looks like I'll need to reconsider my options. Probably will just switch to XP, anything after just seems to give needless grief.

[Rhyfelwyr]

OK, so it seems impossible to get legit XP for my rig, so change of plan again - back to buying an old piece.

Any thoughts on this? It is ATI which should be good for MTW, it has the "ATI Mobility Radeon X300 w/ 64MB dedicated RAM". Thinking of buying it here, is doesn't meantion the ATI card, though I presume it has it.

Any advice, because I am desperate to play MTW and some other old games...

[drone]

OK, so it seems impossible to get legit XP for my rig, so change of plan again - back to buying an old piece.

"Downgrade" to Win7 if you can, and make sure the nVidia adapter is active. That card should work (maybe some tweaking needed), but Windows 8 and an IGA will just give you MTW CTDs.

[Rhyfelwyr]

"Downgrade" to Win7 if you can, and make sure the nVidia adapter is active. That card should work (maybe some tweaking needed), but Windows 8 and an IGA will just give you MTW CTDs.

It seems that only Windows 8 Pro users can downgrade. I would have to actually fork out for Windows 7, which seems a bit costly...

[BroskiDerpman]

If you do buy an old laptop you could get a Thinkpad with Ati graphics card for around 100 usd that comes with XP. I had one until I accidentally unleashed a tsunami of water on it.

Though first trying installing Windows 7 as recommended.