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MSTS and Laptop

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:25 pm
by kthomson
Hi'
I'm thinking of buyimg a Laptop and was wondering if anyone kowns the minimum spec to run Train Sim on one. I'm really just going to be designing and testing so don' tneed fantatic frame rates, tryin to stay cheep.


Ken

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 12:55 pm
by Fodda
It'll have the minimum specs printed either on the cardboard box or the DVD case that MSTS came in when you bought it.

My cardboard box is at home so can't check it right now.

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 4:39 pm
by popol
Hello
I think it's 256Mo RAM, a pentium III, and a quite good graphic card.
But I would advice you to choose a laptop with at least 512 Mo Ram and a 128 Mo graphic card.

Hope this help

Paul

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 6:52 pm
by ashgray
Just to pitch in my two-pennyworth... I have a Dell Inspiron notebook - 1/2 GB RAM, 256 MB Nvidia GeForce 6800 graphics, Intel Pentium M processor 1.86GHz, and I have no problems running any route at average framerates of around 25 fps (but let's see how DC3 runs, eh :wink: )

Now if I could only get the Activity Editor to run without crashing.....

Cheers
Ashley

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 8:08 pm
by kthomson
Thanks for all your info Looks like similar to Dell than.

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 8:16 pm
by BR7MT
Also be aware that MSTS does not run in wide screen format, therefore any laptop has to have a normal sized screen :wink:

Regards,

Dan

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 8:35 pm
by ashgray
Dan's right - my notebook's a widescreen job but I just have MSTS set to standard screen aspect to avoid image distortion. The rest of your programs can run in widescreen mode if they support it.

The most important aspect of a new PC from an MSTS point of view is the hard drive - get one with as fast a disk access time as possible. This has more of an effect upon performance than anything else in your system as it's where "bottlenecks" tend to occur most.

Cheers
Ashley

Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 10:23 pm
by NiallGray
My laptop only has a Sis650 graphics card (32mb) and I've never really had any problems running MSTS. The ram/processors aren't anything to crow about but I've never had a problem unless I'm running Dorset coast around the Clapham-Waterloo areas.

Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 10:18 am
by revporl
I run MSTS on a PIII, the HD is a bit slow, but having 1GB RAM seems to make up for it. I do have to run dense routes like GNER on the bottom of the performance/graphics scale, but overall it does work fine.

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:54 pm
by Beetlejuice
Hi I was personnally thinking of buying a laptop too for msts and school/internet. How would you set a widescreen laptop in to standard mode? also what could anyone recommend. I need a wireless, xp pro, 60+ gb, and the rest for a decent experience! cheers for your help and sorry for digging this tread up.


Ross

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:56 pm
by rwaceyw
BR7MT wrote:Also be aware that MSTS does not run in wide screen format, therefore any laptop has to have a normal sized screen :wink:

Regards,

Dan
Runs fine on my Widescreen laptop....strangely runs in widescreen too but a bit stretched :(

David

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:58 pm
by petethetim
Well I have a laptop with slightly more than the original spec but train sim runs with 1FPS unless you start turning things down I don't think laptops are geared up for gaming

Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:09 am
by popol
Hi

MSTS is ok on my laptop, even with the widescreen! I just have an image distorsion, but it's not too strange! :-)


Paul

Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:54 pm
by trainlover123
On my Laptop MSTS runs in Standard mode when in one-screen mode, that was a while ago and I haven't tried it in dual-monitor mode... :oops:

Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:58 pm
by BR7MT
Sorry, it does run in widescreen format, but obviously looks a bit squished... :wink:

Regards,

Dan