$400 laptop ps2 emulation

[kv2012]

Well, I'm getting a new laptop,but having some trouble when coming to specs.
Can you help?
1. What is your budget?
~$300-~$400

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
14" or preferably 15"

3. What screen resolution do you want?
N/A
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable

5. How much battery life do you need?
Not specially, but the best I can while meeting my needs.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
light ps2 and lower emulation.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Just general things plus above.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Same as 5,but prefer 320.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Amazon, Sams, Newegg, best buy. Prefer a local store.
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
Quite a while

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Blueray would be nice, but not required

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
I heard bad things form hp,but I'm not to sure myself. No Mac. Some reason I'm kind of anti- Dell and Gateway. Want a reliable brand.

13. What country do you live in?
USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

 

[blazorthon]

I think that you might need a much higher budget for PS2 emulation. Emulation takes big performance hits and you might need a faster system than $400 can provide, especially if you want a notebook instead of a desktop.

 

[rdc85]

Even My build Had a bad time in ps2 emu, sometimes it just how the code build (they cannot perfectly mimic ps2 engine). The one I use (emu), develop code for intel proc better than amd one so u might want to consider intel build....

 

[kv2012]

How 'bout ps1 below. Haven't give up, just wondering. Without
the ps2 emu in mind, what laptop you recommended?

 

[rdc85]

I use pcsx2 emu for PS & PS2, as long as u had legit bios its completely free.

u can find it at "buildbot.orphis.net/pcsx2/", it the most active group as i know in ps2 emu dev.

It will be the same either ps or ps2 the performance will vastly different between game titles. (some will give u above 200 fps "great for farming " some titles will knock your system down to 15 fps >.<)

For lappy recommendation I will wait for other to recommend since not familiar with it.

 

[blazorthon]

You'll probably want a laptop with a good CPU, so an Ivy Bridge i5 is probably a good idea. Between 4GB and 8GB of RAM is recommended with 6GB or 8GB being optimal. I'll look for individual laptops to consider.

 

[mousseng]

I think that you might need a much higher budget for PS2 emulation. Emulation takes big performance hits and you might need a faster system than $400 can provide, especially if you want a notebook instead of a desktop.

This. I've got a $600 laptop (retail, new) that can't even emulate PS1 games at playable framerates. Sure, it's got an Intel IGP, but we're talking about 12 year old hardware here. Emulation takes so much more power to get equivalent performance due to all the extra work it does (compatibility, architecture, functions modern video chipsets may not have, etc) that you'll need something significantly more powerful than what you're emulating. I know for a fact that emulating the PS2's Emotion Engine CPU is no easy task for my i5, despite the EE being clocked at 290ish Mhz.

Now, you'll likely be able to handle pretty much anything before a PS1 (N64 as well, despite being released 2 years later) on a $400 budget. Sony systems, though? Not likely. If you're still going to go for it, you definitely want a powerful GPU - don't go for anything integrated (Intel or AMD), you want a discrete card. Trying to save up some more for a higher budget is definitely a good idea, but I don't know how feasible that is for you (dunno what sort of situation you're in).

 

[kv2012]

I think that you might need a much higher budget for PS2 emulation. Emulation takes big performance hits and you might need a faster system than $400 can provide, especially if you want a notebook instead of a desktop.

Have you found anything?

http/www.bestbuy.c...aptop&cp=1&lp=3 http/www.bestbuy.c...aptop&cp=1&lp=5 http/www.bestbuy.c...aptop&cp=1&lp=1 http/www.bestbuy.c...aptop&cp=1&lp=3.
These was the last laptops I was looking at a few days ago. What do you thing these?

I didn't want to go over the budget and I didn't want a use one. So I may just drop ps2 idea. I guess to finish this thread, just recommended a nice laptop for that budget.

I looked, but what are the pros and cons amd vs Intel?

 

[mousseng]

Your links are broken, kv. Put them inside a url tag to get them to work properly.

As far as AMD vs Intel, in your price range the biggest difference is the visual power. Most of these notebooks are powered by Pentiums or E-series CPUs (not so great) and run on integrated graphics. I think the best laptop for you would be one with an AMD A-series APU; they're much more capable on the video side, although (like the rest of AMD's processors) they're beaten out by Intel in processing power.

I found this laptop on Newegg, and I think this may be the best (or at least one of them) for your price range and usage. Its Radeon HD 6520G GPU is the best you can get for a sub-$400 notebook. It's got a 500GB hard drive, so you're good on that too.

However, as soon as you're able, I'd highly suggest replacing the standard memory with this set. The reason is the integrated GPU (6520G) has no dedicated video RAM of its own - so it has to share the system RAM to be able to function. The default 4GB DDR3-1333 is very little, and a bit slow. The video performance really shines with faster RAM (and you'll also have a bit more multi-tasking headroom with 8GB).

 

[blazorthon]

Only MX versions of the mobile Llano A6s and A8s directly support 1600MT/s memory. If it's not an MX, then 1600MHz memory will default to 1333MHz and there's pretty much nothing that you can do about it unless you have a laptop that lets you manually change the CPU/GPU multipliers and the BLCK. The memory can only be overclocked to 1600MT/s through the BLCK if you have a non-MX Llano APU and you need to be able to drop the other multipliers so that they don't raise power consumption and heat generation beyond what the laptop's battery and cooling are capable of.

 

[kv2012]

Your links are broken, kv. Put them inside a url tag to get them to work properly.

As far as AMD vs Intel, in your price range the biggest difference is the visual power. Most of these notebooks are powered by Pentiums or E-series CPUs (not so great) and run on integrated graphics. I think the best laptop for you would be one with an AMD A-series APU; they're much more capable on the video side, although (like the rest of AMD's processors) they're beaten out by Intel in processing power.

I found this laptop on Newegg, and I think this may be the best (or at least one of them) for your price range and usage. Its Radeon HD 6520G GPU is the best you can get for a sub-$400 notebook. It's got a 500GB hard drive, so you're good on that too.

However, as soon as you're able, I'd highly suggest replacing the standard memory with this set. The reason is the integrated GPU (6520G) has no dedicated video RAM of its own - so it has to share the system RAM to be able to function. The default 4GB DDR3-1333 is very little, and a bit slow. The video performance really shines with faster RAM (and you'll also have a bit more multi-tasking headroom with 8GB).

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Satellite+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Matrix+Graphite/5031031.p?id=1218600485177&skuId=5031031&st=Toshiba%20-%2015.6%22%20Satellite%20Laptop&cp=1&lp=3]

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Satellite+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Matrix+Graphite/4857006.p?id=1218554264942&skuId=4857006&st=Toshiba%20-%2015.6%22%20Satellite%20Laptop&cp=1&lp=5

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Pavilion+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+320GB+Hard+Drive+-+Pewter/5290622.p?id=1218631400987&skuId=5290622&st=HP%20-%2015.6%22%20Pavilion%20Laptop&cp=1&lp=1

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Pavilion+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Pewter/5015961.p?id=1218608973713&skuId=5015961&st=HP%20-%2015.6%22%20Pavilion%20Laptop&cp=1&lp=3
2 of the same laptop,but with different specs.

I post from another forum,but now they should be working after posting the links directly.

So if I drop ps2 emulation, would a i3 with 3000 be better then AMD with Radeon HD 6520G GPU.

Tbh, I was just hoping for laptop to do light emulation, not a full blow gaming laptop.
While I didn't see my self doing it, what is difficulty of replacing parts?

Only MX versions of the mobile Llano A6s and A8s directly support 1600MT/s memory. If it's not an MX, then 1600MHz memory will default to 1333MHz and there's pretty much nothing that you can do about it unless you have a laptop that lets you manually change the CPU/GPU multipliers and the BLCK. The memory can only be overclocked to 1600MT/s through the BLCK if you have a non-MX Llano APU and you need to be able to drop the other multipliers so that they don't raise power consumption and heat generation beyond what the laptop's battery and cooling are capable of.

Gees... Even more things to worry about.


OK, I can't get them to work so I just write them out.
From Best Buy
Toshiba - 15.6" Satellite Laptop
AMD Dual-Core A4-3305M Accelerated Processor with AMD Radeon HD 6480G graphics

Toshiba - 15.6" Satellite Laptop
2nd Gen Intel® Core™ i3-2350M processor with intel graphics 3000

HP - 15.6" Pavilion Laptop
AMD Quad-Core A6-3420M Accelerated Processor with AMD Radeon HD 6520G discrete-class graphics

HP - 15.6" Pavilion Laptop
2nd Gen Intel® Core™ i3-2330M processor with intel graphics

 

[blazorthon]

Have you found anything?

http/www.bestbuy.c...aptop&cp=1&lp=3 http/www.bestbuy.c...aptop&cp=1&lp=5 http/www.bestbuy.c...aptop&cp=1&lp=1 http/www.bestbuy.c...aptop&cp=1&lp=3.
These was the last laptops I was looking at a few days ago. What do you thing these?

I didn't want to go over the budget and I didn't want a use one. So I may just drop ps2 idea. I guess to finish this thread, just recommended a nice laptop for that budget.

I looked, but what are the pros and cons amd vs Intel?

http/www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/h [...] otebook-PC

Customize it how you want to. The MX APUs support DDR3-1600 and the regular APUs support up to DDR3-1333. For added graphics performance, you could also include the Radeon 7670M or 7690M for Crossfire with the APUs' IGP. The memory it comes with is undoubtedly 1333MHz at the best, so if you go for an MX, you'll probably want to get better memory from a third party, install it, and sell the modules that it comes with.

 

[blazorthon]

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Satellite+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Matrix+Graphite/5031031.p?id=1218600485177&skuId=5031031&st=Toshiba%20-%2015.6%22%20Satellite%20Laptop&cp=1&lp=3]

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Satellite+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Matrix+Graphite/4857006.p?id=1218554264942&skuId=4857006&st=Toshiba%20-%2015.6%22%20Satellite%20Laptop&cp=1&lp=5

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Pavilion+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+320GB+Hard+Drive+-+Pewter/5290622.p?id=1218631400987&skuId=5290622&st=HP%20-%2015.6%22%20Pavilion%20Laptop&cp=1&lp=1

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Pavilion+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Pewter/5015961.p?id=1218608973713&skuId=5015961&st=HP%20-%2015.6%22%20Pavilion%20Laptop&cp=1&lp=3
2 of the same laptop,but with different specs.

I post from another forum,but now they should be working after posting the links directly.

So if I drop ps2 emulation, would a i3 with 3000 be better then AMD with Radeon HD 6520G GPU.

Tbh, I was just hoping for laptop to do light emulation, not a full blow gaming laptop.
While I didn't see my self doing it, what is difficulty of replacing parts?


Gees... Even more things to worry about.


OK, I can't get them to work so I just write them out.
From Best Buy
Toshiba - 15.6" Satellite Laptop
AMD Dual-Core A4-3305M Accelerated Processor with AMD Radeon HD 6480G graphics

Toshiba - 15.6" Satellite Laptop
2nd Gen Intel® Core™ i3-2350M processor with intel graphics 3000

HP - 15.6" Pavilion Laptop
AMD Quad-Core A6-3420M Accelerated Processor with AMD Radeon HD 6520G discrete-class graphics

HP - 15.6" Pavilion Laptop
2nd Gen Intel® Core™ i3-2330M processor with intel graphics

A4 is too weak in both CPU and GPU performance.

i3-2350 is too weak in GPU performance.

A6-3420M is a start.

i3-2330M with any applicable Intel IGP is too weak in GPU performance.

You usually can't replace the CPU and video card (if there is one, none of the laptops in your list have a discrete card and probably don't have support for one unless they come with it) of a laptop easily, if at all. However, storage (HDD/SSD/ODD) and memory are usually easy to replace.

 

[kv2012]

Can I get more info about turbo boost? Would it make the laptop hotter?
Do the specs on there seem rights. (Look that laptop at best buy since I can't
get links to work here.) That same laptop says 7hours of battery life.
How reliably is Hp laptops?

I may just get the A6-3420M.

Can it run any small amount ps2 games?

 

[blazorthon]

Can I get more info about turbo boost? Would it make the laptop hotter?
Do the specs on there seem rights. (Look that laptop at best buy since I can't
get links to work here.) That same laptop says 7hours of battery life.
How reliably is Hp laptops?

I may just get the A6-3420M.

HP does fairly well. Customer support for their printers can be lacking (severely), but it's fine for their laptops, at least that's what I hear from some people who have had them recently. Reliability also has not been a problem from them, for the most part, but all OEMs have more reliability problems than building a computer yourself (not so easy with laptops). Turbo Boost is just a feature that lets a device (such as a CPU or GPU) dynamically raise or lower its clock frequency as needed (although it doesn't always do a great job of that, especially with Windows liking to schedule CPU threads in a manner that makes Turbo Boost effectively unused in some situations, but that's MS's fault, not the fault of the deice nor Turbo Boost). It should not create a heat problem.

I don't do much emulation of older consoles right now, so I'm not sure how this APU would handle it. Granted that this is a notebook and a cheap notebook at that, I wouldn't expect excellent performance. You would probably be better off waiting until Trinity based APUs become more common in laptops and/or until Ivy Bridge CPUs become more common in laptops. Both of them would probably mean more performance for the money.

 

[kv2012]

Ok, I guess I get a ~$400 and just wait 3-4(hopefully) to get a new laptop with better performance? How that as a plan?

 

[blazorthon]

How much money will you have 3-4 (months?) from now? If you can afford a more than ~$400 laptop 3-4 from now, then it would be even better, even if you have to sell the current one to get it.

 

[kv2012]

I truly don't know.
The thing is, even if I had more than ~$400, I didn't want to put more into a laptop. I was just
wondering what my best buy for that budget.

 

[blazorthon]

I truly don't know.
The thing is, even if I had more than ~$400, I didn't want to put more into a laptop. I was just
wondering what my best buy for that budget.

You could give it a try, but if you can't get a new system when these new parts come out, you're then stuck with a $400 Llano computer that might not be able to do what you want it to. At this budget, the Llano A6 systems tend to be the best all-around, but this might be pushing your luck if we consider what you want to do with it.

 

[kv2012]

Think I'm getting lenovo w/ 2nd Gen Intel® Core™ i3 Processor for $400.

How Lenove in liability and durability?


Worth a window 8 upgrade? $14.00