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Eldest got a laptop for Christmas but it was more of a work laptop than gaming.
Typically he went to download a game (forza) on Christmas Day but there was insufficient memory to download the full game.
Although should have bought a gaming laptop what is the easiest way to resolve with this one....can you just buy an external hard drive to increase the memory or will the processing still be insufficient?
If it's more a work style laptop, it won't just be lack of memory, the CPU and the graphics capability may well not be up to the job either.
The problem with laptops is they are not very upgradable.
If you post up the make /model it will be easier to advise.
Hi suspected that may be the case but it’s a hp 15-da0003na (or at least that’s what it says on the back!)
Thanks
The laptop has a Celeron processor and 4Gb of RAM.
He won't be playing many modern games on it.
Forza requires a fast processor, decent additional graphics card and recommends 12Gb of RAM.
Generally, unless you are paying megabucks, a laptop is not the right choice for running modern games.
Your laptop has the following spec:
Microprocessor:
Intel® Celeron® N4000 (1.1 GHz base frequency, up to 2.6 GHz burst frequency, 4 MB cache, 2 cores)
Memory:
4 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM (1 x 4 GB)
Video graphics:
Intel® UHD Graphics 600
Integrated
As you stated, it's a modestly powered laptop, it'll be ideal for homework and internet etc, but it's just not up to running games over and above browser based stuff.
Assuming this is the right one: https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c06043402
Ironically perhaps it does seem to come with a 1Tb HDD so their should be plenty of storage for Forza games are typically 30-60GB, but the Hardware won't run it.
There's no practical way to make this run games, it's just not what it's for. If you want to go that way a Xbox One S or PS4 would be a cheaper and easier way to do it.
Best upgrade for that laptop would be an SSD, they're cheaper than ever, if he can live with 240GB Storage, it can be done for under £50, it does need a bit of technical ability or at least the will to watch a few YT vids.
Ok thanks for the replies - looks like if he wanted a gaming laptop that’s what he should have asked for!
What you want there is an Xbox.
Ironically perhaps it does seem to come with a 1Tb HDD so their should be plenty of storage for Forza games are typically 30-60GB, but the Hardware won’t run it.
I suspect the insufficient memory will be referring to RAM rather than storage.
If you want to go that way a Xbox One S or PS4 would be a cheaper and easier way to do it.
If he wants to play Forza specifically, that series is an Xbox (and PC) exclusive, it's not available on the PS4.
Xbox One / One S will do the job. If you subscribe to Game Pass that includes the latest Forza Horizon and a ton of other games, it's on offer at the moment for around £25 for six months. There's a bunch of bundles which include FH4 also I believe.
For Xbox - do you need to have a subscription to use it effectively ?
I already have a Netflix subscrition.
You can play games on PCs with surprisingly low graphics capabilities. You can turn down the levels of detail, sometimes to sufficiently low levels to play on cheap kit. But that depends on the game. However if there isn't enough RAM it won't work at all.
Laptops can be upgraded sometimes, but cheap ones may not be upgradeable. You should be able to Google minimum specs for any game, but I'm guessing that the processor on your laptop might be too slow.
yeah that laptops not playing much.
If it was an i5 or i7 with thunderbolt port then you could opt for an external HDD but that is more expensive than buying an xbox.
An entry level gaming latop with an Nvidia 1060 will set you back £1k in the sales. A 1050 packs a lot less punch but will handle most stuff on lower settings. 1070 and above cost £££££.
I suspect the current laptop + and xbox + a 32" TV would work out cheaper but no idea how much the sub costs or if you need it.
Laptop for work, xbox for play gets my vote.
For Xbox – do you need to have a subscription to use it effectively ?
Depends what you mean by "effectively." There's two subs you can get:
1) Xbox Live Gold. This is essential if you want to play online, and arguably worth it even if you don't as you get two free Xbox One games and two free 360 games every month. If you use a website like cdkeys or electronicfirst (I can recommend both) then this will set you back about £30 per year. Buying it directly from the console is the most expensive way of buying it.
Of note here Gold works slightly differently on the One. On the 360, every player needed a Gold sub to play online. On the One you just need one Gold account on the box and everyone on that box gets access. There's parental controls if you need to restrict this - it's common for a parent to have the Gold sub and then create child accounts for their anklebiters.
2) Game Pass. This gives you access to a raft of free games. There's some fillers for sure, but some top notch titles like FH4 on there. This is something like seven quid a month I think, but there's offers as I said earlier. £25 for six months' access to a £50 game seemed good value to me.
You don't need either of these per se, but I wouldn't be without Live Gold. It's well worth having for the price of a couple of pints every month, and you might find that some games now require Gold (FH4 may be one of them, I'd have to check).
sorry meant external GPU above not HDD.
The only way you'll turn that laptop into a vaguely capable gaming platform is to send it back and buy something else at four times the price. It's like buying a Nissan Micra and then asking what you need to do to it to be able to compete at the Nurburgring.
You can play games on PCs with surprisingly low graphics
It's a duel core celeron though with 4gb ram and integrated graphics, which will eat into the system ram as the graphics part of the chip doesn't have its own dedicated memory.
You'll basically be limited to small indie games and old skool classics.
As Scotty would say "she does ne have the power captain!"
It's simply not a gaming machine it's for surfing the net and doing office work.. I hope the op didn't pay much for it..
You could however get a desktop for gaming for far less.
Get an office refurb i5 for £150 ish and then stick a second hand graphics card in it for£50-100, you'd be fine. Second hand monitors are around for £50 but only £100 new.
Cougar - thanks.
An Xbox 1x would be half the price of a high end graphics card and seems to be giving very good image quality.
There was a thread on here a couple of days ago where the xbox one s was recommended over the x model as it was roughly half the price.
An Xbox 1x would be half the price of a high end graphics card
Pretty sure you don't need a high end one. I checked the specs for Fortnite for my daughter and the recommended card could be had for £50 second hand.