Budget Laptop

[Lionsmane]

I'm looking for a cheap laptop (300ish, ideally lower) that will run ff7 and other old games like snes roms.

Until now, I've been using parallels software with an old handmedown Mac and I just have no idea what's out there these days as I don't really keep up with computers and I'm not sure what is really optimal for running ff7 with 7th Heaven mods.

The only other thing I would really use it for would be streaming Netflix or youtube honestly.

If you guys have any links or specific models to look into I'd really appreciate it!

[Jotaro]

Honestly pretty much any laptop you could get at a store is good.
Even with graphical mods, FFVII isn't graphically intensive at all, so you don't need to spend a lot at all.

[KnifeTheSky77]

http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/28/campaigns/dell-coupons-codes-us-outlet-new

Check out the dell outlet, they sell refurb machines which are essentially brand new most of the time, but marked down substantially.

Pro tip: Use the coupon codes, they'll cut the listed price nearly in half

[Lionsmane]

Honestly pretty much any laptop you could get at a store is good.
Even with graphical mods, FFVII isn't graphically intensive at all, so you don't need to spend a lot at all.

I know it's not really demanding, but from what I understan f certain graphics cards or processors are a lot more compatible than others?

Also, thanks knife!

[nfitc1]

It sure seems like things are developed with nVidia chips in mind rather than ATI. Seems a little backwards as the current gen consoles are using ATI.

[Lionsmane]

It sure seems like things are developed with nVidia chips in mind rather than ATI. Seems a little backwards as the current gen consoles are using ATI.

Yeah, see that's the kind of thing I'm trying to put into consideration. My laptop is so old I'm fairly certain a brand new 300ish dollar one will out perform it or at least perform just as well, but I don't want to pick something out that's going to make modding ff7 a headache

[KnifeTheSky77]

So here's some stuff to think about, I'll loosely paraphrase and possibly get some of the details wrong:

Intel uses a naming convention that goes like

• Product line: i3, i5, i7 are the good ones, Pentium and others are super budget
• Architecture: 6XXX is Skylake which came out this year, 5XXX is older, 3XXX is a few years old
• Power Draw: Y is very low power (~5 Watts), U (~15-25 Watts), H/HQ (~45 Watts)

A lot of these chips have iGPUs which are part of the CPU(all on the same die), which have their own naming convention like HD5000 graphics.

An Intel Core i3 3XXXH chip is 45 Watts, it isn't as fast as an i7 HQ chip, but it is much faster than an i7 U or Y variant. This goes doubly for the iGPU that is included in those CPUs. So HDXXXX graphics in a 45 Watt i5 would smoke the HDXXXX graphics in an i7 U or Y chip.

Bottom line is go with the 45 Watt CPU if you can, this also improves its integrated graphics (I think, I haven't researched this in a while)

The high power integrated Intel graphics can absolutely run FF7 without a problem, especially if your chip is relatively new. I doubt you'll find a worthwhile dedicated GPU at that price range(if you do, definitely go with that).