Dell Inspiron 17r??

[jay_envy]

My desktop finally managed to die a slow and painful (for me at least) death. I was going to get a new graphics card for it but the repairs alone for my desktop would be about the same cost as a new laptop.

I was just wondering if you could tell me if it would run TS3 on at least medium settings, with smooth performance? I've checked around and have been getting mixed messages. Here are the specs --

2nd generation Intel® Core™ i5-2430M processor 2.40 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.00 GHz
6GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
640GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M (128-bit) 1GB


I was also playing Skyrim before my desktop decided to shit out on me, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

[ellacharmed]

You mean replacing a GPU is the same in cost to purchasing a new laptop?
Or, the whole desktop needs components to be replaced, not just the GPU? What happened? Things melted or fried?
What GPU did you have on the Desktop, anyway?

If you want to play SkyRim, that 525M won't cut it.

If you look at the SysReq page for TS3 (link in my signature), cards that are usually good for current and future addons are those above the middle mark for that series. ie GTX 46x / 56x, Radeon HD 56xx / 66xx and above. They have Green Yes across the board. If you play other games, then of course you need to verify with those games' requirements to ensure you meet the most demanding ones. I think at the current time, if a card can play SkyRim (requires DX11) and BF3 (DX11), it can play TS3 (DX9). :) Those 2 newest games have higher requirements than TS3 in terms of CPU, RAM and GPU processing power, to play the game well at a reasonable FPS, not just able to load and then sit there and wait for things to render.

[jay_envy]

Honestly, my desktop has become a huge money suck and I'd much rather just buy a new laptop instead of wasting all of my money getting my desktop repaired.

The hard drive is fried. I loaded the desktop up yesterday and it said 'No Boot Device Available'. I tried everything I could, google'd what to do in this situation and most of the answers were that the hard drive probably gave out. But I'm sure by the time I buy a new hard drive, get it installed and go to turn on my computer, something else will be wrong with it.


As for the Dell laptops, the only options for the graphics that I've gotten were for the Intel HD 3000 (no thank you) and the GT 525M.

[ellacharmed]

As for the Dell laptops, the only options for the graphics <snip>So don't get a Dell? ;)
There are other better, gaming-calibre laptops from MSI/Clevo, Asus, Toshiba, etc. You could do so much better than a Dell. But if you don't need the mobility, I'd still push for a Desktop.

[whiterider]

Before trashing that HD, and I know this isn't on-topic, but there might be stuff you want to save on it nonetheless, try:
Checking all the cables. Obvious, I know, but you'll feel like a prat if you don't do it and then a loose connection turns out to be the cause.
Windows install media may be able to repair the MBR, corruption of which can cause that error.
To rescue data, plug it in as a secondary drive - either in another, functioning machine, or by booting the current machine from removable media like an Ubuntu Live stick (http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download) (or any recovery software you have lying around).