VAIO S13A with Nvidia 640m LE + Simicity 5 OK ?

[Nico6875]

Hi Everyone,

I'm about to invest in a new laptop as my old one's GPU just went dead.

I'm looking for a "multipurpose" laptop and a Vaio Sony S13A suits me well.

Before ordering it, I want however to ensure that my new machine will run "correctly" SimCIty 5 as I'm an old fan of this franchise.

The Vaio S13A is embarking a NVidia 640m LE with 2GB DDR3 do you think it will be ok ?

I've already look the SimCity specs on the site and this card is listed as "meet the minimal requirements", but I don't only want to meet the minimas, I would know if this GPU will allow me to "reasonably" play to SC5 with good gameplay, no lags and a good amount of details...

I've asked EA helpdesk but I have no answer yet

Thanks for your help.

[Pip]

Hello.

Well your GPU's status is a little unknown at the moment. There are no benchmarks available for it yet and we're yet to rank it properly at the main website. It's basically a power stripped GeForce GT 640M.
Adding to that, Simcity 5 is an upcoming game to which we have no user reports and therefore haven't been able to provide adjusted system requirements.
Anyway, according to the current system requirements you should be able to play it at high settings. The system requirements seem very low at the moment but this might change. Hopefully the game's engine is well optimized.
All in all, my vote is you'll play it on medium settings for sure.
P.S. What is your CPU?
P.P.S if there is a 1GB version that is cheaper, do go for it as 2GB is clearly a gimmick.

[TherealYeno]

I would expect that Sim City is very CPu dependent, most sim games are so knowing your cpu might help.

[Nico6875]

Hi,

Thanks for your answer

The cpu will be a core i7 3520m@2.9GHz with 12MB DDR3 1333MHz

I know that there are little info both on the gpu and on simcity 5... That's my problem :s but I can't wait : I need a new laptop quickly as the gpu of my old laptop went dead

After hours crawling on the net, I have selected 2 alternatives :
-sony vaio s13a (13'3 1600x900 premium matte screen, core i7 3520@2.9GHz with 4MB L3 cache, 12MB 1333MHz RAM, nvidia ge force 640m LE with 1 or 2GB 1333MHZ VRAM and a 512 GB SSD hard drive, hdmi output,weight 1.8 kg)
-clevo P150EM 15'6 laptop configured with core i7 3820QM@2.4GHz with 8MB Cache, 12MB 1600 RAM, nvidia ge force 675GTX with 2GB of 1600MHz VRAM, 512GB SSD hard drive and a full hd 1920x1080 HQ+ LED matte screen, dvi and hdmi outputs, weight : 3.1kg

Whatever my final choice will be, the laptop will be plugged at home to an external eizo CG223w screen

My uses are :
- photo Editing (canon DPP and photoshop) : 60%
- basic word/excel/web stuff : 20%
- gaming : simcity 5 (2013), civilization V mainly (and perhaps 1 or 2 other simulation/strategy games like The Sims or Anno 2070) : 20%

80% of time the computer will be at home on a desk
20% of time I'll be carrying it for week-ends (along with my photo equipment that weight already approx. 5kg) or for holidays (weight is less a problem then)

So, to summarize my basic needs are : a powerfull cpu, plenty of RAM and an excellent screen (even if I'll will mainly use the external screen for photoediting at home, I'll need to have a good screen to do some photoediting work when I'll be outside),
- an adequate Gpu for gaming in good conditions (no lags and at least average details)
- less weight as possible regarding these needs

help me please, all these searching drive me crazy !!!