Will RealFlight 5.5 work with Intel HD Graphics 4000?

S

spinnerette

New member
I need a new laptop (HP Pavilion dv7 is dying slowly due to hardware reasons) and I'm looking at a System 76 Pangolin Performance with the upgrades for 16GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive and the Intel Core i7 processor. It comes with Ubuntu Linux but I'll probably dual boot Windows 7 for games so the compatibility with the OS shouldn't be an issue.

My concern is the graphics card. It comes with Intel HD Graphics 4000 with no option to upgrade. (My understanding is you CAN'T upgrade the graphics card on that laptop because it's not removable.) I'm fine with the integrated card because I don't do much gaming but Real Flight 5.5 is my husband's program, and I know he'd like to keep using it. Anyone have experience using 5.5 with it? If it's not quite ideal but works well enough, that's fine. If it really doesn't work well enough to be worth it then I might look at a different laptop.
 
Look at a different option.

Find a laptop that features an Nvidia or ATI video processor. Since this is an extra cost for the manufacturer the advertizing will feature such a feature prominently.

You may want to check out what are called "Gaming" laptops. These are higher end machines with enough horsepower and graphics processing to handle 3D programs and games.

Try to find a machine with specs that tell you it also has DEDICATED video memory in addition to the ATI or NVIDIA GPU.
 
opjose said:
Look at a different option.

Find a laptop that features an Nvidia or ATI video processor. Since this is an extra cost for the manufacturer the advertizing will feature such a feature prominently.

You may want to check out what are called "Gaming" laptops. These are higher end machines with enough horsepower and graphics processing to handle 3D programs and games.

Try to find a machine with specs that tell you it also has DEDICATED video memory in addition to the ATI or NVIDIA GPU.
Click to expand...

Ok...but you didn't really tell me whether it would work or not. I get that it's not the ideal system for it. There's a difference between ideal and passable and we're ok with passable because my husband's occasional use of Real Flight 5.5 is the ONLY thing we would need that kind of graphics for. We're not really 3D gamers, our other games have much lower graphics requirements. Cost is also a factor since this is an unplanned replacement due to a hardware failure. We can't shell out $1500 for all the bells and whistles. So I'm really looking for someone who has actually tried it with Intel HD Graphics 4000 and can tell me whether I can realistically make it work.
 
Technically: Realflight supports the Integrated chipset.

IMHO performance is NOT "passable" though some may say that you could run 2D ( panoramic ) airfields with a system such as you are contemplating.

I however will not say that.

Vendors use the video chipset you are looking in an attempt to reduce costs.
This is like putting worn tires on a nice brand new car... you still CAN get where you are going, and the vendor is not deceiving you about the condition of the car.... but if you want a balanced performing vehicle, you'll spring for the difference.

Most people say exactly the same thing as you are saying when they go to buy a computer. Recognizing these statements, vendors give customers what they are (incorrectly) asking for.

The performance of the video chipset affects the system overall. The less "work" the CPU has to do to update the screen the better the performance of disk reads, etc... and the more pleasant the "smoothness" of the machine.

Windows 7 & 8 benefit from a fast 3D capable video processor for such mundane tasks as surfing the web and word processing.

My advice is still: Look for something else. If you do four years from now, you'll still be using that computer and will appreciate the input.
 
BTW: head over to Newegg.com

You'll find plenty of laptops HALF the price you mentioned that feature ATI or Nvidia video processors that will run Realflight just fine.
 
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