Any way to improve gaming experience?

[Deka87]

So I have this laptop HP Pavilion Laptop -ck0xx (product number 2PP69EA#ACB). I know it's not a gaming laptop, however I decided to try and play Battlefield 1 on it. I checked the Battlefield 1 minimum requirements, they are as follows: 

64 Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10

Intel Core i5 6600K

8Gb RAM

NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 660 2Gb

Best gaming experience requires:

64 Windows 10

Intel Core i7 4790

16Gb Ram
NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 1060 3 Gb

My system info:

64 Windows 10

Intel Core i5 8250U

12Gb RAM

NVIDIA GeForce® 940MX 6Gb

So I thought that's enough and purchased the game. Once purchased, I noticed NVIDIA GeForce Experience says that my system is below the minimal requirements. I tried to play with all settings set to LOW and the game was still freezing and I couldn't really play it. Am I missing something? Is there some toggler I forgot to switch or I just can't read / understand the requirements? Thanks in advance.

[Photoray002]

Hello @Deka87 

Ill state my opinion since that's about all I can do for ya...

I wouldn't even consider those minimum reqs listed. BF1 is a heavy hardware using game that really needs a GTX 1060 to give a decently smooth experience. Its not just about the max FPS produced, the minimums also count. Plus you should have at least 8GB of memory, 16GB being ideal. You only have a 960MX and 6GB.

Considering you are so limited on the graphics card, there's not much you could really do at this point, since you're already running on the minimum game settings. More ram might help a bit, but probably not worth the cost for what you will gain. And as games advance with updates, their requirements also increase, so a low end PC that will run a game at bare minimum settings now, wont be able to keep up in the future as a more upgraded PC will (ergo the concept of future proofing).

[Deka87]

Thanks for your answer! I am no good in understanding system info. You are saying "you should have at least 8GB of memory, 16GB being ideal. You only have a 960MX and 6GB.". But according to BF it requires 2-3Gb of video RAM which is two times less than I have. I am just trying to understand this line so I could choose a better PC next time.

[Photoray002]

The minimum ram is 8Gb. The recommended ram is 8GB. 

The minimum video card memory is 2GB. The recommended is min is 3GB but its been shown by many players that 3GB is stretching it. 4 GB of Vram is pretty much a minimum standard now days.

System Memory (Ram) and Video Card Memory (Vram) are two different things. When I said 6GB of ram, that is the system memory you have installed according to your specs.

When it comes to a "gaming rig", buying a low end system that barely meets game requirements will always end up being a waste of money in the long run. It will not be able to keep up for very long in the future as games progress and you end up with nothing more than a fancy email machine. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.  😞

If you decide on getting another rig in the future, don't hesitate to ask opinions here first. That's what we're here for.  🙂

[Deka87]

Thanks for the clarificaion. What confused me is that according to NVIDIA I have "NVIDIA GeForce® 940MX 6Gb" and I assumed I have 6Gb of video ram, while you are saying this is my system memory. Am I getting this wrong?

[Photoray002]

Again, you have 6GB of system memory. You have 2GB of video memory built into the graphics card. That is correct.

[Deka87]

Oh now I see. Sorry for bothering you so many times. I tried to google how to find your vram value, clicked Display adapter properties and found it says 128Mb of Dedicated Video Memory and 6Gb of Shared System Memory. That's definitely not enough 😕

[Photoray002]

Hmm, hang on and let me look into something. You might have switchable graphics which would explain some of the low performance.  Be back

[Photoray002]

Right click on a blank area of your desktop and open the NVIDIA Control Panel.

See if it gives the option for Preferred Graphics Processor under Manage 3D Settings.

If so, take it off of Auto Mode and choose the 940MX only.

IF you do this under the Global tab, it will use the 940 for everything.

If you do this under the Program Settings tab, you can choose what program or game the 940 will be used with.

Let me know if it does and if the game improves?

Edit... Also run the game while plugged in to the power cord. Do not run on Battery only.

[Deka87]

Oh yeah, I already changed that before. I only have different options: "high performance processor NVIDIA" and "integrated graphics equipment" (google translated). So I always chose "high performance processor NVIDIA" and it was slow with it enabled.