Best cheap laptop for melee/project m netplay

[CGod]

I found these
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00S...&pc_redir=T1&redirect=true&tag=youtube0b80-20


http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-...lack/4361901.p?id=1219736625858&skuId=4361901

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavi...h-silver/5217201.p?id=bb5217201&skuId=5217201

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15...e-silver/4831500.p?id=bb4831500&skuId=4831500


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00I...&pc_redir=T1&redirect=true&tag=youtube0b80-20


Budget has to be under 500

 

[Spak]

It's very likely that none of these will run Melee/PM netplay very well. Melee and Brawl/PM are both very graphics-intensive, so you'd probably need a dedicated graphics card (preferably made by a notable company like AMD, MSI, NVidia, etc.), but all of the laptops you listed have on-board graphics. Prebuilt with a dedicated GPU will usually run you $800+ for the lowest-end laptops with dedicated GPUs, $1000+ for decently good quality, $2000+ for absurdly good quality, and $3000-4500 for the people who are rich enough to buy top notch Alienware but are too busy/lazy/dumb to build a desktop that runs faster for a quarter of the price.

 

[GenNyan]

http://smashboards.com/guides/dolphin-netplay-setup-optimization-guide-3-5-ready.113/

https://dolphin-emu.org/docs/faq/ (This is the official Dolphin one)

^These are some good benchmarks for picking out a laptop. Compare the specs of the laptop you want with these and you should be good. And you can build your own laptop of course. idk about cheap & good laptops, but you can definitely build/buy a PC that'll run melee for under $500.

Like Spak mentioned, you'll probably want a dedicated GPU, and even though you may be able to get away with an integrated one according to the Dolphin FAQ, I wouldn't bet on it.


Here's the relevant bit from the top link:

Minimum Requirements (2 player, 480p/60 FPS):

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 or AMD Phenom X2 555
Memory: 4 GB DDR3
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 8800 GT or AMD Radeon HD 4770
Operating System: Windows Vista 32-bit or OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" 32-bit
Recommended Specifications (4 player, 720p/60 FPS):

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD Phenom X4 955
Memory: 4 GB DDR3
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce GTX 560 or AMD Radeon HD 7850
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit or OS X 10.9 "Mavericks" 64-bit

 

[Delta Chae]

I honestly wouldn't recommend a laptop for netplay. Then again I wouldn't recommend a laptop for gaming in general. The issue here is mainly that Melee runs at 60 fps so ideally you'll have a 60hz monitor. If you were to build a desktop then finding a 60hz monitor is easy since those are easily the most common type on the market. Laptops however rarely if ever list the refresh rate. Specifically for cheap ones where the GPU is integrated in the CPU, the monitor is typically 30 or 40hz meaning best case scenario you'll only be seeing every 2/3 frames rendered and worst case you'll only see every other frame which will absolutely murder your timing for essential tech. If you really want a computer to run netplay here's a decent small form factor build that will run it just fine for about $600.
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/NZPxGf