| SvennoJ said: I7 4700MQ, 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.4ghz, 3.4ghz turbo (don't think that's enabled on my laptop) Elite Dangerous is made to offload the CPU by using the GPU which works to my Laptop's disdavantage, leaving the CPU usage below 20% and for example loading of the system map or galaxy map depends on current fps which makes no sense at all. Enabling v-sync makes loading take longer, while that should leave more time available! And ofcourse it won't enlist help of the 2nd GPU either. |
Well yeah, consoles are a great value when compared to a gaming laptop when it comes to - gaming. But obviously somebody who buys a gaming-capable laptop has non-gaming priorities they want to address or they would've otherwise built a gaming desktop (or bought a console) for a much lower price. As you noted it seems like the limitations are specifically caused by your choice of hardware being a multi-purposed laptop that can be used for dedicated gaming (among other things) but wasn't made to excel at it. It also doesn't help that even theoretically the 740m isn't up to snuff to the GPU in the XBO. If we were comparing apples to apples (say an r7 260x, r7 260, or GTX 750 TI) then the performance issues wouldn't have arose, because the form-factor is a desktop designed for gaming, something much similar to the typical console form-factor.
The assumptions of a decent dedicated (console-level) GPU and two fast CPU cores (at a minimum) aren't really that bad of assumptions for a game like Elite Dangerous. That is what most people have for dedicated gaming machines. And as you noted, it isn't that the developers couldn't optimize the game for your form-factor, it is just that they chose not to, probably because they didn't see a large benefit of doing so.
I understand the frustration though. I don't understand the fascination manufacturers have with putting i7's in high-end laptops, but skimp out on a decent mobile GPU, especially when people who buy a laptop with a dedicated GPU (and optimus) probably are doing so because they're interested in gaming and don't have to worry about power consumption when gaming because they'll likely have the laptop plugged in rather than running on battery (wasn't that the point of optimus?)
Overall though I don't think your problems are caused by PC not having console level optimization, but rather a divergent form-factor not having the same level of optimization of a console form-factor. A standard desktop PC will likely be suited for gaming much better than a laptop.
