DiabloFans

Somebody get this to blizzard ASAP. Pretty sad they let something like this escape. It is things like this, coupled with the generally broken gameplay and lack of replayability that has me already considering quitting

Quote from JTurkey

15" MBP, late 2008 - it'll run diablo, but barely. and since these laptops overheat every 5 minutes, i've invested in a little fan-stand that will increase airflow under the laptop. it's sitting on some books. and thats my mouse which i've had for like 4 years, it's awesome.

i really hate gaming on this laptop but it's all i've got $2k fb machine yeeeee.

specs:
OPERATING SYSTEM: MacOS 10.6.8 CPU TYPE: Intel® Core™2 Duo CPU T9600 @ 2.80GHz CPU SPEED: 2.82 GHz SYSTEM MEMORY: 4 GB VIDEO CARD MODEL: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT VIDEO CARD MEMORY: 256 MB VIDEO CARD DRIVER: - DESKTOP RESOLUTION: 1440x900 HARD DISK SIZE: 297.77 GB HARD DISK FREE SPACE: 38.56 GB (13%) DOWNLOAD SPEED: 836.59 kB/s (6.9 mbps)

I'm one of the few in this thread braving a laptop, but mine is recent. Yikes your FPS will hurt

Here is one pre D3 buy I'm super happy about...best cooling pad i've even bought:

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2939

I've bought cheap plastic ones before, they are awful. this is a slanted stand with fully configurable fans (I bought a 2 fan model). Really good!

Help - just want to confirm I am doing this correctly. My end goal is to have my NVIDIA card run D3 graphics over the integrated gpu.

All I need to do is go into the NVIDIA control panel, select manage 3d settings, goto the program settings tab, and add-in just the Diablo III.exe file and designate it to the dedigated GPU...and nothing more?

i.e., no other files I need t configure or anything? Upon running the game the first time, the D3 application didnt auto show up on the list and want to ensure I set this up properly.

Thanks

Quote from Kardax2

To answer your question, yes, all mobile Sandy Bridge CPUs get the HD 3000. It's not particularly fast, but it might be tolerable if you're resolution is 1366x768 or lower.

I max out at 1366 x 768, won't even come close to 1920x1080. Just trying to have a reserve in case the primary graphics card fails.

However, I still certainly hope that my assumption HD3000 will run low detail/res smoothly is correct as I am sure many casual games only have integrated graphics and will buy the game but not another computer just for the game,

In the Sandy Bridge i5 mobile series (I have an i5-2450m), do all the mobile Sandys use HD 3000? This is what I read on the internet, but...

When I submitted system specs to Blizz, It lists as "Intel(R) HD Graphics Family", I think on other computers I've seen it specifically call out the series (i.e., HD 2000, etc)

Note: I'm not going to use integrated graphics for D3, I have a GT 630M. But, I'm thinking HD 3000 can run D3 on low smoothly if the resolution is low, and it would be nice to know I have a lower power option if I need to run off battery as well as a backup "D3 functional" graphics processes just in case of HW failure.

When I played beta, I didn't thorough testly emergency HC measures to avoid death. Back in D2, if things got oogly, I could TP instantly to safety. In a real jam, I could save.exit. During a mega jam, I could alt+f4

I noticed in beta there is a TP lag and a TP lock during boss fights. There is also a lag on a save/exit. Do other measures work, like Alt+f4 (didnt test) or force-ending the program with task manager? Or if this happened, would you still sit for 10 seconds before exiting?

I actually like the lag feature as it makes the game harder. Just want to ensure there isnt a slightly less obvious way to make a fast exit that others use.

Is this a "should I buy it" thread or a "here is my laptop, I missed the open beta and will it work thread"

Looks like a fairly recent p/n so unsure which! I agree w/ other posters...based on what I've read it will work but not well. Low settings on a lower screen resolution should allow for play on low :(. Not as fun as it should be, but it'll save cost. I think the passmark rating on your card is not much above the integrated graphics for some odd reason

Quote from Monolith

1. Mini-Fridge
2. Big Oscilating Fan
3. Energy Drinks (probably get those health potion ones haha)
4. All manner of pop.
5. Pizza Rolls
6. Chicken Nuggets
7. Hamburgers
8. Hotdogs
9. Beef Jerky
10. Peanuts
11. Protein Shakes
12. Chewy Bars

• Why a mini fridge? Just cram the normal one
• More hotpockets! (Use lean pocks for health reasons)
• Apples
• Mini carrots
• Blue diamond flavored almonds (habenero BBQ rocks)
• Cape cod reduced fat BBQ chips
• chobani greek yogis
• lots and lots of coffee...fraps and double shot cans from starbucks

Just found something else in my range (nice big price drop). The videocard wasn't listed on the videocard benchmark site, but it appeared to be better. What are your thoughts on this and has anybody ran beta w/ this config:

Other Comp I may buy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215261

Summary:

• i7-2670QM 2.2GHz
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M
• 4GB DDR3 RAM

Compared to the first laptop I listed, Looks like par on the RAM, a nice big improvement over an i5-2450m, but couldn't get any independant data on the vid card. I've also seen a number of posts confirming the GeForce GT 540M works fine with high res but am yet to see any live verification with the GT 630M

Although I don't know offhand what the historical cycle time is between beta shutdown and go-live, doesn't the 5/1 close announcement seem to provide a larger gap between beta and release than normal? I could have sworn past data indicated more like a 2-4 day gap between beta close and go-live.

I would think they've already sorted out the physical logistics (i.e., box, printing, create media, pack media, etc all done now) so it would just be a matter of ensuring enough physical product volume and shipping to stores. I'd assume it doesn't really matter when they create the media/DVDs, since they'll just have a slightly larger patch upon go-live for those who elect physical product delivery so all that stuff is probably already done and sitting in a warehouse. I'd also think they are burning down most all critical bug/PTRs in parallel with beta ramp-down such that the pre-release patch would have most 'must fixes' in shortly after the beta goes off.

What am I missing here driving the 2 week void?

For the lucky folks who got the beta, is it an account specific enable or is there a key? I have several friends who got Beta...wondering if I need to convince them to let me log on to thier account or if they can just share a enabling key code?

What do you think of this Acer laptop?

http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1798038&CatId=4938

• i5-2450m
• AMD Radeon HD 6650M, 1GB
• 4GB RAM

Price point is identical and looks to be very similar. Unsure of the trade-off here. The 1st comparision point was an Acer laptop with key stats below. The videocard benchmark rating was basically identical

• i5-2450m
• GeForce GT 540M, 1GB
• 4GB RAM

Quote from Kardax2

If you're not in a rush, consider waiting for the new "Ivy Bridge" CPUs and their Intel HD 4000 GPUs to come in a month or so. Early testing suggests the HD 4000 is about 40% faster than the HD 3000. This would allow you to get a cheaper / lighter laptop for the same amount of money as you might spend today.

Also consider AMD. Their "APU"s offer decent CPU performance and better integrated GPUs than Intel has now or on the horizon.

Sort of in a rush - unless new intel chips come out ~May 10 or sooner without major cost increases might be a no-go.

On a semi related note has any beta player verified compatibility with the a NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M? Looking at bnet forums, it appears folks concurred this should function OK but nobody explicity verified through demonstration running the beta

Thanks in advance for reading and providing feedback! I was a huge D1 and D2 fan, but I've nearly skipped PC games for 6-7 years. As such, I've never bought even half-decent machines because the need wasn't there. Now the need will be shortly, as D3 looks awesome. I'm looking for a new laptop but am on a pretty tight budget.

From an operational needs standpoint, the portability of a laptop is important to me as it may be a multi-function (not just gaming) workstation that needs to follow me around. Other than that, I seek a balance of acceptable performance and minimal costs. By acceptable performance, I'm willing to tolerate not running on the max resolution, max detail level, etc but eliminating local client caused lag is critical, for example especially during a big battle.

General HW Candidates:

• The Acer listed below (looks to be ~650)
• Cheaper machine running Intel HD3000 with an i5 (~550)
• Slight better machine (~800), probably more than I am comfortable shelling out

What do you all think of the following laptop:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215256

The summary specs include an i5 2450M(2.50GHz), NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M, and 4 GB of RAM. I looked at the system FAQ, and while the video card scored above the minimum, it was clearly not listed on blizz's supported video cards which as me worried. Will this mean a HW compatibility issue? (or if compatiable, poor performance, as the number met the min but was far below goal spec level)

Alternatively, I'm looking at cheaper laptops with intel HD3000 and i5s, which looks to save me another $100-150 and is clearly supported for D3 based on blizz's vid card listing. However, I've read mixed post on various sites regarding the performance of the intel HD3000 and am worried the HW, even on low res setting, will have lag-spikes during high-intensity battles with "busy" visualizations.

Thoughts?

Thanks