Will my Alienware M14X R2 encounter the same troubles?

Currently, I've got a Macbook Pro, and last christmas, I bought Parallels Desktop, and the Elder Scrolls Anthology, so I could play all the games on this collection. I installed Arena and Daggerfall, and they both ran perfectly - no problems encountered with them, whatsoever. But, you know how Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim run with Steam, right? Well, I installed those 3 games, and when I entered the main menu of Skyrim, and I pressed 'Play' the only thing that came up was 'Failed to Initialise Renderer. Widowed Mode not supported.'

And so I disabled Windowed mode, and when I pressed play, it still read 'Failed to Initialise Renderer', and so I tried different resolutions, and none of them would work. It still read the same thing, and when I tried to play Oblivion, it read 'Failed to Initialise Rendered, Get device caps()' or something along those lines, whilst Morrowind wouldn't even open up to the menu. And, I'm ordering my Alienware M14X R2 sometime today, and I was wondering if I would encounter the same problem.

Will my Alienware run Skyrim and Oblivion? Was 'Failed to Initialise Renderer' a problem with my Mac? Just wondering, will I encounter the same problem with my Alienware? Some help would be appreciated, even if you don't own an Alienware, I would like to see your input. Thanks.

- Miko122

What are your laptop specs?

How can I find that out?

It'll be passable, but you are paying a bunch of money for a second laptop for gaming? That's just about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Get a desktop for gaming and use your macbook when you are on the road.

I'm selling my Mac. Also, the Mac isn't a gaming Laptop. I tried running Borderlands 2 on it, and that was really laggy. I find words like 'dumbest' to be quiet offensive.

holy fuck... welcome to the internet.

Why even bring up the macbook if you are getting rid of it? It has absolutely nothing to do with the question.

@kidavenger: I reason I bought up the Macbook was because I wanted to know if the problem was Skyrim was because of my Mac, and if i'll encounter it on another laptop. You're not even worth my time.

@kidavenger said:

Welcome to Giant Bomb, where the first rule of the forums is to not be a jerk. You can be helpful without insulting this person.

@miko1222: You should be fine with your Alienware. They are built for gaming and even if you got a used one from 4 years ago you would be able to run it. Of course posting the spec sheet for your incoming Alienware would be helpful, but if it's brand new then it should be fine since Skyrim is over 2 years old at this point.

@ssully: I appreciate your help. Here is the laptop:

http://www.dell.com/au/p/alienware-14/pd

It is the second configuration, and here are the requirements for Skyrim:

http://systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/requirements/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/11231/?p=a

Do the requirements match?

Thanks.

Yes that computer will run Skyrim, but you are going about this all wrong. Its too late to say now, but for the price of that laptop you could run the game at triple the frame rate on a properly built desktop. You could have kept the Mac, got a desktop and all the things to use it (keyboard mouse monitor speakers chair sombrero poptarts) and still saved ended up about the same price. You would probably still get to have children later in life all without terrible back problems to boot!

That computer will run Skyrim, but properly configured that Macbook Pro may have been able to as well and depending on the specs probably just as well. If you used bootcamp and loaded into Windows that way and once you got all the drivers set up, you should be able to run Skyrim at low settings on your Macbook Pro. Parallels Desktop isn't ideal for gaming and may not work at all for some things.

Also that system requirements lab tool isn't super useful since it just looks for system specs as they show up on steam or the back of the box. Recommended settings could still be too low to run a game in all its glory.

As for option 28, Skyrim on that Alienware will honestly run about as well as it does on an Xbox 360 or a PS3 if all you want to do is play console games at console level graphics that may suit you better.

The reason Arena and Daggerfall run on your computer is because they run in DOSbox and not on the OS proper. They are so old you have to emulate a computer on your computer.

@slaegar: I'm still pretty young. I can tell you I haven't even hit 20 yet, but I wouldn't give you a precise age. So, do you think I will encounter the same problem that I did with the mac? Also, why do you think I encountered the problem in the first place?

Besides that, one of the reasons i'm getting a Gaming PC is probably for portability, so I can play games like ACIII on the go. Thanks for the help, all of you guys.

My guess for the problem on your Mac is that the games couldn't get sufficient or proper access to the hardware, so it couldn't start up. If you booted into Windows on its own instead of running Windows inside of OS X it may work. The problem shouldn't happen on the Alienware since its going to run Windows natively.

@slaegar: Hopefully, but i'm still a bit anxious about it. Nevertheless, I couldn't thank you more for your help. Just gonna keep my figures crossed.

Christ, the guys that keep suggesting a desktop for someone who is looking for a laptop is seriously crazy. Every single fucking time someone is asking for advice about a laptop, over half the replies go into detail why someone should buy a desktop; in an attempt to convert someone's thoughts and satisfy their own. The guy is looking for a laptop because of portability. How dumb must you be to then think: 'Well, you should buy a desktop instead. I mean, you won't be able to take it with you and, you know... actually play it when you want to, but at least you could have played in theory if you stayed home for less money! Yay me! I'm so smart and thoughtful'.

Now, as I'm sure I'll regret saying it like such an ass later, I'll clarify by saying I've seen this issue so many times now it just gets under my skin. As a laptop user myself, I can tell you that it's either a laptop, or a handheld. It's not a choice between a laptop and a desktop. It never is. I'm on the move a lot. I'm only at home about half of every week. Being able to take my PC with me is worth a bunch of extra money to me. Don't try to tell me that it's not to me. Paying less and barely being able to use my PC is a complete waste of money to me. Don't try to tell me that it's not to me. I understand that it is different for some of you guys, but can't you see that for someone else it works like that?

Now, as I happen to own a M14x myself, let me get more ontopic and say that: yeah, it will run games fine, including Skyrim. I haven't played a lot of Skyrim on my laptop, but I was able to run it perfectly smooth. I'm running i7 3.4 GHz, 650M 2GB, 8GB DDR3; so anything around there should work great. For reference, I'm also capable of running Crysis 2 on pretty respectable settings. I forget what they called them, but I mostly used second highest setting for most options, some others a bit lower and it ran at a pretty steady 30fps. I can easily jack it up to 60 by changing some settings, but I found I prefer a bit more graphical fidelity. Running it on max settings makes it go at about 19-20fps, which is still playable, but not very comfortable. Just remember that you might need to go into your CPU settings and cap it at lower processing power, as games like Crysis 2 make your CPU work 100% of its power constantly, which makes your laptop work your CPU less in increments to prevent overheating. It results in the game running really jaggy. Capping the power makes it run smoother as your laptop will just let it keep on running at, say, 70% power constantly. Also, be sure to invest in a good cooling pad. When you're buying an expensive piece of hardware like that, you might as well invest a bit more money into keeping it in prime condition. You also need to clean the fans every once in a while with some compressed air.

I have mine for a year now and it still runs as great as the day I got it.

@zevvion: Just ordered my Alienware M14X R2 yesterday. Thanks for your reply! Really appreciated.

Was it a 13" Macbook? The Intel HD in those are hot trash for any 3d gaming.

If you go to the apple logo and hit about computer, you get a list of specs. If it had a dedicated graphics card, you could have boot camped it for gaming. It would run hot as hell and the track pad magically sucks, but you would be tethered to a wall, so why not add a mouse.

How about I phrase this question in a different way/topic/whatever to explain why people are suggesting a PC

Hay Guise I'm thinking of buying a car for trackdays. I really love driving n stuff and I really want to go fast. I've been looking at cars and I'm really thinking of buying a Dodge Caravan or a Renault Espace

This just shows you assume whoever wants a laptop actually doesn't want one and is waiting for your brilliance to tell them they actually want something else, because you have something else.

It's more like: Hey guys, I'm thinking of buying a Tesla. I have enough money and I prefer the extra investment for what it offers. Which one should I get? -Oh, you totally want this Hummer! It's nice and big and has more power! They're like half the price too! Thank me later guy.

That'a a terrible analogy. I'm not too familiar with Tesla models but I think maybe saying the equivalent Toyota Avalon or for their luxury car the equivalent Lexus.

It depends on the MacBook, also it's probably due to the fact that you are running a virtual box and not running the OS natively. If you want, you can partition a chunk of your hard drive, install windows on that and game on the mac natively. Macbooks dual-boot Mac and Windows quite well. And as I said before, it depends on the MacBook, some have video cards and some have integrated graphics.

@mikkaq: Thanks, but I guess it doesn't matter, since I already ordered the M14x

Now I understand why dell is still in business

I think, really, it's more like telling a guy who wants a Lotus to get a Ferrari. Something small and quick vs something (much much more in this case) powerful and bigger.

Nah, still doesn't work. A Lotus is a lot cheaper than a Ferrari. The laptop costs a lot more than the equivalent Desktop configuration.

I would hardly call the Alienware M14X R2 'small and quick'. 'Horribly outdated' is closer to the truth.

Your new laptop would be considered "adequate ". It's definitely not future proof. It could run pretty much any game from the current last gen pretty smoothly and with windows you won't have to deal with any of the limitations of gaming on a mac. One thing that bothers me is your hard drive space. 500gb to some is a lot, but with the average digital game being around 10-30gb each and then if you put pictures, movies, music, and etc. you can see that it will fill up quickly. Luckily external hard drives are pretty cheap now days and getting a 1tb one would solve your problems. Also, get ready for dell and alienware programs that will fill up your hard drive as well. Just be mentally prepared also that you may or may not be able to run the latest and greatest games coming out in the next few years though.

All of you guys are completely missing the point. Fine, it was a bad analogy. Here's what it is: the guy wants a PC he can take with him on the move. Suggesting a desktop makes no sense whatsoever. Price and power is everything to you. That's fine. But some people place a lot of value on use case. I wouldn't be able to use a desktop right now, so buying one, even though it's half price, would be a waste of money still.

Learn to let go of your own demands when trying to help someone else. In that case you should look at their demands, not keep bringing up your own.

I have the M18x and its great !

everyone always says how expensive alienware is and you shouldn't buy it and all that crap.

I believe these people are jealous because they don't or cant have one .

They're like vertu phones. Expensive shiney shit in a box for retards.

@thedrbrian:

No I believe that is all Apple products.

@zevvion: OK, fair enough but let's use me as a use case. When I turned 14 my Mom got me a laptop for my birthday. Since that time I purchased 3 more of them. Just like you I really valued the portability but unlike you I didn't really need it. Sure I occasionally bought them back and forth but most of the time they were in the same spot in my house. I also tried running the occasional game and my laptop and couldn't really do it. So, when I was in the market for a new PC I of course started looking at laptops again. I then started looking more specifically at gaming laptops since I wanted to play more games on PC. After doing some research every forum post on the subject was filled with people saying to just get a desktop. So I eventually switched focus and got a desktop instead. For me, that was a great decision. I still have my old laptop which serves me well enough for when I need my PC outside of my house. If someone is in a similar situation to me I would hope saying go desktop would persuade them to go that route instead. A lot of people with laptops just plug them into their walls and use them as desktops so why not try to get them to just buy a desktop.