Hi everyone,

My sister has just bought a new Laptop, specs below:

Make: Sony Vaio
Model: VGN-NR11M/S
Chsipset: Mobile PM965/GM965/GL9600
Express processor to DRAM
Controller
Socket: 479
CPU: Intel Pentium Dual-Core T2310
1.4
RAM: 1 gig DDR2 SDRAM 2*512 (533mhz)
HD: 160 gig
Graphics: Mobile Intel GMA x3100
OS: Vista Home Premium
DirectX: 10
Internet: Yes, Broadband 8meg

Ok the problem is this, she really wants to be able to play Broken Sword 4 (Angel of Death) i have gone to system requirements lab and it shows that the graphics card is not able to handle this game, i installed it anyway and tried to run but obviously it didnt work..

so the questions are:

1) can i upgrade the graphics card? and if so what should i get, im not too fussed about price, just want a decent card that can handle most games.

2) How easy is it to install the new card? is this done from the underneath of the laptop or do i need to take the whole thing apart?

Any advice would be very much appreciated

Thanks,

Laptops are not upgradable for anything except more RAM and replacement HDDs.

i_Xp/VistaUser

As hinted by XpUser, very seldom is there an opportunity to upgrade the graphics chip in a notebook. This is because it soldered directly to the machine's motherboard in most cases, especially in non MXM designs like the GMA series from Intel.

Ironically, Broken Sword 4 – The Angel of Death has some pretty low hardware requirement & I would have expected your *Class 5* GMA X3100 based notebook to be able to run it at least modestly.

Minimum Requirements - Broken Sword 4

● Windows(R) XP
● DirectX 9.0c (included)
● Pentium 4 1.4GHz (or better)
● 256 MB RAM (512MB recommended)
● 2.6 GB free hard drive space
● 2x DVD-ROM Drive
● DirectX 9.0 compatible 128 MB Shader model 1.1 compatible video card
● DirectX 9.0 compatible Windows compatible sound card
● Keyboard, Mouse

Out of curiosity, what type of problems came up when you try to play the game? Any specific error message?

HI guys thank you for the input i didnt knw that you couldnt upgrade the graphics card.. the problem that came up was something along the lines of.

"Could not start directX"

she has directx on her laptop, and i know everything is working properly so wasnt sure what this could have been other than the grphics card.

any ideas please?

Thanks,

Try the game in XP SP2 compatibility mode.

Sorry should have meantioned that i had already tried that, i also tried running as administrator,

i found a solution, its a software call 3D-Analyse by http://www.tommti-systems.de/start....

Heres the instructions

after downloading it open the program and press (SELECT) and choose the game. after that check these sittings: (1) force SW TnL (2) emulate pixel shader caps (3) force max. pixel shader version 1.4.
then press (RUN).

now the game will work just fine. if the game is working slow make sure to wait about three minutes after pressing RUN.

The game loaded and was slow, BUT i missed the bit about waiting 3 minutes until right now as i was typing this post, will go and do that later on today, hope this helps in case someone else asks...

Thanks,