Hi, want to buy some used hardware to run with Linux (Gnome DE ON Mint, Debian OR ElementaryOS). Mainly Office use, transcoding, but also for casual gaming Half-life 2 and maybe some more modern games.

Are Thinkpads with integrated GPUs sufficient for that? Any nice alternatives which are sturdy and can be upgraded?

TIA!

EDIT: thank you for all the helpful input. Will check AMD options!

  • meliante@lemmy.world
    24·
    2 months ago

    Which ThinkPad? It can either run things wonderfully or not at all depending on the specs…

  • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.de
    10·
    2 months ago

    Stay away from the Thinkpad T580 with the Geforce MX150. It’s horribly throttled and can’t even run Quake 3 properly although it should actually be capable of running Doom 2016.

    Might be the same with the T480.

  • just_another_person@lemmy.world
    10·
    2 months ago

    Depends on the GPU and how current you want to get with the titles, but yeah, should be fine. Just search around with the specific model name to double check it’s Linux compatibility.

  • thehatfox@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    2 months ago

    I have an X220 with an i5-2520M, I don’t use it for gaming but I have briefly played Half-Life 2 with it and it was comfortably playable.

    So I would say mid-2000s titles and before will be fine. It really depends on the age the Thinkpad you want is, and the age of the games you want to play.

  • wallmenis@lemmy.oneEnglish
    4·
    2 months ago

    I can reliably play wii on an x230. I am pretty sure you can go ahead and play unless it is ps2 or xbox og or anything newer (wii/gamecube excluded)

  • cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    4·
    2 months ago

    Modern games are not going to run well. Look for a Thinkpad with a Thunderbolt 3 port (make sure it actually has 4 PCIe lanes, some only have 2) and use an eGPU. Retro games will run fine on integrated graphics though.

  • sailingbythelee@lemmy.world
    4·
    2 months ago

    I’ve got a 2015 T540p with integrated graphics. It’s fine for low-spec gaming. I only run Linux-native games and haven’t managed to get any Windows games running in compatibility mode yet. Here are the games that have “just worked” for me so far.

    Dwarf Fortress

    Cataclysm: Dark Day Ahead

    Darkest Dungeon

    Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2

    Caves of Qud

    Unity of Command

    Stardew Valley

    Planescape: Torment

    Shovel Knight

    If that’s the kind of retro gaming that floats your boat, an old Thinkpad is just fine.

  • bloodfart@lemmy.ml
    3·
    2 months ago

    Yes it’s fine stay away from the discrete gpus there’s not adequate cooling for their extended use.

  • jcarax@beehaw.org
    3·
    2 months ago

    I’d say if you get a Ryzen, yeah. I have a P14s gen4 AMD that I use for my primary machine, and game on successfully. But I also have an old T14s gen1 AMD that work let me keep when I got refreshed. Right now I have Windows on it, to play some games that don’t work well in Proton, but it works fine in Linux as well.

    If you can swing it, the T14s gen3 with a Ryzen 7 6850u was a truly excellent machine, it’s what I have for work right now. But we won’t see it coming off lease for another couple years, so it’s a bit early for good prices on the used market.

    • nerdovic@discuss.tchncs.deDeutsch
      3·
      2 months ago

      How’s battery life on your T14s G1? Currently looking into getting one myself, and hope for at least 8 hours on battery on Linux (no gaming, just light dev stuff with web browsing)

      • jcarax@beehaw.org
        1·
        2 months ago

        Honestly, I never really use it untethered enough to give you a good answer. But I can say that notebookcheck’s battery tests are pretty good, and they test enough laptops to compare well across a large number of models and generations.