Don't buy laptops...
I'm using a intel E8200 with an ATI radeon HD3870. It's now begining to be old on the paper, but it was better price/power ratio (500€) i found 2 years old.
It was perfect to play MXS since some new features and some HD tracks, but a using 9 instead max in some settings and it run fine. (caping 60-75 fps)
Now core I5 is middle price, and I think we lose a lot since AMD can't opose a high-end processor. So core i5 and i7 based computer are really too expensive, comparing to when I bought my PC.
Just if you want to use max texture size in MXS to improve visual quality, choose a video card with 2gb memory. Choosing a DX11 compatible card may be nice too. Look also if you want a 3D (with glasses) gaming compatible stuff.
Im running with phenom II x4 3.0 ghz, ati radeon 5770 HD and 4 gigs of ram. i can max the game without lagg on green valley with like 20-30 riders without lagg.
You've gotta go into your graphics drivers, and turn on antialiasing, and anisotropic filter. If you are using an ATI card, this can be done in the Catalyst Control Center. Just play around with the settings, as it will cut down on your frame rate quite a bit
Go in your graphic card driver configuration and enable (force) :
- Antialiasing max sustainable value
- Anisotropic filtering to max
- Wait for vertical refresh may increase smoother fps