8 replies to this topic

[Rhizoctonia]

Looking to throw down some cash on a gaming laptop.  Friend has a Asus Rog he likes...tempted to go that route, wanted to see what others thought.  

[Rhizoctonia]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834234093

That's one I'm thinking about.  However it's 4th gen i7, and 980M graphics card (1080 is out now)

[SeaBeeGipson]

I have always preferred desktop to a laptop for gaming, but I've heard great reviews from a friend who has the Dell InspiRon 7000 series. He's a huge gamer and he likes the battery time. He did say the speed lacks in comparison to faster brands and models with better processors but it's hardly noticeable and the storage space can hold a handful of games. Pretty much the reason I use a desktop (shit ton of storage and no battery.) My desktop is a Dell (so the brand isn't too bad at performance. I can vouch.) But my Acer laptop is pretty beast when it comes to speed. So me personally, I'd recommend either the Dell 7000 series or an Acer. Don't really know anyone but my mom.who owns an Asus.

[DeathMerchant]

Finding a good gaming laptop that will keep up with current games is tough + expensive.

 

Here is a list which has some good choices on it. Just be prepared to spend $1,500-$2,000+ if you want something that will keep up with hardware intensive games 1-2 years from now. If you aren't willing to spend that much you will probably have to settle with 720p resolution and medium settings for the more powerful games that will come out. That way you will still get decent FPS, the graphics just won't be full blown 1080p. That is probably one of the hardest things to decide when it comes to laptops. Do you spend the extra money to play at 1080p with 60 FPS? Or do you buy last year's tech/hardware and play at 1080p with 30 FPS or 720p with 60 FPS?

 

http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/laptops/best-gaming-laptops-top-5-gaming-notebooks-reviewed-1258471

[Blade 619]

Buy a better machine, with a better screen, and easy long term maintenance... buy a desktop. Even better, buy it in parts and put it together yourself

[Rhizoctonia]

I've always been a laptop guy, though for the past 5 years I've solely used a desktop after my old laptop took a shit.  I went with a desktop at the time, as I could get more with the desktop for the price then I could for a laptop and didn't want to spend an arm in a leg.  It was mainly bought to be able to play SC2 back in the day when it came out.  But my desktop is old and slow and just can't handle games.  I tried playing a steam game with a friend the other day and shit basically blew up my computer even on the lowest graphics.

I don't know how much PC gaming I will do, I'm mainly a console gamer, but I want to get into some PC games.  But I want a computer that I can do a lot of things on and run like a champ, and not be totally inept in just a few years.

I'm willing to put about $1000$1500 into it.  Know it wont get me the top of the line Laptop, but feel there are decent ones at that range.  I could build a desktop, but I don't see it being a whole lot cheaper in price even building myself.  

 

Going off this type of build for example:

 

http://www.pcgamer.com/pc-build-guide-high-end-gaming-pc/

That alone is over $2203, and that's not even adding price of a good monitor (I don't have).  Those prices maybe different or have changed a bit, but for sake of ease.  

 

Sure I could downgrade some of that and cut some costs.  But I feel like the cost of a downgraded PC (maybe go with a 980M graphics card, less memory, etc) wouldn't be all that much cheaper then a laptop with the same specs really, and if I went for a PC like the one linked and build it, after all that's said in done, could likely get a laptop with same specs for the same.  I just don't see a huge difference in cost, maybe I'm missing something.  I've never built one, but pretty computer savy that I easily could, but I don't see the huge difference.  The only benefit is the ability to upgrade a desktop.

[DeathMerchant]

I've always been a laptop guy, though for the past 5 years I've solely used a desktop after my old laptop took a shit.  I went with a desktop at the time, as I could get more with the desktop for the price then I could for a laptop and didn't want to spend an arm in a leg.  It was mainly bought to be able to play SC2 back in the day when it came out.  But my desktop is old and slow and just can't handle games.  I tried playing a steam game with a friend the other day and shit basically blew up my computer even on the lowest graphics.

I don't know how much PC gaming I will do, I'm mainly a console gamer, but I want to get into some PC games.  But I want a computer that I can do a lot of things on and run like a champ, and not be totally inept in just a few years.

I'm willing to put about $1000$1500 into it.  Know it wont get me the top of the line Laptop, but feel there are decent ones at that range.  I could build a desktop, but I don't see it being a whole lot cheaper in price even building myself.  

 

Going off this type of build for example:

 

http://www.pcgamer.com/pc-build-guide-high-end-gaming-pc/

That alone is over $2203, and that's not even adding price of a good monitor (I don't have).  Those prices maybe different or have changed a bit, but for sake of ease.  

 

Sure I could downgrade some of that and cut some costs.  But I feel like the cost of a downgraded PC (maybe go with a 980M graphics card, less memory, etc) wouldn't be all that much cheaper then a laptop with the same specs really, and if I went for a PC like the one linked and build it, after all that's said in done, could likely get a laptop with same specs for the same.  I just don't see a huge difference in cost, maybe I'm missing something.  I've never built one, but pretty computer savy that I easily could, but I don't see the huge difference.  The only benefit is the ability to upgrade a desktop.

The link you posted has a lot of unnecessary (and expensive) components.

1. You don't need an I7 unless you want hyperthreading (which most games aren't coded to take advantage of) and want to do video editing, live streaming, Photoshop, 3D model software, listen to music, and playing a game all at the same time. I exaggerate a bit but even if all your going to be doing is 2 or 3 of those things at the same time, an I5 will still serve you well.

 

2. You don't need a GTX 1080 if you are using a single 1080p monitor. The GTX 1070 will more than be able to handle 1080p gaming years from now, and is decent at 4K gaming. Only buy the GTX 1080 if you get a good deal on it, or solely want to use it to get high FPS while using 4K.

 

3. You don't need 2 SSDs. Just buy a 1 or 2 TB HDD, and if you really want an SSD, then buy a 500 GB SSD. The SSD holds the most modern games while your HDD will hold older games (games that don't require much loading times).

 

4. You don't need a Blu Ray drive, unless you really want to watch Blu Ray movies on your PC. Instead, just buy cheap DVD drive.

 

 

I only spent about $1,100 on my PC. I didn't buy a case and a monitor, but the monitor I had is a 1080p 27in, that I paid $200 for. And cases are pretty cheap. So if I had to buy everything from start, it would be less than $1400. I didn't pay tax because I bought all the parts online and assembled it myself. This build I make should last me 6-7 years. The GPU I will likely get replaced in about 2 generations which will probably be in 2020. Everything else (in theory) will last me the lifespan of the computer. Once the CPU becomes too slow to handle modern tasks, then I will upgrade the CPU+MOBO and possibly the RAM if RAM types change. The case, power supply, wifi adapter, and monitor all get recycled into the next build assuming they still work. This is how you can also save money. Buy equipment that will last for many years and you can indeed put them into another computer whenever you decide its time to upgrade. If at a later date you decide you want to add a part. Then you buy it and put it in. You don't really get that kind of modularity with a laptop.

 

Building your own computer is incredibly easy. You save an absurd amount of money, money which can be used to buy better parts or pocketed as saved cash. If you would like help assembling your PC, I would be more than willing to write a guide or even Skype you while you assemble the parts.

 

So to sum everything up. A $1,400 PC you build yourself with high quality parts will last you at least 5 years. It will last longer if you upgrade a part or two every 3-4 years because things sometimes break or you decide you want something new. A $1,400 laptop will get you maybe 3 years of use, and that last year will be really stretching it. After that, everything gets played on low settings if it can even run it. Their GPUs are just not powerful enough to handle what will be out in a couple years. Plus you will have to replace its battery 2-3 years of use.

[Rhizoctonia]

 

I've always been a laptop guy, though for the past 5 years I've solely used a desktop after my old laptop took a shit.  I went with a desktop at the time, as I could get more with the desktop for the price then I could for a laptop and didn't want to spend an arm in a leg.  It was mainly bought to be able to play SC2 back in the day when it came out.  But my desktop is old and slow and just can't handle games.  I tried playing a steam game with a friend the other day and shit basically blew up my computer even on the lowest graphics.

I don't know how much PC gaming I will do, I'm mainly a console gamer, but I want to get into some PC games.  But I want a computer that I can do a lot of things on and run like a champ, and not be totally inept in just a few years.

I'm willing to put about $1000$1500 into it.  Know it wont get me the top of the line Laptop, but feel there are decent ones at that range.  I could build a desktop, but I don't see it being a whole lot cheaper in price even building myself.  

 

Going off this type of build for example:

 

http://www.pcgamer.com/pc-build-guide-high-end-gaming-pc/

That alone is over $2203, and that's not even adding price of a good monitor (I don't have).  Those prices maybe different or have changed a bit, but for sake of ease.  

 

Sure I could downgrade some of that and cut some costs.  But I feel like the cost of a downgraded PC (maybe go with a 980M graphics card, less memory, etc) wouldn't be all that much cheaper then a laptop with the same specs really, and if I went for a PC like the one linked and build it, after all that's said in done, could likely get a laptop with same specs for the same.  I just don't see a huge difference in cost, maybe I'm missing something.  I've never built one, but pretty computer savy that I easily could, but I don't see the huge difference.  The only benefit is the ability to upgrade a desktop.

The link you posted has a lot of unnecessary (and expensive) components.

1. You don't need an I7 unless you want hyperthreading (which most games aren't coded to take advantage of) and want to do video editing, live streaming, Photoshop, 3D model software, listen to music, and playing a game all at the same time. I exaggerate a bit but even if all your going to be doing is 2 or 3 of those things at the same time, an I5 will still serve you well.

 

2. You don't need a GTX 1080 if you are using a single 1080p monitor. The GTX 1070 will more than be able to handle 1080p gaming years from now, and is decent at 4K gaming. Only buy the GTX 1080 if you get a good deal on it, or solely want to use it to get high FPS while using 4K.

 

3. You don't need 2 SSDs. Just buy a 1 or 2 TB HDD, and if you really want an SSD, then buy a 500 GB SSD. The SSD holds the most modern games while your HDD will hold older games (games that don't require much loading times).

 

4. You don't need a Blu Ray drive, unless you really want to watch Blu Ray movies on your PC. Instead, just buy cheap DVD drive.

 

 

I only spent about $1,100 on my PC. I didn't buy a case and a monitor, but the monitor I had is a 1080p 27in, that I paid $200 for. And cases are pretty cheap. So if I had to buy everything from start, it would be less than $1400. I didn't pay tax because I bought all the parts online and assembled it myself. This build I make should last me 6-7 years. The GPU I will likely get replaced in about 2 generations which will probably be in 2020. Everything else (in theory) will last me the lifespan of the computer. Once the CPU becomes too slow to handle modern tasks, then I will upgrade the CPU+MOBO and possibly the RAM if RAM types change. The case, power supply, wifi adapter, and monitor all get recycled into the next build assuming they still work. This is how you can also save money. Buy equipment that will last for many years and you can indeed put them into another computer whenever you decide its time to upgrade. If at a later date you decide you want to add a part. Then you buy it and put it in. You don't really get that kind of modularity with a laptop.

 

Building your own computer is incredibly easy. You save an absurd amount of money, money which can be used to buy better parts or pocketed as saved cash. If you would like help assembling your PC, I would be more than willing to write a guide or even Skype you while you assemble the parts.

 

So to sum everything up. A $1,400 PC you build yourself with high quality parts will last you at least 5 years. It will last longer if you upgrade a part or two every 3-4 years because things sometimes break or you decide you want something new. A $1,400 laptop will get you maybe 3 years of use, and that last year will be really stretching it. After that, everything gets played on low settings if it can even run it. Their GPUs are just not powerful enough to handle what will be out in a couple years. Plus you will have to replace its battery 2-3 years of use.

 

 

 

I appreciate this, this is definitely helpful and what information I was looking someone could help me with

[DeathMerchant]

Not sure if you read my thread on the parts I put in my PC. But this is what I went with, and I am so far very happy with it. I bought a couple other minor things like an anti static wrist strap and ceramic thermal paste, but the total cost for everything was right at $1,100. What isn't included was buying Windows 10 as I had a free copy, as well as a case + monitor.

 

Motherboard: ASUS Z170-A. A lot of cheap motherboards seem to either arrive dead or they die within a couple months. I didn't want to spend an absurd amount of money for one, as I just wanted something that will be reliable. No sense in buying a $200-$250 motherboard if you won't be using the extra features. This specific model had the most favorable reviews for its price so that is what I went with. The I/O Shield is a piece of junk so I left it off. Other than that it is a solid board and I have no other complaints.
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K. The most current I5 CPU. The K model means it can be overclocked, which I have no plans to do at the moment, but it is nice knowing the option in there. The clock speed is 3.5GHz.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. I picked this cooler as it was cheap and efficient. It runs very quiet, but that is also partially because I have yet to push my CPU to its limit.
RAM: G Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4 2400. I had been debating between 16GB and 32GB for a couple weeks. But considering the price was about the same, I went for the higher amount. Currently its overkill but I expect in a couple years I will be glad I made the choice.
GPU: GIGABYTE NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 G1. Out of the GTX 1070 line, this card seemed the best. Its an amazing card for the performance/price and it offers good cooling, for those wanting to overclock. Haven't had the time to try out many hardware intensive games, but I have played a couple early access games that are not optimized and I am very impressed with its performance. I had no desire to purchase the GTX 1080 as I do not own a 4K monitor, nor do I run multiple 1080p monitors.
PSU: Antec High Current Gamer HCG-900 900W. Not much to say about the PSU as all it needs to do is provide power and not crap out after a couple years. This one had good reviews and it wasn't expensive.