Laptop vrs Desktop for gaming and value

cronos

Im looking to buy a computer for gaming. I want to know how much exactly i would loose by buying a laptop rather than a desktop.

Here is the laptop im looking at http://cgi.ebay.ie/Dell-XPS-M1730-2-4Ghz-4GB-320GB-SLI-9800-GT-LapTOP_W0QQitemZ180370162486QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Laptops_EH?hash=item29fee64336&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65:3|66:2|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

Is this a good buy, or should I really go with a desktop. I know laptops are going to be more expensive, I just want to know how much more expensive.

ED E

That link is cause my browser to crash, its weird, will open in chrome in a sec.

I think you said 1200 in the other thread, In euros this is €1080: http://www.alienware.com/products/area-51-x58-desktop.aspx?SysCode=PC-A51-X58&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

Thats got an i7 Core (New technology, dont really know much about it, others will). Nividia Dual GPU graphics, 4TB HDD with RAID. Top Soundblaster sound card. And its on Vista 64Bit. VERY powerfull machine.

And, you pay a premium for that case and manufacturer. Similar setup sourced elsewhere could be cheaper. Also, in a year you wont have to fork out 200 on a new battery.

cronos

I was using chrome to view the link myself. My price points are between 1000 to 1200 for a desktop and 1500 for a laptop. But I want to be getting something great for the money.

Tea_Bag

If you're dead set on getting a laptop, which i think is a bad idea, check out the Nexus from Kobalt computers. "fastest 15.4 inch laptop money can buy" from as little as £1260. link

else get a desktop, imho a much better, cheaper and more future proof way to do gaming, as its easily and cheaply upgradable. check out HWV and build a serious rig for very little money.

uberpixie

cronos wrote: »

Im looking to buy a computer for gaming. I want to know how much exactly i would loose by buying a laptop rather than a desktop.

Here is the laptop im looking at http://cgi.ebay.ie/Dell-XPS-M1730-2-4Ghz-4GB-320GB-SLI-9800-GT-LapTOP_W0QQitemZ180370162486QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Laptops_EH?hash=item29fee64336&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65:3|66:2|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

Is this a good buy, or should I really go with a desktop. I know laptops are going to be more expensive, I just want to know how much more expensive.

You could build fully speced gaming pc that would kick the hole of that laptop and still have enough money left over for a netbook for web browsing and a 19-22" montior for €1500.....

As mentioned Gaming laptops are expensive and age very badly and again have very limited upgrade potential.

If you want to buy dell do alright gaming systems for €1100 (pc tower only) Tbh you can build a much faster system yourself with much better parts for the same money....

In general if you want a proper gaming system in Ireland without paying a stupid amount of money: you are building it.

If you really want to buy and don't like the idea of building have a look on the dell outlet site: they sell refurbished dells at a nice discount and you can pick up their xps gaming rigs circa €900 without a monitor.

Blazer

Just for the XPS1730...you can upgrade CPU upto the X9000 (dual core)..pricey though

It can take the 8600GT/8700GT/8800GTX/9800GT/9800GTX variants of the mobile version.
But you're talking another €800 to upgrade to 9800GTX SLI..again pricey..
however they are a fantastic machine and extremely powerful. Had one and brilliant for gaming and especially lan gaming.
However with this power comes a high battery cost...45 minutes if you're running anything at all on it.
Can also take 2 x HD's so at present times you get 1TB in total.
And RAM can go to 8GB DDR2 with no issues.


If you only plan on gaming at home get a desktop...for €1000 you'll get a top spec machine that will do you for a couple of years.

z0oT

Another vote for a Desktop here.

A Laptop you always pay through the nose for the gaming models which really don't perform as good to justify the price.
You'd be a lot better off to build a cheap Core 2/Phenom platform with something like a HD4850 (Great Card, last time I looked it was going for under €100 on Komplett.ie), and just upgrade the graphics card when the need to do so presents itself, if gaming is all you want.

cronos

Im kind of convinced to get a desktop. My budget is 1000 euro to 1500 for an upscale gaming rig including a monitor. What is the best bargins I can get on parts to build with.

This seems like a good place to start
http://www.dabs.ie/products/acer-24--widescreen-v243hbd-2ms-dvi-hd-ready-lcd-tft-5J1Y.html?q=V243HBD

But im open to suggestions on whats the best value parts out there at the moment within or around the budget.

Parser

cronos wrote: »

But im open to suggestions on whats the best value parts out there at the moment within or around the budget.

I find dabs a bit expensive, I usually buy from Komplett.ie myself.

I wouldn't bother going with a Core i7. It's just too an expensive path to go down.

Stick with a Core 2 Quad or a Phenom II Quad. (Both still, and for quite a while to come are complete overkill for gaming.)

As for the graphics cards, with new arrivals on the horizon, it's pointless spending up to 400 euro for one, a mid-high range one is always the better choice.

Here's a nice starting point I think.

pwd

I was going to get one of those m1730 laptops. I cancelled the order when I saw how incredibly tacky the lid is.
I got an m1530 instead, which I'm happy with. But as people have said, you pay more for similar specs, you can't upgrade the gpu, they get really hot. They're also not as reliable.
The point of a laptop is portability. If you have a real limit on living space, or if you want to be able to carry it around with you, then a laptop might suit you. If neither of these are true then it's a no-brainer to get a desktop.

leninbenjamin

cronos wrote: »

Im kind of convinced to get a desktop. My budget is 1000 euro to 1500 for an upscale gaming rig including a monitor. What is the best bargins I can get on parts to build with.

This seems like a good place to start
http://www.dabs.ie/products/acer-24--widescreen-v243hbd-2ms-dvi-hd-ready-lcd-tft-5J1Y.html?q=V243HBD

But im open to suggestions on whats the best value parts out there at the moment within or around the budget.

hard to be precise on what's the best value, as it very much depends on one's needs.

for example, the Nvidia cards are the most powerful on the market (GTX260, GTX275, GTX285), and have CUDA for hardware acceleration of certain graphics apps (like PhysX), but for most people this is redundant and an ATI (4850, 4870, 4890) represents more bang for the buck.

the CPU is kinda a similar story. Most gamers these days still only really need a dual core, as most games are GPU bottlenecked. but occasionally you'll come across games like GTAIV, some strat games, that are more CPU bottlenecked, in that case a tri-core or quad core is better.

Either way though you'll probably want a clock speed of about 3.0Ghz, dual core or quad core to prevent GPU bottlenecks, but this can be achieved through over-clocking instead of shelling out big.

So go through your games library to see... (also if you do a lot of encoding or that, CPU is obviously worth investing in). Here is Solitare's good summary off all the major options to help.

I would also suggest having a look at hardware charts on sites like Tomshardware.co.uk to kind familiarize yourself with what you want in your machine. Then everyone here will help you fill in the dots.

Voodu Child

cronos wrote: »

.
Is this a good buy, or should I really go with a desktop. I know laptops are going to be more expensive, I just want to know how much more expensive.

The simple question is do you need mobility or not? I mean, that's what it's all about, you can argue about the value/performance/upgradability merits til you're blue in the face, but tbh its all common sense (dekstop>laptop); at the end of the day, laptops are bought by people who need to be able to close them up and put them in a bag, desktops arent.

You said in your other thread that you are renting, and without a car, and that you travel between Dublin-Limerick a lot. Well, to me that sounds like someone who would be more suited to a laptop....whether that's a gaming laptop or just a standard mid-spec one is up to you. But you know your own situation and mobility needs better than anyone here, so at the end of the day you've got to make the call for yourself.

cronos

Voodu Child wrote: »

The simple question is do you need mobility or not? I mean, that's what it's all about, you can argue about the value/performance/upgradability merits til you're blue in the face, but tbh its all common sense (dekstop>laptop); at the end of the day, laptops are bought by people who need to be able to close them up and put them in a bag, desktops arent.

You said in your other thread that you are renting, and without a car, and that you travel between Dublin-Limerick a lot. Well, to me that sounds like someone who would be more suited to a laptop....whether that's a gaming laptop or just a standard mid-spec one is up to you. But you know your own situation and mobility needs better than anyone here, so at the end of the day you've got to make the call for yourself.

I suppose I am being a bit vague. What I'm really wondering is are laptops 10 percent more expensive or 20 percent or 30..... By that I mean if I spend 1000 euro on a laptop do I get the performance of a 900 euro desktop or a 800 euro desktop or a 700 euro desktop. I know it depends on the build and other things but thats the general question here.

I have a laptop from work I can use for basic stuff and I don't need to have a mobile gaming laptop. But it would be handier to have one. At only a 10 percent difference between a desktop and a laptop I would get a laptop but if the difference is 30 or 40 percent difference then I would get a desktop.

I suppose I have confused things by having a few threads. I think I have enough info to work with thanks everyone!

PogMoThoin

I can't believe You used value and gaming laptop in the one sentence , these are terrible value when You compare to the value You can get in a desktop at the moment. Also with a desktop You can buy an average graphics card and swap it out for another in 6 months keeping up to date

cronos

PogMoThoin wrote: »

I can't believe You used value and gaming laptop in the one sentence , these are terrible value when You compare to the value You can get in a desktop at the moment. Also with a desktop You can buy an average graphics card and swap it out for another in 6 months keeping up to date

Thats fairly obvious, but gaming laptops exist for a reason. People move around alot and also like to game. Everyone knows that desktop gaming is cheaper, the my question is how much power do you lose by buying a 1000 euro desktop vrs a 1000 laptop for example. But it dosent matter I think I will just end up getting a desktop and just ask for someones help when I move from one house to another.

BeciMester

I'd say you pay 1.5-2 times the price of a desktop for a laptop with equivalent performance. The €1500 Dell M1730 you linked above could easily be built below €1000, including full-HD monitor and all bits and bobs. Probably a better performance too.