Kinda depends what it is mostly used for. I have a laptop and a desktop. If your a gamer then the obvious choice is a good high end desktop. If you dont play games and use it mostly for emails, internet etc then a laptop is a pretty good choice cause you can take it with you.
I like laptops, now. I used to be big on desktops over laptops, but today their performance in games is pretty simliar. Sure, you can push out the best graphics in a desktop, you can get the highest framerate and all that jazz........ but you still have to sit at your desk and not on the couch, or anywhere else you want to play. With a laptop of comparable price to a machine that can run great graphics, you can trade the best graphics for high graphics and be mobile.
I've been using a mid level laptop for about 1.5yrs now and it's done me great. I don't have a problem running any game I try (I don't try alot but Skyrim, LoL, SWTOR, etc. have all been played on it) and I can bring it with me anywhere.
It's mostly up to the person. If I get another desktop, it's not going to be a desktop like what I had in the past, it's going to be a station for my laptop like I have at work. I can lock it into my station and use it on as a regular desktop with dual screens, or I can pick it up and take it with me.
If your stuck on a train or plane all the time, the best desktop in the world isn't going to do you much good. But if you play sitting at home at a desk all the time, then the restrictions that a laptop bring to the table aren't really necessary.
Desktops have the advantaged of being more powerful, typically cheaper for that power, easier to keep cool, often quieter, and the big one is that they are upgradeable, so they last longer. The biggest drawback, and the biggest advantage for a laptop, is that it isn't mobile - you can't take it with you on the couch, you can't take it with you and use it on a trip, you can't just whip it out after class is done.
So if you need a laptop, you need one - because you can't get a desktop to do that. But if you don't need that mobility for gaming, then I don't see any good reason to make all the compromises that you have to to get a laptop.
Often times many people try to get one computer to do everything: They need to take notes in class, they want to game some, they want to be able to take it with them on Vacations, etc. Often a better solution to that is to just split it into two computers; Get an inexpensive laptop that can take notes and get great battery life (and can run your game, albeit not with great detail), and then get a separate gaming desktop that does have all the bells and whistles where you can play your games with all the settings cranked up. Often times this comes out to be much cheaper solution than trying to get one laptop to do both.
I have a desktop gaming machine, and a laptop for browsing, or watching movies. I am a strong believer in having two computers handy for any serious user.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
Originally posted by nikolite First of all thank you. Since im mostly into gaming, desktop will be the right choice.
Can you give me few tips in building my own desktop? I prefer building it on my own so i can always know what's wrong.
My tips:
First, set a budget. You can't really do anything without a number to bounce around. "Cheap as possible" isn't a budget, you need a target number (plus or minus a little bit). For all practical purposes, a very low end gaming PC (that can run all games fairly well, but will have to compromise on some detail) costs about $700 US, and a very high end gaming PC (to the point where spending any more money won't really do anything else, but of course you can spend more money if you wish) would be around $1,600 US. Just to give you an idea.
The biggest variable in the price, is the video card. They range from about $120 US to about $600 US. This also has the biggest effect on your gaming.
Your power supply is the backbone of the entire computer, and the single most overlooked component. Don't skimp here - go for high quality, not high wattage. You don't need as many watts as you think. Your video card largely determines how large you need: low power video cards (those typically costing under $200) can get by easily with 450W, more powerful cards need a bit more. I can't think of one single-GPU card that requires more than a 600W power supply, so that's really the range you need to consider. Make sure it's high quality: price tag doesn't necessarily mean quality. It's hard to find because it's hard to actually review and determine if a power supply is good or not. Corsair generally has good power supplies (they don't have any bad ones, but they do have some where you can get the same model with a different brand name for a lot cheaper). Seasonic is generally good. Antec is mostly good but has some stinkers in their product lines.
THe choice of CPU largely depends on your budget: get an Intel Socket 1155 (Sandy Bridge) if you can afford it: Core i5 2500. If you can't afford it, get an AMD Phenom II X4 or FX-4100. Between the motherboard and processor, you'll save about $100 on the AMD option and still be able to game well. Any budget under $1000 US should consider AMD, anything over probably should stick to Intel. If you have extra money to burn, a lot of people prefer the Intel Core i7 2600, they are technically faster CPU's, but for gaming over no significant advantage and cost about $100 more. If your into over clocking, the AMD's can over clock fairly well as is, for Intel you need to get a K-edition CPU (costs about $25 more). If you don't plan on over clocking, then just save yourself $25.
There really isn't any compelling reason to consider any other CPU's right now for a gaming computer, the price vs performance isn't there: any more powerful or more expensive CPU's don't offer any benefit to gaming, and any less expensive CPU's really start to restrict your games and you don't save a whole lot of money on them in the first place.
Everything else is mostly just a matter of finding the right part: You need a motherboard, your CPU will tell you which socket. There is a lot of selection and variability in price, but generally so long as you get one with bells and whistles you will actually use, don't get suckered into paying a lot more just for options you don't need (17 SATA slots, 320 USB slots, the ability to run 16 video cards at once, etc). You need RAM: at least 4G, 8G is cheap and there isn't really any point in getting more than 8G right now. It's all roughly the same, you pay extra for name brand and warranty (do make sure you get one though, RAM is very fragile and often DOA). You need a case: anything that catches your fancy will work, so long as it at least has a couple of decent sized cooling fan spots You probably want an optical drive: a cheap SATA DVD-RW will do. I use mine maybe once or twice a year, but it's tricky installing an OS without on And you need an OS License: Windows 7 Home Premium OEM (~$100 US) is the cheapest legal option for most people. Students can get Windows 7 Professional Upgrade license for half price (~$65 US) though Microsoft's online store. Keep in mind OEM editions are locked to the computer, you can't transfer them. Full Retail editions you can transfer between computers, but can only run on one computer at a time (Windws 7 Home Premium Retail runs about $180 US).
And you may need keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, desk, chair... I always get a UPS backup for my computers (we have poor power quality), and they usually pay for themselves by the time the first brownout of the summer hits. You probably want at least a good surge protector.
I have both, but I spend most my time in fromnt of the desktop. My laptop is at a friends place where we LAN once a week right now, I usually have it for travels (but it is pretty OK).
A great gaming laptop is just so dang expensive that it isn't worth it. And I can custom make a desktop but not really a laptop.
You can build a great gaming desktop for $1200, a laptop with same stats will cost you at least twice that money. It is particularly the GFX cards that are hard to fit into a laptop and sadly for us gamers that is by far the most important part of the computer.
Laptops are great for travels, work and school though but they are only superior in size, weight and power consumption.
I think it just depends on what you are going to be using it for.
Personally i've had my laptop for 6 years now and I would never think of trading it in for a desktop.
When I did have my desktop I played far more games, but with what we can do on our phones and with tablets I feel like a desktop would just hold me back. Like it would be forcing me to do something I would normally do on the move, at my desk!
You shouldn't save money on the PSU either, a cheap PSU will use more electricity and can make your computer less reliable.
As for Ram you can do fine with 4GB right now, but get them as 2x2 GB and get a MB with 4 slots so you can add another 4 gigs later.
A mid range CPU is good enough, it is better to put the extra money in a GFX card.
You don't need a ASUS motherboard, MSI and Gigabyte have the same components for a lot less price. Features on the other hand is important, check carefully so it is the right board for your CPU and memories.
Get a large case, small cases suck and often gets too hot which mean your computer wont run as good and might break.
As for harddrives, either use a small SSD for system and a large SATA for media and such, or get 3 or 4 smaller SATAs that you raid together (raid 5 is a great mix of performance and security). They need to have the same performance for raiding though.
I have a desktop gaming machine, and a laptop for browsing, or watching movies. I am a strong believer in having two computers handy for any serious user.
I agree completly. I have a higher end desktop specifically for games, and a netbook / android phone for everything else.
For gaming, I like desktop, it's cheaper and more reliable, and the only real difference between the two is mobility, which isn't really helpful to someone who needs a constant wireless connection.
Comments
Kinda depends what it is mostly used for. I have a laptop and a desktop. If your a gamer then the obvious choice is a good high end desktop. If you dont play games and use it mostly for emails, internet etc then a laptop is a pretty good choice cause you can take it with you.
First of all thank you.
Since im mostly into gaming, desktop will be the right choice.
Can you give me few tips in building my own desktop?
I prefer building it on my own so i can always know what's wrong.
[IMG]http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk304/onyx_kane059/OW Sin/Supergirl.jpg[/IMG]
I like laptops, now. I used to be big on desktops over laptops, but today their performance in games is pretty simliar. Sure, you can push out the best graphics in a desktop, you can get the highest framerate and all that jazz........ but you still have to sit at your desk and not on the couch, or anywhere else you want to play. With a laptop of comparable price to a machine that can run great graphics, you can trade the best graphics for high graphics and be mobile.
I've been using a mid level laptop for about 1.5yrs now and it's done me great. I don't have a problem running any game I try (I don't try alot but Skyrim, LoL, SWTOR, etc. have all been played on it) and I can bring it with me anywhere.
It's mostly up to the person. If I get another desktop, it's not going to be a desktop like what I had in the past, it's going to be a station for my laptop like I have at work. I can lock it into my station and use it on as a regular desktop with dual screens, or I can pick it up and take it with me.
Moving this to Hardware.
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I prefer desktops, I pray I never need a laptop.
Depends on your situation and preference really.
If your stuck on a train or plane all the time, the best desktop in the world isn't going to do you much good. But if you play sitting at home at a desk all the time, then the restrictions that a laptop bring to the table aren't really necessary.
Desktops have the advantaged of being more powerful, typically cheaper for that power, easier to keep cool, often quieter, and the big one is that they are upgradeable, so they last longer. The biggest drawback, and the biggest advantage for a laptop, is that it isn't mobile - you can't take it with you on the couch, you can't take it with you and use it on a trip, you can't just whip it out after class is done.
So if you need a laptop, you need one - because you can't get a desktop to do that. But if you don't need that mobility for gaming, then I don't see any good reason to make all the compromises that you have to to get a laptop.
Often times many people try to get one computer to do everything: They need to take notes in class, they want to game some, they want to be able to take it with them on Vacations, etc. Often a better solution to that is to just split it into two computers; Get an inexpensive laptop that can take notes and get great battery life (and can run your game, albeit not with great detail), and then get a separate gaming desktop that does have all the bells and whistles where you can play your games with all the settings cranked up. Often times this comes out to be much cheaper solution than trying to get one laptop to do both.
I have a desktop gaming machine, and a laptop for browsing, or watching movies. I am a strong believer in having two computers handy for any serious user.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.
My tips:
First, set a budget. You can't really do anything without a number to bounce around. "Cheap as possible" isn't a budget, you need a target number (plus or minus a little bit). For all practical purposes, a very low end gaming PC (that can run all games fairly well, but will have to compromise on some detail) costs about $700 US, and a very high end gaming PC (to the point where spending any more money won't really do anything else, but of course you can spend more money if you wish) would be around $1,600 US. Just to give you an idea.
The biggest variable in the price, is the video card. They range from about $120 US to about $600 US. This also has the biggest effect on your gaming.
Your power supply is the backbone of the entire computer, and the single most overlooked component. Don't skimp here - go for high quality, not high wattage. You don't need as many watts as you think. Your video card largely determines how large you need: low power video cards (those typically costing under $200) can get by easily with 450W, more powerful cards need a bit more. I can't think of one single-GPU card that requires more than a 600W power supply, so that's really the range you need to consider. Make sure it's high quality: price tag doesn't necessarily mean quality. It's hard to find because it's hard to actually review and determine if a power supply is good or not. Corsair generally has good power supplies (they don't have any bad ones, but they do have some where you can get the same model with a different brand name for a lot cheaper). Seasonic is generally good. Antec is mostly good but has some stinkers in their product lines.
THe choice of CPU largely depends on your budget: get an Intel Socket 1155 (Sandy Bridge) if you can afford it: Core i5 2500. If you can't afford it, get an AMD Phenom II X4 or FX-4100. Between the motherboard and processor, you'll save about $100 on the AMD option and still be able to game well. Any budget under $1000 US should consider AMD, anything over probably should stick to Intel. If you have extra money to burn, a lot of people prefer the Intel Core i7 2600, they are technically faster CPU's, but for gaming over no significant advantage and cost about $100 more. If your into over clocking, the AMD's can over clock fairly well as is, for Intel you need to get a K-edition CPU (costs about $25 more). If you don't plan on over clocking, then just save yourself $25.
There really isn't any compelling reason to consider any other CPU's right now for a gaming computer, the price vs performance isn't there: any more powerful or more expensive CPU's don't offer any benefit to gaming, and any less expensive CPU's really start to restrict your games and you don't save a whole lot of money on them in the first place.
Everything else is mostly just a matter of finding the right part:
You need a motherboard, your CPU will tell you which socket. There is a lot of selection and variability in price, but generally so long as you get one with bells and whistles you will actually use, don't get suckered into paying a lot more just for options you don't need (17 SATA slots, 320 USB slots, the ability to run 16 video cards at once, etc).
You need RAM: at least 4G, 8G is cheap and there isn't really any point in getting more than 8G right now. It's all roughly the same, you pay extra for name brand and warranty (do make sure you get one though, RAM is very fragile and often DOA).
You need a case: anything that catches your fancy will work, so long as it at least has a couple of decent sized cooling fan spots
You probably want an optical drive: a cheap SATA DVD-RW will do. I use mine maybe once or twice a year, but it's tricky installing an OS without on
And you need an OS License: Windows 7 Home Premium OEM (~$100 US) is the cheapest legal option for most people. Students can get Windows 7 Professional Upgrade license for half price (~$65 US) though Microsoft's online store. Keep in mind OEM editions are locked to the computer, you can't transfer them. Full Retail editions you can transfer between computers, but can only run on one computer at a time (Windws 7 Home Premium Retail runs about $180 US).
And you may need keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, desk, chair... I always get a UPS backup for my computers (we have poor power quality), and they usually pay for themselves by the time the first brownout of the summer hits. You probably want at least a good surge protector.
I have both, but I spend most my time in fromnt of the desktop. My laptop is at a friends place where we LAN once a week right now, I usually have it for travels (but it is pretty OK).
A great gaming laptop is just so dang expensive that it isn't worth it. And I can custom make a desktop but not really a laptop.
You can build a great gaming desktop for $1200, a laptop with same stats will cost you at least twice that money. It is particularly the GFX cards that are hard to fit into a laptop and sadly for us gamers that is by far the most important part of the computer.
Laptops are great for travels, work and school though but they are only superior in size, weight and power consumption.
So desktop wins for me as a gamer.
I have Both and my laptop is never used.
Its not as good as my Desktop but can still play virtually any game out now on atleast Medium settings.
Hell... My Iphone 4S gets mroe play than my Alienware MX11 these days.
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing
I think it just depends on what you are going to be using it for.
Personally i've had my laptop for 6 years now and I would never think of trading it in for a desktop.
When I did have my desktop I played far more games, but with what we can do on our phones and with tablets I feel like a desktop would just hold me back. Like it would be forcing me to do something I would normally do on the move, at my desk!
Free online MMOs
Well, a few tips:
Main focus for a gamer is the GFX card. Get the best you can afford (http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/).
You shouldn't save money on the PSU either, a cheap PSU will use more electricity and can make your computer less reliable.
As for Ram you can do fine with 4GB right now, but get them as 2x2 GB and get a MB with 4 slots so you can add another 4 gigs later.
A mid range CPU is good enough, it is better to put the extra money in a GFX card.
You don't need a ASUS motherboard, MSI and Gigabyte have the same components for a lot less price. Features on the other hand is important, check carefully so it is the right board for your CPU and memories.
Get a large case, small cases suck and often gets too hot which mean your computer wont run as good and might break.
As for harddrives, either use a small SSD for system and a large SATA for media and such, or get 3 or 4 smaller SATAs that you raid together (raid 5 is a great mix of performance and security). They need to have the same performance for raiding though.
I agree completly. I have a higher end desktop specifically for games, and a netbook / android phone for everything else.
For gaming, I like desktop, it's cheaper and more reliable, and the only real difference between the two is mobility, which isn't really helpful to someone who needs a constant wireless connection.