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Laptop vs. Desktop

mrroboto40mrroboto40 Member UncommonPosts: 657

Hey guys, sorry to bother with a question like this, however I'm really in a bind deciding between the two.

I will be attending university come September for a Computer Science course majoring in computer game development with a potential minor in business.

I realize that this may not be exactly true, but I feel as if I need something powerful and geared more towards gaming to feed my epeen at school, and to feed my addiciting to PC games. All while attending school.

The two options I have created for myself are:

1) Drop $CAD 2-3k on a laptop and just use this

or:

2) Purchase a $CAD 300-400 laptop for notes and spend the difference on a desktop computer.

However option 2 creates a dilemna if I would like to go to a friends house to play some LAN.

What do you guys think would be best?

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Comments

  • CleffyCleffy Member RarePosts: 6,412

    Better route is always netbook and desktop.  Laptops won't perform how long and well you would like.

  • CuddlyBunnyCuddlyBunny Member Posts: 51

    Yea for gaming Desktop is the way to go.... That is only if your planning to be stationary and not moving around playing games everywhere lol.

    image

  • selobthegodselobthegod Member Posts: 155
    Originally posted by Cleffy


    Better route is always netbook and desktop.  Laptops won't perform how long and well you would like.

     

    +1 I agree with this guy , if u just need a netbook for notes etc then spend low money on that one and buy a good solid desktop

    .

  • AbrahmmAbrahmm Member Posts: 2,448

    As Cleffy said, a netbook and a Desktop. I am a Computer Science major, I have a killer gaming desktop at home, and a netbook for when I need to do things on the road. Truth be told I don't use the netbook a whole lot, but it is nice to have. Desktops are usually cheaper and last longer than notebooks as you can upgrade them pretty easily.

    Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
    Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
    Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
    Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
    Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.

  • wootinwootin Member Posts: 259

    Not disagreeing that a desktop and a netbook are a bad combo, but you can score a good gaming laptop for much less than 2-3k Canadian. I have an older Gateway 6860FX with an 8800GTS that is a good gaming laptop and can be had for under 700.00 US off Ebay (although I dropped a 200.00 2.5ghz CPU upgrade in it so it plays really well now). The newer Gateways like the 7805u have a 9800GTS, full on Penryn/Montvale architecture and can be bought for under 1000.00 US, again off Ebay.

    Lastly, I was just looking to see if any Gateways would come out with the new Nvidia 260 or 280 GPUs, and lo, what did I find on teh Internet? From Canada, no less. Although I think that CPU is a little low compared to the other Gateways I've seen, they have 8400s and up. But that GPU is all about gaming, no mistake.

    However, this is a big, heavy, HOT laptop, more suited for desktop replacement. Just so you know.

     

     

     

  • haggus71haggus71 Member Posts: 254

    Yeah, if you game that much, netbook and desktop.  What, you can't take your PC over to your friend's place?  I thought that was what you did at a LAN party.  It's where you can whip out your 'peen, showing all what a bad ass rig you have.  A notebook will be out of date in a year, especially if you like to play the latest and greatest games.  For what you are gonna shovel into it, it's not worth the price.

  • thaniththanith Member Posts: 144

    not so easy to "answer".

    it largely depends on what games you want to play. titles like wow wich are no 3d killer applications you can play on a (proper) notebook so you could take for example a notebook + docking station approch. a decent notebook will suffice all your programming stuff unless it is 3d hardcore whch you have to develop on your own hardware.

    if you want to play latest highly demanding 3d title there is no notebook option really existant. there are some so called gaming notebooks but they lack severely in overall operation time and are quite expensive. so here you would have to go the notebook and desktop way.

    personaly i would always take the notebook + docking station solution but this can be expensive too if you want to have something good :)

     

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  • mrroboto40mrroboto40 Member UncommonPosts: 657

    I mostly play MMOs and plan to play Starcraft 2, FFIV, Diablo 3, Aion, SW:TOR.

    That is mostly my scope for this year and next, I don't do any Crysis hardware-requiring gaming, however I do also play some FPS such as TF2 and CS:S.

    image

  • CleffyCleffy Member RarePosts: 6,412

    8800GTS in a laptop != 8800GTS in a desktop.  You are looking at a 30% drop in performance.

  • Cyborg99Cyborg99 Member Posts: 576

    Hey I have a great idea. Imagine this, you have a desktop (full tower) with the top of the line cpu,gpu,liquid cooling, etc, but you want the portability of a laptop/netbook. You can use the desktops performance while playing (maybe wirelessly) on a laptop/netbook. Imagine playing AoC highest setting on a netbook being ran off of your desktop.

    Anyone know if this is already invented?

     

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  • TibbzTibbz Member UncommonPosts: 613
    Originally posted by mrroboto40


    Hey guys, sorry to bother with a question like this, however I'm really in a bind deciding between the two.
    I will be attending university come September for a Computer Science course majoring in computer game development with a potential minor in business.
    I realize that this may not be exactly true, but I feel as if I need something powerful and geared more towards gaming to feed my epeen at school, and to feed my addiciting to PC games. All while attending school.
    The two options I have created for myself are:
    1) Drop $CAD 2-3k on a laptop and just use this
    or:
    2) Purchase a $CAD 300-400 laptop for notes and spend the difference on a desktop computer.
    However option 2 creates a dilemna if I would like to go to a friends house to play some LAN.
    What do you guys think would be best?



     

    If it was about a year ago i would say dont waste your $$$ on a notebook.

    However having a portable for school is always a good idea.  The downside, though, of havinga good laptop is the battery life.

    http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Xplorer_X7-8800_Notebook/

    that lil bugger is a nice deal and a damn good machine, butyou must realize that if you would build a desktop with those specs then it would cost 1/2 the price.... so it is really up to you.. it is always temping to get a netbook and a good cpu because if you game mid-heavy they the heat will get to you laptop and its life will be cut short. 

    $400 for a good netbook or basic laptop and $1200 for a good gaming rig (AMD based) will be a cheaper choice. 

    image
  • mrroboto40mrroboto40 Member UncommonPosts: 657

    I think what I've decided to do is get an EEE PC (Netbook)

    And build myself a fucking kick-ass desktop.

     

    :)

    Thanks for all your input.

    Now, should I buy a premade or buy pieces from newegg.ca?

    image

  • noquarternoquarter Member Posts: 1,170


    Originally posted by mrroboto40
    I think what I've decided to do is get an EEE PC (Netbook)
    And build myself a fucking kick-ass desktop.
     
    :)
    Thanks for all your input.
    Now, should I buy a premade or buy pieces from newegg.ca?

    Late to the discussion but my buddy has an Alienware laptop from this gen and last gen and I think it's better to get a netbook + desktop.. both his laptops run VERY hot to the point you can't always play on them even with a laptop cooler and they still can't compete with a desktop.


    There should be some netbooks coming out by the end of summer based on the nvidia ion platform that should be priced the same as current netbooks but use an nvidia GPU, I'd try and wait for that to come out if you can for the netbook.


    As far as building your own desktop, I think that's the way to go because you can guarantee every part in it is quality, without getting ripped off in the process. You can buy a new dell or whatever for slightly cheaper than parts you assemble yourself but the PSU and mobo are usually crap.

  • wootinwootin Member Posts: 259
    Originally posted by Cyborg99


    Hey I have a great idea. Imagine this, you have a desktop (full tower) with the top of the line cpu,gpu,liquid cooling, etc, but you want the portability of a laptop/netbook. You can use the desktops performance while playing (maybe wirelessly) on a laptop/netbook. Imagine playing AoC highest setting on a netbook being ran off of your desktop.
    Anyone know if this is already invented?
     

     

    You mean with a remote desktop app like VNC? Network can't handle the frame rates involved for gaming. The bandwidth that your video puts out to the monitor is what is needed to do that.

     

    Although there is a company working on doing it online, they demo'd at E3. I think they use a client that does high compression on the video and streams it,  and apparently it worked ok with a high-speed internet connection. But that's a bit in the future, although I find it interesting that if it succeeds, it will remove the need for any gaming cards whatsoever.

     

     

  • wootinwootin Member Posts: 259
    Originally posted by Cleffy


    8800GTS in a laptop != 8800GTS in a desktop.  You are looking at a 30% drop in performance.

     

    About 20% actually, but as I said, mine is older - the newer laptops like the one I linked in have far superior performance. But even with this, my old, slow chip has me running Enemy Territory - Quake Wars very well, and LOTRO can be run at high settings. Even Oblivion runs with Qarl's Texture Pack (optimized version) at a very playable frame rate. Call of Duty 4 - World at War  - very playable at high quality.

    So, y'know, real world != benchmarking :P

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