What to choose?

[Raysza]

My friend is in bachelor in cyber security. He use ASUS X453MA(intel celeron, intel hd graphic, 8gb ddr3l ram, 1 tb sata ssd) and he had no computer at all. So he asked what he should buy with a range of 1,000-1,250$. 

 

A gaming laptop(nitro 5 maybe) 

Or, 

A full setup of desktop(big desktop with monitor) 

Or, 

A mini compact gaming dekstop with monitor? 

 

Beside coding with multiple apps open, he also want to play game. Not a hard one and not the light one. So i think about choosing higher ram. He said that, if he buy desktop, he will do light coding in the old laptop and heavy one on desktop. Thank you in advance

[Anomnomnomaly]

Which ever one provides the best performance for the value... which means factor in the cost of buying peripherals for a desktop vs having the inc with a laptop. You'll easily spend 200-250 on a basic monitor/mouse/keyboard + headpones or speakers. More if you want more gaming oriented ones. That takes away from the core system.

 

If peripherals weren't part of the equation... a desktop would obviously offer the better value/performance... but factoring in everything needed... it's a little closer and depends on needs/specs desired.

[Belac F]

2 minutes ago, Raysza said:

My friend is in bachelor in cyber security. He use ASUS X453MA(intel celeron, intel hd graphic, 8gb ddr3l ram, 1 tb sata ssd) and he had no computer at all. So he asked what he should buy with a range of 1,000-1,250$. 

 

A gaming laptop(nitro 5 maybe) 

Or, 

A full setup of desktop(big desktop with monitor) 

Or, 

A mini compact gaming dekstop with monitor? 

 

Beside coding with multiple apps open, he also want to play game. Not a hard one and not the light one. So i think about choosing higher ram. He said that, if he buy desktop, he will do light coding in the old laptop and heavy one on desktop. Thank you in advance

Personaly, I'd recomend either going with a gaming desktop, simply because gaming laptops tend to be big, heavy, and have terrible battery life. The ones that are not like this often cost an arm and a leg (ex. razer). compact mini itx systems can often cost more in the way of motherboards and cases, however they can be nice for portability. I'd recomend either going with a powerful desktop pc and a budget friendly laptop if he needs a laptop as well, or if he can do with his current one just put the whole budget into a desktop. 

[boggy77]

usually desktop+monitor is better value for what you get, unless you find a crazy deal on a laptop

[Belac F]

4 minutes ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

Which ever one provides the best performance for the value... which means factor in the cost of buying peripherals for a desktop vs having the inc with a laptop. You'll easily spend 200-250 on a basic monitor/mouse/keyboard + headpones or speakers. More if you want more gaming oriented ones. That takes away from the core system.

 

If peripherals weren't part of the equation... a desktop would obviously offer the better value/performance... but factoring in everything needed... it's a little closer and depends on needs/specs desired.

heres the thing... the ones included on most laptops won't cost you 250$ if you want to get something comparable. Ex a laptop keyboard vs even a budget mechanical keyboard usually is no competition. also keep in mind that if you buy a gaming laptop you will still need a mouse and probably headphones, unless you want to game using the trackpad. But yes, definitly do your research as a laptop on sale for a few hundred cheaper might tip the scales.

[GeoHandle]

A desktop is certainly going to be more powerful than a laptop at the same price, however a laptop also comes with all the peripherals you need included, so you'd have to factor in the costs for those with the desktop as well. Even then though a desktop is probably better value. If the most important thing for the computer is portability then a laptop is definitely the best choice, but from a price for performance standpoint a desktop is definitely better. Personally i'd want to get the most performance possible out of my money, so i'd definitely go for a desktop, and if he needs portability than a compact desktop will also be portable, if not as easily portable as a laptop.

[Bombastinator]

30 minutes ago, Raysza said:

My friend is in bachelor in cyber security. He use ASUS X453MA(intel celeron, intel hd graphic, 8gb ddr3l ram, 1 tb sata ssd) and he had no computer at all. So he asked what he should buy with a range of 1,000-1,250$. 

 

A gaming laptop(nitro 5 maybe) 

Or, 

A full setup of desktop(big desktop with monitor) 

Or, 

A mini compact gaming dekstop with monitor? 

 

Beside coding with multiple apps open, he also want to play game. Not a hard one and not the light one. So i think about choosing higher ram. He said that, if he buy desktop, he will do light coding in the old laptop and heavy one on desktop. Thank you in advance

Heh.  Minor grammar point:

“has a bachelors” means he has a college degree.  “Is a bachelor” means he is an unmarried male.  “Is a bachelor in cyber security” implies he remains unmarried because of his interest in computers.  Which very well may be the case but is still funny to me.  Yes.  English is annoying.

 

 

[Anomnomnomaly]

26 minutes ago, PeterFile said:

heres the thing... the ones included on most laptops won't cost you 250$ if you want to get something comparable. Ex a laptop keyboard vs even a budget mechanical keyboard usually is no competition. also keep in mind that if you buy a gaming laptop you will still need a mouse and probably headphones, unless you want to game using the trackpad. But yes, definitly do your research as a laptop on sale for a few hundred cheaper might tip the scales.

Just checked and I was way out... a cheap 21" monitor can be had for £65 here, a cheap mouse & keyboard combo less than £20, cheap headphones with a mic, less than £20 and a set of speakers less than £20... so that's £125 or roughly $165 USD.  Now I specifically said 'basic' parts... not gamer parts, not comparable to laptop parts... so no IPS screens, no mechanical keyboards, no high dpi mouse, no 5.1 surround sound.

[Shooterdude34]

i made this parts list for just a powerful gaming computer thats priced at about $1260. 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$119.92 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard	$129.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$76.59 @ Amazon
Storage	Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$79.98 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate BarraCuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$42.99 @ Walmart
Video Card	MSI GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB VENTUS XS OC Video Card	$309.99 @ Newegg
Case	NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.98 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair CXM 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$79.98 @ Amazon
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$99.99 @ B&H
Monitor	Acer SB220Q bi 21.5" 1920x1080 75 Hz Monitor	$89.99 @ Amazon
Keyboard	Corsair K55 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard	$49.88 @ Amazon
Mouse	Corsair Harpoon RGB Wired Optical Mouse	$16.94 @ Amazon
Headphones	Corsair VOID PRO RGB (Black) 7.1 Channel Headset	$59.99 @ Best Buy
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1246.21
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$1226.21
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-22 13:21 EST-0500

I hope this helps

[Anomnomnomaly]

Why would anyone suggest a 2060 given the 5600XT is cheaper and smokes it?

[Shooterdude34]

4 hours ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

Why would anyone suggest a 2060 given the 5600XT is cheaper and smokes it?

when i put this list, i was not aware of the 5600xt at the time. I would definitely suggest that instead of the 2060 for this parts list.