Budget laptop decision

[LaCooler]

I'm looking at buying a budget laptop for a child and have narrowed it down to 2 choices:

 

Acer - Nitro 5 15.6" Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 - 1TB Hard Drive - Shale Black

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-nitro-5-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-1tb-hard-drive-shale-black/6212601.p?skuId=6212601

 

or

 

Acer Nitro 5 15.6 Inch (Intel Core i5-7300HQ 2.50GHz, 8GB DDR4 , 256GB SSD,Red Backlit Keyboard, WiFi, Windows 10)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CWBM1B9/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?smid=A2GYMX5OBKGV1V&psc=1#customerReviews

 

As far as I can see there are 3 main difference (excluding price).  The one from best buy has a 8th gen CPU, a GTX 1050, and a 1 TB HD.  The other from Amazon has a 7th gen CPU, a GTX 1050ti, and a 256GB SSD.  I'm not as worried about storage since I've checked into both and I can add a m.2 ssd to the one with the HD or a HD to the one with the m.2 SSD.

 

The thing I'm unsure about is do I go with the 7th gen CPU and 1050ti or the 8th gen CPU and the regular 1050.  I'll mostly be used for gaming and homework and possiblely programming of some kind down the road.

 

So any suggestions or thoughts?

[Palden]

Tth gen with 1050ti will probably run better since at those specs the GPU will probably be the bottleneck, not the CPU

[Optane^]

The 8th gen Kaby lake refresh is a lot faster than 7th so for main CPU tasks, it will help (programming) 

 

I would buy the BB one and throw in a m.2 for windows and call it a day!

[Cameron Goodwin]

Go with the 1050ti. It's a considerable performance boost in graphics, and worth it. If you need more storage, m.2 or external hard drive would work well. You shouldn't notice a huge difference in CPU performance compared to GPU.

[markr54632]

So from personal experience it is hit or miss as to whether or not acer ships the laptop with the hdd cable and caddy installed. If you get one without it their customer service is near impossible to convince to sell you the parts.

 

That being said the amazon nitro is a much better option. The cooling is subpar on the nitro and helios 300 series. I have had pretty good luck with the i5 7300 models not thermal throttling however. ALL of the 8th gen nitro 5 sub models I've used have had thermal problems.

 

I would consider the 7th gen model you linked, forget about the bestbuy model, and maybe look into the y7000 or y520 and y530 as well. The g3 is also in your budget, however you are going to run into the same thermal issues.

[LaCooler]

Thanks for the thoughts. I was definitely leaning more towards to 1050 ti laptop.  I always find it interesting to see other people thoughts. It usually helps me in case I've missed something. 

[genexis_x]

Why only limited to Nitro 5?

 

Location? Budget? Any preference on weight and battery life?