Laptop guy deciding between external GPU and new PC

[JLMazzella]

Ok guys I need help,

 

I have an ASUS ROG gaming laptop from about 4 years ago. This laptop is always hooked up to my 24” monitor or a 43 inch TV that I use for Sim racing. This laptop does everything I need it to do for the games I play and I am very happy with it. Here are the specs:

System Model: G752VL

Intel I7-6700 HQ

12 GB of Ram

Evo 970 Pro SSD 512G

Thunderbolt 3 port (with display)

 

+++GeForce GTX 965M+++

 

 

 

Now again I am able to play the games I like, Diablo 3,Over-watch and Heroes of the storm, and most importantly Iracing at a consistent 75 FPS on a 43 inch TV 1080p.

 

So the problem is I want to upgrade to VR for Iracing, So I would like the maximum possible resolution and frame-rate for that particular game. I love my system, and it does everything I need it to do, I just want to be able to VR off of it which I know isn’t going to happen off that 965M.  Do I spend 1500$ on trying to get a 2060 or 1080ish series desktop or get an External GPU for my laptop. This is a value question here, If I can get away with spending less on an external enclosure and not having 2 systems (my laptop will just collect dust at the house if I have a better system obviously rendering my laptop obsolete. I do travel A LOT for work so my laptop will still go with me then. 

 

Thanks guys lemme know what to do!!

 

[snowfox99]

I would go for the desktop personally, you don't need to spend $1500 on an 2060 system, grab a Ryzen 5 2600 and you can do the whole thing under $1k probably. EGPUs still aren't perfect and you won't be getting everything your GPU is capable of if you go that route.

 

 

[JLMazzella]

2 minutes ago, snowfox99 said:

I would go for the desktop personally, you don't need to spend $1500 on an 2060 system, grab a Ryzen 5 2600 and you can do the whole thing under $1k probably. EGPUs still aren't perfect and you won't be getting everything your GPU is capable of if you go that route.

 

 

Thank you for response! Also forgot to add I still need to buy the Oculus Rift as well. So 1K for a system and another couple hundred for the rift just to VR, Or external GPU+Rift.

 

Please more people add there 2 sense im really at a loss!

[snowfox99]

Just now, JLMazzella said:

Thank you for response! Also forgot to add I still need to buy the Oculus Rift as well. So 1K for a system and another couple hundred for the rift just to VR, Or external GPU+Rift.

 

Please more people add there 2 sense im really at a loss!

Keep in mind an eGPU enclosure will run you probably around $300 + the cost of the card, so in the case of an RTX 2060 you're looking at a total of $650 for the iGPU setup vs $1000 or so for a full second PC.

[snowfox99]

Here's an example of what you could get with the budget you're working in:
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$149.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$69.89 @ OutletPC
Memory	GeIL - EVO SPEAR 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$87.99 @ Newegg Business
Storage	Western Digital - Blue 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$57.89 @ OutletPC
Storage	Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$52.88 @ Amazon
Video Card	EVGA - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB XC GAMING Video Card	$339.99 @ Newegg
Case	Cooler Master - MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$46.98 @ B&H
Power Supply	EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$67.98 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$933.59
	Mail-in rebates	-$60.00
	Total	$873.59
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-16 12:35 EST-0500

 

[JLMazzella]

1 hour ago, snowfox99 said:

Here's an example of what you could get with the budget you're working in:
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$149.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$69.89 @ OutletPC
Memory	GeIL - EVO SPEAR 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$87.99 @ Newegg Business
Storage	Western Digital - Blue 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$57.89 @ OutletPC
Storage	Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$52.88 @ Amazon
Video Card	EVGA - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB XC GAMING Video Card	$339.99 @ Newegg
Case	Cooler Master - MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$46.98 @ B&H
Power Supply	EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$67.98 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$933.59
	Mail-in rebates	-$60.00
	Total	$873.59
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-16 12:35 EST-0500

 

That is actually a very good looking pc right there. Some of those things I already have from an older system, such as PSU and harddrives.

[JLMazzella]

.

[JLMazzella]

4 hours ago, JLMazzella said:

That is actually a very good looking pc right there. Some of those things I already have from an older system, such as PSU and harddrives.

So ive been clicking around this part picker for a couple hours now and ive messed it all up lol. If u dropped the SSD (I have a 960 pro already) and had a budget of 1,000.00 what would you change? Sorry if im making ya work but your way more better than I am. I was thinking a better ram solution and....?  

If you respond to this thanks alot youve been a big help.

[JLMazzella]

6 hours ago, snowfox99 said:

Here's an example of what you could get with the budget you're working in:
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$149.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$69.89 @ OutletPC
Memory	GeIL - EVO SPEAR 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$87.99 @ Newegg Business
Storage	Western Digital - Blue 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$57.89 @ OutletPC
Storage	Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$52.88 @ Amazon
Video Card	EVGA - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB XC GAMING Video Card	$339.99 @ Newegg
Case	Cooler Master - MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$46.98 @ B&H
Power Supply	EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$67.98 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$933.59
	Mail-in rebates	-$60.00
	Total	$873.59
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-16 12:35 EST-0500

 

So ive been clicking around this part picker for a couple hours now and ive messed it all up lol. If u dropped the SSD (I have a 960 pro already) and had a budget of 1,000.00 what would you change? Sorry if im making ya work but your way more better than I am. I was thinking a better ram solution and....?  

If you respond to this thanks alot youve been a big help.

[snowfox99]

On 2/16/2019 at 5:27 PM, JLMazzella said:

So ive been clicking around this part picker for a couple hours now and ive messed it all up lol. If u dropped the SSD (I have a 960 pro already) and had a budget of 1,000.00 what would you change? Sorry if im making ya work but your way more better than I am. I was thinking a better ram solution and....?  

If you respond to this thanks alot youve been a big help.

Honestly, 16GB is plenty unless you're doing serious video editing/3d work/other content creation tasks, and 3000mhz should be sufficient... With a higher budget I'd maybe add in an R7 2700 to give you a bit of a CPU performance boost, but either way I'd definitely grab an aftermarket cooler so that you can do a bit of overclocking.