Gaming laptop or gaming desktop for college?

[sgabriel]

Hey guys!

 

So I recently graduated from high school and is college bound this fall. I'm attending a small (~5000 students) university which doesn't have an issue about personal belongings being stolen. I have a dilemma on whether to buy a gaming laptop or a gaming desktop. I already have a 2in1 notebook (i5 8thgen, 512ssd) I use as a daily driver through out junior and senior year. I have a budget of <1k usd to either buy a laptop or desktop. I usually only play dota2 (divine 5 rank) and overwatch (diamond rank) but occasionally play triple A new releases. I also own a ps4 and also debating on whether or not to bring it to college. Thanks for your help!

[Sauron]

I suggest you keep your 2in1 to carry around for lessons and get a desktop for games. "Gaming" laptops are generally heavy, poorly built (at least below the 1.5k mark) and have a bad battery life; plus, the "gamer" aesthetic gets old pretty quickly when you're bringing them to class.

[Derrk]

i built an itx system before college and really enjoyed having a desktop. Since you already have a laptop, i think it would make more sense to add a desktop. Personally i find doing work/homework from a monitor much easier than working off of a laptop

[genexis_x]

Do you really need the portability? If yes, laptop

[ianspy1]

There tons of vids telling why a gaming laptop is bad for college I would suggest taking a gaming desktop and a cheap thinkpad with linux

[CMtzPercussion]

During my internship my final semester of college, I had bought an MSI GS63 Stealth - I love that laptop to death, but it was NOT a good idea for doing my big girl stuff. Heavy, battery life was always a struggle when I wasn't at a desk with an outlet, the urge to play Overwatch instead of teach the kids was a real one, etc... For just a few hundred bucks more I built a great system that can handle triple A's, streaming and anything else without a hitch. I did so after I graduated, but I definitely should've gone the build-it-myself route while I was in college. Would've been less of a distraction and also would've attracted less people staring at the RGB, lol. 1K can get you something good, but maybe just stick to the PS4 and to your 2in1 until you can up the budget a little more? I'm not sure if your 1K includes peripherals for the desktop or not but if so, I might wait.

[NeuesTestament]

Unless you really want a mobile gaming machine, I would just go for the Desktop and keep the other laptop as your daily driver for classes.

[Uttamattamakin]

There was a time in the early 2010's when the only computer I had was a microsoft surface pro 1,  then I upgraded to the pro 3.  I did everything on it, including games.  It was a very compromised experience from a pure gaming standpoint.   However, it got the job done well enough for the games I played at the time (mostly strategy games from the Total War series.  3D real time battles with 1000's of 3D soldiers on screen.) 

 

Any 2 in 1 bought in the last few years should actually play most older or less demanding games just fine especially without super high graphics settings.    

Plus if it has a stylus there is NOTHING better for taking notes or doing homework.  Which is the main thigh you will be doing in college.  College is not like high school... don't expect spoon feeding. 

 

So desktop or laptop: 

 

If you must have a more serious gaming computer in college Laptop. 

 

I had a desktop and a laptop at one point in college.  Moving from dorm room to dorm room to apartment to house with that thing was an ordeal.   However, at that time the CRT monitor was  as heavy as everything else I owned combined.

 

Also having a gaming laptop might be acceptable IF you major in a subject that requires a very powerful computer and will benefit from the hardware.    

[genexis_x]

3 hours ago, ianspy1 said:

There tons of vids telling why a gaming laptop is bad for college I would suggest taking a gaming desktop and a cheap thinkpad with linux

Some ppl don't have a choice due to the need of portability and limited budget. Me myself for instance

[steelo]

6 hours ago, sgabriel said:

Hey guys!

 

So I recently graduated from high school and is college bound this fall. I'm attending a small (~5000 students) university which doesn't have an issue about personal belongings being stolen. I have a dilemma on whether to buy a gaming laptop or a gaming desktop. I already have a 2in1 notebook (i5 8thgen, 512ssd) I use as a daily driver through out junior and senior year. I have a budget of <1k usd to either buy a laptop or desktop. I usually only play dota2 (divine 5 rank) and overwatch (diamond rank) but occasionally play triple A new releases. I also own a ps4 and also debating on whether or not to bring it to college. Thanks for your help!

You can get a lot more for your money with a desktop if you don't have to worry about portability. Since it sounds like you have a pretty decent laptop for school work, why not build a pretty kick ass gaming PC for just under $1k? It also opens up a lot of possibilities, allowing you to stream movies from the PC to your laptop or even stream games onto your laptop that it normally wouldn't be able to play. I spent about $5-600 to build my own PC that can play almost all modern AAA titles at 1080 settings. Even if you buy your PC, you'll usually get much more bang for your buck than you would a laptop.

[star_pilot475]

Build an itx system, keep your 2 in 1 like @Derrk said.

 

maybe something like this?

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor	$149.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	Gigabyte - B450 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard	$119.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$77.75 @ Amazon
Storage	HP - EX900 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$49.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB MINI ITX Video Card	$496.48 @ Amazon
Case	Cooler Master - Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case	$54.98 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply	SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$51.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1026.16
	Mail-in rebates	-$25.00
	Total	$1001.16
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-16 09:55 EDT-0400

 

[steelo]

17 minutes ago, star_pilot475 said:

Build an itx system, keep your 2 in 1 like @Derrk said.

 

maybe something like this?

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor	$149.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	Gigabyte - B450 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard	$119.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$77.75 @ Amazon
Storage	HP - EX900 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$49.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB MINI ITX Video Card	$496.48 @ Amazon
Case	Cooler Master - Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case	$54.98 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply	SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$51.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1026.16
	Mail-in rebates	-$25.00
	Total	$1001.16
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-16 09:55 EDT-0400

 

If he really wants to stay under $1k though, he could go with a 6 core/12 thread Ryzen 5 2600 and a RX 5700. Video card performance falls between that of a 2060 and a 2070 and is $150 less than the 2060. 

[star_pilot475]

42 minutes ago, steelo said:

If he really wants to stay under $1k though, he could go with a 6 core/12 thread Ryzen 5 2600 and a RX 5700. Video card performance falls between that of a 2060 and a 2070 and is $150 less than the 2060. 

That’s a good idea but this is only $1001...

[steelo]

4 minutes ago, star_pilot475 said:

That’s a good idea but this is only $1001...

Nothing at all wrong with your set up, just providing options  

 

 

I'm not a big fan of NVidia's inflated pricing scheme

[star_pilot475]

4 minutes ago, steelo said:

Nothing at all wrong with your set up, just providing options

Ah ok yeah so something like this maybe 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$119.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Gigabyte - B450 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard	$119.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$69.99 @ Amazon
Storage	HP - EX920 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$54.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	XFX - Radeon RX 5700 8 GB Video Card	$349.99 @ Amazon
Case	Metallic Gear - NEO MINI Mini ITX Tower Case	$59.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$51.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$861.92
	Mail-in rebates	-$35.00
	Total	$826.92
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-16 10:49 EDT-0400

i went with the Neo Mini because how can you not with a silver GPU and motherboard? 

Edit: this also gives you a bit of breathing room. You could throw in a decent cooler, or go with a newer Ryzen chip or whatever.

[steelo]

11 minutes ago, star_pilot475 said:

Ah ok yeah so something like this maybe 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$119.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Gigabyte - B450 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard	$119.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$69.99 @ Amazon
Storage	HP - EX920 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$54.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	XFX - Radeon RX 5700 8 GB Video Card	$349.99 @ Amazon
Case	Metallic Gear - NEO MINI Mini ITX Tower Case	$59.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$51.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$861.92
	Mail-in rebates	-$35.00
	Total	$826.92
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-16 10:49 EDT-0400

i went with the Neo Mini because how can you not with a silver GPU and motherboard? 

I like that case a lot! There was nothing at all wrong with your build and it would give him a bit more horsepower than mine. I was just providing a 'budget' solution. 

[star_pilot475]

Just now, steelo said:

I like that case a lot!

It gives off some Mac vibes to me...it’s what I’d like to build in next actually. 

[steelo]

16 minutes ago, star_pilot475 said:

It gives off some Mac vibes to me...it’s what I’d like to build in next actually. 

It looks solid.

[ianspy1]

On 7/16/2019 at 2:56 PM, GeneXiS_X said:

Some ppl don't have a choice due to the need of portability and limited budget. Me myself for instance

here in germany a used thinkpad costs 80€ a new battery 16€ so I still stand by my word get a cheap used laptop with a new battery and a battle station at home

[genexis_x]

Just now, ianspy1 said:

here in germany a used thinkpad costs 80€ a new battery 16€ so I still stand by my word get a cheap used laptop with a new battery and a battle station at home

Used market isn't that good in every country fyi

[ianspy1]

Just now, GeneXiS_X said:

Used market isn't that good in every country fyi

I just go by my knowlege and what I did....

[genexis_x]

2 minutes ago, ianspy1 said:

I just go by my knowlege and what I did....

I mean, there's nothing wrong with going for used Thinkpads, however some do prefer new and don't wanna to keep a desktop

[ianspy1]

7 minutes ago, GeneXiS_X said:

I mean, there's nothing wrong with going for used Thinkpads, however some do prefer new and don't wanna to keep a desktop

ohhh  then I miss understood his question I thought he was thinking about getting a desktop or laptop and that way he could get both ( sry for my horrible spelling I usually only speak englischxD )

[genexis_x]

5 minutes ago, ianspy1 said:

ohhh  then I miss understood his question I thought he was thinking about getting a desktop or laptop and that way he could get both ( sry for my horrible spelling I usually only speak englischxD )

You aren't misunderstanding, you're right