College setup (eGPU?)

[Treble]

Hi, so I'm planning for college, and need some help. 

I'm a senior in high school, and intend to build/buy a PC for college. I sincerely hate the fact that I have to buy a laptop, but I do, I need one for classes. I really don't want to lug a 7 pound gaming laptop around, but I also don't want to give up gaming. I do not have enough money for a desktop and a laptop. 

The solution I've been thinking is maybe finding a cheaper laptop with decent performance, with a good processor, and enough ram, and then buying an eGPU and connecting in through the thunderbolt port on the laptop. 

 

My budget is about $1250 for this project, I'm going to be a computer science major, so what ever power I can get from the PC in that budget, I want.

I'm having trouble finding a laptop for this project, and I'm not sure which eGPU to go with.

 

Suggestions? Concerns? Better Ideas? Please let me know.















 

[Akira Shimazu]

1250$? you need at leaset 600-700 at minimum for thunderbolt 3 laptop. and igpu  is pricey. no option left.

[Herman Mcpootis]

you can grab a decent enough cheap laptop and use whatever's left for a gaming rig.

https://www.newegg.com/blue-dell-inspiron-everyday-value/p/1TS-000A-03WE6?Item=9SIAEYA8J30009 $530

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($129.20 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock B450M Pro4-F Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($71.00 @ Amazon) 
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($59.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB TUF OC Video Card  ($299.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cougar MG110 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: BitFenix Formula Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($70.00) 
Total: $730.15
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-22 10:07 EDT-0400

 

[Treble]

4 hours ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

you can grab a decent enough cheap laptop and use whatever's left for a gaming rig.

https://www.newegg.com/blue-dell-inspiron-everyday-value/p/1TS-000A-03WE6?Item=9SIAEYA8J30009 $530

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($129.20 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock B450M Pro4-F Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($71.00 @ Amazon) 
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($59.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB TUF OC Video Card  ($299.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cougar MG110 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: BitFenix Formula Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($70.00) 
Total: $730.15
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-22 10:07 EDT-0400

 

Since I posted last, I did a little research and found what the likely combo would be for my eGPU and laptop.  Shouldn't I be trying to get one rig that works really well, rather than two rigs that run decently. also I know that this is above my budget, however my budget is subject to change if it's worth it. Thank you for your list, I do appreciate it, also that laptop is marked down 53% now, however I don't think I'll be getting these things until like march, because I starting to save now. 

[Herman Mcpootis]

6 hours ago, Treble said:

Since I posted last, I did a little research and found what the likely combo would be for my eGPU and laptop.  Shouldn't I be trying to get one rig that works really well, rather than two rigs that run decently. 

getting a desktop with some of the money lets you have an easier time upgrading it in the future. ask again 1-2 weeks before you're ready to buy, anything we give you now will be irrelevant by then.

[Treble]

1 hour ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

getting a desktop with some of the money lets you have an easier time upgrading it in the future. ask again 1-2 weeks before you're ready to buy, anything we give you now will be irrelevant by then.

That's a very valid argument, see you then.

[celerystruct]

Your laptop doesn't need to be super powerful for doing work as a computer science major. Invest in a decent desktop and get serviceable laptop to use on the go. The only real reason you'd even need a laptop for classes is if you're prof does live coding demos or if your group, for whatever group projects you get, just refuse to work remotely and absolutely require you to be in the same room as them.

 

That being said, a laptop isn't absolutely necessary either unless you're school is forcing that requirement on you.