New build / purchase for mobile business gaming combo

[Shadowao]

OK, the last time I built a brand new machine, Fallout 3 was a shiny new game. Been living on hand me downs and spare parts since.

 

I'm looking at getting an ultrabook and an external graphics card. I need it to be able to function 3 ways:

 

good battery life for running programs like word, powerpoint, light internet browsing (mobile work)

Legacy/Light gaming when plugged in but not home (killing time while waiting with Morrowind, Fallout shelter or Baldur's Gate enhanced edition)

Solid gaming (skyrim, guildwars 2 - with at least midgrade graphics) while home and plugged in. Due to possibly being in different rooms, need it to run on laptop screen, not extra monitor

 

I'm gonna be saving up for this, so price is more of a question of time. I'll probably buy the ultrabook, then get the external graphics card enclosure. I have a line on hand me down cards so that's not part of the current math.

 

around 1k for the ultrabook, maybe a little more if needed.

 

Thanks ahead of time!

Edited April 29, 2020 by Shadowao
extra info

[Djole123]

Location, budget?

 

P.S. I honestly think it would be more economically (and in general) viable for you to just buy a gaming laptop and a separate, inexpensive device for Office and web browsing. You wouldn't get any of the performance losses caused by having to feed video back to the internal display, and cheaper machines have chips with such low TDP that it should even last a full working day.

[boggy77]

why not a decent gaming laptop? the asus zephyrus g14 is thin, light (almost like an ultrabook) and powerful for all modern games.

[Shadowao]

Location: U.S.A., Arizona if it matters

Budget: Around 1k for the Ultrabook, give or take. if the best option is 1.5, then I'll just save a little longer

 

I like having one device. I deal with a lot of computers for specific purposes at work, trying to keep my personal setup simple.

 

Gaming laptops are nice, but it was suggested to me to go this route by my data center technician, as the higher end gaming is the thing I'll spend the least time doing, and I can still use the graphics card hand me downs I get constantly from my friends who upgrade non-stop.

[Bombastinator]

There are issues with egpus. There is a fairly low hard upper limit on bandwidth and latency is high.  You might get better total game performance per dollar with a larger laptop because new q series mobile GPUs are faster than the bandwidth limit of thunderbolt.  The fastest desktop gpu that is worth putting in an egpu enclosure is an rx580, so even if someone gives you a faster gpu it won’t help much.

[Shadowao]

I know There's gonna be some loss, but would it still be better per dollar if you include the graphics card as free, so price is enclosure + ultrabook?

 

sorry, realized I didn't specify up top, I'll edit: I have a friend who upgrades graphics cards CONSTANTLY. I have a rtx 2070 just waiting, free of charge.

[Shadowao]

Performance level of a 580 is fine, I play RPGs and the occasional MMO, but no competitive play and no shooters (unless you count fallout 3 / new vegas). I do hear what you're saying on the limitations though. So that is something to consider for longevity as there is a cap on upgrades.