PC for University

[Eat Soup]

Budget (including currency): $2500 CAD

Country: Canada

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Lots of Chrome tabs, 4k video editing, 3D modelling and rendering, gaming of all genres

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

What I currently have: Ultrawide monitor, Razer Core X, RX 5700, Mouse and Keyboard

Current Laptop: i7-1065G7 (with iGPU), 12GB RAM, 500gb nvme SSD + 1TB HDD

 

I am currently in the process of creating a PC setup for my Engineering Program. I currently use a laptop connected to a budget LG IPS Ultrawide. The issue with my laptop is that the CPU is weak for anything other than web browsing, has very slow graphics and it has no thunderbolt EGPU support. Battery life is also important as my current laptop only lasts for 4 hours while web browsing with all settings set to battery saving. I aim to have a laptop that can last all day without needing a charge.

 

I am currently debating between an upgrade to high performance, portable laptop such as the Dell XPS 15 (https://deals.dell.com/en-ca/productdetail/fr5c) to combine with the RX 5700 EGPU or to build a desktop system and purchase a separate portable laptop. Both seem to cost about $2000-2500 in total. The desktop would be an i7 13th gen, 32gb with my current RX 5700 ($1000) in addition to an LG gram or similar for $1000-1500 CAD.

 

As for a laptop, I am looking for 32gb RAM, 13-15 inch size, a powerful yet efficient CPU, thunderbolt EGPU support and all day battery life.

Here is the list of pros and cons I have made so far for the 2 options:

Single laptop

Pros:

One system with all the files and programs
More powerful system on the go

Cons:

Less powerful when stationary compared to desktop

Not easily serviceable or upgradeable

 

 

Desktop + portable laptop

Pros:

Faster stationary performance

Desktop can easily be serviced or upgraded

Cons:

Files and applications are not shared
Performance is slower on the go

I was also considering purchasing a high end portable laptop, however my concern is that notebook CPUs will not be able to keep up with the RX 5700 and potentially higher end GPUs that I will upgrade to in the future.

[Coolmaster]

Don't use a eGPU, they give terrible performance considering their price. Cause tons of crashes and artifacts, and are expensive.

 

I would get a powerful desktop and portable laptop. If you have a Onedrive subscription it will automatically share your files between computers, and most programs will save into the documents folder automatically which will automatically be shared with Onedrive. 

 

4 minutes ago, Eat Soup said:

I was also considering purchasing a high end portable laptop, however my concern is that notebook CPUs will not be able to keep up with the RX 5700 and potentially higher end GPUs that I will upgrade to in the future.

Laptop CPUs are actually very good, especially in single core which is what matters for gaming. Since you already have all the parts for an eGPU, even getting an ultrabook with a i5 or Ryzen 5 U series won't bottleneck a 5700 (you will probably be bottlenecked by the thunderbolt connection though). 

 

 

[NF-A12x25]

10 minutes ago, Eat Soup said:

Files and applications are not shared

Nah, you can set up OneDrive for free most likely from most universities.

 

10 minutes ago, Eat Soup said:

Performance is slower on the go

Actually you can remote into your desktop from a shitnuts laptop and have very fast performance. Better to do that. Moonlight is the best of the best when it comes to gaming remote desktops, being able to do even 4K120hz, and it’s not super difficult to set up. Plus it’s free and open source. https://moonlight-stream.org It’s a client for nvidia, so only the Sunshine fork will work with AMD GPUs. If you have AMD, Parsec may be a better choice.

[Coolmaster]

It may actually be better to get a new powerful laptop since the 5700 isn't that fast. A Zephyrus G14 or G15 is about that price, it has a GPU that will be similar (or better) in performance to the 5700, a fast cpu (though not as fast as a 13700k which you'd get if you built a desktop, but is perfectly fine for gaming and being an engineering student), it's portable with a good screen, keyboard, trackpad, and battery life.

[NF-A12x25]

1 minute ago, Coolmaster said:

It may actually be better to get a new powerful laptop since the 5700 isn't that fast. A Zephyrus G14 or G15 is about that price, it has a GPU that will be similar (or better) in performance to the 5700, a fast cpu (though not as fast as a 13700k which you'd get if you built a desktop, but is perfectly fine for gaming and being an engineering student), it's portable with a good screen, keyboard, trackpad, and battery life.

he already has the 5700, he would be using it as an eGPU with a laptop with no dGPU but a powerful CPU. Buying a laptop WITH a dGPU would defeat the purpose lol

[Coolmaster]

1 minute ago, NF-A12x25 said:

he already has the 5700, he would be using it as an eGPU with a laptop with no dGPU but a powerful CPU. Buying a laptop WITH a dGPU would defeat the purpose lol

It might be better just to sell the 5700 and not have to deal with an eGPU.

[NF-A12x25]

Just now, Coolmaster said:

It might be better just to sell the 5700 and not have to deal with an eGPU.

eh selling it will buy him a significantly less powerful GPU though. he should just build a real PC with the 5700. It’s a perfectly good GPU for a first year student, he likely won’t even need anything more powerful than a 1060. 

[Coolmaster]

6 minutes ago, NF-A12x25 said:

eh selling it will buy him a significantly less powerful GPU though. he should just build a real PC with the 5700. It’s a perfectly good GPU for a first year student, he likely won’t even need anything more powerful than a 1060. 

You don't need any GPU for first year engineering, most people in engineering are using Macbooks or 13 inch laptops using iGPUs. Any half decent university will have a computer lab to do intense simulations or computationally expensive tasks. The only use the GPU will have for him is gaming or video editing (a lot of applications don't even support egpus), so having a portable system that doesn't have to deal with an egpu is better.

[NF-A12x25]

2 minutes ago, Coolmaster said:

You don't need any GPU for first year engineering, most people in engineering are using Macbooks or 13 inch laptops using iGPUs. Any half decent university will have a computer lab to do intense simulations or computationally expensive tasks. The only use the GPU will have for him is gaming or video editing (a lot of applications don't even support egpus), so having a portable system that doesn't have to deal with an egpu is better.

True that you don’t NEED one, but there will be computationally expensive tasks to be done and while a university will have a decent computer lab for the engineers it’s always nicer to do that work from the comfort of a dorm. I’ve taken a couple classes like that and I was much happier doing them on my own PC than I would’ve been in a lab, and a 5700xt is plenty for those tasks.