Looking to Upgrade

[LucR]

Hello all, this is my first time on the forum, so please bear with me if I mess anything up.

 

TL;DR:
Recommend me a high spec light laptop, or how/where to build my own first desktop.

 

I've been using just my Lenovo X1 Extreme Gen 1 since it came out 4 maybe 5 years ago.

i5 gen 8, 16gb 2666hz ram, 521gb ssd, 1060ti max-q gpu

 

I was planning to upgrade to the next version of the same laptop (gen 6) since it would feature 13th gen pcu + 40 series gpu. However, there are rumors in the thinkpad community (never thought I'd say that but today's a lot of firsts it seems) that the line has been scrapped. I find this unlikely, but whatever. So I'm looking for one of two things:

- A new high-spec laptop so I can just turn my current laptop into a personal server

- My very first desktop! I'd then just use my laptop as a way to remote into the desktop when needed, or just use the laptop as is for non-high-performance tasks.

 

A light, 15+ inch, very high spec laptop that's:
reparable (x1 series has schematics, full parts list with modern equivalents added regularly)

no num pad

no glass screen

 

- OR -

 

My very first desktop!

I have no idea what to even ask for, but if I go this route, budget is 3k+

Not even sure if I should go for Intel+Nvidia or AMD, I'm completely ignorant WRT desktops.

 

Bonus:

I've been watching LMG for a long time, several years, but I've never gotten around to posting or interacting on the forum. I mostly just watch WAN show and an occasional LTT video. I'm an electrical and computer engineer, so I know how all of this stuff works, but I'm completely ignorant to what it is I need and what the differences in the market are.

Edited March 25, 2023 by LucR
Added more pertinant info

[jaslion]

I mean the question is do you still need a laptop yes or no?

[LucR]

3 minutes ago, jaslion said:

I mean the question is do you still need a laptop yes or no?

Sorry, forgot to mention that in the post. It has been updated.

 

When I'd need the extra processing power, I'd remote into the desktop with parsec or similar. Most of my heavy lifting tasks are either set and forget (compiling, rendering, simulating, etc) or gaming every so often, but that's not the priority.

 

Sorry for not clarifying earlier.

[PC HEROES]

49 minutes ago, LucR said:

Sorry, forgot to mention that in the post. It has been updated.

 

When I'd need the extra processing power, I'd remote into the desktop with parsec or similar. Most of my heavy lifting tasks are either set and forget (compiling, rendering, simulating, etc) or gaming every so often, but that's not the priority.

 

Sorry for not clarifying earlier.

Hey... I have 2 solutions for you. 1 is a laptop that is so amazing that you would only need to upgrade the RAM in it if 32GB isn't enough, and 2 a fully custom built PC that I have made for you by list of parts and where to buy them so that you can build it yourself.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions, I have almost 30 years experience building PCs.

 

GIGABYTE AORUS 17X Gaming Laptop

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rrGm9r

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor  ($299.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Lian Li Galahad AIO240 (2022) 69.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($126.03 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B760M-PLUS WIFI D4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Force Delta RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($122.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte EAGLE OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card  ($849.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 205M MESH MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($112.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Platinum 850 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Lian Li UNI SL120 58.54 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($27.14 @ MemoryC)
Monitor: Asus TUF Gaming VG28UQL1A 28.0" 3840 x 2160 144 Hz Monitor  ($599.00 @ ASUS)
Total: $2630.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[LucR]

21 minutes ago, PC HEROES said:

Hey... I have 2 solutions for you. 1 is a laptop that is so amazing that you would only need to upgrade the RAM in it if 32GB isn't enough, and 2 a fully custom built PC that I have made for you by list of parts and where to buy them so that you can build it yourself.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions, I have almost 30 years experience building PCs.

 

GIGABYTE AORUS 17X Gaming Laptop

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rrGm9r

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor  ($299.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Lian Li Galahad AIO240 (2022) 69.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($126.03 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B760M-PLUS WIFI D4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Force Delta RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($122.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte EAGLE OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card  ($849.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 205M MESH MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($112.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Platinum 850 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Lian Li UNI SL120 58.54 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($27.14 @ MemoryC)
Monitor: Asus TUF Gaming VG28UQL1A 28.0" 3840 x 2160 144 Hz Monitor  ($599.00 @ ASUS)
Total: $2630.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

First of all, thank you so much for the suggestions. That laptop looks insane, but I honestly hate the "gamerness" of it. I've been a Lenovo fan and user for many, many years because of the business look of it. My entire setup and style is minimalist black.

 

As for the tower, I have a few questions that you can hopefully answer. I'm trying to learn, not just mindlessly buy.

• Why Intel? I always hear Linus go on and on about how much better AMD is compares to intel+NVIDIA this current product cycle.
• Why i5? It may just be my workload that's CPU heavy, but wouldn't an i7 be significantly better? I'm building this primarily as a productivity machine, gaming comes second.
• I know nothing about mobos, so I'll take your word for it
• can I just use crucial instead of RGB gamer ram?
• Why a 2TB as well as a 512GB SSD? My plan was to have a 1 or 2 TB main SSD and a small array of very large, very slow HDD for general backup / rarely used storage.
• Unless I'm mistaken, which I probably am, wasn't the conclusion that the 4070 isn't worth the price increase compared to the 4060?
• I appreciate the case suggestion, but I'm honestly not opposed to just getting a phat case. Size is not a concern for me whatsoever.
• Power supply and fans I know literally nothing about, to the point I don't even know what to ask. Could you please elaborate your choices a bit more?
• I already have a monitor (4k 32" Samsung curved)

Thank you so much for all the suggestions.

Is there anything I should be looking out for right right now? Like any good deals running or soon to run? I'm going to buy the parts over the next month or two, then assemble it during the summer once I have more time (masters student)

Just a reminder, while I'm not opposed to spending less, 3k+ is my expected price range.

 

Thank you again! I greatly appreciate all your input.

[PC HEROES]

24 minutes ago, LucR said:

 

First of all, thank you so much for the suggestions. That laptop looks insane, but I honestly hate the "gamerness" of it. I've been a Lenovo fan and user for many, many years because of the business look of it. My entire setup and style is minimalist black.

 

As for the tower, I have a few questions that you can hopefully answer. I'm trying to learn, not just mindlessly buy.

• Why Intel? I always hear Linus go on and on about how much better AMD is compares to intel+NVIDIA this current product cycle.
• Why i5? It may just be my workload that's CPU heavy, but wouldn't an i7 be significantly better? I'm building this primarily as a productivity machine, gaming comes second.
• I know nothing about mobos, so I'll take your word for it
• can I just use crucial instead of RGB gamer ram?
• Why a 2TB as well as a 512GB SSD? My plan was to have a 1 or 2 TB main SSD and a small array of very large, very slow HDD for general backup / rarely used storage.
• Unless I'm mistaken, which I probably am, wasn't the conclusion that the 4070 isn't worth the price increase compared to the 4060?
• I appreciate the case suggestion, but I'm honestly not opposed to just getting a phat case. Size is not a concern for me whatsoever.
• Power supply and fans I know literally nothing about, to the point I don't even know what to ask. Could you please elaborate your choices a bit more?
• I already have a monitor (4k 32" Samsung curved)

Thank you so much for all the suggestions.

Is there anything I should be looking out for right right now? Like any good deals running or soon to run? I'm going to buy the parts over the next month or two, then assemble it during the summer once I have more time (masters student)

Just a reminder, while I'm not opposed to spending less, 3k+ is my expected price range.

 

Thank you again! I greatly appreciate all your input.

Okay, Lets start from the top...

 

1. Right now the 13th Gen Intel CPUs are the best "Price to Performance" right now as the new AM5 CPUs are Really good but as far as pricing goes Intel has the upper hand here right now and on a personal note I am an AMD Fanboy at heart but when I built my new PC 2 years this October I was forced to go with Intel because of COVID shortage and I'm really happy that I did. I was really scorned by Intel back in 2005 with socket 4798, my PC at the time kept frying my CPUs and Motherboards because back then I wasn't aware of better cooling devices and I was using stock coolers. Even though I love AMD I don't think I will ever go back.

 

2. Why Core i5? well I think of it like this... Remember the big leap that the Core i9 9900k took? Well the new 13th Gen Intel CPUs are nothing short of Amazing. Right now the i5 is going the work load that the 12th Gen i9 was doing and the 13th Gen i3 is doing what the 12th Gen i5 was doing. They have improved so much that if you are really just gaming and or streaming at the same time then the i5 is all you really need. I'll throw in the i7 just to be safe.

 

3. I picked the ASUS TUF Motherboard because it has really good VRMs and Power delivery, you would be hard pressed to find another that is so good at that, plus the placement of the VRMs are so spread out that literally any cooler can be used on it as long as you have the right cooler bracket, size of the cooler won't matter.

 

4. RGB is pretty much a standard now in most PC parts but if you prefer non RGB then I can make that happen, Brand doesn't matter but Crucial RAM is kind of dying out but I can redo the list and you can ask more if need be.

 

5. These days it's recommended to have a Boot drive separate from the other storage. The boot drive has the OS and other software programs and the storage drive is where you install your games and other mass storage like gameplay/rendered video. If you need more older spinning drives then I suggest a external setup for them. Most cases to day only have room for 2x2.5in or 2x3.5in SSD or spinning drives. You don't want to game off of a spinning drive especially a slow one. Once you play a game or render something on a NVME Gen4 drive then you will never want to go back the spinning drive ever again.

 

6. Well the RTX 4060 isn't out yet and right now the 4070Ti is the cheapest 40 series card and the performance gap between the 4070Ti and the 4080 to some isn't worth the price gap but I have changed it to the 4080.

 

7. I switched the case for a bigger one and made the appropriate Motherboard change from m-ATX to ATX.

 

8. For the PSU I got you a A-Tier rated Power Supply. I has a bit more wattage than you need because the 40 series RTX cards do a bit of power flexing but it doesn't change the performance in any way. The Fans I added come with a Fan Hub and a Remote to turn off or change the RGB lighting. Airflow is a PCs best friend. The more fans you have the better your PC will be with temperature. So the AIO water cooler has 3 fans, it goes on the side of the case and the Fan pack has 5 fans in it, 2 packs to max out the fans and have some left over in case one breaks. Put 3 of the fans from the pack in the front of the PC that draw air into the PC, replace the one in the rear to blow out of the PC and 3 can go in top of the case pulling air out, all the fans should have an arrow that shows which was the air flows and if not it's in the instructions.

 

9. I removed the Monitor.

 

10. Just remember that all the RGB can be turned off if you want. I remade the list below. Let me know if you have any more questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/md2Kwc

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($399.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Loop 280 Liquid CPU Cooler  ($104.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING Z790-PLUS WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($274.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($91.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($122.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card  ($1195.51 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 5000D AIRFLOW ATX Mid Tower Case  ($154.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM1000x (2021) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($189.95 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: GAMDIAS AEOLUS M2 56 CFM 120 mm Fans 5-Pack  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: GAMDIAS AEOLUS M2 56 CFM 120 mm Fans 5-Pack  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2673.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[LucR]

35 minutes ago, PC HEROES said:

Okay, Lets start from the top...

 

...

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/md2Kwc

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($399.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Loop 280 Liquid CPU Cooler  ($104.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING Z790-PLUS WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($274.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($91.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($122.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card  ($1195.51 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 5000D AIRFLOW ATX Mid Tower Case  ($154.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM1000x (2021) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($189.95 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: GAMDIAS AEOLUS M2 56 CFM 120 mm Fans 5-Pack  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: GAMDIAS AEOLUS M2 56 CFM 120 mm Fans 5-Pack  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2673.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Amazing, you've been truly incredible with all the help and info you've given me. I truly appreciate it.

1. Got it, Intel is fine by me. I have no bias either way.
2. For SolidWorks and simulations, CPU performance is the main thing that matters. SolidWorks (for designing, not simulating) doesn't even touch the GPU. Purely CPU workload. And that's just one example why I'm happy to pay the extra 100$ to get the i7
3. sounds good to me!
4. Yeah, I just don't want to pay extra for something I'm never gonna use, but sure. RGB is fine, and in the picture of 2.5k$ I don't think 5$ here or there is really going to matter.
5. I hadn't heard of the separate boot drive tidbit before. That's what I have on my laptop right now, 256GB NVME for boot and 512GB NVME for basically everything else.
   Yeah, the HDDs would be essentially a separate deep backup system that I would touch once in a blue moon, like documents.
6. I confused the 4060 with the 4070. Thank you for being patient and explaining it to me again!
7. Bigger is always better
8. I know nothing about PSU, so sounds good to me.
   Why so many fans? I just realized there are 12 in there in total. Also would I need to get coolant? It seems like the CPU cooler is liquid cooled.
9.  -
10. I'll definitely have questions in about a month from now if anything major has changed. Chances are, nothing has, but I'll definately be asking anyway.
    I may also have a few questions here and there about assembly, but It should be fairly straightforward.

Thank you so much again, you've been immensely helpful. Can't wait for the summer so I can buy all this crap and put it together.

Any recs on remote software that also works on android? I was thinking parsec since it's the one I've already used before, but happy to hear any others. From my experience, all the software out there works mostly fine except for a few annoyances.

[PC HEROES]

20 minutes ago, LucR said:

Amazing, you've been truly incredible with all the help and info you've given me. I truly appreciate it.

1. Got it, Intel is fine by me. I have no bias either way.
2. For SolidWorks and simulations, CPU performance is the main thing that matters. SolidWorks (for designing, not simulating) doesn't even touch the GPU. Purely CPU workload. And that's just one example why I'm happy to pay the extra 100$ to get the i7
3. sounds good to me!
4. Yeah, I just don't want to pay extra for something I'm never gonna use, but sure. RGB is fine, and in the picture of 2.5k$ I don't think 5$ here or there is really going to matter.
5. I hadn't heard of the separate boot drive tidbit before. That's what I have on my laptop right now, 256GB NVME for boot and 512GB NVME for basically everything else.
   Yeah, the HDDs would be essentially a separate deep backup system that I would touch once in a blue moon, like documents.
6. I confused the 4060 with the 4070. Thank you for being patient and explaining it to me again!
7. Bigger is always better
8. I know nothing about PSU, so sounds good to me.
   Why so many fans? I just realized there are 12 in there in total. Also would I need to get coolant? It seems like the CPU cooler is liquid cooled.
9.  -
10. I'll definitely have questions in about a month from now if anything major has changed. Chances are, nothing has, but I'll definately be asking anyway.
    I may also have a few questions here and there about assembly, but It should be fairly straightforward.

Thank you so much again, you've been immensely helpful. Can't wait for the summer so I can buy all this crap and put it together.

Any recs on remote software that also works on android? I was thinking parsec since it's the one I've already used before, but happy to hear any others. From my experience, all the software out there works mostly fine except for a few annoyances.

The reason for all the fans is because you need 7 in the case, 3 fan spots in the front, 3 on top, and one in the rear. The AIO it's self has 3 fans but don't replace those, they are just for the AIO. So the 2 extra fan packs will go as follows...

 

3 fans will go in the front of the case, 3 fans will go on top of the case, and one fan will go in the rear of the case. The 3 front fans will pull air into the case, the 3 fans on top of the case will pull air out of the case and the rear fan will also pull air out of the case, it's whats called positive airflow. The AIO cooler will go on the side of the case. Also the AIO does NOT need coolant. It just gets replaced when it needs to. A good way to tell is to see if your CPU temps keep rising or if you hear the tubes on it chugging air, like a gulping sound. We all know what hot air does... it rises so the same logic follows for a PC.

 

Any fans that the case already has in it will get replaced. I think it has 2, one in front and one in the back.

 

I don't know anything about remote software, for that I would go to a different part of the forum. My expertise is with the PC building it's self and all the parts that go into a PC.

 

Again, I'm here if you need me.

 

 

[LucR]

3 hours ago, PC HEROES said:

The reason for all the fans is because you need 7 in the case, 3 fan spots in the front, 3 on top, and one in the rear. The AIO it's self has 3 fans but don't replace those, they are just for the AIO. So the 2 extra fan packs will go as follows...

 

3 fans will go in the front of the case, 3 fans will go on top of the case, and one fan will go in the rear of the case. The 3 front fans will pull air into the case, the 3 fans on top of the case will pull air out of the case and the rear fan will also pull air out of the case, it's whats called positive airflow. The AIO cooler will go on the side of the case. Also the AIO does NOT need coolant. It just gets replaced when it needs to. A good way to tell is to see if your CPU temps keep rising or if you hear the tubes on it chugging air, like a gulping sound. We all know what hot air does... it rises so the same logic follows for a PC.

 

Any fans that the case already has in it will get replaced. I think it has 2, one in front and one in the back.

 

I don't know anything about remote software, for that I would go to a different part of the forum. My expertise is with the PC building it's self and all the parts that go into a PC.

 

Again, I'm here if you need me.

 

 

Fantastic explanation. Thank you so much.

 

I will definitely reach out in early May when I go and actually buy all this stuff.

 

Also, what are your troughs on shipping this PC around? Absolutely not, or maybe just once or twice?

[PC HEROES]

22 minutes ago, LucR said:

Fantastic explanation. Thank you so much.

 

I will definitely reach out in early May when I go and actually buy all this stuff.

 

Also, what are your troughs on shipping this PC around? Absolutely not, or maybe just once or twice?

What do you mean by "Shipping Around"?

[LucR]

5 hours ago, PC HEROES said:

What do you mean by "Shipping Around"?

I'm in college, and I have an internship for the 3.5 summer months. It's on the other side of the US and I'd like to have my tower with me. This cycle is going to happen at least one more time, so if I want to build a desktop within the next year, I'd need to ship it at least once, maybe twice.

What's the best way of doing that? 

[PC HEROES]

8 hours ago, LucR said:

I'm in college, and I have an internship for the 3.5 summer months. It's on the other side of the US and I'd like to have my tower with me. This cycle is going to happen at least one more time, so if I want to build a desktop within the next year, I'd need to ship it at least once, maybe twice.

What's the best way of doing that? 

I have made the build much smaller and it should now fit into a large luggage bag, you know the ones on wheels.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/sFRBk9

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($399.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Loop 240 Liquid CPU Cooler  ($94.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B760M-PLUS WIFI D4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($91.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($122.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card  ($1195.51 @ Amazon)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 205M MESH MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($112.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM1000x (2021) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($189.36 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 Slim PWM PST 41.1 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($12.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $2467.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[LucR]

4 hours ago, PC HEROES said:

I have made the build much smaller and it should now fit into a large luggage bag, you know the ones on wheels.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/sFRBk9

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($399.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Loop 240 Liquid CPU Cooler  ($94.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B760M-PLUS WIFI D4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($91.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($122.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card  ($1195.51 @ Amazon)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 205M MESH MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($112.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM1000x (2021) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($189.36 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 Slim PWM PST 41.1 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($12.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $2467.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Oh, size wasn't a concern. I was going to box and just pay for the shopping fee. I was mostly asking if shipping it would damage the PC, and what I could / should do to prepare it for shipping. 

[PC HEROES]

26 minutes ago, LucR said:

Oh, size wasn't a concern. I was going to box and just pay for the shopping fee. I was mostly asking if shipping it would damage the PC, and what I could / should do to prepare it for shipping. 

Well I highly recommend not shipping the PC as shipping companies have often and frequently mishandled packages and I have heard and seen way too many horror stories.

 

But if that is a must then there may be some things you can do to prevent damage.

 

1. The smaller the package the less likely it is to be kicked or dragged around even if it says fragile all over it.

 

2. Open up the PC and take a screwdriver and remove the Graphics Card then tighten all the screws down in the rest of the PC to reduce things coming loose and then damaged.

 

3. The GPU will have to be shipped outside the case of the PC. It is by far the most important and expensive part. I would put it back inside the box it came in to maximize the protection and safety of the card, then follow step 5 for what to do next with the GPU.

 

4. Before you close the PC back up there is a shipping material that expands with hot air and forms to whatever you put it into kind of like a hardening foam but not. Activate the bag and place it inside the PC case then immediately put the side panel back on the case and tighten that down too and watch as the bag expands and forms to the parts in the PC, it really is quite cool to watch.

 

5. I would buy the best shipping boxes they have for protection as well as plenty of Bubble Wrap, place the bubble wrap inside the box then the PC and then more and more bubble wrap until there are no spaces left in the box that is not covered, there should be no movement of the PC if you try to wiggle it inside the box, when it stops moving then you probably have enough bubble wrap.

 

6. When it is time to take it to whatever shipping service you choose then pick the fastest speed you can afford and the most insurance on as possible, kike if the PC costs $5,000 then get that much in shipping insurance.

 

7. Now it's in the hands of the shipping service.... PRAY, PRAY, PRAY that it arrives safely.'

 

8. When you and the package arrives then open the box and take out the PC, take off the side panel and pop the air bag and it will deflate and you can remove it. Put the GPU back in and try to boot up the PC. If it all works then great.

 

9. When planning the return trip repeat all the steps.

 

Air Bubble Cushioning Roll Wrap

 

Packaging Foam, 18x18x1/2, 36/CT, Light Blue

 

These are the shipping items I am talking about.

[LucR]

28 minutes ago, PC HEROES said:

Well I highly recommend not shipping the PC as shipping companies have often and frequently mishandled packages and I have heard and seen way too many horror stories.

 

But if that is a must then there may be some things you can do to prevent damage.

 

1. The smaller the package the less likely it is to be kicked or dragged around even if it says fragile all over it.

 

2. Open up the PC and take a screwdriver and remove the Graphics Card then tighten all the screws down in the rest of the PC to reduce things coming loose and then damaged.

 

3. The GPU will have to be shipped outside the case of the PC. It is by far the most important and expensive part. I would put it back inside the box it came in to maximize the protection and safety of the card, then follow step 5 for what to do next with the GPU.

 

4. Before you close the PC back up there is a shipping material that expands with hot air and forms to whatever you put it into kind of like a hardening foam but not. Activate the bag and place it inside the PC case then immediately put the side panel back on the case and tighten that down too and watch as the bag expands and forms to the parts in the PC, it really is quite cool to watch.

 

5. I would buy the best shipping boxes they have for protection as well as plenty of Bubble Wrap, place the bubble wrap inside the box then the PC and then more and more bubble wrap until there are no spaces left in the box that is not covered, there should be no movement of the PC if you try to wiggle it inside the box, when it stops moving then you probably have enough bubble wrap.

 

6. When it is time to take it to whatever shipping service you choose then pick the fastest speed you can afford and the most insurance on as possible, kike if the PC costs $5,000 then get that much in shipping insurance.

 

7. Now it's in the hands of the shipping service.... PRAY, PRAY, PRAY that it arrives safely.'

 

8. When you and the package arrives then open the box and take out the PC, take off the side panel and pop the air bag and it will deflate and you can remove it. Put the GPU back in and try to boot up the PC. If it all works then great.

 

9. When planning the return trip repeat all the steps.

 

Air Bubble Cushioning Roll Wrap

 

Packaging Foam, 18x18x1/2, 36/CT, Light Blue

 

These are the shipping items I am talking about.

Oh I see. Yeah, I figured it wouldn't be easy. In that case, I may go with the smaller pc and upgrade to the full size down the line once I'm not moving around a ton. Do you think the case you linked would fit in a carryon suitcase? I'd rather avoid the checked suitcase if possible given the mistreating of "fragile" boxes like you said. 

 

Further, do you think it would be smart to buy all the components here in uni given the taxes here are 5% less than at my internship and risk an extra shipping one way? 

[PC HEROES]

27 minutes ago, LucR said:

Oh I see. Yeah, I figured it wouldn't be easy. In that case, I may go with the smaller pc and upgrade to the full size down the line once I'm not moving around a ton. Do you think the case you linked would fit in a carryon suitcase? I'd rather avoid the checked suitcase if possible given the mistreating of "fragile" boxes like you said. 

 

Further, do you think it would be smart to buy all the components here in uni given the taxes here are 5% less than at my internship and risk an extra shipping one way? 

The reason why I suggested that you take it with you in your travels in a luggage bag is because I have done the very same thing with my PC. I will not trust the shipping companies to transport it, I want to keep it in eye sight where ever I go. DO keep in mind that the GPU will still have to be removed before hand because it's the least secured part in the PC.

 

If you currently live in a country where parts are easy to get then I would buy them now if you can save some money.

[LucR]

4 hours ago, PC HEROES said:

The reason why I suggested that you take it with you in your travels in a luggage bag is because I have done the very same thing with my PC. I will not trust the shipping companies to transport it, I want to keep it in eye sight where ever I go. DO keep in mind that the GPU will still have to be removed before hand because it's the least secured part in the PC.

 

If you currently live in a country where parts are easy to get then I would buy them now if you can save some money.

I'm in the US. Uni in east coast, internship in west coast.

 

Do you recommend assembling it here too, or buying all the crap, putting it in my suitcase, then assembling it when I get off the plane?

[PC HEROES]

1 minute ago, LucR said:

I'm in the US. Uni in east coast, internship in west coast.

 

Do you recommend assembling it here too, or buying all the crap, putting it in my suitcase, then assembling it when I get off the plane?

Well that depends. You can do either one. If you choose to build it before then you just need the PC and GPU. If you want to build it later then you have to travel with all the different boxes of the PC parts. Not a bad idea if you are traveling but not too compact either.

 

I recommend building it before you go and to keep the box that the GPU comes in to use that as protection for the GPU when traveling. If you residence stays the same after you get back then I would also keep the boxes from the other parts as well just in case you have to RMA or return anything. It might also be a good idea to send all the empty boxes in the nail to your new place just in case.