Gaming Laptop vs PC

[TAEHSAEN]

Hey all, I was looking to buy a gaming laptop soon (I know PC is better but I'm really attracted to the laptops portability). So far from all my research it seems like ASUS makes the best quality laptops in terms of durability so I'm very much leaning towards an ASUS.

 

I have a little OCD when it comes to specs so I was also hoping to upgrade it with SSD, Core i7, 8GB RAM and internal cooling options. (http://www.xoticpc.com/ seems like the best place to do this from but please do give me more recommendations! ).

 

 

So my question here is that if I do buy a good ASUS gaming laptop (say $1200 budget max), how long do you guys suppose it will last?

 

I don't earn a lot of money so I was hoping for something that would last me 5 years at least. So am I screwed in this regard? Should I just tough it out and get a PC instead? If a PC is a better investment, any website recommendations (as good as xoticpc)? 

 

Thank you all so much in advance and please be patient with me I'm a noob

[ForsakenLive]

Unless you are sure you are going to be moving a lot with the system, ditch the idea.

Building your own PC is going to achieve far better performance and will allow you to change and upgrade over time.

[Fulgrim]

A desktop pc will be better in regards to how much performance you can get for the price. Bang for your buck as they say.

 

And the idea of a laptop's portability is nice, but is outweighed by the gains of using a desktop instead tbh.

 

Scrap the idea of getting a laptop, and just build a desktop rig. 

[Archangel1994]

You can have PC goodness and still have it be relatively portable by making a mini ITX system. Unless the amount you lug it around is really abnormal I will just suggest a PC anyway. It will get you tons more performance for your money.

[Victorious Secret]

Gaming laptops aren't bad, ignore what this forum says. 

 

If you need portability, you have no real choice. Gaming laptops tend to be better built anyways. 

 

Don't know why someone said you should make an ITX system. Unless you are carrying around a monitor, keyboard and mouse as well...

Get a ASUS laptop and be happy. You'll still be able to game well. Don't need BLAZING FAST GRAPHIX and since you like having portability, you're probably okay with not having eye melting graphics in the first place. 

[givingtnt]

Hey all, I was looking to buy a gaming laptop soon (I know PC is better but I'm really attracted to the laptops portability). So far from all my research it seems like ASUS makes the best quality laptops in terms of durability so I'm very much leaning towards an ASUS.

 

I have a little OCD when it comes to specs so I was also hoping to upgrade it with SSD, Core i7, 8GB RAM and internal cooling options. (http://www.xoticpc.com/ seems like the best place to do this from but please do give me more recommendations! ).

 

 

So my question here is that if I do buy a good ASUS gaming laptop (say $1200 budget max), how long do you guys suppose it will last?

 

I don't earn a lot of money so I was hoping for something that would last me 5 years at least. So am I screwed in this regard? Should I just tough it out and get a PC instead? If a PC is a better investment, any website recommendations (as good as xoticpc)? 

 

Thank you all so much in advance and please be patient with me I'm a noob

what games do you plan to play ?

[ShadowCaptain]

If you want something to last that is entirely upgradable then build your own desktop

 

BUT if you need portability, gaming laptops are a great buy!, but you do need to spend more for equivalent performance so bear that in mind

 

I use gaming laptops personally and I reckon 2/3 years max is what I generally get, my Alienware laptop was about $3000, and after 2 years its still doing a good job, but it came at a premium cost

[nokturrduk84]

Bear in mind, Laptops ain't upgradable as much as PC. So probably after a few years it will be bottleneck & you can't do anything with it. So, if you want something that will last for a long period & you don't have big income, I totally suggest you building desktop PC.

P.S. Plus Gaming laptops have ridiculously high prices.

[KomradeKarebear]

While I might agree that it's financially more wise to just build a desktop, for someone like myself where I bounce around from city to city throughout the year moving not only my PC but my guitar, amp, and pedalboard... I much prefer having a laptop. Though I will start a desktop build VERY soon. 

I recently got an MSi GT70 2PC. 8GB of Ram, Nvidia GTX 870M, intel core i7-4810MQ, and plenty of room for ram upgrades and SSDs (mine just has a 1TB HDD at the moment.)

 

I originally wanted to go with something really light and portable so I was first looking at the MSI GE60, Lenovo Y50, and the Asus G550JK. Then I was having issues feeling 100% about the G550JK so I went and looked at an Asus G750. I didn't care for the keyboard, though it wasn't really bad, just wasn't my favorite. I also didn't like how the back protruded so much. So after playing around with a G750 for about 30 minutes I decided against it.

 

The Lenovo was damn near perfect for what I wanted but the monitor took more of a hit than I would have liked. Not that color accuracy is a huge concern of mine at all, but the display was truly washed out and dimmer than I'm comfortable with. 

 

Then I was looking around. I stopped into a Best Buy just to play with some things hands on and found out an old friend worked there. He had told me they got an MSi machine in and it was pretty rad sounding and because I had been looking at the GE60 I was intrigued because I hadn't seen one in person yet and was stoked to be able to check it out. 

So he brings it over and I instantly got sad because I saw the model number on the box as he carried it over and saw that it was a GT70 and I knew that was more than I wanted to spend. 

He just wanted to make a sale so he asked how much I'd need to spend to walk out with it and I said I'll look at the specs, weigh the options and let him know. 

About 20 minutes later after talking to a friend on the phone and deciding that it was a great computer but I really didn't want to spend over $1300USD, I told him I probably wouldn't pick it up. Told him I was looking to spend around $1150 and certainly didn't want to break $1300. So he tells me to hang tight and he goes away for about 10 minutes. 

 

When he returns he says he can let me walk out with it for $1222 which ended up coming to about $1295 and some change. I talked to my buddy again and while I didn't want a computer that was >2" thick and I really prefer a 15.6" display, we came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to find a better machine when it comes to price/performance. 

 

This was long winded but after having this computer for a while now, I regret absolutely nothing. 

 

 

So in short, I recommend you check out a few of the MSi products because they are great value and the steelseries keyboards rule. I love Asus, but in your price range, being similar to mine, I think MSi takes the cake here. But definitely make sure you're getting hardware that works for you. 

[Scionyde]

I agree with what Victorious Secret and ShadowCaptain have said.

 

If you're absolutely sure you want a gaming laptop, Xotic PC is a good place to buy, at least from my own personal experience from when I bought the laptop in my signature. I'm assuming if you're looking at Asus, you're interested in the G750 series? Whether or not you buy from Xotic PC should probably depend on what upgrades you really want, since their G750 laptops seem to be around $50 more expensive than places like Amazon. If you want to upgrade RAM and a HDD/SSD, then you can easily do that yourself because the G750 laptops are very good about that. If you want to repaste the CPU/GPU....the laptop is pretty unfriendly and it will require significant teardown; you might prefer having professionals do it.

[Victorious Secret]

If you want something to last that is entirely upgradable then build your own desktop

 

BUT if you need portability, gaming laptops are a great buy!, but you do need to spend more for equivalent performance so bear that in mind

 

I use gaming laptops personally and I reckon 2/3 years max is what I generally get, my Alienware laptop was about $3000, and after 2 years its still doing a good job, but it came at a premium cost

 

This. 

 

My MBP 17" certainly wasn't bought with gaming in mind (more like, fuck you photoshop and Final Cut) but it turned out to be pretty competent in the gaming department for almost 4 years. 

 

It was easier for me to gimp quality because I already had a PC at home, so not having all the best graphics didn't matter to me. 

Sometimes portability wins out, and even now I still prefer a laptop since I'm more comfortable with that and on the go most of my day. 

[ConfusedTapeworm]

I bought my current "gaming" laptop 2 years ago and my honest advice would be as follows:

 

Forget it and build a PC if you

 

1) aren't going to have to move the laptop around too much. A decent tower and a cheap laptop/tablet would be much better.

 

2) aren't living in a very cold place. Thermal throttling is a thing, you know. My laptop has 1 monstrous cooling pad under it and 1 USB fan right next to it for cooling. It still overheats and underclocks itself after some time. No matter how impressive the specs look while buying the laptop, you probably won't achieve those unless you have EXCELLENT cooling.

[TAEHSAEN]

Thank you all so much! The issue of portability for me is that I'm graduating in about an years time and I don't know where I'm going to go to get a proper job (which is why I'm a little scared about buying the CPU).

 

But after reading through all your advice, I am slightly leaning towards getting a PC, but then my question is, suppose I had to move halfway across the states to find a job, what would be the best way to lug my PC around? Mail it / ship it?

[JuTheBarbarian]

I'd say the best gaming laptops are probably from razer, however you would have to pay a premium for them. They are luxury items, but they are great at what they do. Other than that I hear MSI's laptops are pretty nice.

[Aristocrates]

A future-proof Asus gaming laptop would cost about twice your budget

For that price, you can either get a gaming laptop that won't last as long, or a desktop that will...