New computer Questions

[stormy00]

Hello i am new to this Forum so i don't know if this is the right place to post this but here i go. So i am looking to get a new computer. i have never built one before so i dont know what im doing. I am wanting a computer that is fast enough to run most games. but i need it to be semi portable because i am also going to use it in college next year, on that note i need it to either come with a battery or buy a portable ups or something to use with it for around 5 hours or more. i am willing to spend up to 800 USD on such a system. Any Help Would Be appreciated. Non important info, but i am wanting to go into the field of computer administration and i don't know what to call it but i am wanting to be a school district it/admin/computer teacher and any advice for that would also be appreciated

[TrigrH]

Smaller than an matx system?

[stormy00]

size doesn't really matter to me.i just need it to be portable enough to fit in a backpack or a carrying case. it can take up the whole pack if need be. i just want something that i can carry around in a backpack so its portable but you do not lose the functionality of a desktop.

[SecGuy]

Hi, my suggestion for a build would be to go small, microATX if possible, definitely an SSD if possible, and I'm not listing any specific specs because someone in here is probably better than me at finding the latest specs and I'm not up for a flame war. 

 

About your second question though, I've been a Senior System Administrator at an organisation for 3 years and am currently persuing further education, hoping to eventually get a Masters Degree.  My suggestion to you is not to really worry about it, but if you want to become a system administrator it's a very user support role.  A systems engineer is more of a hardware/software technician role.  

A lot of server infrastructure is now hosted in the cloud, even firewall systems can be cloud based.  My personal advice is to use Windows because that's standard, defenitely invest in the pro version for Hyper-V, if you don't know what it is, that's fine, you'll learn what it is and the importance of it for Windows + Linux labs.  

Try to invest less in GPU and more in RAM and CPU because virtualisation is a fantastic learning tool nowadays. 

 

3 minutes ago, stormy00 said:

size doesn't really matter to me.i just need it to be portable enough to fit in a backpack or a carrying case. it can take up the whole pack if need be. i just want something that i can carry around in a backpack so its portable but you do not lose the functionality of a desktop.

I don't think you are going to be able to build a powerful computer you can carry in your bag.  Even if you can, what about monitor etc etc.  I personally believe you should go for a high-spec laptop.  Try to get one with an Ethernet port because no doubt sysadmins learn about Cisco routing & switching, which most often requires a serial to ethernet adapter.  

 

Good luck. 

[stormy00]

thank you for the info secguy. Also just know thought about it but what about an all in one ut if i did that i would have to get a ups right unless there was an outlet nearby

[PorkishPig]

16 minutes ago, stormy00 said:

size doesn't really matter to me.i just need it to be portable enough to fit in a backpack or a carrying case. it can take up the whole pack if need be. i just want something that i can carry around in a backpack so its portable but you do not lose the functionality of a desktop.

Here is a Mini ITX Ryzen build. Because you wish to go small, it's going to cost you a bit more for a motherboard than you would with Micro ATX. By no means will you even be able to fit this system in a backpack, but it's pretty portable at 12.4 x 10.2 x 10.9 inches and 14-16 pounds.

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ntmXwV
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ntmXwV/by_merchant/

 

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($197.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350N-Gaming WIFI (rev. 1.0) Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard  ($114.89 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($82.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: PNY - CS1311 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($52.99 @ Best Buy) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.88 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB SC GAMING Video Card  ($219.89 @ OutletPC) 
Case: Thermaltake - Core V1 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($45.88 @ OutletPC) 
Power Supply: EVGA - BQ 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($55.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $817.18

 

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-09 02:25 EDT-0400

 

6 minutes ago, stormy00 said:

thank you for the info secguy. Also just know thought about it but what about an all in one ut if i did that i would have to get a ups right unless there was an outlet nearby

Please don't get an all-in-one. I've had absolute nightmares dealing with them based on how they are configured. They are usually overpriced and are configured very poorly. For example, I helped a friend configure an all-in-one that had a 32gb M.2 SSD available but was not configured for use by the manufacturer.