DIY PC or Razer Core?

[blarferz]

I currently have a Razer Blade Stealth (2016) laptop. I would like to increase my productivity at home. My question is whether it is a better option to build a stand-alone desktop PC or the Razer Core and a graphics card. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Canada EH]

Build your own pc!

Using Ryzen 1600 cpu

 

Heres a random one I currently have on pcpartspicker

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cGc9TB

[Guest]

DIY PC is actually cheaper lol

[SupaKomputa]

The enclosure alone can get you a new GPU.

A desktop CPU is waaay faster than laptops.

[Mail me to the Moon]

3 minutes ago, Canada EH said:

Build your own pc!

Using Ryzen 1600 cpu

1

I would say his Pc is up to speed for now. I'd only build if he wants it to become more of a permanent setup.

[Energycore]

Welcome to the forums!

 

The Razer Core is $500. You can get a great PC save the GPU for that price - like so

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($188.90 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - NT Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($88.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA - SU800  128GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($46.99 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.95 @ Amazon)
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $496.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-02-18 14:29 EST-0500

 

This CPU is so much more powerful than the i7-7500U, it's not even funny. So I'd say this is your better choice. You can take away the hard drive and go for a 500GB SSD instead - https://pcpartpicker.com/product/RxYLrH/sandisk-ultra-3d-500gb-25-solid-state-drive-sdssdh3-500g-g25

[Energycore]

Just now, Mail me to the Moon said:

I would say his Pc is up to speed for now. I'd only build if he wants it to become more of a permanent setup.

On a Dual-Core Kaby? http://www.techradar.com/reviews/razer-blade-stealth-2016/2

http://support.razerzone.com/gaming-laptops/razer-blade-stealth/

[Mail me to the Moon]

1 minute ago, Energycore said:

On a Dual-Core Kaby? http://www.techradar.com/reviews/razer-blade-stealth-2016/2

http://support.razerzone.com/gaming-laptops/razer-blade-stealth/

I looked up the specs via a quick google search. I may have looked at the wrong laptop. Give me a second to look those over.

[Energycore]

Just now, Mail me to the Moon said:

I looked up the specs via a quick google search. I may have looked at the wrong laptop. Give me a second to look those over.

You may have looked at the Razer Blade (non-stealth) 2016, which has a 7700HQ

https://www.razerzone.com/gaming-laptops/razer-blade

[aezakmi]

DIY, prebuilts are expensive af

[Energycore]

Just now, aezakmi said:

DIY, prebuilts are expensive af

This is not a prebuilt that OP asks about, they ask about the external GPU enclosure from razer. It costs $500

[Mail me to the Moon]

3 minutes ago, Energycore said:

You may have looked at the Razer Blade (non-stealth) 2016, which has a 7700HQ

https://www.razerzone.com/gaming-laptops/razer-blade

Yeah, that is definitely what I saw. I don't think I can recommend the stealth. Op might want to invest in a nuc, or mitx build if he wants to game on the go.

 

4 minutes ago, aezakmi said:

DIY, prebuilts are expensive af

I've actually been seeing decent deals on prebuilts as of late. Still not as cheap as scavenging for parts but Daaaaaaymn.

[unknownmiscreant]

Build yourself a desktop. I used to run an eGPU off my laptop. I stuck it for 3months. If you do wish to use a eGPU, buy a cheaper adapter such as the GDC beast, there are others but I cannot remember the names. Razer core (or any branded egpu enclosure) is very bad value for the results obtained.

 

Also be aware that running 2 machines can be quite a nightmare in terms of maintenance and keeping data synced between them. I manage this by making sure that all the work I do on my laptop is synced to the cloud and i have remote access to my desktop.

[Mail me to the Moon]

I've been thinking about grabbing a gdc beast for my sff build. Can you recommend em?

Also for your multi-machine setup you might want to implement filesharing and mouse without borders over your network.

[blarferz]

Thanks for the feedback! Right now, the core for me is $400 because I got credit for buying the laptop through the razer store. However, I still know it's not the best value for what you get. I think I've been leaning towards a DIY pc for a while now. We'll see where it goes! 

[unknownmiscreant]

2 minutes ago, Mail me to the Moon said:

I've been thinking about grabbing a gdc beast for my sff build. Can you recommend em?

Also for your multi-machine setup you might want to implement filesharing and mouse without borders over your network.

I only use my laptop while I am out, and I do all real work such as coding via remote access to my desktop and save spreadsheets and word documents to dropbox so it auto syncs. Mouse without borders is useless for me, as once I am at home I use my desktop for everything bc it is so much faster.

 

Personally I cannot recommend any eGPU adapter due to the very limited PCIe bandwidth, this throttles the cards performance greatly. Just buy a riser. They are also cheaper.