Buy a laptop or a PC with spec's better than the laptop's?

[m-mag]

Hello,

I got some money from a relative as a present, $350, and opened a thread here for people to tell me what spec's I should be getting. But I have been saving for a while... I should be having around $635 in a while.

I do not own a lap top, only this PC. But I did some research on best spec's that could fit this budget (note that I'm not in the US, so you may find the spec's prices below the budget or something).

Because I want a gaming-oriented PC, I thought of:

- Intel Core i3 2100 3.1 GHz
- HD 6770
- Gigabyte GA-PH67-D3-B3? don't know yet, need to know more about best chipsets, motherboard brands.
- 4 GB RAM DDR3 G Skill
- Case/PSU - not sure yet.
- LCD 19"
- WD Black/Seagate HDD 500GB/1TB don't know yet

either that, or this laptop: ASUS K42JZ... I didn't see much review for it tho.

I know there's a gap between them in performance, but I do not own a laptop... Don't know to buy those spec's for the PC or to sacrifice that for a not-bad laptop (portability).

Also I think the GPU, CPU and RAM are good. Not sure about the rest... Not even the motherboard/chipset.

So, in short, should I go with the PC or the laptop? And, what chipset/motherboard do you suggest?

And please, if you have any suggestions on/notes about my spec's or laptop (for instance, if you know a better laptop for same budget) would be much appreciated.

Hope to get help from you, experts.

Thanks in advance and sorry if this was long.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Desktop PC will always get you more performance than a laptop in terms of price vs performance.

If your looking into a "gaming build", almost certainly go with a desktop set up. Laptops just simply don't have the GPU power without spending large amounts of money.

$600 should get you a nice AMD Phenom x4 955 (or better) build with something like a 6850 or 6870 GPU.

 

[m-mag]

Desktop PC will always get you more performance than a laptop in terms of price vs performance.

If your looking into a "gaming build", almost certainly go with a desktop set up. Laptops just simply don't have the GPU power without spending large amounts of money.

$600 should get you a nice AMD Phenom x4 955 (or better) build with something like a 6850 or 6870 GPU.

Thought of Phenom II x4 955 BE, but after reading this (maybe this too) and other benchmarks, etc. on Toms Hardware and some other places, I thought i3 2100 would be better in gaming.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Thanks for the links, that made for a fairly interesting read. I'm surprised the i3-2120 out performed the x4 955. I presume in games more adapt for utilizing 4 cores, the x4 955 would come out on top which is the reason id go for it over the i3. Leave this thread up though, or create another asking for some more feedback on which is a better purchase

My recommendation would still be the x4 955 due to the extra cores.

 

[genghiskron]

this is a highly debated issue. in lab benchmarks, the i3 easily trounces ANY current amd processor in games. Many have argued, however, that this would not hold true for a real user who has background tasks etc, that can consume threads/cores. The editors are split on this issue (read the comments of the most recent $500 system builder marathon)

Only you can determine the benefit a laptop will have for you. I used to LOVE having a laptop that could play bf2 because i could bring it over to my friends house after work. It was definitely worth having to play at low settings.
And, since you dont seem to have a monitor or OS, the value of a laptop is greater than it would be otherwise.

That being said, i would definitely wait for bulldozer if i had your budget. while i doubt it will affect the high end market, it will definitely shift pricing in the low end segment. As for laptops, these should always be purchased on sale, especially with your budget.

Are you in college? -> cheap OS
Do you live near a microcenter? (microcenter.com) cheap ass processors and mobos

 

[genghiskron]

this is a highly debated issue. in lab benchmarks, the i3 easily trounces ANY current amd processor in games. Many have argued, however, that this would not hold true for a real user who has background tasks etc, that can consume threads/cores. The editors are split on this issue (read the comments of the most recent $500 system builder marathon)

Only you can determine the benefit a laptop will have for you. I used to LOVE having a laptop that could play bf2 because i could bring it over to my friends house after work. It was definitely worth having to play at low settings.
And, since you dont seem to have a monitor or OS, the value of a laptop is greater than it would be otherwise.

That being said, i would definitely wait for bulldozer if i had your budget. while i doubt it will affect the high end market, it will definitely shift pricing in the low end segment. As for laptops, these should always be purchased on sale, especially with your budget.

Are you in college? -> cheap OS
Do you live near a microcenter? (microcenter.com) cheap ass processors and mobos

 

[m-mag]

All right... Do I have to worry about chipset 67 or 61 won't support Ivy Bridge or something? Heard that what supports Sandy Bridge will support Ivy Bridge. So, if I got P67 or something do I have to worry that I might not be able to upgrade to 3rd gen. ?

 

[AdrianPerry]

ASrock Extreme3 Gen3 motherboard will set you up with PCI 3.0 support at a very reasonable price.

P67 or Z68 chipset is recommended.