Gaming Laptop or Ipad+Gaming Desktop

[Grimmninja]

Hi guys,

I am currently in the process of deciding what i should choose, I am going to university next year and I need something for work and play. I currently have a desktop only. What i want to ask is should i invest in a gaming laptop or an Ipad+gaming desktop, my thought process with this was as follows:

I wanted a laptop to play games
I researched and found overheating and upgrading was a problem with this
I was advised maybe to get a gaming laptop and get an SSD instead to reduce heat and increase speed at the cost of space.
I then thought why not just get a desktop. I currently have a 42 inch sony tv at home and I would like it if i could hook a tower up to that and go. With wireless keyboards mice etc.
Then I thought but i will still need something to use on the go, ergo i thought ipad.
So what i wanted to ask, is the graphics card responsible for up-scaling the picture from a normal monitor to a 42 inch tv? so does it increase its workload/heat and so in the end will burn it out a lot earlier?
Also what do you guys suggest about my predicament. I live in the uk so prices for gaming laptops and desktops would be about the same.
Also what is the current series both by nvidia and amd that is the newest gen? just a model number would do thanks.
Atm i have games like BF3 and so would love to play them smoothly on a 42inch tv.
Also is it better to buy a prebuilt pc from a store for example this (http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/alienware-swift-875-desktop-pc-10452221-pdt.html)
or just buy a custom pc? Any links to guides would be helpful because (or if they are in a sticky somewhere please just say) because atm i have no idea about what to do/put together when making a custom pc. This is my first build so atm have this as a hypothetical pc.
from pc specialist.co.uk
Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2400 Quad Core (3.10GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V/GEN3: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

2nd Hard Disk
500GB SATA-II 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£72)

Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)

Sound Card
Sound Blaster® Audigy™ SE (£19)

Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

this is for £1,076.00 (1 659.73 U.S. dollars)

or is it better to me to buy the parts individually?

any advice would be great.
thanks,
Grimm

 

[tlmck]

That seems awfully expensive for that list of components. I also do not understand the 2 hard drives, sound card(not needed), or the Lan Facilty(if this is an extra card it is also not needed). Since the 2400 is not overclockable, the extra CPU cooler is not needed either. The 2400 CPU is plenty fast as is.

For comparison's sake, Tom's did this recent build that would do quite well against that one. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-overclock-performance-gaming,3097.html

On the Tom's rig, you could up the motherboard to a z68 model, the ram to 8gb, and have about the same rig as yours. You could opt for the 560 Ti card, but I would get the 1gb version.

Everything else looks fine.

 

[Grimmninja]

how would it compare to this?
Included in your system:
English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
Alienware M17x Stealth Black
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 2760QM (2.40Ghz, 6MB, 4C)
2GB GDDR5 AMD® Radeon™ HD 6990M
6144MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [1x2048 + 1x4096]
750GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
44cm (17.3") WideHD+ (1600 x 900) WLED LCD
DVD+/-RW (DVD, CD read and write)
Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 - EUR
Primary 9 cell Li-Ion Default Base Battery

for £1 396.08 = $2 153.4534

 

[tlmck]

The desktop would still beat it handily for a lot less money.

On option other than an iPad would be an inexpensive, but quality laptop from say Lenovo. It would not play many games, but it would handle most other things. You could still get the desktop for gaming. iPads are cool, but are somewhat limited for schoolwork.