Is building a PC still cost-effective vs buying a laptop?

[RighteousMan]

BUDGET-$900

I was looking at this laptop which costs about $800 and is powerful enough for gaming I then compared it to the cost of building a PC (with monitor) and found it to be about the same cost. But since I'm just now dipping my toes into the world of PC gaming I tend to find myself confused and lost on what would be a better purchase.

I need guidance and pointers on whether I should lay my money down for a laptop or a PC.

 

[Wayfall]

Yes.

laptops are way overpriced. They cost so much due to there size, if you want compact and power your going to be paying a pretty penny.

Also together my full tower desktop computer costs around £1000 (this is with an i7, an aftermarket cooler, asrock MOBO, GTX 970, SSD, HDD and 16GB RAM then a tier 1 PSU) and all of my parts were slowly added over time. You can see my parts by hovering your mouse over my picture.

A laptop is awesome to have on hand but so expensive.

If I wanted a laptop with similar parts it would be an easy £1500-2000.

 

[mike789]

If having a mobile PC is not necessary for you then you should build a desktop for numerous reasons. Performance, upgrade ability, better gaming and more.
For someone who likes to enjoy modern games with decent performance on a laptop 800usd dont really cut it me thinks.

 

[rhysiam]

If your goal is raw performance you can always do far better for your dollars with a desktop.

I threw this together for you, could probably do better with more time, but it's an example:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($33.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($56.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card ($287.50 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($65.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Acer G236HLBbd 23.0" 60Hz Monitor ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $886.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-06 06:53 EDT-0400

So that's a 3.7Ghz dual core with HT, a 23" screen, 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD, and a graphics card that would equal any but a top end mobile GPU. There would be gaming laptops out there that could match that desktop, but you'd have to spend way, way more than $900.

 

[RighteousMan]

Yes, my goal is preformance. The main reason I want a new PC/Laptop is to play Fallout 4.

Rhysiam-I will see what I can add and upgrade to that list, it looks great as it is. I am also thinking of buying used parts that way I get something more powerful and at the same time cheaper and within my budget of 900.

Thank you guys, you guys are an immense help.

 

[mike789]

Here you go buddy

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI B150M BAZOOKA Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill Galaxy-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VX238H 23.0" Monitor ($109.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $891.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-06 07:46 EDT-0400