[SOLVED] Questions about computer for college

[Roy C.]

Hi yall, this is my first time posting so please bear with me if I did anything wrong lol

I currently have a pretty crap desktop and plan to get a new desktop/ laptop for when I go to college next school year...

I have a budget of 1000 - 2000 and hope to get a system (good desktop + laptop/ good laptop) that is pretty future-proof and do 1080p gaming at decently high fps.

Build:

System Builder - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core, Carbide SPEC-06 RGB ATX Mid Tower - PCPartPicker

pcpartpicker.com

Example laptop: https://www.amazon.com/VivoBook-Tou...ndows+10&qid=1552792205&s=electronics&sr=1-10

Should I build a pc and buy a cheap laptop or buy a gaming laptop? Is this build good? How good of a laptop will I need for computer science major? Any suggestions will be appreciated!

 

[MacTacz]

If you can, I highly recommend getting a cheap laptop for simply taking notes, browsing the internet, etc. and then get a gaming PC. Gaming laptops are never even close to as good as the PC counterpart for the same amount of money. Even an $1,800 gaming laptop will typically skimp in one area. First of all for that money you'll get a 2070 GPU at best, possibly too little RAM, a small monitor, a low refresh rate, or a slow or outdated processor. Definitely best to separate the two in my opinion.

 

[Roy C.]

If you can, I highly recommend getting a cheap laptop for simply taking notes, browsing the internet, etc. and then get a gaming PC. Gaming laptops are never even close to as good as the PC counterpart for the same amount of money. Even an $1,800 gaming laptop will typically skimp in one area. First of all for that money you'll get a 2070 GPU at best, possibly too little RAM, a small monitor, a low refresh rate, or a slow or outdated processor. Definitely best to separate the two in my opinion.

gotcha, thx for replying

 

[LegendLantern]

Hi, if you wanna save more money, then i found a really very good pc to save your money too for any other things, HP OMAN it'll make it better with a real high speed of also browsing the internet as MacTacz mentioned, and really good gaming, here's a look of it's very great looking of it's own interview and shape,

https://www.amazon.com/HP-15-dc0000-15-dc0020nr-3WL02UA-ABA/dp/B07CZCFHC6

,very very good look and safe with a very high speed and good fans.

 

[Roy C.]

Hi, if you wanna save more money, then i found a really very good pc to save your money too for any other things, HP OMAN it'll make it better with a real high speed of also browsing the internet as MacTacz mentioned, and really good gaming, here's a look of it's very great looking of it's own interview and shape,

https://www.amazon.com/HP-15-dc0000-15-dc0020nr-3WL02UA-ABA/dp/B07CZCFHC6

,very very good look and safe with a very high speed and good fans.

hmm ok, thx for replying!

 

[Solandri]

Build a PC and buy a cheap laptop.

1. You really should be studying at college, not gaming. While some people can control their desire to play games, others cannot. I had two friends drop out of college - they gamed so much they failed enough classes making they were kicked out of school. And my undergrad school was no slouch (a quarter of the class were high school valedictorians). So they were more than capable of passing the classes, they just couldn't stop gaming. By getting a cheap non-gaming laptop, if you find you have problems limiting your gaming, you can take the laptop and go to the library or lounge to force yourself to get schoolwork done on a computer without the temptation of firing up a game.
2. As mentioned, gaming laptops are a poor compromise. I see them as more for traveling, where you want to limit the amount of weight you're carrying around. That's not an issue in college since you can leave a beefy desktop in your dorm room. You will want a laptop with at least 6+ hours battery life to get you through a day of classes, and that pretty much excludes every gaming laptop.
3. If you do want to game on the laptop from your bed or the sofa, you can always use something like Steam In Home Streaming to play the game on the desktop, but stream it to the laptop. To the laptop, this is no different than streaming a movie, so battery life is minimally impacted.

That said, you do need a way to relax and unwind from the stress and pressure of your classes. If you like gaming, then that's an excellent way to do it. Just be careful to make sure you're in control of it, rather than letting it control you.

CS is really more about algorithms and theory than it is programming. If you're taking a programming course, you'll need a computer. But most CS courses could actually be done without a computer. I would look at the syllabus for required classes for your major, and see how important the computer will be. Personally, I find a second monitor to be the most important thing for programming. There is no way i'd want to do it on just a laptop screen.

Also, do not get the WD Blue HDD, at least not unless you're also going to have a SSD. The WD Green and Blue drives have a head parking issue which can cause stuttering in games. I had assumed only the 5400 RPM drives were affected, but someone with a 7200 RPM WD Blue drive reported a similar problem earlier this year. Unfortunately he didn't report back if the fix I sent him worked, so I still have no confirmation if the 7200 RPM WD Blue drives are also affected. But better safe than sorry. The Seagate, Toshiba, and WD Black HDDs are fine (in as much as HDDs are fine as system drives).