Should I Build a mid range desktop or trade in and upgrade my laptop?

[Lorcank95]

Hi all.


I recently moved to the Netherlands from Ireland on very short notice for college. I had to leave a decent desktop build behind. All I could take with me was my Dell Inspiron 15R SE. I need some advice. Computer parts appear a bit cheaper here than at home. My laptop can run certain AAA titles at medium settings But I'd like something that can run things a bit hire. With a bit more oomph.

So I have three options:

1. Suck it up and stick with this laptop which has the following specs
- i7 3632QM processor @ 2.20 ghz
- 8gb ddr3 RAM
- 1tb 5400 rpm hdd
- Radeon hd 7730m gpu 2gb

2. Trade this thing in for something a step up, e.g:
- Lenovo y50 (1080p model, not the 4k one)
- Custom laptop from pc specialist with a gtx 860m and a quad core processor in it,

3. Build a mid range desktop for 400-500 euro over here to stick in my apartment for the college term (my lease ends July next year)

So what do you think? What should I do? If you think I should go with 3, could you point me in the direction of some budget builds?

Thanks in advance for your opinions/comments/advice.

Lorcan.

 

[zeyuanfu]

If you are looking for:
Short-term performance: The 860M is the way to go, especially if you can't or don't want to spend extra money to upgrade
Long-term performance: The desktop would be the way to go, especially if you're willing to upgrade several parts after a year or two
Save money: Keep the current laptop, it's already very good.

 

[TITAN-STORM]

I would try selling both the laptop and the PC back home with the exception of the HDD. Then build a mid range PC which you can take home with you when college is over. Get a smaller case like the recent Corsair 380t mini ITX Gaming case (it has a handle and is very small which will make transport easier). Don't buy Intel or Nvidia, as you can get just as good with amd and radeon but at a fraction of the cost. Don't get any more than 8 GB ram as this is all you will need for gaming. I cannot really give you prices as I'm in Australia but it shouldn't be too much. Hope this helps.

 

[Akhil Potukuchi]

Hi all.


I recently moved to the Netherlands from Ireland on very short notice for college. I had to leave a decent desktop build behind. All I could take with me was my Dell Inspiron 15R SE. I need some advice. Computer parts appear a bit cheaper here than at home. My laptop can run certain AAA titles at medium settings But I'd like something that can run things a bit hire. With a bit more oomph.

So I have three options:

1. Suck it up and stick with this laptop which has the following specs
- i7 3632QM processor @ 2.20 ghz
- 8gb ddr3 RAM
- 1tb 5400 rpm hdd
- Radeon hd 7730m gpu 2gb

2. Trade this thing in for something a step up, e.g:
- Lenovo y50 (1080p model, not the 4k one)
- Custom laptop from pc specialist with a gtx 860m and a quad core processor in it,

3. Build a mid range desktop for 400-500 euro over here to stick in my apartment for the college term (my lease ends July next year)

So what do you think? What should I do? If you think I should go with 3, could you point me in the direction of some budget builds?

Thanks in advance for your opinions/comments/advice.

Lorcan.

Keep in mind that a laptop isn't made for long term usage and upgradibility and gaming. Though you have an i7 there and a good gpu (860m), it will always struggle against even mid end pc's while gaming. And I find gaming on a 15.6 inch screen with a small screen irritating. The pc however has a larger screen to game on and much better upgradibility. Here's one good pc I built for you: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XsC4P6 Just crossed your budget by one dollar. Sorry I had to build it for you in dollars and not in euros, because I just do not understand european languages. So 500 euros translated to roughly 647 dollars. You can adjust the build according to parts availability. Also one more thing I would really suggest is to just wait for 2-3 more weeks until Amd's athlon 860k is released and go for it instead of the 760k simply because it has better architecture and better performance. This build will fetch you 50 fps on 1080p on med-high settings. Also when you have the money add an ssd to your build and it will be perfect. Also if you already have a copy of an operating system you can skip it and I will put up a much better build for you with the extra 100 bucks.

 

[Maksis]

Get the Lenovo y50, it's a beast.

 

[Lorcank95]

Thanks for your replies. You've all raised some very valid points. Akhil I like the sound of your build and no I don't need an OS. But I was thinking of something a little more portable? Like this for example: http://austinnotduncan.com/builds/meson/

My only concern is although the amd is cheaper in your build it consumes more power, even though it has 4 true cores, unlike the intel in the build. Based on that, if you were to build a portable desktop, what would you put into it?

 

[Akhil Potukuchi]

Thanks for your replies. You've all raised some very valid points. Akhil I like the sound of your build and no I don't need an OS. But I was thinking of something a little more portable? Like this for example: http://austinnotduncan.com/builds/meson/

My only concern is although the amd is cheaper in your build it consumes more power, even though it has 4 true cores, unlike the intel in the build. Based on that, if you were to build a portable desktop, what would you put into it?

Well look at this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9NgZWZ It has an i5 4460 and a 128 gb ssd and an r9 270 and it fits your budget. I'd recommend atleast an i5 for gaming if you do not like AMD.

 

[Lorcank95]

That is awesome. Thanks for your help!

 

[Akhil Potukuchi]

That is awesome. Thanks for your help!

Always ready to help. Enjoy gaming.