New Gaming Laptop or Desktop?

A

AshtonY

New Member
Hey everybody I am new here on the forums and was in search of some help. Right now I am looking to get something for gaming and here is my situation:

-I have an HP m6-1035dx right now, but I want something that can handle more gaming and video editing because I was fooled by the graphics card advertising on this one (It said up to 3GB of vRAM but it only had 512mb)

-I am only 15 years old and have a part time job, but I only keep 40% of what I make for spending which comes up to $64 a month. Right now I have $250 that I can spend.

- I am also trying to save up for some other important things right now such as a car, and a new amp that is around $600.


Ok and now here are some of the things that I am considering doing:

1. Try to see if I can sell the cooling pad and laptop I have right now for $550 (Total it was $690). Then build a rig or get a much better laptop around $1000.

2. Or should I just wait about 1-2 more years when I have the money to get something a lot faster with all the new hardware and whatnot. I really don't want to wait that long though because I feel like I need a faster laptop.

Any suggestions are available! Thank you for your feedback!
 
I have narrowed it down a little bit. I will be wanting to build a desktop. The real question that I am wondering though, is should I try to sell my laptop and buy one soon, or just wait it out and buy one later?
 
If you don't need the laptop for portability reasons, sell it because it's price will only go down. You can get a gaming computer that will run pretty much anything on at least medium for about 600 bucks. If you want all highest settings and you're including peripherals and what not you're probably looking at closer to 900 or so.

What peripherals would you need? (Speakers, mouse, screen, keyboard, OS, etc?)
 
$600 is a good budget. And your lappy does most likely have 3 GB of vram but not dedicated. It means it dedicates ram from your system memory as it needs it.
 
It doesn't dedicate it. It uses half a gig that's on the card then anything else it needs after is shared with the RAM on the computer. Amount of video RAM doesn't affect performance really at all for gaming on lower end card anyway.
 
I already have a mouse, and some bose speakers, and I might be able to find a keyboard in my dad's office. I have a moniter but it's pretty old but the screen res is only 1280x1024. So really I just need an OS and possibly a keyboard. Probably Windows 7 Home premium? I don't really know what the PRO verision does for me, so it might not be worth the extra cash.

And I will be wanting the one that can run games on the higher end spectrum. Something that will last for a while. Also I heard about the new Intel processors coming out in June, and so would I want to wait for those?
 
Bose :mad:
For $600 here is what you can do:
MSI 970A-G43 AM3+
AMD FX 4300
HD 7850
NZXT Source 210
Corsair CX 500
Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 7200 RPM
2 x 4 GB 1600 MHz G Skill
Windows 8 64 Bit

Overall about $650, add monitor for $130 and get $780. If you can increase to $1000, get a 7870 and Gigabyte UD3H and i5 3570K.
 
PCunicorn said:
Bose :mad:
For $600 here is what you can do:
MSI 970A-G43 AM3+
AMD FX 4300
HD 7850
NZXT Source 210
Corsair CX 500
Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 7200 RPM
2 x 4 GB 1600 MHz G Skill
Windows 8 64 Bit

Overall about $650, add monitor for $130 and get $780. If you can increase to $1000, get a 7870 and Gigabyte UD3H and i5 3570K.
Click to expand...

Hmm I don't really want Windows 8, because my older brother has it, and it makes laughing stock out of him. Besides I would only see use in it if I had a touchscreen computer (which I don't really care for) but with the i5 3570K and 7870 and Gigabyte UD3H, would I be able to play most games on high? And also would it be good enough for video editing?
 
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Have you actually used Windows 8? I have and I never feel the need to have a touch screen. It works jsut fine with a keyboard and mouse. The stuff they show on the commercials is not what most people use it as. It's a quicker and lighter weight version of 7 and works just as well. It's ultimately up to you but Windows 8 is better than 7 in my opinion (and many others).

Also if you did above build, change motherboard to a MSI 970 G46 AM3+. Same thing essentially but a bit newer. I have the 45, which is older than that one but newer than the 43.
 
No matter what you get---get a SSD drive ---start up time is quicker than any regular drive---The 7850 is a great GPU to have---you might be able to do with a smaller drive than a 1 TB---just a thought.
 
Thank you for all of your replies by the way, and I just thought I would add something that I didn't quite think through. I work on my laptop because I am in internet marketing, so I won't be able to sell my laptop for a while.I will need to wait another 3-5 months before I will have enough money (combined with the money that my laptop would sell for) to be around $1000 and get all of that.

Also I should add, that this is going to be my first build, and so I was wondering if there is a specific guide you could recommend because I have no experience whatsoever building computers. I know there are plenty of guides around youtube and google, but are there any that are straight to the point and are meant for beginners that you know of? Thanks again.

EDIT: Also about Windows 8, the main reason I don't want to get it is because of the lack of the Start button, and I have also heard that Windows 8 is a no-go when it comes to gaming. I know there is an add-on that you can get to get the start menu back, but right now while I am tight on a budget, I don't see the need to spend the extra money on Windows 8. I do like the speed of it though, I just don't want to have to sacrifice games that have troubles being played just for a little extra speed.
 
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You know what. That being said, I think I am just going to have to wait until I get enough money to buy all of this, and then get back to you guys. I also think that by the time I get enough money, my laptop won't be worth as much so I will most likely end up keeping it. Thank you again for the feedback and suggestions, and I will see you again another day. :good:
 
Newegg probably has the best building guide in my opinion. It's long but good. I had it running while I was building mine and just followed the exact steps as he did it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls

Windows 8 and 7 cost the same btw. I haven't heard much issues with gaming at all honestly. It's up to you but I get the feeling you'll regret it a couple years down the road.
 
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