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new pc for son--help me spec it out

M

meister

Senior member
Hello,

so my son has had a laptop his whole life (16 now) and has used a console for gaming.

He has asked to get a gaming rig now. His laptop is only 2 years old and is sufficient for daily computing / office and such but couldn't really game with it even when new.

So…can get him a laptop for christmas, or build him a desktop machine. I haven't built a desktop in about 10 years but figure we could do this together, shouldn't be too much trouble.

it appears a decent gaming laptop is around $2500, and even then I'm not sure if good enough to compete with what a desktop can offer.

Am I wrong on the above? If I spend 2500 will this machine game all current things at good resolutions? I am really out of loop as far as what is needed.

If I commit to $2000 for a desktop, what components do you all recommend.

So, budget 2k, need everything. gaming rig. buying all on internet / USA delivery.

TIA!!

Mark
 
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What exactly is the resolution he'll be gaming at? Higher resolutions require more processing power. Mfenn's build is good for 1080p gaming.
 
?? I guess I don't know. Need a monitor as well, I'm thinking a 21 or 24 inch, perhaps a 16x9 ratio?

also, no over clocking.

Mark
 
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wow, never even thought about it. He hasn't mentioned it as an option, or goal. I'll say no if it adds $500 to the price of the build, but if its a marginal increase and then he could use it someday, then fine.

Mark
 
for 2100USD you can get a pretty nice alienware laptop. For that money, is this a better way to go? or do I just need to be firm on whether he wants a desktop or laptop?

I used to be desktop only, but have given up desktops in place of convenience years ago.
 
meister said:
for 2100USD you can get a pretty nice alienware laptop. For that money, is this a better way to go? or do I just need to be firm on whether he wants a desktop or laptop?
Click to expand...
Laptops difficult to upgrade (switching vid card et al) Also, a lot more power for the $ for a gaming PC vs laptop; especially with new gen games just around the corner.
 
was browsing the alienware desktop vs laptop..

perhaps I'm confused but I see little value in the desktop line there. Better to build yourself. Now the laptops seem decent configured for the price.

Mark
 
yes, that is what I was thinking, but I was browsing just to give myself a reality check of what is out there for supposedly 'higher' end.

If I can't build a great desktop for $500-700 less than a great laptop, I wasn't sure building it was the right way to go.

Mark
 
Laptop GPUs are slower than their desktop counterpart. That is not to say all laptop GPUs are slower. Something like a GTX 770M will provide decent performance, but it is no GTX 770. The specs are different.

Also, desktop CPUs are more powerful than their laptop counterparts. You won't find a 3.4 GHz quad core i5 in a gaming laptop, although their might be a Turbo Boost that high.

Prebuilt desktop gaming rigs are mostly a joke, coming with underpowered GPUs. That means you still have to buy a more powerful graphics card separately and install it.
 
Are you sure you want to spend $2000? I mean, you certainly could do so, but know that a budget of $1300 or so ($1000 PC w/OS + $200 monitor + $100 peripherals) can buy a very potent gaming PC.
 
don't 'need' to spend 2k, unless I 'need' to. I just want him to have a machine he is more than happy with. He hasn't ever had a high end machine. So time to get it done.

Mark
 
Mfenn, I would get a better monitor.Asus has some good ones at 120-140hz. Don't lnow if IPS is the way to go. Of course, then one gets into the big debate over IPS vs more hz for a gaming rig. Brings back memories of my monitor post on the forum.

The Wife
 
also--is there a reason it appears most everyone is recommending (reading different threads) the I5 processor over the I7? is this just a case that more isn't better?

Mark
 
thanks all. I'll most likely get to the office tomorrow and get some ordering done. I'll update with choices.

Mark
 
runzwithsizorz said:
Mfenn, I would get a better monitor.Asus has some good ones at 120-140hz. Don't lnow if IPS is the way to go. Of course, then one gets into the big debate over IPS vs more hz for a gaming rig. Brings back memories of my monitor post on the forum.

The Wife
Click to expand...

You can't really say that a 120Hz monitor is "better" than an IPS. It has a higher refresh rate, but the colors and viewing angles are much worse. It's all a matter of tradeoffs.

meister said:
thanks, so get a smaller capacity SSD? also--any need to get a higher mhz rated monitor?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I put in a smaller SSD to fit the OS into the same budget. See above for the monitor, it depends on what you are looking for. A high refresh rate can certainly help in twitch games, but the higher contrast and better viewing angles on an IPS are more useful for strategy games IMHO.
 
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