Shall I buy a desktop or a laptop?

[Berryracer]

10 years ago, I switched from having the latest and greatest desktops to laptops.I used to upgrade to a new laptop every year until finally my dream came true. To get a proper desktop replacement which is my Alienware 18.

It's running fine but I hate the idea that I cannot upgrade it to a 980GTX or one of those super Intel 750 PCIe SSDs....... I chase benchmarks and performance. I buy expensive toys to play benchmarks as that is what satisfies me...

With my Alienware 18 I am now very limited to the 2.5" SSDs, no M2 or PCIe SSDs, average screen.

I am tempted to build a desktop with a 4970K CPU running @ 4.40 GHz outside the box and like a triple Titan X in SLI setup along with that Intel 750 PCIe 1.2TB SSD but something in my always makes me cancel the order and exit the page after I have configured my PC on XOTIC PC because after adding all the bells and whistles like 1500W Corsair PSU, 32 GB of 2133 MHz RAM, Triple Titan Xs, Redline BoostOverclocking of both the CPU and GPU, it adds up to almost 9000 USD so I am scared to hit the order button and then when the new Sager laptops which I hope would have a Dual 980M GTX in SLI mode + a desktop CPU are released, I might regret my decision.

But still, getting a desktop means I am no longer limited and when a new CPU is released I can simply upgrade it or worst case scenario get a new motheborard + RAM and the CPU since I already have the case and the GPUs and SSDs/HDDs......

I am in a loss and don't know what to do. This is supposed to be my 31st birthday gift.

What I like most about the desktop build is the fact that I can get thew new ASUS PG278Q and have a large silky smooth screen thanks to G-Sync but in a laptop I am limited to the tiny 17.3" or even 18.4" which I consider the minimum screen size for enjoying anything I'm doing.

What I like about the desktop replacements is the fact that everything is in one small box, no external keyboard, monitor, connections, power supply, etc, it is very convenient.

My Alienware 18 rarely left my home, I do have Vindicator backpack which I once used to take it to a vacation I went to Turkey but that's about it. I mean I like the idea of being able to easily move the laptop *if* I ever need to but the limitations kill me

And if you're thinking why not get the desktop and the Alienware 18 for when I need to move; I can't, this expensive present for my wife has a 10K USD budget but I'd have to sell the laptop to get back some of the money we don't want to have 2 expensive gadgets in the house where only 1 would be used primarily.

Please help me clear my mind.

Also when it comes to the choice of motheboards......which one shall I choose?

Another very important question is, it says the ASUS motherboard has 4 PCIe slots so if I want to add a Creative Sound Card and the Intel 750 PCIe SSD I should be careful not to choose more than a Dual Titan X in SLI setup because if I choose Triple or Quad Titans they would occupy more slots and thus limit my upgradability in the future? correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Valantar]

I chase benchmarks and performance. I buy expensive toys to play benchmarks as that is what satisfies me...

When this is your goal, and you say you rarely of ever move it around, getting a laptop is nonsense. Plain an simple. Sure, you'll get a great laptop for $9000, but it will never compare to a desktop at the same (or even significantly lower) price.

 

[nsafreak]

Curious question, why not build your own desktop? Even with the parts listed the $9000 price tag sounds way out of line.

 

[fralexandr]

You could probably upgrade the gpu in your current m18X to 980m/980m sli (~$950/~$1650), but it's pretty ridiculously expensive.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00U9...=A3GNXF6G7D5M2Z&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_FMwebp_QL70

 

[heymrdj]

You could probably upgrade the gpu in your current m18X to 980m/980m sli (~$950/~$1650), but it's pretty ridiculously expensive.





http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00U9...=A3GNXF6G7D5M2Z&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_FMwebp_QL70

That's actually not too horrible seeing as it's a little over 500 for a desktop 980.

 

[corkyg]

I concur with Valantar. You are definitely afflicted with technolust. There's no law that says you can't have both . . . I do! 🙂

 

[Berryracer]

When this is your goal, and you say you rarely of ever move it around, getting a laptop is nonsense. Plain an simple. Sure, you'll get a great laptop for $9000, but it will never compare to a desktop at the same (or even significantly lower) price.

Right, thanks bro

 

[Berryracer]

Curious question, why not build your own desktop? Even with the parts listed the $9000 price tag sounds way out of line.

Because I don't know how, the last time I built my own desktop I was 16 years old and it was pretty straight forward, now it seems its more complicated due to many new connections and stuff I'm intimidated to do so. the most confusing part to me is the cables from the motherboard to the Case that activate the power button, front USB ports, CPU fan, etc. I'm scared to do it

Then comes the SLI, I have no clue how to connect both GPUs using the SLI cable or whatever it is that connects 2 GPUs together.

 

[Berryracer]

You could probably upgrade the gpu in your current m18X to 980m/980m sli (~$950/~$1650), but it's pretty ridiculously expensive.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00U9...=A3GNXF6G7D5M2Z&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_FMwebp_QL70

I have an Alienware 18 not M18X. Secondly, it's known all over the NBR forums that it is not possible or it is, but you get a lot of throttling making it a worthless upgrade. It is simply not useable even if possible.


http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/step-by-step-980m-install-in-alienware-18.768916/

 

[nsafreak]

Because I don't know how, the last time I built my own desktop I was 16 years old and it was pretty straight forward, now it seems its more complicated due to many new connections and stuff I'm intimidated to do so. the most confusing part to me is the cables from the motherboard to the Case that activate the power button, front USB ports, CPU fan, etc. I'm scared to do it

Then comes the SLI, I have no clue how to connect both GPUs using the SLI cable or whatever it is that connects 2 GPUs together.

Understood, although the SLI cable is really pretty straightforward the motherboard header cables can be a pain in the arse. I would agree with the other posters in that for what your goals are a desktop is a better choice than a laptop. That being said if you really want the latest and greatest I would consider either getting an X99 platform and all of the bells and whistles that go with it or waiting a few more months for the release of Skylake. Don't get me wrong the processor you've chosen is quite capable and will likely last for quite a while, heck I don't see my i5 4670k going anywhere anytime soon. But since you seem to want the latest and the greatest the latest & greatest is currently an X99 or getting Skylake when it comes out. If you're into money is no object builds here's what I would get from Xotic:

TYTAN - Stage 4
- Corsair Obsidian Series 550D [Black]
- Corsair Performance Fans [white trim] (High Airflow) (Up to 6 fans)
- White Neon Internal Lighting Kit
- H20: [Stage 6] Frostbite Liquid Cooling Single Loop - [CPU, Triple SLI/CrossFire Video Cards & Chipset]
- H20 Rubber Tubing - [WHITE] w/ High-Performance Fluid (UV Light Reactive) - [ Frostbite Liquid Cooling Required ]
- 1300W EVGA SuperNOVA 1300 G2 Gold Power Supply Unit (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) [w/ 10 Year Warranty]
- White Braided Cable Kit - [Requires Corsair or EVGA Power Supply]
- EVGA X99 CLASSIFIED (X99 Chipset) [Extended-ATX, 8 DIMMS, 4 PCIe Slots + M.2 PCIe Support] - [XOTIC PC Recommended]
- Intel® Core i7-5960X (3.00-3.50GHz) (20MB cache) (Eight-Core CPU) - [XOTIC PC Recommended]
- SINGLE - NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 980Ti (8GB) GDDR5 (New - Maxwell Architecture)
- DUAL - (Add x 1) NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 980Ti (8GB) GDDR5 (New - Maxwell Architecture)
- TRIPLE - (Add x 1) NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 980Ti (8GB) GDDR5 (New - Maxwell Architecture)
- 32GB DDR4 2133MHz (8GBx4 DIMMS) Crucial®
- 800GB Intel Fultondale 10 DC P3700 Series PCI-Express 3.0 SSD (Read 2800MB/s - Write 1900MB/s) (SKU - PCIE01)
- 4TB 7200RPM [3.5"] Western Digital Black (64GB Cache) (SATA III - 6GB/s) (SKU - HDD028)
- 250GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD (Read 540MB/s - Write 520MB/s (SSD2 - SATA III)) - Default (SKU – SSD444)
- Blu-Ray Player + DVD Writer/Reader - Default
- Integrated Motherboard Audio
- High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
- Yes, I Would Like Wood Crate Shipping!

Total: $10,018.00

You can bring that down a bit if you drop to a 5820k which still a plenty powerful CPU.

 

[Berryracer]

Understood, although the SLI cable is really pretty straightforward the motherboard header cables can be a pain in the arse. I would agree with the other posters in that for what your goals are a desktop is a better choice than a laptop. That being said if you really want the latest and greatest I would consider either getting an X99 platform and all of the bells and whistles that go with it or waiting a few more months for the release of Skylake. Don't get me wrong the processor you've chosen is quite capable and will likely last for quite a while, heck I don't see my i5 4670k going anywhere anytime soon. But since you seem to want the latest and the greatest the latest & greatest is currently an X99 or getting Skylake when it comes out. If you're into money is no object builds here's what I would get from Xotic:

TYTAN - Stage 4
- Corsair Obsidian Series 550D [Black]
- Corsair Performance Fans [white trim] (High Airflow) (Up to 6 fans)
- White Neon Internal Lighting Kit
- H20: [Stage 6] Frostbite Liquid Cooling Single Loop - [CPU, Triple SLI/CrossFire Video Cards & Chipset]
- H20 Rubber Tubing - [WHITE] w/ High-Performance Fluid (UV Light Reactive) - [ Frostbite Liquid Cooling Required ]
- 1300W EVGA SuperNOVA 1300 G2 Gold Power Supply Unit (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) [w/ 10 Year Warranty]
- White Braided Cable Kit - [Requires Corsair or EVGA Power Supply]
- EVGA X99 CLASSIFIED (X99 Chipset) [Extended-ATX, 8 DIMMS, 4 PCIe Slots + M.2 PCIe Support] - [XOTIC PC Recommended]
- Intel® Core i7-5960X (3.00-3.50GHz) (20MB cache) (Eight-Core CPU) - [XOTIC PC Recommended]
- SINGLE - NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 980Ti (8GB) GDDR5 (New - Maxwell Architecture)
- DUAL - (Add x 1) NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 980Ti (8GB) GDDR5 (New - Maxwell Architecture)
- TRIPLE - (Add x 1) NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 980Ti (8GB) GDDR5 (New - Maxwell Architecture)
- 32GB DDR4 2133MHz (8GBx4 DIMMS) Crucial®
- 800GB Intel Fultondale 10 DC P3700 Series PCI-Express 3.0 SSD (Read 2800MB/s - Write 1900MB/s) (SKU - PCIE01)
- 4TB 7200RPM [3.5"] Western Digital Black (64GB Cache) (SATA III - 6GB/s) (SKU - HDD028)
- 250GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD (Read 540MB/s - Write 520MB/s (SSD2 - SATA III)) - Default (SKU – SSD444)
- Blu-Ray Player + DVD Writer/Reader - Default
- Integrated Motherboard Audio
- High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
- Yes, I Would Like Wood Crate Shipping!

Total: $10,018.00

You can bring that down a bit if you drop to a 5820k which still a plenty powerful CPU.

Thanks a lot bro! I really appreciate it!

Cheers

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Because I don't know how..................I'm scared to do it............I have no clue how to...................

Do you have an aversion to learning or overcoming fears that is a troublesome barrier in your life?

I mean generally, outside of the computer world.

Since you built your own PC at 16, you apparently weren't scared or clueless then and you certainly weren't born knowing how to build at 16--you learned.

 

[Valantar]

TYTAN - Stage 4
- Corsair Obsidian Series 550D [Black]
- Corsair Performance Fans [white trim] (High Airflow) (Up to 6 fans)
- White Neon Internal Lighting Kit
- H20: [Stage 6] Frostbite Liquid Cooling Single Loop - [CPU, Triple SLI/CrossFire Video Cards & Chipset]
- H20 Rubber Tubing - [WHITE] w/ High-Performance Fluid (UV Light Reactive) - [ Frostbite Liquid Cooling Required ]
- 1300W EVGA SuperNOVA 1300 G2 Gold Power Supply Unit (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) [w/ 10 Year Warranty]
- White Braided Cable Kit - [Requires Corsair or EVGA Power Supply]
- EVGA X99 CLASSIFIED (X99 Chipset) [Extended-ATX, 8 DIMMS, 4 PCIe Slots + M.2 PCIe Support] - [XOTIC PC Recommended]
- Intel® Core i7-5960X (3.00-3.50GHz) (20MB cache) (Eight-Core CPU) - [XOTIC PC Recommended]
- SINGLE - NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 980Ti (8GB) GDDR5 (New - Maxwell Architecture)
- DUAL - (Add x 1) NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 980Ti (8GB) GDDR5 (New - Maxwell Architecture)
- TRIPLE - (Add x 1) NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 980Ti (8GB) GDDR5 (New - Maxwell Architecture)
- 32GB DDR4 2133MHz (8GBx4 DIMMS) Crucial®
- 800GB Intel Fultondale 10 DC P3700 Series PCI-Express 3.0 SSD (Read 2800MB/s - Write 1900MB/s) (SKU - PCIE01)
- 4TB 7200RPM [3.5"] Western Digital Black (64GB Cache) (SATA III - 6GB/s) (SKU - HDD028)
- 250GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD (Read 540MB/s - Write 520MB/s (SSD2 - SATA III)) - Default (SKU – SSD444)
- Blu-Ray Player + DVD Writer/Reader - Default
- Integrated Motherboard Audio
- High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
- Yes, I Would Like Wood Crate Shipping!

Total: $10,018.00

You can bring that down a bit if you drop to a 5820k which still a plenty powerful CPU.

Whoa. They're charging $849 for a stock GTX 980 ti? Jeez, just go for two, and stick the third one in there yourself. It's not difficult, and that's a $150 premium just to have them put it in there.

And is the $464 upgrade from the 5930K to the 5960X really worth it?

My biggest issue with this build, though, is the Intel DC 3700 drive - it's a complete waste. It's geared towards professional usage, and will not perform well in end-user workloads. That's $2500 that will get you no value for your money. Even the Intel SSD 750, which is ~the same drive with a firmware more tuned to end-user needs, performs worse than the Samsung SM951 (which they unfortunately don't offer). If money is no object, and maximum benchmark scores is the goal, get two 1TB 850 PROs in RAID 0.

 

[fortworthtechs]

I think you should go for a laptop it will be more beneficial for you but as computer to laptop desktop has long life. Now its depend on your built or your choice.

 

[nsafreak]

Whoa. They're charging $849 for a stock GTX 980 ti? Jeez, just go for two, and stick the third one in there yourself. It's not difficult, and that's a $150 premium just to have them put it in there.

And is the $464 upgrade from the 5930K to the 5960X really worth it?

My biggest issue with this build, though, is the Intel DC 3700 drive - it's a complete waste. It's geared towards professional usage, and will not perform well in end-user workloads. That's $2500 that will get you no value for your money. Even the Intel SSD 750, which is ~the same drive with a firmware more tuned to end-user needs, performs worse than the Samsung SM951 (which they unfortunately don't offer). If money is no object, and maximum benchmark scores is the goal, get two 1TB 850 PROs in RAID 0.

A few points:

1) Yes they do charge a bunch for a 980Ti (personally I'm a DIYer, I just put it together since the op isn't) but in this particular case I wouldn't recommend that the op install a third 980 Ti himself. The reason being that the configuration I put together is a custom watercooled loop. Adding a card to a loop is not always an easy process and it's not something I would recommend to someone who doesn't want to mess with motherboard headers.

2) I agree tbh, I just went with the extreme end and let the op know in my comments that even a 5820k would service him fine.

3) Concerning the PCIe SSD, that's very interesting but I haven't seen the benchmarks that show what you're stating. Care to post a link?

 

[Valantar]

A few points:

1) Yes they do charge a bunch for a 980Ti (personally I'm a DIYer, I just put it together since the op isn't) but in this particular case I wouldn't recommend that the op install a third 980 Ti himself. The reason being that the configuration I put together is a custom watercooled loop. Adding a card to a loop is not always an easy process and it's not something I would recommend to someone who doesn't want to mess with motherboard headers.

2) I agree tbh, I just went with the extreme end and let the op know in my comments that even a 5820k would service him fine.

3) Concerning the PCIe SSD, that's very interesting but I haven't seen the benchmarks that show what you're stating. Care to post a link?

1) In that case, I agree. $850 with a custom loop installed (including water blocks and whatnot) isn't too bad.

3) Can't remember where I saw it compared to client drives, but just look at the Anandtech review: performance is phenomenal at high queue depths, but nothing special below QD8 for random reads, which is the most useful metric for end users. Client workloads rarely reach QD2, and are FAR more read heavy than enterprise workloads. Sequential speeds and performane at high queue depths are great, but that only gets you so far in real world usage.

I think you should go for a laptop it will be more beneficial for you but as computer to laptop desktop has long life. Now its depend on your built or your choice.

More beneficial how? Did you even read his post? Laptops win in one metric: portability. Desktops beat laptops in performance, thermals, price, longevity, upgradeability, value, the list goes on.

 

[Berryracer]

Whoa. They're charging $849 for a stock GTX 980 ti? Jeez, just go for two, and stick the third one in there yourself. It's not difficult, and that's a $150 premium just to have them put it in there.

And is the $464 upgrade from the 5930K to the 5960X really worth it?

My biggest issue with this build, though, is the Intel DC 3700 drive - it's a complete waste. It's geared towards professional usage, and will not perform well in end-user workloads. That's $2500 that will get you no value for your money. Even the Intel SSD 750, which is ~the same drive with a firmware more tuned to end-user needs, performs worse than the Samsung SM951 (which they unfortunately don't offer). If money is no object, and maximum benchmark scores is the goal, get two 1TB 850 PROs in RAID 0.

and that same DC 3700 sells for around 800 USD on Amazon where they are charging 2500!! I understand they need to make profit but man, this is raping customers online live!

 

[Valantar]

and that same DC 3700 sells for around 800 USD on Amazon where they are charging 2500!! I understand they need to make profit but man, this is raping customers online live!

That's probably the DC S3700, the SATA version. It is far slower and far cheaper. The DC P3700 PCIe drive is $1800 at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...ords=intel+dc+p3700&rh=i:aps,k:intel+dc+p3700

Still, you could get the Intel SSD 750 1.2TB (which is essentially the same drive, but faster than the DC P3700 in client workloads) for about $1000: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...s=intel+ssd+750&sprefix=intel+ssd+750,aps,235

 

[inachu]

Laptops will overheat more often and will have shorter life span.
More chance of it being stolen.

 

[OlyAR15]

I would recommend a desktop since that is what you seem to want, and I would recommend DIY rather than buying already built.

If you built a computer before, you can do it again. The new specs and standards only matter when choosing components. Actually assembling it is basically still the same. Everything plugs in. Just about every component is keyed so it can only plug in one way. Seriously, if you can plug in a toaster, and can operate a philips screwdriver, you have the know-how to assemble a computer.