Desktop or Laptop gaming rig

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quax

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Hi guys,

I have had an urge to get back into some proper gaming again. I'm looking at getting a gaming rig. Hopefully one that will last a couple of years. I need to buy everything, so including all the peripherals. I got a R15k max budget. What are gaming laptops like in this price range? A laptop would be really nice for portability, since I commute between PTA and JHB quite a lot. But it just feel like I could get a MUCH more poweful rig for my buck if I buy a desktop... My expretise on hardware is really limited.

What do you guys think?
 
well which games do you play? minecraft? terraria? crysis 3? bf3?
any other use besides gaming?
my current i7 lappy feels about the same as my Phenom II x6 except in responsiveness and graphics(rig had 6 Hdds,gtx460 vs 660m)
I can especially feel it lagging behind with fraps/video recording and heavy multitasking

it was around 10k and it handles most games I want with ease(borderlands2,left4dead2,sniper2 etc) @ 1920x1080
 
You won't get an i7, GTX660m, 1920x1080 resolution for anything close to R10k now! That kind of mobile GFX card + resolution would set you back about R20k.
Studentlaptop did have a deal a long time ago where they sold a Lenovo Y580P (i7, GTX660m, 1366x768) for under R10k.
 
Hi There,
A desktop in my opinion is going to give you more options on graphics etc and also they tend to overheat less.
I would go with the desktop

Regards

Tim
 
I recently built myself a new machine for R11k ex (excluding drives, screens, keyboard and mouse which I had).
Haswell i7 3.5Ghz, 16GB 1800Mhz RAM, Intel mobo, nice case, nVidia GTX 660 and 750W PSU. All stuff from Esquire.
Machine kicks some ass and looks good.
So within your budget me thinks. Even with still squeezing in an HDD, screen, kb and mouse.

Last Sat I picked up an Alienware M17X R4. 3D 17" Full HD, Ivybridge 2.7Hgz i7, 16GB RAM, Bluray, 32GB mSata and 2 x 1TB HDD (swapped primary out with a Vertex 4 SSD) and nVidia GTX 675M. So laptop sorted now too :).
Just wanted to add that part cause I always wanted an AW so quite proud of my setup.

Will post pics of desktop case bit later (need to resize).
 
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Considering the guy is quite mobile I'd suggest a lappy. There are some nice MSI ones I that price range. I'll post links later.
 
After reading Pada's post I checked studentlaptop. I found this, what you guys think of this one? http://lenovo.studenttech.co.za/initiative/#!page/prodlist/prodid/15422/cat/789

I want this machine mainly for gaming, probably graphics intense games I'd say.

I'm really tempted to buyt a laptop but I know that the best option for performance would be to get a desktop so I dunno I'm kind of stuck between the two. Also the above linked laptop seems like a good deal too.
 
Ok so I went to rebeltech to see what I can do in terms of a desktop and man, the desktop would probably be the way better option. So this is what I put together.

Intel Core i7-4770K, 3.4GHz, LGA1150, Quad Core (with 4 threads), 22nm, 6MB L3 c R3999
ASUS GTX660-DC2T-2GD5 DirectCU TOP, GTX660, 2GB 192bit DDR5, with DirectCU ii du R2833
Seagate SSHD ST1000LM014, 1TB, Hybrid HDD with 8GB MLC SSD + 64mb cache, 2.5", S R1422
Intel DB85FL Frost Lake: all-in-one LGA1150, Intel B85 chipset, 4x dual channel R1059
Cooler Master Elite 431, Mid Tower, Black with Black interior, with Windowed sid R506
Cooler Master GX Lite, 700w (12v: 660w), 2x EPS12V V2.91 + ATX 12V V2.31, active R899
G.Skill F3-1600C9D-16GXM, RipjawX with Blue heatsink, 16GB (2x 8GB), DDR3 R1600

Total: R12 318

Any comments or advice on this build? Would you change anything? I kinda felt like I was just clicking on whatever so maybe theres other stuff that I should have added instead.
 
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I'd rate that build of yours as a poor one!

1) 4770k chipset isn't overclockable with the B85 chipset motherboard. Asus apparently can overclock CPU's with their B85 chipset motherboards after a BIOS update
2) Rather get a decent size HDD and SSD than a hybrid with a tiny SSD
3) You don't need such a big PSU either
4) For a gaming PC, you'd want a better graphics card and not such an expensive CPU.

I'd rather recommend:
i5 4670 @ R2.8k
ASRock B85M Pro4 motherboard @ R1.2k
XFX ProSeries 550W PSU @ R700
PowerColor AX7950 with 3 games @ R3.6k
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB HDD @ R800
^^ Above prices are from Wootware, because Rebeltech does not stock these all of items and lately Rebeltech's service hasn't been great for everyone either...
 
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If you are buying a machine for gaming, get a desktop. Much much more bang for your back + easy to upgrade.

Laptops for gaming just seem like a waste of money to me.
 
I'd agree with Pada's build. I'd really add a SSD and seriously consider boosting the hdd to 2 terabyte. 128gb is fine for the SSD. Just don't go for a hybrid drive.

You can drop one RAM stick...8 gigs is fine for now & then buy another one in say a year or so. That will reduce your immediate cash outlay and your total cash outlay.

If you want PC gaming...you've got about 20 hours left of the Steam sale at the time of writing - now is the time to pull the trigger. (assuming these aren't included in the 3 games that come with the GPU)

Dishonored:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/205100/
Tomb Raider:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/203160/
Skyrim - Legendary edition
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/28187/

Also consider civilization 5 and torchlight 2 if that type of game is your thing. NB you will need an ADSL line for this...steam requires quite a bit of data so you'll have a rough time going 3G for that.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, exactly what I was looking for. Like I said my thechspertise ain't the greatest. I think I will take Pada's advice on dropping to an i5 and going with a better graphics card.

I'll be missing the Steam sale :cry: will definitely not make it....
 
Ja, there's not much difference between an i7 & i5 for gaming, so the i5 is fine (top end one, anyway).

1. SSD
2. Minimum Geforce GTX 660Ti, or equivalent AMD

Your most crucial investment in a rig is always the motherboard: buy a cheap mobo and it doesn't matter how good you're other parts are, you'll be crying, which is why I always say spend a minimum of R1500 on your motherboard, and Intel isn't the answer for a gaming board.
 
quax said:
Thanks for the advice guys, exactly what I was looking for. Like I said my thechspertise ain't the greatest. I think I will take Pada's advice on dropping to an i5 and going with a better graphics card.

I'll be missing the Steam sale :cry: will definitely not make it....
Click to expand...

You can buy the games from the web version of steam can't you?
 
hawker said:
You can buy the games from the web version of steam can't you?
Click to expand...
Yes, you can!

FlatspinZA said:
Your most crucial investment in a rig is always the motherboard: buy a cheap mobo and it doesn't matter how good you're other parts are, you'll be crying, which is why I always say spend a minimum of R1500 on your motherboard, and Intel isn't the answer for a gaming board.
Click to expand...
IMO the most crucial in the rig is always the PSU. If you go too cheap, you'll most likely damage your other components. I typically spend about 10% on the PC's total worth on the PSU.

Secondly, it is worth while investing in a motherboard with at least 4 DIMM (RAM) slots. Other than that, you should make sure that the motherboard is the same socket as your CPU. Then if your CPU supports overclocking, then make sure that the motherboard has sufficient cooling measures and is also capable of overclocking the CPU.
 
Mike Smit said:
I recently built myself a new machine for R11k ex (excluding drives, screens, keyboard and mouse which I had).
Haswell i7 3.5Ghz, 16GB 1800Mhz RAM, Intel mobo, nice case, nVidia GTX 660 and 750W PSU. All stuff from Esquire.
Machine kicks some ass and looks good.
So within your budget me thinks. Even with still squeezing in an HDD, screen, kb and mouse.

Last Sat I picked up an Alienware M17X R4. 3D 17" Full HD, Ivybridge 2.7Hgz i7, 16GB RAM, Bluray, 32GB mSata and 2 x 1TB HDD (swapped primary out with a Vertex 4 SSD) and nVidia GTX 675M. So laptop sorted now too :).
Just wanted to add that part cause I always wanted an AW so quite proud of my setup.

Will post pics of desktop case bit later (need to resize).
Click to expand...

What happened to gaming on the console?
 
hawker said:
If you are buying a machine for gaming, get a desktop. Much much more bang for your back + easy to upgrade.

Laptops for gaming just seem like a waste of money to me.
Click to expand...

I've had no problems with my Acer Laptop, which is over 4 years old with the new games even playing on high settings I get my 60 fps, but I did pay 20k for it.
 
Dang, I missed the Steam sale... Oh well, still super excited to get a new machine!! I kind of miss gaming on a PC which is why I am not getting a console, also I might wanna get back into mmo's. OK so after reading your guy's input I have the following in my basket (all from wootware as Pada sugested). What say yous?

ASRock B85M Pro4 B85 Series Intel B85 LGA1150 Micro ATX Desktop MotherBoard @ R1,137.00

Intel BX80646I54670K Core i5-4670k 3.4GHz LGA1150 Quad Core Haswell CPU @ R2,839.00

PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHPPE RADEON HD7950 PCS+ Edition 3GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x 16 Desktop Graphics Card - Includes: Crysis 3 Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite @ R3,599.00

Corsair CMY8GX3M2A1600C9R VengeancePro Red 4GB x 2 DDR3-1600 CL9 1.5v - 240pin Desktop Memory @ R1,138.00

XFX ProSeries P1-650X-NLG9 XXX Edition 650W 80 Plus Bronze Certified Desktop PSU @ R1,052.00

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EZEX 1TB, 64MB Cache, Sata6G, 7200rpm Internal Hard Drive @ R815.00

Intel SSD 330 Series SSDSC2CT060A3K5 60GB SATA III Solid State Drive @ R1,061.00

Zalman Z11 Plus Windows Side Panel No PSU USB 3.0 Desktop Chassis - Black @ R869.00

TOTAL: R12 510

So that leaves me with R2500 for keyboard, mouse and monitor. I will do with the speakers I have for now if I don't have enough left. Plus I will swap the new mouse for my nice logitech mouse on my old PC.

I still have two questions:
1) I am just not sure if I should get a better mobo and dump the SSD....
2) Also, is there anything I should be looking for specifically when buying a chassis?

Thanks for all the advice.
 
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