Future expectations and current laptops vs desktops in real world scenarios? Star Citizen?

Heya guys. I've been following hardware news and such since I made my first (uninformed) notebook purchase way back in 2011.


I have not touched my rusty dust filled desktop since my laptop purchase and have never looked back. Whilst desktops has the advantage of being cheaper in the long run because you can upgrade them, I still very much prefer the all in one versatility of laptops.


Laptops have improved so much since the 500 series I've been apart however the more I look into information of specs etc the more I see just how big the disparity between laptop and desktop power is. Of course benchmarks are different from the real world, which is why I'm looking for any hardware experts that can chime in exactly, what a gaming laptop would compare to in desktop equivalent.


I myself am looking at purchasing an ASUS G750JS but we can look at the JZ version which has an i7 4700HQ and a GTX880m.

1) Using the Futuremark website it says a 780M or 880M is merely a GTX760 on a desktop. Is this true? Watching Linex tech tips review of a JZ he compared it to a GTX770 and the I7 4700HQ to an I7 4770 which to my knowledge sounds like exaggeration. Benchmarks says its very close to an i5-4670K. Now this is where I'm confused because an the i5 can boost up to 3.8Ghz yet the 4700 can only reach 3.2. Nowadays desktops are clocking CPUs at 4Ghz+. It would be nice if someone could help me understand CPUs performance better. All I know is that from my looking around the sediment of the 4700 is that it's lacking.


2) I myself am looking to play the upcoming Star Citizen when it comes out. Even with optimization I am only expecting 40+ FPS on low-medium settings at 1920x1080 with the universe filled with ships with a JS. I have been waiting for Broadwell (because with my current knowledge I believe the common 4700 is underpowered for the cryengine) and forever with Maxwell. (Shakes angry fist at Nvidia) After 3 years of the Kepler generation how big of a difference is people realistically expecting a Maxwell 70-80 would give us to games such as Crysis 3? Notebookcheck currently shows the GTX880m giving 30ish FPS on ultra. CPU increases?


3) Lastly for my personal circumstances my first and only laptop purchase was an Alienware M14 with a GT 555m and i5-2430m @ 2.4GHz. (Considering how much money I threw at this laptop, I can see why after learning a bit people say Alienware is overpriced ) It's been a long time of waiting and I'm not sure my spendable income is common to others, but I can only really shell out the $2350 every 4 ish years for a new one since I'm very poor. (its £1400 here in UK for a JS compared to $1800 in US. Tax destroys our wallets.)

However right now my laptops about had it, and I'm frustrated and fed up at its inadequacy to run Guild Wars 2 WvW in zergs at a playable FPS. I've been waiting to upgrade since last year, waiting and waiting for Maxwell details in particular. Now that Computex has passed us and still no information about Maxwell dates and very vague intel news as well, I am getting extremely close to just buying an annoyingly kepler based JS now, although in the back of my mind I am always fearing the specs won't be enough to satisfy me with the amount of money I'm paying. I really do not think I can wait for 2015 March sometime which is what it's looking like for the new laptop cycle to come. What do you guys think I should do?

Thanks to anyone in advance who wishes to chime on this discussion.

 

It looks like you are after an upgradeable laptop!? There are some where you can switch out the gpu and CPU like a desktop. It's the reason why I still have mine. It will still be however far more expensive than any conparable desktop part though. That said however it the gpu department the gap between enthusiast desktop and laptop gets smaller each generation. The 680m original Kepler from two years ago is capable of reaching gtx 670 levels. Maxwell will see the gap close even more. Same with amd tonga probably.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

Star citizen, like any other game is being built for today's GPu. Not tomorrow's, it is using today's crysengine, not some future version of it. If you can afford it, get that asus g750, I have the 860m version and I love it. The 880m version is too pricey imo, for what you get

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

 

Yeah but the "today" GPUs they're building on are Titans.

 

And the CPU is a hex core 3930K.

 

I would suggest looking at a laptop from a Clevo reseller like mySN.. You'll even get the 880M for £1400... I would get this over the G750 anytime as u just get a better machine overall although the G750 looks better IMO...

XMG P704 17.3" Pro Gaming Notebook

 

Star Citizen isn't due out until late 2016. Sure there will be alpha and teaser versions along the way, but I wouldn't buy a laptop with the anticipation of playing a game to be released in one year, let alone two.

 

Geez 2016.. I thought sometime in 2015.
Yeah the 780/880m are pretty much an underclocked gtx 680/770.

 

The 780M is basically a desktop 580, which is still pretty impressive considering the difference in physical size and TDP (yeah yeah Fermi vs Kepler I know but I still find it pretty incredible 780M achieves the same in less than half the TDP and physical size)

 

A reminder that laptop CPUs are fully functional, but usually much lower-clocked.
There simply isn't a laptop CPU that can match a 4.4GHz desktop processor. Even if you could overclock them, the cooling will never reach desktop level.
An I7 4700HQ with proper cooling maxes out its turbo at 3.4GHz. Good luck reaching anywhere near that 4.4GHz desktop CPU even if it is a couple iterations behind.

Laptop GPUs are fully functional, underclocked Keplers. The high-end ones are basically all the hardware of a GTX770 underclocked. Note, that unlike the CPU, these can be overclocked back up to the desktop level provided proper cooling is possible.

Star citizen is aiming for the fences... don't even try to buy a desktop with the required capabilities, as quite frankly you will get ripped off for the level of performance they are shooting for. Buy it when you know what you need and their engine has been optimized.

Trying for a laptop for a game in two years is impossible. (as others have said) If you must get one now, save some money and get a middle-ground laptop. (clevo, asus, and gigabyte have some pretty amazing 860m laptops for the price) With the money saved, tack on some $$$ to the next one.

Honestly, I cannot imagine bothering to play Star Citizen on a laptop. Not because it cannot do it, but because I will want my flight-stick/throttle/Nostromo and large screen. Even a 17" screen seems wrong for a game as epic as Star Citizen.

Each to his own I guess.

 

Yeah, maybe by then I'll be back to gaming on my desktop and re-hook up my HOTAS flight controls and TrackIR.

 

I'm somewhat in the same boat as you. My conclusion is that if you are in a limited budget, it makes little sense to go for a gaming notebook because their cost-efficiency doesn't even compare to gaming desktops from what I've seen. I also love the all-in-one factor of notebooks, but I'm seriously reconsidering that view.

Using Passmark benchmark results (considering equivalent architecture), the 8970m in terms of performance is in between r7 260x and r9 270, and the GTX 880m is in between the GTX 750 Ti and the GTX 760. In my country you can build a gaming desktop with a r9 270 for roughly half the price that a notebook with the 8970m costs, and the r9 270 is still stronger. Same can be said about the GTX 880m vs GTX 760.

I'm currently thinking hard if it wouldn't be better for me to buy a lightweight very simple notebook and a high end gaming desktop monster rather than a single bulky gaming notebook. In your case, with around 1500$ I'm pretty sure you could build an extremely strong gaming desktop without even using CF or SLI.

With that said, as mentioned already, building a desktop or notebook for a game that is 2 years far from launching doesn't really make much sense.

 

In the meantime, Elite Dangerous will be released soon. Premium Beta is available for $150US or £100.

Or just wait and I'm sure the game will cost about $60. I loved Elite when it was released over 30 years ago.
http://elite.frontier.co.uk/

Oh yeah and it has fairly modest system requirements:

Minimum recommended hardware specification:

Direct X 11
Quad Core CPU (4 x 2Ghz is a reasonable minimum)
2 GB System RAM (more is always better)
DX 10 hardware GPU with 1GB video ram
Internet connection

 

If Guild Wars 2 is lagging, chances are it's a combination of both your computer specs as well as our internet connection/ping so upgrading might not fix the issue of lag (especially in dense areas like WvW).

Some days I wish I had a gaming laptop, but then I remember my painful experience with trying to play easy games on my T5010 on the diner table and without even touching specs, I'd rather have the desktop setup with the external peripherals, external screen (Ultrasharp ) and associated ergonomics. In the end, even if I did have a laptop powerful enough to game, I feel I'd still buy all the externals to have a "desktop setup" for more comfort

 

That would be my preference. But if you want to game anywhere besides at your desk, a laptop is needed. I game usually around the house, don't outside of home much any more. But I can also sit at the kitchen table or living room and play games while watching the kids as they play on the living room floor with their toys... and watch TV simultaneously too.

 

This is exactly why I've gone exclusively to laptops... I haven't had a functioning desktop for over a decade and I still play all the latest games, just not at 8xAA and "gotta have ultra". It's so much more enjoyable for me to be able to relocate around the house or take things with me when traveling.

As far as Star Citizen, I agree with everyone else... no idea how this monstrosity of a project is going to turn out or what the requirements will be in however many more years it takes them. The dogfight module was delayed significantly multiple times and is still a buggy mess. Maybe they'll have something playable I can share with my grandkids in 20 years :thumbsup:

 

Not necessarily. My desktop is on a rolling wireframe shelving unit in the living room, hooked up to my TV by HDMI cable, with power supplied by a power strip attached to one of the shelves. If I had another TV or a monitor elsewhere in the house, all I would have to do is unplug the HDMI and power cord and roll to the next location. You could even take it a couple steps further with a monitor mounted on one of the shelves and a backup power unit that would allow the system to keep running while moving from one outlet to another.

Certainly, a laptop is a smaller and more-versatile system for gaming around the house, and if in-home game streaming reaches perfection, you won't even need a gaming laptop, but if you're looking for gaming power that can easily be used around the house (particularly if there aren't any stairs ), a desktop on wheels is definitely viable.

 

Yep, that's why I like laptops too. So I'm not just tied to the desk but I can game on my comfy bed too! Also I can bring it along with me when I travel back home (desktop on a train and bus would not be very easy!). I also live in a rented shared house so constantly moving home every year and some of my past rooms haven't even had a desk in them - this latest one I probably will stick with for the next year but I'm not sure the desk here can support the weight of a big gaming monitor, let alone the actual tower itself!

I really want a powerful desktop but the reasons above make me hesitant to get one. Just saving up money for an uber SLI laptop, hopefully Maxwell will continue to close the gap between high end desktops and laptops! 980M (or 880MX) SLI should equal a single 880 at least I would hope. I already have the money to get a desktop with 3x 780Ti's. Quite amazing really. It's gonna be closer decision then ever when I finally decide what to spend my moneys on once Maxwell comes to town.

 

^ This man knows the pleasure of bed gaming. ;D *High fives*

 

Ugh, that sounds painful. I won't go to that extreme with a rolling rack, lol. Laptop at 4lbs, can pick up and move without thinking about it is more convenient. I also do game outside of home, just not that frequently, and want that ability. Periodic trips to family and when kids go to bed, daddy will play.

Exactly. I used to push for top detail and AA, but now it doesn't matter all that much usually. Ultra details and uber AA really add much to nothing.

 

I'm exactly in the oposite direction. Up to now I couldn't care less about ultra details and AA, I usually played (and still play to this day) things at medium 720p on my weak notebook, but I am seriously considering going for a desktop for the following reason: for the price I would have to pay for a i7 4700mq + 860m notebook, I could get an i5 4670k + r9 280x desktop and still have a lot of money left. The difference between these two builds is mind-boggling in terms of performance in games. I currently believe I will mostly only play when sitting in front of my 40" 1080p TV, so the fact that the notebook comes with an attached screen is completely irrelevant. I would quite simply LOVE if I could get a "budget" gaming laptop that would come at least close to the price-performance of a desktop, but that clearly doesn't seem to be the case as of now. Do note that I value the portability of notebooks very highly, but in this case the price difference is just too big.

And I do think that playing something on ultra with multiple anti-aliasing will make a very noticeable difference at a big TV, which should be my case.

In the end of the day, to each their own. In my opinion the question is: how much is portability worth for you? For me it isn't worth paying double the price.

 

Yeah I understand the convenience but to me it's just so uncomfortable compared to a proper setup so even assuming I could, chances are I'd stay at my desk where it's most comfortable D:

 

I have an m18x R1 with 580m SLI and the Alienware 18 with 780m SLI. Slide a few settings to high instead of ultra and you have two systems that play the same games at almost the same visual fidelity. With the right knowledge of tweaking settings, you don't have to sacrifice too much eye candy. People like me just like to push the boundaries and play at the highest level.

I don't like desktops anymore because i am typing this from a couch and about to go play some BF4 on said couch. I also play in other areas too and take the notebook with me using the Orien backpack which is very convenient. MOST importantly, I flat out like mobile technology better. Just something I have always enjoyed following and therefore prefer to pay MORE for convenience and also personal interest in the mobile gaming market. The best bang for your buck will be going desktop and it probably always will.

 

Sure, but when you get into these machines you're talking 3-4x the cost of a desktop that can perform just as well; that's quite the price premium.

 

The thing is, while a laptop can cost quite a bit more than a desktop with comparable performance, that usually holds true on the high end, but not really so much at the mid end. The 860m is basically the 750 Ti desktop card and can handle any game out there at 1080p. You can find 860m laptops for under $1000 easily, and definitely under $1200 with an SSD even. A desktop built around similar tech (cpu, gpu, motherboard, RAM, hard drive, SSD, power supply, case) you would probably come close to the $1000 limit for decent quality components. And of course with a laptop you always have to buy a new LCD, so if you include cost of LCD for desktop, it'll be about a wash.

Heck I've been building desktops for as long as I can remember, since the 1980's through today, but in the last 7-8 years have preferred laptop to desktop for gaming, primarily for the portability.

 

Mobile gaming has definitely been a viable option for the last several years, and it seems to be getting even more affordable these days, but $1000 plus a screen is entry into single-screen gaming desktops. From there you can go two to three years before spending a couple hundred bucks on a GPU upgrade, three to five years before needing a CPU upgrade, etc. Of course, you know all this. As long as you keep it single screen as you would with a gaming laptop, it's cheaper to game on a desktop long-term (and usually in the initial investment as well), but laptops are more mobile and convenient.

What sold me on building a gaming desktop a couple years ago was the fact that I want my laptop to be easily portable, and I want to be able to play games smoothly. My last three laptops were a poor compromise between those - bigger and heavier than I would have liked, with mediocre gaming performance. With GOG and the indie gaming scene, there's no shortage of quality games I can play on my Yoga 2 Pro ultrabook, and a desktop connected to my living room TV covers graphically-intense gaming and other multimedia needs. I got by with notebooks that inadequately fulfilled both my power and portability requirements for a decade, but I'm more satisfied with my current setup, and that's all it takes to sell me on it.

 

My 13" laptop is probably just as powerful as my desktop with GTX 670, i5-3570K, 16GB DDR3 1600, 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD, and probably cost as much to build. I know desktops are ultimately the way to go for best bang for the buck, but I've become so used to the convenience, it's hard to just sit facing the wall when I can sit wherever I want...

 

Although I do understand your point, you are wrong by thinking a notebook costs anywhere near the same as an equivalent desktop. In your case the GTX 670 is FAR better than the 860m in your 13" (at least 2x fps in nearly all games and up to 4x according to some benchmarks I'm reading), but still that laptop of yours still most likely cost you more than that desktop. That's exactly what makes me consider how much portability is worth to me and the reason why I most likely will prefer going with a small portable laptop and a budget gaming desktop at home rather than one bulky gaming laptop.

 

If I could do it again, I'd probably try to get a Maxwell 860M 13" laptop for under $1000 for all my mobility needs, then see how much hardware I can cram into a $2500 desktop budget. Last I checked $2500 was enough for a 4770K + 780Ti SLI combo, which has more than twice the GPU power than my 780M SLI laptop.

I don't exactly regret my purchase, but if I'd known that the laptop would just sit on my desk all day, I might as well have gone for a desktop. Even more so now that I switched to an external monitor setup, so the laptop has become a true DTR.

 

What some people are failing to consider at the real "mid" and "high/bleeding edge" price points. At the highest end of portable gaming (XM chip 780/880m SLI) you are around 3500 US. When discussing the equivalent bleeding edge desktop "equivalent" people are not factoring in multi-monitor ultra HD displays and the cost associated with those. No one has SLI titans without those displays. Mobile bleeding edge gamers will never have the technical specs of the highest end desktop experience but they have the highest end mobile experience that fits their objective. Honestly, the only things ultimately that give desktops the edge are the powerful multi-displays, the ease of upgrading the parts in the tower and the cheaper AND much more available parts to order. However right now, having 780/880m SLI which runs any game at 1080p (current notebook resolutions)...it's as bleeding edge as needed for the tasks at hand.

 

860M = 650 Ti Boost/750 Ti not 670/760.

 

I know that, but performance isn't far behind.

 

Not sure if you've read my previous reply, but it actually is indeed far behind.

GeForce GTX 860M vs 670
"Reasons to consider GTX 670 over GTX 860M:
Significantly higher BioShock infinite framerate 83.7 fps vs 40.65 fps More than 2x higher BioShock infinite framerate
Significantly higher Crysis 3 framerate 59.9 fps vs 19 fps Around 3.2x higher crysis 3 framerate

 

It's very far behind. As a matter of fact, no single notebook GPU ATM can match a GTX 670.

 

Maybe my original post didn't state exactly what I meant, I'm well aware of the raw performance numbers, I own both GPU's. That wasn't the point. I can also drive one car 120mph and another 200mph, but what's the difference when I can only drive maximum 80mph? Playing most games at 60fps+ ignoring Ultra, which I never use anyhow because it never adds anything except reduces FPS considerably and makes the components work harder. It's the point that gaming experience is great on a mid range GPU that I don't necessarily *need* all the extra horsepower of a desktop card to get a high FPS with high details at 1080p.

 

Well why didn't you say this the first time around?

 

The point still stands though: same could easily be said about a mid-range desktop GPU that'd still cost far less than a equivalent notebook. :/

As a matter of fact a GTX 750 Ti is better than a GTX 860m and just as an example: Build A GeForce GTX 750 Ti Mini ITX PC For Less Than $530 | GeForce. While the cheap notebooks with 860m go for around ~$1000.

 

In that specs it only comes with a "Intel Core i3-3240 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core Desktop Processor". Your gonna have to add another 100$ for a comparable processor to the standard i7 4700 that's in laptops nowadays.

17 inch monitor that comes with laptops you have to buy separately for PC is another $100-150.
Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Monitors, LCD / LED Monitors, 17 - 19 inches

Slap in a cheap keyboard for $20.

Your looking at $800 maybe for the complete set that a laptop provides.


2nd) All the recent news I'm hearing mentions the possibility of a desktop Maxwell late 2014 only. I'm guessing for laptop users myself that I guess I'm out of luck huh.
Getting ever so close to ordering that Asus G750 JS. ;_; I cry.

 

Firstly, that build was just an example. Then, a i5 4590 is considerably stronger than a i7 4700mq and adds $80 to that build. But it's still overkill, a 2nd, 3rd or 4th generation desktop i3 will not bottleneck a single 750 Ti whatsoever, any mobile i7 is also overkill for a single 860m in terms of gaming, so you're effectively throwing money away by choosing those if you are only using it for gaming. In the notebook you don't really have any option because the i5-4200m the resellers here offer would possibly bottleneck the 860m due to being too weak, but the i7-4700mq which is the option above it is actually too strong, so you don't really have a middle term one.

The laptop for $1000 I was comparing it to was actually a 13" one. But anyways most of us (if not everyone) will have at least a single TV at home and will plug your gaming peripheral there either way. I do it myself with my current notebook that's quite weak for gaming.

If you are going that route then you also have to add a mouse for the notebook. As a matter of fact you would have to buy an external keyboard and mouse for gaming either way, the keyboard that comes with laptops is quite weak in this respect.

Also, please, don't make numbers up ($800). It's nowhere near to that. I'm not going to recalculate it all but do it yourself, I've done it myself several times with different builds and the difference is enormous.

 

If you build it up with 16gb ram, ssd+ hdd, an i5 cpu, it will cost over $1000. I'll do the math for a reasonable build compared with a mid range laptop. I know desktop will cost less, but not appreciably so. and sure, add mouse to both builds, but no keyboard or lcd for laptop. keyboards are fine on laptops for gaming, been doing it for years.

Beamed from my G2 Tricorder

 

It's something about being an old man... stressed to the max... memory loss... hair loss... mojo loss...

 

Please go ahead. While you do yours I'll do a quick one myself as I've got some spare time.

So, I see you guys want to build an entire desktop (mouse + keyboard + TV). That clearly isn't my situation and I believe of many people reading this because I already have an "old" computer with a good keyboard, mouse and TV so buying a new one obviously wouldn't be my idea. BUT, still let's do it just for the sake of comparison.

Also, it's kind of impossible to do a balanced build in a notebook, your bottleneck will almost always be the GPU due to the fact that intel CPUs are quite strong but the GPUs are the one lacking behind (obviously due to heat management).

So, trying to find a decent GPU to compare I came up with 870m for laptop and r9 270x for desktop. The r9 270x is still 5%+ better but it's a pretty good comparison. The CPU will be the i7-4700mq for the laptop and the i5-4590 for the desktop.

Starting off with the laptop, it doesn't really make sense to get any extras such as SSDs or mouse because they'd cost exactly as much in the desktop and wouldn't add anything to this comparison really, so I'll take the "clean" option.

Looking at XoticPC which from what I've seen is the biggest seller or one of the biggest/most popular ones (correct me if I'm doing a mistake), the cheapest 17.3" notebook with a 870m is this one:
XOTIC PC | FORCE 1763 (22-069) w/ 870M (MSI GT70 Dominator Barebones)

So, what you get is:
17.3" 1080p LED TV + Sound
i7 4700mq
GTX 870m
1TB 5400rpm
2x4GB 1600 MHz CL11
Motherboard with LAN connection
Keyboard

This is all it gives you that you actually need for gaming.

For $1349.00, not considering cash discount because buying the parts separately for a desktop you could easily get 15%+ discount on each piece which would only make this comparison more biased.

Now for the equivalent (slightly stronger) desktop:

Most bought "small" TV at newegg (much better than the LED in the laptop):
Samsung UN22F5000 22" Class 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV - Newegg.com
for $177.99

The slightly stronger than i7-4700mq processor:
Intel Core i5-4590 Haswell Quad-Core 3.3GHz LGA 1150 84W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4600 BX80646I54590 - Newegg.com
for $199.99

The slightly stronger than GTX 870m graphics card (most reviewed and bought one at newegg):
MSI R9 270X GAMING 2G Radeon R9 270X 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Newegg.com
for $189.99

The faster HDD option than the one in the laptop:
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - Newegg.com
for $54.99

The far better RAM memory (CL 9):
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL - Newegg.ca
for $79.99

The motherboard with USB3.0 (and LAN obviously):
MSI H81M-P33 LGA 1150 Intel H81 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com
for $43.99

The most sold budget keyboard at newegg:
GIGABYTE GK-K6800 Glossy Black 103 Normal Keys 14 Function Keys USB Wired Standard Professional Multimedia Keyboard - Newegg.com
for $15.99

The great case (my favourite one):
COOLER MASTER N Series NSE-200-KKN1 Midnight Black Plastic bezel with mesh, steel case body MicroATX, Mini -ITX Computer CaseATX PS2 (Max. length: 180mm / 7.1 inch) Power Supply - Newegg.com
for $49.99

The newegg best rated and sufficient PSU (system peak power consumption of ~ 300W according to tomshardware and xbitlabs):
Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com
for $49.99

Total: $862.91



CONCLUSION

So basically, the laptop costs 56% more considering a TV and keyboard in the desktop build (which some people including myself won't have to buy), or a premium of $486.09 for mobility. If you don't buy the TV and keyboard you'd spend $668.93 for the desktop, or nearly exactly double the amount for the laptop instead of the desktop, which is exactly my situation and exactly what I said before, that you'd have in average to pay double the amount for mobility.

 

Don't forget the PSU for the desktop!

EDIT: I missed that somehow...

 

But there is one, the last item.

EDIT: Fair enough, haha.

 

I get your point saying you can save $400 building a desktop instead of buying a notebook, but it's totally missing the point if any mobility at all is a requirement... for a bunch of us, it is, even if it's just lounging on the deck instead of sitting in one fixed spot. Desktops simply don't fit into my lifestyle/wishes at ANY price. Even if you gave me that desktop above for free, I'd rarely actually use it and honestly wouldn't even want to have to make the space for it. Same reason I stopped buying consoles, they just sit in one place and collect dust.

But, I'm probably biased, as this is a notebook forum :thumbsup:

Also, I 100% agree with HTWingnut regarding his thoughts on performance as I also mentioned a few pages back: sure, there are faster options, but I also see High at 1080p more than good enough these days and would only be using a desktop card at 30% so it's essentially pointless.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/17-3-inch-N...8&qid=1402965981&sr=8-2&keywords=asus+g750+JM

Desktop with all features an Asus 750JM has ish.

£858.29 VS £947. Website doesn't sell a 17inch so i'll do a refig in a second.

If I went cheapest everything on stuff I could change like RAM and Case etc:

Asus GeForce GTX 750Ti 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £131.99
Intel Core i5-4430 3.00GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £131.99
Asus Z87I PROFESSIONAL Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini-ITX £124.99
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £49.99
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 2.5" 750GB 5400RPM SATA 6Gb/s 8MB Cache - OEM £41.99
Cubitek Mini Center Mini-ITX Case - Black Cubitek Mini Center Mini-ITX Case - Black £37.99
Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £32.99
Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24F1ST SATA ReWriter - Black (Retail) £17.99
Trust Spotlight Webcam Pro £14.99
OcUK USB Keyboard - Black £4.99

Can't find a 17 inch TV that does 1920x1080 so cheapest 1920x1080 screen i got is:
AOC E2250SWDAK 21.5" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £85.99


Total : £764.97
So £182.03 difference or $309.45

 

Sager NP7358: i7-4810MQ, GTX 860m, 8GB DDR3 1600, 1TB HDD, 1080p LCD, 8x DVDRW... $1000. Weighs 10lbs less, can go with you... /shrug/

 

@JinKizuite
Well, I'm not going to go into much detail of desktop PC building because this is a notebook forum, but still that build is pretty unbalanced. I'll just leave a few points and if you want you can ask for help in PC building forums or something if you're really interested in learning this.

First of all, a 430W PSU for a system with a GPU that only uses energy from the PCI express connection? That full build will most likely never consume above 220W. Then, a z87 chipset motherboard for a locked processor and 1600 MHz RAM? Seriously? Also, what is the point in a webcam and DVD drive for gaming? I haven't even opened my DVD drive in the last 2 years, do you actually still even use it? I know that a notebook comes with a webcam and DVD drive but would you really buy them if building a desktop? I surely wouldn't as I don't see any use for those. And we usually don't count the operating system in the budget because a lot of people already have licenses for those.

@HTWingNut
And your point is? You basically just threw an even more unbalanced (the GPU is heavily bottlenecking that system) 16% more expensive option that performs 35% worse in gaming , if anything that just further proves my point. Not sure if I'm not being clear enough here or something. My point is for the ones that want a gaming machine and are budget conscious a gaming laptop makes little sense.

If you don't mind paying double for a notebook then sure go ahead with it, I think these laptops are awesome, I just saw that you are with the impression that a gaming notebook costs close to an equivalent desktop and that is just very wrong.

 

How else am I to measure realistic costs of a prebuilt laptop vs a desktop (minus shop manual labour as you build it yourself) without the same features. I didn't factor in the thunderbolt port price that also comes with the laptop. The motherboard was because laptops come with wireless connectivity unlike your prebuilt desktop motherboard that only has LAN and the processor was the crappiest quad core haswell desktop to match the haswell quad core laptop. Couldn't find a lower power PSU but it would cut the total price by what? 40$ at most?

I can't accurately devalue a laptop of "worthless" stuff you would rather not have if we consumers can't opt to not have them in the laptop in the first place can I? That is straight up not a fair comparison where you neglect to include the prices of features that is built in on laptops, by assuming people already have monitors and what not that cuts down your valuation and skews the price difference.

For you it is not worth it because you already have half the stuff that laptops already come with. If we were to compare it fairly and objectively by including the price of everything, for the situation where people like me who doesn't have any desktop peripherals at all then the price difference isn't so much as your biased conclusion makes it out to be.

However even my with my price evaluation I still think current generation laptops still cost way too much for the performance I'm getting. A lessor quad-core and gimped GTX760 for $1,748.99? But Nvidia is really tempting me because my current rig is on it's last leg and it sounds like they wanna bait kepler out as much as they can all the way till April-June 2015 from the sounds of it. Really infuriates me, however from what they said with lowering their GPU costs a broadwell + maxwell combo should last for quite a few years at a much better price for performance than what we get now.

 

I don't have time right now but later I'll build a "more balanced" PC equivalent to yours using UK sites since that's apparently where you live. If I somehow don't manage to do it you could quite easily just use the build I made as a base and find those prices in UK, the difference should be the same compared to an equivalent laptop there. The PSU would depend how the prices in UK are, but with the motherboard alone you could save around $150 depending on how prices are in the UK.

My comparison does include a TV and a keyboard since that's what already comes with the laptop that's used for gaming. The fact that you can't opt not to have worthless stuff inside the laptop is another reason for going with a desktop with exactly what you need, isn't it? I also made a comparison for my case (and what I believe is the case of many people) not including the TV and keyboard.

Biased? Haha, I wish it was. I REALLY wanted to come to the conclusion that the price of laptops is worth the difference to the desktops. My conclusion is not biased whatsoever. I LOVE using laptops and as a matter of fact I'm currently using a old laptop that still better than my even older desktop and in the process of thinking which way I should go. All I did in this topic was that I compared a desktop with the closest equivalent laptop I could find with exactly what anyone would need for gaming. How is this biased?