Switching to desktop

I'm just wondering if my decision makes sense.

Over the past few years, I have been traveling relatively frequently, and have satisfied my gaming needs with laptops. I have gone both the route of the large DTR coupled with smaller mobile unit as well as the smaller, more powerful machine option.

Since I'm going to be in one country for the foreseeable future, wouldn't it make sense to continue using my tablet, sell off my 14", and purchase a desktop instead?

 

Well, yes, if you want to. It's really up to you. If you aren't going to be traveling a lot, then yes, it does make sense to sell off the 14" and buy a desktop.

Of course, with a desktop, that's more power for less money spent, but what happens in the case that you decide to travel again?

 

Sell the desktop and buy a laptop again.

 

Having owned both a high powered desktop and laptop during their same generations, I have to say I enjoyed the desktop more. Nothing beats the ability to upgrade or expand every aspect of a desktop.

 

desktop cuz you can always have a cheap netbook for mobile use

 

If I had had the money, I would have gotten a nice tablet (Thinkpad X200t comes to mind) plus a nice desktop. But unfortunately, money doesn't grow on trees and I therefore opted for a balanced notebook - the reason I went for my T500 was that I occasionally game and do some graphically-intensive tasks, and I do not carry my Thinkpad to school every day.

However, I usually recommend that if you are going to be mobile, and yet occasionally need power, to get a netbook + desktop. Seeing as you have a tablet already, a desktop seems to make sense for you, as it makes one large disadvantage irrelevant (awkward working on a netbook for extended periods - an ultraportable tablet on the other hand, would be just fine for a main machine).

Long-winded answer, but basically, I chose option 1

 

To be honest, that's the conclusion I'm coming to after thinking about it for quite a while. I seriously considered purchasing a M17/Sager D901C/Asus G73jh, but the mobility factor just seems to be less useful now. My tablet isn't particularly powerful, but the T7200/GMA950 is still decent enough.

Would rep you if I could.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, does Midnight Sun's extended reasoning make sense?

Also, I have never actually built my own desktop. On the bright side however, I'll be able to have it put together without having to pay for the assembly fee, merely cost of parts. Albeit, inflated part cost compared to the States.

 

I'll be going back to a desktop if dell's new 15" precision is 16:9.

The only disadvantage is portability, everything else is better on a desktop...by a mile, I consider not lugging work and antisocial toys around with me, a pro, I will miss it though.

 

I made the switch back in September, sold my sli gaming notebook and built a custom desktop. No regrets. Although I still have 2 laptops, I never use them at home.

Here's my build,
http://forum.desktopreview.com/showthread.php?t=238724

And here's a great guide from Angelicvoices,
Current Best Computer You Can Get for $X U.S.

 

Oh, also, what's with the "I Like Cardboard" entry in the poll, dtwn?

A lot of people seem to be voting for it...

Do you mean that you are going to use a cardboard box as a case? Like this one:

 

Desktop gaming ftw.

But Notebook Review still owns whereas Desktop Review is inhabitated by crickets. So stick with the laptop.

 

I used to game on my outdated desktop. TF2, Mass Effect, Crysis, COD4 on my AMD Athlon 1.8GHz + ATI 9600. When I started college in 2008 and had to buy a notebook, I figured it would be cheaper to get a powerful notebook to replace my desktop. For almost 2 years, I thought it was the best investment I ever made. It was powerful enough to play most games at playable framerates and do my homework on (Maya), yet still small and light enough to be brought around.

Well, that was until my home desktop conked out and my dad decided to replace it. Since only my mum used the home desktop at that point in time, my dad figured he would just replace it with lower-end parts. C2D E8600 + ATI 9600. I looked at the parts and I thought, hey, might as well upgrade it to a C2Q 9400 since it's only $20 more, and get an ATI 5770 in the mean time to go with it.

And that was the end of my laptop gaming. Made absolutely no sense to play on a laptop producing 20 - 30 fps when my desktop easily churned out 60fps. I don't even want to touch my laptop for gaming anymore, and I'd gladly trade it for something lightweight, like a Sony Vaio Z.

 

i just switched to a desktop for power back in november.

i realized the 7000 series nvidia cards weren't supporting particular games anymore being that they're old, and my C2D at 2.0 ghz with 667 FSB was getting a bit sluggish. i wanted a new computer, but i wasn't willing to dish out another 2000+ for a gaming laptop, so i opted the sub 1K route and built a medium end desktop and it works great.

since i already had a netbook for a few months, i did my mobile computing on that, and my laptop became just a desktop that took up less space. in the end, i replaced my moms Pentium 3 computer downstairs with my M9750, so for her it was quite the upgrade, and for me it was quite the upgrade. win-win.

though, i enjoy gaming on a laptop much more than a desktop just because i can pack it up and go, but the performance was beginning to lack.

 

LMAO.

I just believe in providing options.

I don't think I'll be using a cardboard case just yet. I'm surrounded by them since I'm packing though, perhaps it was my subconscious.

Thanks for the links! I was looking at the Slickdeals version of it.

 

Awesome poll. Cardboard 4 life

Just to keep this post on topic, I suppose I should say that the performance of a high end gaming laptop resembles that of a 2 year old ~$1000 gaming desktop. And many gamers would consider 2 year old hardware to be "aging" and "in need of upgrades" so a gaming laptop is dated the moment it's available.

 

Well, in case you do decide to do that, it's possible. I know of someone who did it, and they posted pictures on a forum and timestamped it. He claimed that it ran quite cool too, even cooler than his Antec 1200.

 

That's a reasonable point. Note, however, that I'm not particularly demanding. While I like smooth gameplay, I very rarely play games when they are immediately released. The newest recent game that I played within a few months of its release was L4D. Since my rig then was a Q9450 SLI 8800M GTX, I had no issues with it at all. Switching to a P8600 9650M GT was also acceptable. I lost some frames and quality, but not enough to bother me.

Right now, I'm playing switching between DOW 2, Rome: Total War and Red Alert 3. None of these games are particularly demanding. Heaviest game I own is probably GTA IV (Due to its crappy optimization), L4D2 and Sup Comm or COH(due to the CPU demands). As I get older, I seem to lose the affinity for FPSes, reactions are slowing and I get nauseous way too quickly.

Since I'm somewhat reasonable about the demands on my machines, I was inclined to think that a mid-range desktop would be adequate, probably something packing a 5770 or something along those lines.

Hmmm, any particular kind of cardboard? I do have a lot lying around.

 

I'm not sure whether it needs to be any particular kind, but I think the person who did it was using a number of old video card boxes and was just running the cables through them. I think you would have to be very good at working out how to cool it though, you could potentially have components pretty much baking themselves in there.

 

I built a server in a cardboard box one time. Called it Funky Chicken because the box was covered in pictures of chickens.

 

Lol, that's pretty good.

How did you figure out cooling? And did it run cool?

 

Desktop gaming FTW, though expensive on the 'ol pocketbook. My desktops initial form was quite cheap yet upgradeable as I intended. It was like this in it's initial form, with then-prices (IIRC) in parenthesis:

Raidmax Smilodon Case ($90)
Raidmax 630W Modular (well sort of) PSU ($80)
MSI 770-C45 AM3 Mobo ($70)
AMD Athlon II 250 3.0 GHz ($75)
Sapphire ATi Radeon 4670 1 GB DDR3 ($70)
G. Skill 2 x 1 GB DDR3-1333 ($40)
Sony OEM Super Multi-Drive ($30)
Samsung 160 GB HDD ($50)
Windows XP SP3 ($109)
Generic 6 ft HDMI ($15)

Totals out at just under $650, assuming no errors and no tax and shipping. Also, I'm fairly sure I didn't pay that much either, I think a number of the items on the list were on sale at that particular time. Either way, pretty good I say for last August for a machine that was readily upgradeable to much higher standards and already a good gaming machine to boot. Funny too how 1) in the initial form, I say my desktop was pretty much good enough though weak with the heavy hitter (Crysis lol) and 2) I really didn't need the upgrade, I really needed Win7 and a second bigger HDD. Most games I could run in maxed 1080p quite easily with either 2x or no AA. The Radeon 4670 OC's pretty well also. Evolved into what it is now with a Phenom II x4, 1 TB HDD, 4 GB RAM, Radeon 5850 1 GB, and Win7 64, it's quite a screamer. Those upgrades are pretty much another $700, but well worth it. Building what I got is easily achievable for under $1000 now. When 1080p is your rendering standard, you like to stick to it

Finally, I must add that my Athlon II 250, Radeon 4670 1 GB, 2 GB of DDR3, as well as an accidentally bought and unreturnable copy of Win7 32 are in need of a good home

 

Same thoughts as just about everyone else, if you're not going to moving very often for the foreseeable future then the desktop with its ease of upgrading and higher performance for lower cost is the clear winner.

 

On an upside, if you can't "game on the go", then chances are you'd restrict your "game time" when at home and it might be better(or at least easier) to manage work/play time; not of course that I'm saying you have time management issues, just pointing out the fact from what I've noticed

 

That's something I noted as well. Still, my tablet works for Homeworld, so that will keep me occupied.

Part of the reluctance is that I've been gaming for the past 7 years or so on a laptop. And while I did game before that, I never owned a dedicated gaming machine, just the family desktop and machines I would use at cyber gaming places. First decent gaming machine of my own was the Dell I8600 with the ATI mobility 9600 Turbo, which was replaced by the 9700 a month ater I got mine, go figure. Switching to a desktop feels like I'm betraying my roots. :laugh:
I'll probably be grabbing a wireless keyboard/mouse set up to give myself some of the mobility previously available. At least within the room.

 

I don't move around much but I still spent more time gaming on my laptop than I did my Xbox360. In a few weeks I will be away from home for about a week and (assuming my W860CU has arrived by then) I will be taking my entire gaming collection with me along with movies etc in my rucksack.

I play a lot of old games and a few recent ones but I am quite happy with 30-60 fps at native res. I tried Desktop gaming years ago but always found that I didn't like having to stay in the same location and never found it as relaxed.

You will never beat the power of a Desktop but you will never beat the convenience, portability and freedom of a decent gaming laptop either. If I could only game at 20 fps and was severely limited to old games and the laptop couldn't handle any new ones then that would be a different story.

I see technology all about freedom and options. I am more of a casual gamer though. Maybe if I was a real hardcore gamer I would want a Desktop with Triple or Quad GPU's (if they exist), liquid cooling, 3 X 52 inch screens, 3D, Motion sensors, and uranium as its power source (future).

 

Would 2 double GPUs count as a quad setup?

 

IIRC they don't count since despite having 2 GPUs on a same card, an SLI/CrossFire setup is determined by number of cards, not GPUs.

Like I said, before, it's all about priorities when picking a machine. Price, portability, form factor, performance.. it's all relative to who you are, what you do and how you do it.

 

Desktop is better price/performance ratio. But this is pointless as everyone's value system is different. As I said in an earlier thread, I am a busy working dude. I counsel clients daily which is very draining. So I either fire up some CS:S, L4D or COD in Bed, on a sofa, or anywhere where I can just throw a mouse pad on a flat surface. There is nothing better than laying in bed playing a game and just zoning out while listening to your favorite playlist...according to my needs and my current value. So for that, my "return on investment" has nothing to do with price/performance ratio. You can't dollarize what I am talking about so I think everyone has to assess their needs and act accordingly. I mean it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize desktop gaming is not only cheaper; more upgradable and better performance.

 

I guess there are two questions you should ask your-self:
- how long is your foreseeable future?
- are you staying in the same city in the country?