I’ve been building PCs for 20 years — trust me, buy a gaming laptop instead

[admin]

After my expensive rig broke yet again, my eyes have been newly opened to the delights of laptop gaming.

I’ve been building PCs for 20 years — trust me, buy a gaming laptop instead : Read more

Our sister site, Tom's Hardware (which covers tech from an enthusiast perspective), has a counterpoint: Why Building a PC is Still a Smart Move in 2023.

 

[Raistlin81]

I'm almost in the same boat...a few years difference, decided at my 40th two years ago to ditch the desktop as gaming laptops have sufficient performance to really replace the desktop now. The premium does also come from built in screen and battery backup (wouldn't try to game off the battery....) They are also getting better with driver support, the one thing that laptops have always suffered from is needing your vendor to update drivers rather than being able to use AMD or NVIDIA generic drivers. When I am ready for the next upgrade will probably get something that supports an egpu using oculink or xg mobile.

 

[russell_john]

All you probably need to do is go into your BIOS and point it at the boot drive again. It likely got messed up because you tried to install a CPU it had no clue existed because you didn't update the BIOS before hand something you should always do before install a new CPU. Then after you get it to boot up again go grab the latest BIOS, flash it and then install your new CPU. You may even have a motherboard where you don't even need a CPU installed to flash a new BIOS. The manual should tell you if it has that feature.

If you don't understand any of the above then yeah you should just stick to laptops and pre-builts

 

[AG2]

I feel sorry for you. Not everyone is capable to build functional PCs. That is sad truth. You should stop long ago. There are thousands thinks I can do at the level could be called OK, but I can build PCs well and for much longer then you. And different types, mostly not purely games oriented. I think your suggestion is wrong and misleading. If you are serious gamer go with consoles, period. If your game is not available on consoles and you still badly want to play, seek help of professional that help you select correct specs, parts and put them together so it works well. Just my 2cc based on 45 years in IT and 35 years in building PCs.

 

[realkuko]

If youre "sick" of such a basic thing, something that is 100% your own fault as well, you should really just stick to Prebuilts, Consoles or Laptops. Laptops are heavily overpriced and once you have a hardware problem, you cant fix it yourself anymore (or with great difficulty and cost-inefficiency).

Laptops have no use other than office work and being portable in situations when its not possible to stay in one place. Gaming on a Laptop will forever stay an expensive Scam.

 

[moobear]

, I sadly couldn’t get the world’s fastest gaming processor to boot. It s not the fastest gaming cpu that is common knowledge.

 

[reneb86]

Been building my PCs nearly as long. I recognize the pitfalls, but I don't recognize stepping into them over and over again.

Because the price of a core component is such a significant chunk of my monthly pay, I am extra diligent in choosing and matching my parts. I go high-end, but I don't assume every combination just works. There is a slight risk of course that I misread or misunderstood something. But 9 out of 10 times it just works. I'm drawn to the hobby because I feel that my diligence and accuracy pays off in cost efficient quality. Which is not a bad thing to feel good about. My cost efficiency takes a dip whenever I dabble in new things to try; like custom waterloops or custom hardtubing. But it's still fun to me.

Sorry that the author feels this way. I suppose it is not a hobby for everyone.

 

[mhinman2]

What are you going to do if there is an issue with your "gaming" laptop??

 

[J17]

I think the thesis here is a far leap. Missing a BIOS update hardly makes the hobby ineffective. Custom or OEM box, backup, backup, backup. And don't forget that backup... And never take your mission critical system down without a DR plan. Laptops trade efficiency for portability they have a use case, but will never be equivalent to a good custom build PC.

 

[Kevenmac]

I ran a Twitch gaming channel on a 2022 gaming laptop with three displays, two cameras, and associated audio equipment. Rarely could it not handle streaming and maintain frame rates. When I travel I just pull it out of the setup and take it on the road. If you have an inherent bias against gaming laptops based on the past, you should take a look again.

 

[Keng Yuan]

I tried to believe that in the past 20 years too, but spending twice as much for half the performance... Nah...

 

[Docbrody]

In 20 years of building PCs the writer hasn’t learned how and when to update the MB Bios? I find that extremely hard to believe. And then to recommend super expensive gaming laptops instead is very “let them eat cake.” Frankly it calls into question the credibility of the writer, and by extension Tom’s Guide.

 

[Draycos113]

DO NOT listen to anything this article says! This is absolutely terrible and incorrect advice. Gaming laptops are TERRIBLE investments and after a couple years of use, especially for gaming, this system will have to be replaced due to many issues. Gaming laptops are the epitome of scams and bad value. The price to performance ratio (any reputable PC builder that knows what they're doing will mention this) will tell you that laptops are terrible investments in this area. For $1,000 you can build something that is leagues better than any gaming laptop will give you (price it out yourself on PCPartPicker or your favorite parts site, and you will easily see this).

Just because the author of this article clearly made major mistakes during their build and got frustrated because they clearly have no clue what they're doing, doesn't mean you can go around giving terrible advice to consumers. It is your job to report on the "best bang for you buck" and informing the masses on the best they can get for their money.

With this all being said, there is a market for prebuilts, laptops, all-in-ones, but these will never be better and give you that price to performance ratio for your hard earned cash.

Many more reasons can be said but I'll leave it at this for now.

Masters in IT and over 15 years of corporate/consumer/retail experience in all kinds of technology.

 

[penn919]

I understand that building a custom rig can be an involved process and complications can occur, but the conclusion seems a bit of a non-sequitur. Clearly your issue pertains to technical issues you've encountered while attempting to build a custom PC. If the difficulty was the issue, then why not recommend pre-builts in general? How do laptops specifically address your grievances? In any case, I'm sure you're well aware that plenty people build custom PCs without such issues; you didn't even attempt to explain why they should "trust you" and opt for a gaming laptop instead.

 

[Dale Dantoni]

Ok so let me get this straight. You're recommending I go out and buy a $2500 as tested Laptop because you can't fix your gaming rig? What happens when the $2500 Laptop breaks and you can't fix it?

I mean wow dude. When I got my ordered my first PC last year it would boot but didn't give me a screen to look at. I spent a few weeks pulling parts and finally got it to work. It's been almost 2 years and it hasn't failed yet.

I did the same thing. Went out and bought a laptop while I tried to fix the desktop but quickly realized how AWFUL gaming on a laptop is.

I'm sorry but this article just makes you sound really lazy and spoiled. You're willing to turn your graphics settings all the way down on a very expensive laptop and make excuses as to why it's "just fine."

Idk where you're from but $2500 is a LOT of money to spend on a toy that becomes obsolete in less than 6 months.

 

[COLGeek]

A gaming laptop is "good enough" until it isn't. Then, you are stuck with a generally mediocre laptop with (usually) poor battery performance. It is certainly more mobile than a PC, but that is the only real plus when comparing to a PC.

A PC (since inherently modular) can have its useful lifespan extended significantly beyond its initial configuration.

 

[hypergreatthing]

Agreed with the other commenters. Suggesting expensive gaming laptops because of self induced problems seems dubious. How does one fix a laptop? Break out the soldering iron and have at it? Why not suggest prebuilts instead? They just work out of the box, the same with laptops while maintaining the possibility to fix and upgrade. If you don't need the portability of a laptop, then it's probably not a good fit.

 

[ArieAgung]

I'm agree with some of your point, building PC today is not as easy as the old days where everything almost really plug and play, today's there are so many factors that easily not compatible each other. For example you cannot just plug in NVME to any motherboard that have M2 slot. It's not that enjoyable anymore to build PC. I have to read many many article about the parts, there are so many catchs. I once spent almost two days to troubleshoot why the new built PC is not even boot up. Juggling to swap almost every part of it.
On the other hand gaming laptop is not comfortable at all, it's bulky, heavy, hot,and not repairable.

 

[BloodWolfe]

This is the most ridiculous article and suggesting a gaming laptop as the best course of action is absurd.

Gaming laptops are not better than desktops. They cost more, performance isn't as good, and if it has problems then good luck fixing it. Drivers are from the manufacturer and they only update for maybe a year then it's brushed aside for the next model (except GPU drivers, you can use direct amd and Nvidia for that). If you can't even build gaming desktops successfully then you're not going to have any luck with a laptop when it stops working.

The laptops are for those who move around and travel, otherwise a pre-built desktop would be the better option for you and the average gamer.

I've been building gaming rigs for over 20 years and never once ran into any issues. The problems you describe aren't the components, or pc in general but rather a YOU problem. Stop spreading misinformation because you are unable to successfully build and maintain a gaming pc. It's not everyone's strength and that's fine, but this article is ridiculous to suggest a gaming laptop as the be all end all option for gamers.

 

[HypnoticLya]

Sorry buddy but that's a skill issue you have there. I've been building PCs, "gaming" PC for almost twenty years. You couldn't figure out how to update the BIOS on your motherboard? Heck, I remember having to do that on an AMD motherboard during the Ryzen 2###-3### for someone. Had to flash it with their old CPU before putting in the new one. Heck, I've flash a BIOS on a Dell laptop to get it to recognize the NVMe socket that Dell didn't advertise was even in it! (11/10 deal on my end).

"Thermal paste crusted under my nails." Idk how you can make a mess of thermal paste like that. 🤷‍♀️ I don't think PC building is meant for you.