While I would agree that for gaming for the average person, a laptop is probably a good decision, I disagree with your advice in this column that people should not build a PC. Let’s start with the obvious: you chose to be at the leading edge of technology. These choices come with negatives including less stability. I too have built PCs for over 20 years and there are three main configurations I would not choose if I wanted stability.
- Windows 11. Frankly I am using Windows 10 for as long as I can as 11 is still too unstable for my tastes especially if you are using the latest hardware. Like many early versions of Windows, drivers are a mess.
- RTX 4090. While NVidia calls this a gaming GPU, it really for productivity. NVidia will happily sell it to you though if you want to game with it.
- Intel Core i9 13900K. Even in the best scenario, this chip is only slightly faster than AMD offerings. I have recommended against Intel to friends since the 10th generation. Ryzen is just better for gaming and in many cases cheaper.