Should I get a laptop, or a desktop?

[Guest]

Hey everyone.

I'm trying to decide whether I should buy a laptop or build a desktop. I want to be able to play games at mostly high settings (I can deal with some medium settings, v-sync and AA not being enabled and such) but I would like to be able to play games at mostly high settings @ 1366 x 768 resolution.

I'm always on my current laptop, but it's slowly dying, and I know I'm going to need a new computer soon (whether it be a laptop or desktop,) so maybe you guys can help me decide.

Here's the desktop I plan on building if I go with a desktop:
DESKTOP SPECS:
Processor: AMD FX-4170 Quad-Core @ 4.2GHz
Motherboard: ASUS AM3+ AMD 760G Motherboard
Graphics Card: ASUS Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Green 1.5TB 7200RPM HDD
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws 1066MHz 4GB (1x4GB) RAM
Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular PSU
Chassis: Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid-Tower


PRICE: $551 APPROX. AFTER TAXES AND SHIPPING.


Here's the laptop I plan on getting if I go with a laptop:
LAPTOP SPECS:
Model: Samsung NP355V4-S01CA
Screen Size: 14"
Native Screen Resolution: 1366 x 768
Processor: AMD A10-4600M
Processor Cores: 4 Cores, 4 Threads
Processor Speed: 2.3GHz
Processor Cache: 4MB L2 Cache
HDD Capacity: 750GB
HDD Speed:5400RPM
RAM Size: 6GB
RAM Speed: 1600MHz
RAM Type: DDR3
Graphics Chipset: AMD Radeon HD 7660G + HD 7670M Dual Graphics
Video Memory: 1GB Dedicated
Video Type: Unknown (not sure if it's GDDR3 or GDDR5)
FREE COPY OF DIRT 3

PRICE: $740 APPROX. AFTER TAXES.

 

[Guest]

You will be able to get MUCH better FPS, higher resolution and way higher settings with the same budget on a desktop. It all comes down to: to you want the option to take it with you or not?

Either way, DON'T get an AMD processor for gaming. There will be some fanboys, but honestly Intel is just way faster. Look up the benchmarks for yourself.

Also, the desktop graphics card you posted is 3 generations old. Get a GTX 600 series card or a Radeon 7000 series card.

Just remember: get Intel, they're just so much faster.

I can get the 4850 for next to nothing, which is why I'm going with the 4850 for now.

 

[nsouter853]

You will be able to get MUCH better FPS, higher resolution and way higher settings with the same budget on a desktop. It all comes down to: to you want the option to take it with you or not?

Either way, DON'T get an AMD processor for gaming. There will be some fanboys, but honestly Intel is just way faster. Look up the benchmarks for yourself.

Also, the desktop graphics card you posted is 3 generations old. Get a GTX 600 series card or a Radeon 7000 series card.

Just remember: get Intel, they're just so much faster.

 

[nsouter853]

Consider getting 2x 4850's in Crossfire then. My friend has that setup can can run most modern games with low-medium at at least 30fps. The fact that those older cards have such little memory can often bottleneck them. Of course this is with his Intel i5 processor.

 

[vegettonox]

I have a separate machine with 2 4850s in it and its rather decent but i really have to crank it down to run anything newer like bf3, push for the 7850+ or 570+ series

 

[gregaaron89]

I can get the 4850 for next to nothing, which is why I'm going with the 4850 for now.

Get a 6770 or something, it's probably not that much more money, more powerful, and 2 generations newer

The conventional wisdom is to buy current generation if you want performance, and last generation if you want value. Anything older than last gen you should really avoid buying new.

 

[Guest]

Best answer selected by firinmylazerman.

 

[dansgas1000]

You will be able to get MUCH better FPS, higher resolution and way higher settings with the same budget on a desktop. It all comes down to: to you want the option to take it with you or not?

Either way, DON'T get an AMD processor for gaming. There will be some fanboys, but honestly Intel is just way faster. Look up the benchmarks for yourself.

Also, the desktop graphics card you posted is 3 generations old. Get a GTX 600 series card or a Radeon 7000 series card.

Just remember: get Intel, they're just so much faster.

INTEL IS THE BEST