Help me find a nice laptop

[spikerS]

Hey guys, gonna pick up a new computer at the end of February as the one I have is getting pretty out of date and I can't play most of the games I want to, and load times are garbage. I could put a SSD in it, but that only fixes a small portion of my issues, so, I want to step things up.

Things I am looking for:
Would love a 17" screen
Would love it to have enough graphics capability to run multiple monitors off of it, and game with setting fairly high
needs to be able to stream and record on Twitch / Youtube
will also be a minecraft server for my kids to connect to
needs to have a number pad
as much ram as possible
Would prefer a laptop, but not against building a desktop
I have a budget of about $1k, but I can get myself some gift cards for Costco and Bestbuy, so the budget can be stretched a bit if shopping there
Also, i know it is hard to come by, but I really like the idea of removable batteries, which I haven't seen for years, so I don't even know if that exists anymore.

Thanks for the help guys, and if you can find links to the PC, even better!

[colsankey]

The lenovo x1 carbons are pretty sweet looking. Dell XPS machines are mediocre build quality, but the full warranty is great.
The game type laptops always seem so big and heavy that they have lots of power but I'd never want to carry one around.

[ExtraSlow]

X1 carbon is awesome, but not at all big enough for what he wants. Are you sure you want a laptop? I think you are going to be spending hundreds more than for a desktop of similar capacity.

[spikerS]

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The lenovo x1 carbons are pretty sweet looking. Dell XPS machines are mediocre build quality, but the full warranty is great.
The game type laptops always seem so big and heavy that they have lots of power but I'd never want to carry one around.

I am not too worried about protability. It will spend most of it's life on my desk, and only very occasionally being moved.

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X1 carbon is awesome, but not at all big enough for what he wants. Are you sure you want a laptop? I think you are going to be spending hundreds more than for a desktop of similar capacity.

In a perfect world it is a laptop because there will be those few times where I will need something protable, but, like I said, I am not opposed to a desktop.

[ExtraSlow]

$1000 actually seems super cheap for what you are looking for. But I'll let the magic geniuses tell you more helpful stuff.

[spikerS]

well, like I said, the budget isn't 100% fixed. If I can get my next laptop to stretch me 4-5 years, I am happy.

I just found this...seems good, but I haven't kept up on computer specs in a very long time.

https://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...vtz%2bs1LoQ%3d

NVM, didn't realize that was in USD

[revelations]

There is no real point in paying extra for a laptop when you can get a PC build that would serve you much better in the long run as you mentioned - not to mention cheaper to start.

You will always pay a premium for laptop components because of their miniaturization.

[dirtsniffer]

Not super helpful but the are cases that help with portability.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I don't know what resolution you game at, so I will assume 1080P. Here you go:

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/3M8bCL

You can tweak that up or down $100-200 pretty easily depending on your exact performance and aesthetic requirements. You can buy a legit W10 Pro key on eBay for $10.

Another thing you could do is build a micro/mini ATX build for maximum portability if you had peripherals at your other destination. It's pretty easy to build a PC in a 1-foot cube if needed.

[spikerS]

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I don't know what resolution you game at, so I will assume 1080P. Here you go:

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/3M8bCL

You can tweak that up or down $100-200 pretty easily depending on your exact performance and aesthetic requirements. You can buy a legit W10 Pro key on eBay for $10.

Another thing you could do is build a micro/mini ATX build for maximum portability if you had peripherals at your other destination. It's pretty easy to build a PC in a 1-foot cube if needed.

Thanks for building that. And TBH, I don't know what the different and current resolutions are. I am Guessing 1080P as well, but I don't really care what it is, as long as it will stay current for awhile.

on a scale of 1-10 for a gaming rig, where does this fall, and what would I be looking to do for first upgrades down the line?

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Thanks for building that. And TBH, I don't know what the different and current resolutions are. I am Guessing 1080P as well, but I don't really care what it is, as long as it will stay current for awhile.

on a scale of 1-10 for a gaming rig, where does this fall, and what would I be looking to do for first upgrades down the line?

It's really dependent on what resolution you want to game at and with what refresh rate and settings. 1080P gaming is largely CPU limited so you can get away with a low-mid range GPU. 1440P and 4K gaming is more GPU limited and that's where costs can increase quickly. Most people have 1080P monitors or close to it.

For 1080P gaming I think that build would have you satisfied for 4-6 years assuming historical trends continue. It's hard to give it a rating because how well it performs for games it is going to entirely dependent on display resolution, desired fresh rate, the specific games you play and the graphics settings you want within those games. Some games are way more demanding than others. The PC I built there is really high bang for the buck, basically at the highest point of diminishing return for 1080P gaming. I'd give it maybe an 8/10, with a 10/10 PC costing significantly more for what would probably not be a noticeable improvement for 1080P gaming. Down the road, the upgrade path would be smooth because a better GPU will be plug & play, as would an upgraded CPU for at least one more generation (AMD has guaranteed AM4 socket compatibility for at least one more generation). I doubt you would need more than 16GB of RAM in the next 4-6 years, but if you do, RAM is cheap. After 4-6 years I typically get an entirely new PC, but it really depends on you needs at the time -if a 6 year old PC is meeting your needs, there is no reason to upgrade.

Maybe what you could do is verify your monitor resolution (or give me the model number) and it will be easier to give you more specific answers.

[spikerS]

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.

Maybe what you could do is verify your monitor resolution (or give me the model number) and it will be easier to give you more specific answers.

As of right now, I do not have a stand alone monitor to use as my current PC is a laptop, and my other monitors are reserved for my work PC (5 of them). For the gaming PC, if I go the desktop route, I will be looking to get a couple, but no idea which ones yet.

[bulaian]

Not sure if this will suit your needs but I saw this come up today

$1600 laptop on clearance for $600
https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/hp-omen.../6000197261913

[Crazyjoker77]

I really think you need to up your budget to meet your goals. I mean the top end graphics cards break 1k by themselves (2080 is 950$, 2080TI $1500) Mitsu's build is pretty minimal and still comes in at nearly 1300$ and as you say you need to still buy peripherals, and fans. Monitors can easily blow your budget alone too....

Only way i see you getting what you want is if you used all 2nd hand parts. or lower your expectations.

I buy a new gaming laptop every 2-3 years and build a new desktop every 5-6. I've had pretty much all the brands of laptops and am most impressed by MSI.

i5 or ryzen 5 a must
16g of ram a must
1050ti or 1060-6gb
1tb of ssd

anything less than that would be a dealbreaker for me at this time.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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As of right now, I do not have a stand alone monitor to use as my current PC is a laptop, and my other monitors are reserved for my work PC (5 of them). For the gaming PC, if I go the desktop route, I will be looking to get a couple, but no idea which ones yet.

OK well in my opinion you need to figure out your display preferences before you choose a computer. For examples sake, if you buy a $10K PC and end up just wanting to play some older games at 1080P/60, that is a giant waste of money. Or, if you buy a $800 PC and decide you want to play the most demanding games in 1440P on 2 monitors with max settings, you will also be disappointed.

[spikerS]

well, as far as gaming goes, it is going to be playing minecraft with the kids (as a server and as my platform), I want to be able to stream to Youtube and Twitch, playing games like Civ, MTGA, maybe some COD and borderlands 3 type games. I think for display settings, I think maybe whatever is the current acceptable, which is guess is 1440.

[Xtrema]

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well, as far as gaming goes, it is going to be playing minecraft with the kids (as a server and as my platform), I want to be able to stream to Youtube and Twitch, playing games like Civ, MTGA, maybe some COD and borderlands 3 type games. I think for display settings, I think maybe whatever is the current acceptable, which is guess is 1440.

You are slowly edging toward a $2K desktop rig if you include a 1440p high refresh display.

And RAM is king if you are planning to tinker in minecraft server. You may want to bump it up to 32GB.

1660 Super should give you 80fps on 1440p but if you want higher framerate, you'll need a much beefier card like Mitsu said below.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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well, as far as gaming goes, it is going to be playing minecraft with the kids (as a server and as my platform), I want to be able to stream to Youtube and Twitch, playing games like Civ, MTGA, maybe some COD and borderlands 3 type games. I think for display settings, I think maybe whatever is the current acceptable, which is guess is 1440.

1440P gaming on dual monitors with some future-proofing means a GPU that probably costs at least double what I had in that build, so it will increase the cost significantly. 1080P gaming rigs are much cheaper if you are OK with that resolution.

[spikerS]

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1440P gaming on dual monitors with some future-proofing means a GPU that probably costs at least double what I had in that build, so it will increase the cost significantly. 1080P gaming rigs are much cheaper if you are OK with that resolution.

well, if I do go the desktop route, I can also upgrade as I go. so starting at 1080P is fine. I think that having a good future proof motherboard and CPU would be the most important thing, next being ram. I don't need a lot of HDD space, 500gb is probably plenty. As long as I can upgrade the video card to something better at a later date is probably the best way to go and get a nice monitor.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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well, if I do go the desktop route, I can also upgrade as I go. so starting at 1080P is fine. I think that having a good future proof motherboard and CPU would be the most important thing, next being ram. I don't need a lot of HDD space, 500gb is probably plenty. As long as I can upgrade the video card to something better at a later date is probably the best way to go and get a nice monitor.

The only thing I would adjust in that build relative to your desired gaming resolution is the GPU and PSU if necessary to handle a stronger GPU. The CPU, Mobo, RAM and SSD will be fine for a good while. The video card can be upgraded at any time, with the caveat that you may need to buy a beefier power supply depending on exactly which GPU you upgraded to. RAM is dead simple to upgrade as well down the road, but chances are you won't need more than 16GB for the foreseeable future. Upgrading the GPU or RAM is literally a 2 minute job if you decide to do so in the future. If you bought that exact build you would have a great 1080P gaming rig for several years. If you end up buying better monitors down the road and waiting to game in higher resolution, you would just need to swap the GPU. You could also buy a beefier PSU now so that is not an issue down the road, if you think it's likely you will upgrade the GPU.

I have a 512GB SSD for my OS, applications, and games and it's not even half full. For most people that is plenty unless you want to have many AAA game titles installed at all times, or have a large number of massive applications that you use all the time. I have about 40TB of dedicated storage as well as cloud storage, so as long as my OS drive isn't full I am unaffected.