[Build Help] Buying a higher end laptop vs buying cheaper laptop and building a desktop
Hey guys, so my brother is looking at getting a new computer primarily for school work and some gaming and is looking to order a laptop for about 1 000$. Here are the specs of the laptop he is looking to order:
3rd Gen Intel® Core™ i7-3632QM processor
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
1TB 5400RPM SATA HDD + 32GB mSATA SSD w/Intel Smart Response
Radeon™ HD 7730M 2GB
8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive)
I was wondering if he could get more for his money by purchasing a cheaper laptop and building a desktop with the leftover money. Here are the specs for a cheaper laptop he could get for about 650$ less:
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i3-3227U processor
4GB3 Single Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
500GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
Intel® HD Graphics
8X CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
Here is a quick build I put together using the leftover money:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor | $104.00 @ Vuugo |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard | $64.80 @ Amazon Canada |
| Memory | Patriot Intel Extreme Master, Limited Ed 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $63.53 @ Amazon Canada |
| Storage | Sandisk 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk | $74.73 @ Canada Computers |
| Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $45.97 @ Amazon Canada |
| Video Card | Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card | $215.00 @ Vuugo |
| Case | Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $34.48 @ Newegg Canada |
| Power Supply | Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply | $51.73 @ Newegg Canada |
| Optical Drive | Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer | $18.00 @ Vuugo |
| Total | ||
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $672.24 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-13 19:46 EDT-0400 |
I was wondering if this would be a better option for him. The two games he primarily plays are League of Legends and CS:GO, although he is looking at being able to play some other games in the future. Would the cheaper laptop be able to handle those 2 games? Would it be to his advantage to do this with the more expensive laptop or with the cheaper laptop and the desktop? Also, are there any changes I could make to the build to make it more cost-effective?
Posted Apr 13, 2013, 11:50 PM UTC