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Desktop or new laptop?

post #1 of 48
12/10/07 at 12:15am
Thread Starter 
Well, I bet this question has been asked before a lot but I'm kinda stumped here.

I currently own a black macbook, I love it, just absolutely love the system, however, Its not good for gaming. The only games I've been able to play here are minimal really. Ever since I played Call Of Duty 4 on my friend's Dell Inspiron 1720, I've just been itching to get something that can play that game. I currently play that game on my dad's iMac through boot camp, running everything up at max w/ 1920x1200 is just beautiful but he uses the machine a lot and the only times I can play are when he's asleep or not at home which is a hassle.

Right now, I have two route options. Currently, I have enough money to buy a cheap end desktop w/ a nice 19-20 inch Widescreen LCD monitor and a video card upgrade to a 8600GT @ 256MB GDDR3 for approx. 800 bucks more or less.

Or

I can sell my current macbook and use that money + what I have currently and get a macbook pro, 2.2ghz, 15".

Which do you guys think might be better? Also, keep in mind, I'm not a hardcore gamer. I don't need everything to run at max, if it can, great, if it can't but still runs great at med, that's great too. Anything but "not running" and 10 fps even on low is good for me.
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post #2 of 48
12/10/07 at 12:29am
Well, depends on whether or not you want the portability. If you want the extra portability, then get the better MacBook.

With the desktop option, you have the option of upgrading it later down the road to further improve its performance. That's another option to consider as well.
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post #3 of 48
12/10/07 at 12:40am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeForceTony View Post
Well, depends on whether or not you want the portability. If you want the extra portability, then get the better MacBook.

With the desktop option, you have the option of upgrading it later down the road to further improve its performance. That's another option to consider as well.
In terms of portability, it is a luxury but not a required option. I do notice for the desktop option, i would be able to upgrade down the road. The specs of the desktop I was thinking about are:

2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Processor
2GB DDR2 667MHz Ram
80GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200RPM
Intel Integrated X3100 (Upgrading to nVidia GeForce 8600GT 256MB)
DVD+/-RW Drive

Not the best but its not too bad.
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post #4 of 48
12/10/07 at 12:43am
If you can, at all costs, avoid a motherboard with onboard video, especially if you're going to be putting in a videocard anyways.
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post #5 of 48
12/10/07 at 12:45am
Oh, and also, another tip, ALWAYS go for the best motherboard you can.

Why? More upgrade options down the road (cheaper motherboards usually don't have as large an upgrade path as the higher-end boards do) and finally, reliability. You can skimp on CPU power, amount of RAM, etc, but NEVER skimp on the motherboard, OR the power supply. ALWAYS get a name-brand power supply (Antec, PC Power and Cooling, Enermax). It may drive up the price of the computer $100 or so, but it'll save lots of headaches down the road, believe me.
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post #6 of 48
12/10/07 at 1:54am
800 dollar budget could get you a nice desktop if you decide to build it.
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post #7 of 48
12/10/07 at 1:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeForceTony View Post
If you can, at all costs, avoid a motherboard with onboard video, especially if you're going to be putting in a videocard anyways.
wat does onboard video have to do with anything?

plug and play means these days you drop a video card in, and bios auto cuts off onboard video.......

so yeah......


soulsaver
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post #8 of 48
12/10/07 at 2:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GBrilliantQ View Post
800 dollar budget could get you a nice desktop if you decide to build it.
qft

and youll still have the macbook (unless i missed something and you said you were gonna sell it to build a system)
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post #9 of 48
12/10/07 at 2:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by soulsaver_8229 View Post
wat does onboard video have to do with anything?

plug and play means these days you drop a video card in, and bios auto cuts off onboard video.......

so yeah......


soulsaver
I think he meant in general a motherboard with on-board video is crap, even when you plug in that aftermarket vid card. Motherboards with on-board video are crap, crap, crap.
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post #10 of 48
12/10/07 at 10:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GBrilliantQ View Post
I think he meant in general a motherboard with on-board video is crap, even when you plug in that aftermarket vid card. Motherboards with on-board video are crap, crap, crap.
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post #11 of 48
12/10/07 at 12:47pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by soulsaver_8229 View Post
qft

and youll still have the macbook (unless i missed something and you said you were gonna sell it to build a system)
Its basically an either a Desktop + MacBook or just a MacBook Pro. Regardless, im gonna have a mac either way.

And I notice how mobos with onboard video are considered crap and all that... but do realize, I'm not gonna be overclocking like to the extreme and all that.. lol.. running games at Low/Med is pretty much what I normally do, only on rare times I would run it all at max (only if i know nothing would lag).

I'm actually more interested in the widescreen monitor then the desktop actually.. but it is a nice touch to get a desktop w/ a nice widescreen monitor for a cheap price.
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post #12 of 48
12/10/07 at 1:48pm
Stay away from onboard video. While some older games may work fine - rest assured some of the latest games will not run at all...even at low settings.

I will echo the remarks by GFT and GBQ - start with one of the newer mobos with one of the latest chipsets. This will allow you to easily upgrade over the next few years. You can build a decent gaming rig to fit your budget from there.
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post #13 of 48
12/10/07 at 3:43pm
am i the only one who thinks from OP point of view?

he has barely 800 dollars to put down on a rig.........

that means if the video card he buys goes out, guess what, if no warranty or while he waits for 3 month rma's he has no rig but the macbook......

onboard video is a worth while back up so you can still actualy use the computer


soulsaver
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post #14 of 48
12/10/07 at 7:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by soulsaver_8229 View Post
am i the only one who thinks from OP point of view?

he has barely 800 dollars to put down on a rig.........

that means if the video card he buys goes out, guess what, if no warranty or while he waits for 3 month rma's he has no rig but the macbook......

onboard video is a worth while back up so you can still actualy use the computer


soulsaver
Good point, but the rig in the first place would be solely for games. If my macbook somehow died.. well, thats another story. if the video card dies.. it would be a problem since I have sold out pretty much all my spare parts.

Now, if I had about 2 grand to spend on a rig, sure, I would get the best motherboard and power supply and such. It would be worth it. Right now, looking on newegg and other sites, I can barely get the motherboard, power supply and CPU before I hit the amount of $800. last time I checked, I can't run a system with only a mobo, cpu and power supply.
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post #15 of 48
12/10/07 at 7:13pm
When I get home from work, I'll give you a get you a nice complete rig.

Do you have a monitor and keyboard and all that jazz? Also are you looking at intel, amd... dualcore quadcore?
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post #16 of 48
12/10/07 at 7:39pm
http://www.notebookforums.com/thread208170.html

id get one of those, worth with asspenny, he can add almost anything you want......

so thats 430ish bucks.......so you have 370 to add more ram, and beefy video card......games dont need a huge hard drive......

that would be my advice......they are brand new

EDIT" put an 8800gt in it and youre golden!.......errr 2 gigs of ram.....then sell the vid card and ram it came with


soulsaver
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post #17 of 48
12/10/07 at 8:01pm
$800 is enough.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136075
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150264
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182017
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146565
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115013

BAM

That's pretty good, and there's another $100 left over after instants to add in your CD drive and any other goodies you want without even considering the extra $40 MIR.
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post #18 of 48
12/10/07 at 9:42pm
If you're not up to building one, here's a good deal at HP well within your budget:

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/105878

Use coupon code DT9949
(400 discount)

You can swap the 512 8600gt for a 256 8400gs and the e6750 for a q6600 for the same price of 757.74 out the door.

The downside is that it only has a 350 watt psu which might be a problem if you want to upgrade to a more powerful gpu. It uses an Asus mobo, but I don't know which model. Ugradeability might be limited. But for the price, can't beat it. BTW, if you want it cheaper, you can downgrade some of the components.

HP Pavillion M9000T
– Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
– Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor E6750 (2.66GHz)
– 2GB DDR2-667MHz dual channel SDRAM (2x1024)
– 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT, TV-out, DVI-I, HDMI
– No Modem
– 320GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
– LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
– 15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB, 1394, video, audio
– ATSC-NTSC TV tuner with PVR, FM tuner, remote
– Integrated 7.1 channel sound w/front audio ports
– Norton Internet Security(TM) 2007 - 15 Months
– Microsoft(R) Works 8.0
– HP keyboard and HP scroller mouse

Products subtotal +$1,099.99 *
Rebates -$0.00
Coupons (remove) -$400.00

Order subtotal +$699.99
Updating
Shipping & Handling +$0.00
Estimated tax +$57.75

Order total $757.74
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post #19 of 48
12/10/07 at 10:03pm
That is not bad at all.
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post #20 of 48
12/10/07 at 10:21pm
Been looking at this for several days now initially with the 450 coupon code and been tempted a few times to pull the trigger.....
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