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Gaming desktop vs. MBP

lykranian said:
I think I'll try building my own. It would be cheaper, from what I found on CyberpowerPC.
Thanks for all the help! Are there any important tips I should know?
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1. GROUND YOURSELF. I can't believe the sheer amount of people complaining about how their RAM isn't working, etc. when it's all due to them forgetting to ground themselves. No static = no damage
2. Apply thermal paste correctly, or your CPU could easily overheat (considering you're using a quad-core, this is even more likely if you mess up).
3. Don't try overclocking right away. Test the rig after you're done.
4. Ensure tight screws, connections, and components. Make sure your rig is solid.
5. Check forums like Overclock.net, Cnet.com, etc. for advice.
 
How'd you like to be playing World of Warcraft or whatever in bed on your laptop, leveling up your character in full max setting before you fall asleep...
 
lykranian said:
I'll be sure to assemble it correctly, and I know a few tech-experts who could help me.

What do you guys say about monitors? What's the best 120hz screen available currently?
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http://www.overclock.net/monitors-displays/662628-60hz-vs-120hz-explained.html
You might want to read that first to see if you REALLY need a 120Hz monitor, and if your rig can even handle a 120Hz monitor. Most likely it won't in most cases.
A good monitor is...:apple:Cinema Display! Not being a fanboy but seriously, that's a beautiful screen. Only downside is, it's a bit TOO glossy. I like glossy screens, but this one's overdone it. A super good thing about it, though, is IPS.
This one has good reviews: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254052 Also a good resolution if you want to go Hackintosh.
 
Have you researched AleinWare? They are built for gaming and they are sponsored by Dell, and they are sold on Dell's site so they obviously are trustworthy. The best advice is go to your local Dell/Apple/BestBuy/Computer seller and try the model out yourself and ask an employee all your questions regarding how it will handle your gaming.

Oh and please don't be my brother and end up not driving, doing anything with others except gaming, and not want to see family. Release yourself from the games at times :) I don't like when people go grumpy towards others because of games (i.e my brother...) Basically what I'm saying: Don't play it non-stop. :D

AleinWare
 
It all depends on how serious you are with gaming. When I got my MBP 13"; Mass Effect 2 just came out. I had the basic config, 2GB Ram.
Using Bootcamp with Windows 7; I was able to play ME2 pretty good. A friend of mine that a MBP 15" his was performance looked great to me.
 
lykranian said:
Hey bro, I've only had a gameboy. I'm a senior in high school, and I'm going to study Biomedical Engineering at CalPoly SLO. I think it's perfectly fine for me to spend money, build my own kickass rig (which would handle a 120hz monitor, btw). I drive, I see friends, but I also want to play some games. Your advice is great, and I agree 150% with you, but place your concern elsewhere, please. :)
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Did you mean me talking about my brother and his non-stop stuff? Oh, I just meant...well you see when someone talks to me about gaming, in a couple of weeks I find them addicted. I usually throw that in there when anyone is talking about doing huge purchases or something like that for gaming. :) Thanks for responding nicely as another thread I'm having an argument with many members on something rather simple.
 
KazeKrazy said:
Have you researched AleinWare? They are built for gaming and they are sponsored by Dell, and they are sold on Dell's site so they obviously are trustworthy. The best advice is go to your local Dell/Apple/BestBuy/Computer seller and try the model out yourself and ask an employee all your questions regarding how it will handle your gaming.

Oh and please don't be my brother and end up not driving, doing anything with others except gaming, and not want to see family. Release yourself from the games at times :) I don't like when people go grumpy towards others because of games (i.e my brother...) Basically what I'm saying: Don't play it non-stop. :D

AleinWare
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1. Alienware used to be good. After the acquisition by Dell, it's utter *****, including build quality.
2. They're huge. 1.3 inches thick (correct me if I'm wrong, but I know for a fact they're over an inch thick).
3. 8-9 pounds on your shoulders is gonna break your back.
4. They only have a 14" model.
5. Customer support is so bad that it might as well be nonexistent. Don't call me a hypocrite yet! If you're going to build a custom rig, it's pretty much the same. HOWEVER, half of the individual components at least have some warranty on it.

Dell has turned a quality laptop brand into an overpriced gimmick loaded with crapware and crap build quality. NEVER buy from Dell, unless your budget is $400.
OH AND ALSO! Have you considered a Sager? Or is it too expensive?
 
lykranian said:
And, from what I hear, alienware is extremely nice, but it's the Apple of PCs. Overpriced and whatnot.
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Please read my comment.
Also, your hardware may support 120Hz, but not your software. If your programs pump out 60Hz graphics, then the 120Hz monitor go into a 60Hz mode.
 
Prodo123 said:
1. Alienware used to be good. After the acquisition by Dell, it's utter *****, including build quality.
2. They're huge. 1.3 inches thick (correct me if I'm wrong, but I know for a fact they're over an inch thick).
3. 8-9 pounds on your shoulders is gonna break your back.
4. They only have a 14" model.
5. Customer support is so bad that it might as well be nonexistent. Don't call me a hypocrite yet! If you're going to build a custom rig, it's pretty much the same. HOWEVER, half of the individual components at least have some warranty on it.

Dell has turned a quality laptop brand into an overpriced gimmick loaded with crapware and crap build quality. NEVER buy from Dell, unless your budget is $400.
OH AND ALSO! Have you considered a Sager? Or is it too expensive?
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I agree with you. My $500 Dell laptop feels like cheap plastic that I could snap, and trust me, I'm weak. I just mentioned AleinWare because my brother was thinking about it. And problem with them that I just found out, you're paying for the eye candy ability to change the light settings on every exterior light. That's a big money maker...I mean have you seen the Optimus Maximus keyboard? $2000 but it's a fully customizable keyboard. Every key is a tiny LCD screen yet it's the WORST typing keyboard on the planet.
 
akhbhaat said:
I have a homebuilt desktop (core components were upgraded 14 months ago on a <$800 budget) and a 2011 13" MBP. In addition to gaming, my uses include programming/software development and image manipulation (Photoshop), and I'm very satisfied with this combination.

My brother has a top of the line 2011 15" MBP. While it can run most newer games, it's still significantly slower than my desktop where gaming is concerned, despite the fact that said desktop is now over a year old and has a mid-range GPU (Radeon 5770). Towards the end of this year I will likely replace the 5770 with a next generation high end card (for all of ~$250 at that), and the aforementioned comparison will then border on absurdity. Because powerful GPUs will eat up a lot of wattage in short order and put out a lot of heat to match, they don't pair well with mobile platforms and thus there's really no alternative to a proper desktop if you have any serious interest in gaming.

Besides, it's nice to have some level of redundancy in a worst case scenario. Laptops are relatively prone to theft and hardware failure (though you can certainly mitigate the risk of the former to a very low level). Oh, and definitely build the desktop yourself. It's really pretty easy these days (what with the vendors themselves matching parts for you, and every major hardware site out there offering build guides) and you'll get better parts for the money. Putting it together can be fun in its own right, if you enjoy tinkering.
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Would hardly call a 5770 mid range. Not exactly high end but still. Considering the desktop is one year old and has that card i find it extremely hard to believe what you say. I also disagree, A serious gamer really doesn't know that unless you have super high resolution screens, then you don't need a super GPU. The GPU & CPU in the macbook pro generate 1920 x 1080 @~70FPS in Cyrsis 2 (Very similar in black ops) when slightly over clocked and when not still get ~30-40FPS. Not saying your wrong just that a lot of this is over blown in what you need. The human eye can't normally see above 45FPS (Some can unfortunately like me), however a screens refresh rate is normally 60Hz so anything more will only result in screen tearing and you will have to turn on vsync. The real problem in gaming is when your avid kid style gamer grows up in believing that they need every single option on max, often sensible decisions, i.e. turning off all the options which don't make any visibile difference can add 20FPS to your frame rate (If you exclude AA). The simple fact is things like AA make very little difference on hi res screens and especially so when you actually start playing. Shadows is a common option in games and although you can easily see the difference when standing around in any online game you are constantly running and having shadows on hinders your gameplay. I suppose my only point is that a real gamer only needs a 256MB at least 512MB preferred or better GPU, a half decent CPU and to go search online for custom profiles/preferences, however the gaming society is going to change so i welcome advances in Computer processing power and it will be lovely when all these "extra" options don't even need to be turned off.
 
Macsavvytech said:
Would hardly call a 5770 mid range. Not exactly high end but still. Considering the desktop is one year old and has that card i find it extremely hard to believe what you say. I also disagree, A serious gamer really doesn't know that unless you have super high resolution screens, then you don't need a super GPU. The GPU & CPU in the macbook pro generate 1920 x 1080 @~70FPS in Cyrsis 2 (Very similar in black ops) when slightly over clocked and when not still get ~30-40FPS. Not saying your wrong just that a lot of this is over blown in what you need. The human eye can't normally see above 45FPS (Some can unfortunately like me), however a screens refresh rate is normally 60Hz so anything more will only result in screen tearing and you will have to turn on vsync. The real problem in gaming is when your avid kid style gamer grows up in believing that they need every single option on max, often sensible decisions, i.e. turning off all the options which don't make any visibile difference can add 20FPS to your frame rate (If you exclude AA). The simple fact is things like AA make very little difference on hi res screens and especially so when you actually start playing. Shadows is a common option in games and although you can easily see the difference when standing around in any online game you are constantly running and having shadows on hinders your gameplay. I suppose my only point is that a real gamer only needs a 256MB at least 512MB preferred or better GPU, a half decent CPU and to go search online for custom profiles/preferences, however the gaming society is going to change so i welcome advances in Computer processing power and it will be lovely when all these "extra" options don't even need to be turned off.
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Post this on a gaming forum and see what kind of feedback you get.
 
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