i7 MBP or 13" MBP + desktop PC ?

[The ORly owl]

Hi, let me introduce my dilemma.

I currently have a 2 yr-old Acer Aspire 6920 which is about to sh*t the bed, if you know what I mean. I had the occasion during a training course to use OS X on an iMac and I fell in love with it. So I'm in the market for a new computing system which will allow me to use OS X and do casual gaming while being portable. I rarely game but when I game, I like it to look good.

I have about 2000€ to spend. The obvious choice would be the i7 15" since it would allow me to game at friends' houses BUT my common sense is tingling (as would say Deadpool) about spending 2000€ on a laptop. So I got the idea that I could get a 1k€ base 13" MBP and spend another 1k to build a nice mild-gaming PC tower.

Each solution has its own advantages and inconveniences and any exterior input would be greatly appreciated !

Thanks !

 

[Hellhammer]

I would get 13" MBP + gaming PC, as then you get much nicer graphs and bigger display, but still leaves you a nice and very portable laptop.

BTW, if you want a "portable" desktop, build a Mini-ITX one, there are mobos with LGA 1156 and PCIe x16 so you can have a quad core CPU and full size GPU, in almost as small as Mac Mini case. Let me know if you are interested, can post you the parts you need

 

[akkkmed]

Hi, let me introduce my dilemma.

I currently have a 2 yr-old Acer Aspire 6920 which is about to sh*t the bed, if you know what I mean. I had the occasion during a training course to use OS X on an iMac and I fell in love with it. So I'm in the market for a new computing system which will allow me to use OS X and do casual gaming while being portable. I rarely game but when I game, I like it to look good.

I have about 2000€ to spend. The obvious choice would be the i7 15" since it would allow me to game at friends' houses BUT my common sense is tingling (as would say Deadpool) about spending 2000€ on a laptop. So I got the idea that I could get a 1k€ base 13" MBP and spend another 1k to build a nice mild-gaming PC tower.

Each solution has its own advantages and inconveniences and any exterior input would be greatly appreciated !

Thanks !

That's not a bad idea at all. You can build a really good desktop for $1000 and still get the awesomeness of the 13" MBP for another $1000. Go for it! Especially with the 13", you'll have even more mobility than the 15".

For me, I'm also between the 13" and base 15". Your thread has made me think about the 13" + an affordable Mac Mini, probably refurbished. Thanks for sparking the idea!

 

[The ORly owl]

I would get 13" MBP + gaming PC, as then you get much nicer graphs and bigger display, but still leaves you a nice and very portable laptop.

BTW, if you want a "portable" desktop, build a Mini-ITX one, there are mobos with LGA 1156 and PCIe x16 so you can have a quad core CPU and full size GPU, in almost as small as Mac Mini case. Let me know if you are interested, can post you the parts you need

I'd really appreciate it ! In my appartment, the area dedicated to geeky machines is quite small so a small computer case would be great.

 

[Hellhammer]

I'd really appreciate it ! In my appartment, the area dedicated to geeky machines is quite small so a small computer case would be great.

Okay so you need:

Motherboard (Where to buy)
Then any Intel CPU with LGA 1156 socket e.g. Core i7 860 (same as in high-end iMac)
Most GPUs work too so e.g. ATI 5770 or 4870... (GPU support list)
Case with 300W PSU only 222 mm (W) x 176 mm (H) x 276 mm (D)! (Where to buy)

Then of course DVD drive (slim), HD (3.5" or 2.5"), RAM (DDR3) etc but those you should be able to find yourself.

Where do you live btw?

 

[The ORly owl]

I live in France (hello, pricey computer parts...). I think I'll be able to build a nice MiniPC for about 700€ and put 300€ into a sleek screen. I haven't much time to think about it now so I'll just order the MBP for now. Weeeeeeeeee~

 

[Hellhammer]

I live in France (hello, pricey computer parts...). I think I'll be able to build a nice MiniPC for about 700€ and put 300€ into a sleek screen. I haven't much time to think about it now so I'll just order the MBP for now. Weeeeeeeeee~

Okay, sounds fair! If you want to save some €, buy from UK or Ger as they have pretty cheap components.

If you need help with choosing the parts or building, drop me a PM, I build them for living

 

[JNickyJJ]

definately the 13" plus gaming desktop

i never usually reccomend PCs but it'll do you better then the 17" for the gaming etc