Needing opinion from the community on small matter.

[RyuKurama3]

To point out quickly , I was mainly a console gamer.well after learning how easy it was to install mod(and beneficial to gameplay) , I've decided to invest in a "gaming rig" which I've had to actually find out what that that was. So here's my question :

 

Is there any benefits differing from an computer and a laptop concerning fps, and concerning things in that nature.

 

Not very ,erm , computer inclined ? Idk but I'm reading up on alot of things

[CubeCat]

In reality you don't want to go for a gaming laptop, ever. Reason being that they are not future proof in the sense that you can't buy them a new graphics card, or what have you. Maybe if you're super tech savy you could, but you're clearly not. But also because, having owned both for many years, laptops tend to mess themself up and they are sensitive to heat. That may sound weird, but every laptop gets eventually to a "point of no return", what I mean with that is that should it get too hot and it shuts itself off, it most likely wont ever go back to being as good as it was. I don't know what it is with laptops, but once they are messed up it's hopeless to try fix them. Yeah they may be handy and, it's always fun to show them off to your friends, but investing in a gaming laptop is the worst kind of investment you can do.

 

Learning how to build a gaming computer would be good for you, but you needn't build it yourself; if you have friends you can always ask for help, or if you find a trustworthy company to build it for you that's even better. Either way it will benefit you greatly to learn how to build a computer yourself, if not learn a few things or two as it's good to be able to fix it yourself if something happens. Anything madmade can go to shits obviously.

 

Concerning FPS, yes the difference is absolutely there, if you plan on gaming the future generation of games a laptop you buy now will have trouble in the near future.

 

When building a gaming computer you should focus on a decent motherboard, a decent graphics card and an SSD(once you use an SSD you will never want to go back to a normal harddrive) and RAM(you want to have 8gb of RAM at a minimum IMO). Get a good cooler (i.e Noctua) for your CPU should you want to overclock(altho honestly, this is NOT needed) and make sure you've a powersupply that can power your graphics card.

 

Hope this helps, good luck.

[Dark0ne]

There are good reasons for wanting a gaming laptop, if you can afford it. For example, I have a very powerful desktop rig that stays in my office 24/7/365. However, I go to about 8-10 LAN events a year for 2-5 days at a time, as well as travel the UK a lot staying with gamer friends. For my purposes, a laptop made far more practical sense. I didn't want to be constantly packing down and packing up my desktop, and disturbing my delicate desk real-space, every time I went away. Even better, it now means I can take the train to the UK's biggest LAN event rather than having to drive. I can fit my laptop plus accessories, a 24 inch monitor and clothes for 6 days in to a single suitcase. Setup and packing down is fast, quick and extremely easy. I sit and laugh at my friends who bring their desktops when they're trying to do the same. Sorted.

 

When I got my own first gaming PC when I was 16 I was travelling around constantly taking it to friend's houses and doing mini-LANs. A gaming laptop would have been more efficient, BUT, I wouldn't have been able to afford one at that time. I'd scrounged together about £450 (~$650) to build my first PC, and that certainly wouldn't have bought anything gaming worthy from a laptop back in those days.

 

Laptops are a luxury you go for if you're planning to travel a lot with your gaming rig. You will pay 40%-100% more for a comparable system in a laptop over a desktop. If you buy a decent one, it will last you a good 4 years, perhaps more, depending on what sort of games you play and what you're comfortable with in regards to quality and FPS. My laptop has an i7 processor and 2x970M graphics cards in SLI. I've had it a year and it'll last a good 3 years yet playing pretty much any game at max settings over 60 FPS. I could stretch it to probably 5-7 years if I was happy dropping my quality settings to maintain an acceptable FPS level. But for me, as soon as my system becomes unable to maintain high settings at 60 FPS, I'll change again.

 

Remember that this generation of consoles is the Worst. Period. Generation. Period. Ever. Period. In terms of hardware specs. The PS4 and XBone were out of date before they were even released. The PS4, considered to be the most powerful of the two, uses a comparable HD 7870 graphics card that was released in early 2012. The vast majority of games we all play are going to be made for multiple platforms and have to accommodate the consoles as well. You will get a better experience on the PC (there's plenty of comparison videos out there for games out now), however, these hardware restrictions on the consoles are going to limit the technical levels of most of the games we all play for many years to come, until the next generation comes out. Point is, if you're coming from a console background and your system is as good as a PS4 or an XBone, you'll be safe until such time as the next generation of consoles come out in the majority of games you'll want to play. This is going to increase the longevity of your system provided you're not a stickler for the absolute best and highest settings at 60+ FPS, like I am.

 

Laptops suffer from issues with future proofing that desktops don't. You can't change the motherboard, processor or graphics card. The graphic chips are soldered in to the board (as part of the heat dissipation tactics they have come up with for their laptop case, which is unique to the GFX and the board/case they're using). While the motherboard isn't a major issue, the graphics card and CPU are, as the graphics card and CPU in unison are the single most important pieces in a gaming rig. While laptops have become much better in recent years at letting you upgrade the hard-drives and RAM available, these two items aren't as important as the CPU and GFX. The aforementioned heat issues require extensive research and planning from the laptop developers, coupled with the special miniaturised CPUs and GPUs that laptops need in order to fit in to such a tiny rig are what make the laptop not only hard to upgrade, but also what makes it so expensive as well.

 

If you're not planning to move your system at all, a desktop will be far more cost effective for you, and more future proof. But if you're planning to be a mobile gamer, laptops are a very good solution, provided you're not short on cash.

 

As an aside, this year saw the first viable showcases of graphics card enclosures at CES. These are exciting bits of niche technology for people who want the benefit of the mobility of something like an ultrabook, that typically have awful graphic options, with the power of a desktop GPU. Such technology has been showcased before, but this year was the first time they were able to prove it was viable without any noticeable lag between the enclosure and the laptop. Exciting stuff, if a very niche thing.

[JimboUK]

There hasn't been a better time to switch to the PC, if you do it right then it's not much dearer than console gaming over the medium to long term and the experience is a lot better. As for desktop vs laptop I can only echo what has already been said, you'll get more for your money with a desktop but at the cost of space and portability.