PC Desktop Build

[Alphonsus]

Sorry, but didn't know where to put this and I know its a PC but I have found many here reliable so hopefully you can help me out!

I might be getting a desktop rather than laptop. Was going to get the Macbook Pro but my parents are questioning me and now said to look into a laptop. My budget is $1500. I already have a screen- believe its 22 inches, its old though.

If I build a desktop where do I buy the parts? Where is the best place? Is Amazon alright? Anyone have any particular parts that you recommend? Is there a difference between a work vs gaming desktop? Or is gaming laptop build just different in terms of casing and the parts are usually more powerful?

 

[PieTunes]

Newegg.com is a great place to buy PC parts and components from, I've used them on multiple occasions. Have you tried the website PC Part Picker (www.pcpartpicker.com). It's a good resource to investigate various system builds and component costs. You can start your own build, select your individual components, choose vendors with real time pricing, etc. And in a nutshell, the main difference for the most part between a "work" vs "gaming" machine is the graphics card. You can still play games on a "work" machine but with lower graphical settings versus on a machine that has a higher end, and therefore more expensive, GPU capable of pushing out all those pixels.

 

[Alphonsus]

Thanks, however I am thinking of getting the Alienware Aurora 6

 

[PieTunes]

Whatever you get, I hope it fulfills your needs, that's what's most important.

 

[Alphonsus]

Whatever you get, I hope it fulfills your needs, that's what's most important.

Thanks, yeah I think my parents might be right on the Mac. Also think maybe I won't need a laptop down the road. Will wait till after the WWDC event though. Also for college a desktop is more powerful however if I need a computer to take notes or browse the web iight just get a Chromebook

 

[pertusis1]

I'm just going to throw this out there. I might be reading more into your post than is really true, but here goes with a word of caution.

People generally get alienware desktops for the primary purpose of gaming. When I went to college (late '90s), almost half of the students in my dormitory ended up dropping out or failing out due to computer gaming and weed. If you want to get a gaming rig and game a lot, just tell your parents you'd rather blow a year and stay at home in your bedroom. That way, you won't be out a year's tuition. Otherwise, get a middle of the line laptop with a keyboard and external monitor for your dorm room, study hard, and you'll have a blast.

FWIW, you won't need a powerful computer in college for your studies. Most colleges will have servers you can access for high end computing. I can't say this is true for all schools, but it's apparently common in computer science, engineering, and graphics design programs.

 

[Alphonsus]

I'm just going to throw this out there. I might be reading more into your post than is really true, but here goes with a word of caution.

People generally get alienware desktops for the primary purpose of gaming. When I went to college (late '90s), almost half of the students in my dormitory ended up dropping out or failing out due to computer gaming and weed. If you want to get a gaming rig and game a lot, just tell your parents you'd rather blow a year and stay at home in your bedroom. That way, you won't be out a year's tuition. Otherwise, get a middle of the line laptop with a keyboard and external monitor for your dorm room, study hard, and you'll have a blast.

FWIW, you won't need a powerful computer in college for your studies. Most colleges will have servers you can access for high end computing. I can't say this is true for all schools, but it's apparently common in computer science, engineering, and graphics design programs.

What laptop would you suggest then? The problem with most gaming laptops is that they have short battery life <6 hours. Besides Dell XPS 15 what would be the next best PC laptop? I don't play the heavy load games though.

I would present this to my parents and see what they say

 

[AidenShaw]

What laptop would you suggest then? The problem with most gaming laptops is that they have short battery life <6 hours. Besides Dell XPS 15 what would be the next best PC laptop? I don't play the heavy load games though.

I would present this to my parents and see what they say

Please take the advertised battery life of any laptop with several heaping tablespoons of salt.

The standard tests usually involve light web browsing with power settings on "minimum performance" and things like the screen brightness set to "not too hard to read in a dark room".

Your actual lifetime depends on what you are doing. My Lenovo T440s with the larger battery will go 14 hours in the "surfing in a dark room" situation. Installing Windows 10 in a VM, plus Windows Update plus installing Visual studio will get about 2 hours of life on the same battery.

Simple rule - if the CPU cooling fan on the laptop kicks in, expect 10% of the "best case" battery life.