Stu's Totally N00btastic PC Gaming Topic

[Stu]

The missus has said that come the end of the year, we're going to upgrade TVs and that i can finally get the gaming PC i've been craving for so long.

So i've a few questions, but i'll start with my most burning question...

Theoretically...could i buy a shithot gaming laptop, that could be stashed under the TV, and run it through the TV (ideally a 42") via HDMI?

For reference, these are the sort of stats i'm looking at right now...

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo SU7300(1.3GHz,800MHz,3MB) edit
MEMORY 4096MB 1067MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048] edit
HARD DRIVE 320GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive edit
GRAPHICS CARD 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 335M

[Carnivol]

Theoretically...could i buy a shithot gaming laptop, that could be stashed under the TV, and run it through the TV (ideally a 42") via HDMI?

Yes. Yes you could. My old DELL laptop once upon a time was a shit hot gaming laptop and it's occasionally been resting under my old 32" and pumped out delicious 1366x768 res graphics in lots of... okay... by now horribly outdated games.


Anyway, the specs you posted seem pretty nice, but I'm kinda out of the loop on the PC front, but as far as I know, if those are laptop specs; as long as the beast isn't poorly designed and turns into a dust bunny factory within 3-6 months, you could surely hook that thing up via the HDMI output on it (assuming it has one) and let it spend most of its time with the lid closed, inside a cupboard or something with wired (or wireless) keyboard/mouse stuff dangling out from it (+double as a media center)

[Borman]

Can I ask why bother spending money on a laptop, when you can spend 800$ on a pretty damn nice PC?

[Stu]

Anyway, the specs you posted seem pretty nice, but I'm kinda out of the loop on the PC front, but as far as I know, if those are laptop specs; as long as the beast isn't poorly designed and turns into a dust bunny factory within 3-6 months

The missus is hell bent on us ordering from somewhere like Dell if we do this.

Can I ask why bother spending money on a laptop, when you can spend 800$ on a pretty damn nice PC?

If i did go down the laptop route, it would be purely for space purposes. Rather a little unit under the TV than a big unit to the side of the TV where there's no space for it.

[Borman]

Use a micro ATX board (or whatever the standard is now) and a shuttle case, or Home Theater case. Plenty of solutions, plenty of decent graphics options that would let you still play games.

[doomed]

I don't think that this laptop is suitable for gaming purposes.

[riderkid]

im tihnking of moving my PC tower to the entertainment room for some Xtreme HD gaming on bioshock 2 but that means sharing it with the family

[Member_of_STARS]

Stu, search around the board for PC/laptop threads, Ive pointed out numerous factors you need to consider if you buy a gaming grade laptop, theres most of the information you need. What to look for, what to browse forums/reviews for, what accessories you need (a can of compressed air and a laptop cooler for a high perfomance one would be a good set).

Buying a gaming grade lappy needs a ton of research, as some of them have a poorly designed cooling system which may end up making you run between services. Theres some maintenance involved aswell (against dust), but if you end up making a decision based on good intel, youll have a very good machine with a very long lifetime.

One of the reasons a laptop is better than a PC, apart from the obvious, is the fact that it takes 5-10 times less electricity, and a modern gaming rig is quite hungry for juice. I cut my electric bills down by half by just moving from an average rig to a lappy.

[Borman]

You can build systems that are quite efficient on energy, its quite easy. You also save money by not paying for the screen and other parts, while having something that should last longer, due to the upgrade possibilities. I can think of no reason other then actually using the system as a laptop to actually buy a laptop.

[riderkid]

hey guys, how does COD WAW work online on the PC, since its G4W does it work like xboxlive?

[Member_of_STARS]

You can build systems that are quite efficient on energy, its quite easy. You also save money by not paying for the screen and other parts, while having something that should last longer, due to the upgrade possibilities. I can think of no reason other then actually using the system as a laptop to actually buy a laptop.

You dont build an energy efficient system while not losing perfomance. You build a power-saver PC with latest components in mind as these are more energy efficient (but by far not complete energy-savers).

Depending on how long the rig is plugged in a day, you can save up to 400 dollars annually. At first glance this probably isnt much at all if your income dwarfs it. As a student, I saved 300 bucks a year (thats more than 300 bottles of beer, 120, 3 pairs of quality shoes or 50 gallons of gas) just by switching from a lowly P4 platform with a 350W output, to a laptop, and I stayed mobile, made a good purchase so cooling and CQ was never an issue, neither was perfomance. But if hes not going to be tossing his computer around, and makes good money, then I guess theres no need for a lappy.

Modern laptops are really mobile desktops. You take them to any location and set them up, in home or otherwise. They are not that far behind desktop PCs in terms of perfomance (gaming laptops run games only slightly worse). And all the risks associated with them can be neutralized by making a smart purchase, a decision not based on being mesmerized by flashy components.

What Im trying to say is that you can get all the perks of a desktop PC, with no negatives associated with laptops, provided you make a purchase based on some solid research. And that laptop will last you a lifetime while the only maintenance you have to do for it is take it to the shop once a year (or once every two years) for thermal paste change, use compressed air to clean it from dust (basically just let loose from every opening in the computer) and regular software cleanup (antivir, stuff like this).

In return, you get to play videogames in bed under the sheets while pretending to your girlfriend that youre asleep.

[Alexia_Ashford]

some of them have a poorly designed cooling system which may end up making you run between services. Theres some maintenance involved aswell (against dust)

Never gonna get a laptop again. They're too much high maintenance and I would much rather have a decent desktop PC which doesn't require me to disassemble it every 6 months. I've had no end of trouble with laptops. Had one about 5 years ago, lasted 2 years, took it to PC world for a problem with the harddrive, then it gradually fell to bits over a period of 6 months. Another laptop from AOL, a Dell one, and it lasted about 10 months and now it's as slow as shit and barely works. My newest VAIO laptop, overheats if I try to do anything more than browse the internet/use MSN, but it still works at least. All desktops I've had have lasted for ages with very few issues.

[Member_of_STARS]

Never gonna get a laptop again. They're too much high maintenance and I would much rather have a decent desktop PC which doesn't require me to disassemble it every 6 months.

Ive got news for you. You still need to clean a desktop PC from dust every 6 months, by removing the lid and using compressed air. Thermal paste usually lasts for longer, but at some point the dust will clog the heatsink and youll still have to disassemble it or take it to the shop.

The difference between the two is the time when it comes critical.

I've had no end of trouble with laptops.

My laptop is assembled by a local company, using different parts from different manufacturers, which theoretically means its of lower quality than the brand laptops. Ive witnessed firsthand what happens if you dont take care of it. Dust clogs up, thermal paste dries out, most people dont even know how to do regular software maintenance like registry cleanups, proper antiviral procedures, proper (sic!) defragmentation, and so on. Getting a computer means youre making a conscious choice that youre going to spend a couple of hours every 6 months to make sure it is running up to its potential.

However, most people dont know how, because noone tells/shows/teaches them and the instruction manuals are too vague or have nor nearly enough information, so they use their laptops everywhere, on rugs, in bed, with pets, and once all that shit clogs up the heatsink, and the temps start rising dramatically, that thermal paste dries up, or the computers files get so fragmented, so infested with viruses that at some point the stress from constant heat just fries the motherboard or some other components, everyone blames the manufacturer.

Desktops require the exact same kind of maintenance, but because of a more spacious cooling method, the critical point arrives much later. You try not maintaining a modern gaming desktop and youre going to have problems

My newest VAIO laptop, overheats if I try to do anything more than browse the internet/use MSN, but it still works at least. All desktops I've had have lasted for ages with very few issues.

Did you do what I suggested in the last thread?

I just changed thermal paste on my laptop, because the temps were reaching critical levels (60C idle), the fan was constantly running at full speed, I couldnt use programs which required resources because at 70C my laptop will shut down. 2 days ago I changed thermal paste and made a semi-throughal dust cleanup (just cleaned the heatsink, more or less). Im sitting at 45 degrees idle and when I start playing or editing and the fan kicks in, the temps will never go higher than the point the vent starts going full-speed, which is at 50C.

[Alexia_Ashford]

I have no local PC shops, and I'm still worried about dismantling a £900 piece of kit. The thing that concerned me most is when I read about how in some VAIO models, if you take it apart incorrectly (supposedly the pins of the processor are hooked into something) it can permanently break it. I am a complete technophobe when it comes to any hardware-related stuff on anything. I've had desktops before and I never had problems with them, I just got a laptop for convenience purposes because I wanted to be able to watch telly downstairs and use the PC at the same time.

Perhaps you could do it for me? :re:

[Member_of_STARS]

Perhaps you could do it for me? :re:

Sure :re:

And its better to have a healthy ammount of fear and respect for the tech youre using, than to arrogantly disassemble it, fuck it up and end up with a 1000 quid paperweight, haha.