New Computer | Upgrade Help

[Ishan]

Yes you would be correct in that assessment if it specifically says 8+8=16GB total in both slots. You want that.
And single 8GB is out of the question. So don't buy unless there's some heavy discount and you can upgrade with another stick by yourself, which is also pretty easy to do.

[Sar1n]

Yes you would be correct in that assessment if it specifically says 8+8=16GB total in both slots. You want that.
And single 8GB is out of the question. So don't buy unless there's some heavy discount and you can upgrade with another stick by yourself, which is also pretty easy to do.

Then it looks like the laptop option is settled, since it looks good...the drawbacks are nothing that'll bother me, and it even has additional 2.5in SSD slot that'll serve to expand the storage later since 512 GB will turn out to be insufficient in the long run. I'll wait till BF, the e-shop that stocks this model tends to do some BF sales so I might grab it discounted.
Still, I'd appreciate if anyone knows a bit about desktops to see if there are viable options to this.

[Ishan]

Desktops are not viable option for gaming right now. You could still manage to build a very good system without GPU though and settle for a iGPU that comes with a processor.
PS5 is better to invest in right now or a decent laptop that serves both gaming and working needs.

SSD you can always upgrade and sell the current one at a decent price. Very easy. Also after a year would need to learn on how to maintain your gaming laptop once warranty expires. It's nothing complicated and just basic servicing to clear the dust and re-apply new thermal paste to increase the longevity of the laptop. I do it regularly.
Let me know when you decide to place the order. Location and list of websites you're looking at and I will scope it out for before making the final purchase.

[Sar1n]

Desktops are not viable option for gaming right now. You could still manage to build a very good system without GPU though and settle for a iGPU that comes with a processor.
PS5 is better to invest in right now or a decent laptop that serves both gaming and working needs.

SSD you can always upgrade and sell the current one at a decent price. Very easy. Also after a year would need to learn on how to maintain your gaming laptop once warranty expires. It's nothing complicated and just basic servicing to clear the dust and re-apply new thermal paste to increase the longevity of the laptop. I do it regularly.
Let me know when you decide to place the order. Location and list of websites you're looking at and I will scope it out for before making the final purchase.

Thank you. Since it appears that my current laptop is in somewhat stable condition, I think I have a month to wait just in case BF sales cough up something interesting. So my plan is to make a short list of possibilities about week or two before BF, go through it to cut it down to few specific items and then once BF sales hit, grab the cheapest one. If you're willing to help with that, I'd appreciate it.
Edit: just to let you know...some local e-shops might not have English version, so there might be a bit issue with language. Even though terminology is often clear enough, the inflective nature of Czech language can make it a bit confusing....

[Ishan]

Language is not a problem. Just need a model no., price. Everything else can be worked with an auto translator and google.

[Basileos Leandros I]

2. Normally, I'd say take advantage of the cheaper older laptops.

This is most probably what I will do. Because of the enormous prices of high end chips, I will focus on something mid-range, I found an MSI gaming laptop that suits all that I need and comes with a GTX1660 TI with 6GB.

Top of the line for the older architecture, but can still be of good power. It's a 2020 model as well.

[Condottiere 40K]

1. First of all, I want to point out that we'd be enjoying a lot of improved hardware at lower prices at this moment, if a bunch of black swans hadn't decided to flock together and procreate madly.

2. Laptops are a surprisingly reasonable solution at this moment, considering they have an integral screen and graphic capability.

3. People who should know, like Gelsinger and Su, predict that the supply situation won't normalize from anywhere from mid Twenty Twenty Two till mid Twenty Twenty Three.

4. In the meantime, my prediction is there will be a crunch between Christmas and Chinese New Year, so if you want something, you probably will want to buy it very soon.

5. Storage seems very reasonable, at this time; I've discovered I've too many gumsticks, and am moving back to hard drives, except for operating systems, applications, games and work in progress. Hard to find eighteen terabytes disagreeable, and I'm wondering about seventy two hundred rotatable Toshibas.

6. Memory seems a tad overpriced to me; question is how much Dee Dee Are Five will cost, somewhere between one hundred fifty to hundred percent, in which case Ai Em Four motherboards and Ryzen Threes are likely to remain popular, for a while longer.

7. Presumably, Ryzen will have a price drop once Alder Lake is introduced at the end of this month; Advanced Micro Devices have already made their money back, so whatever they get at this point is almost pure profit, and messing with Intel, while using up their capacity at the foundry.

8. Graphic cards it's all down to Intel now; I think we'll tolerate driver teething problems if they're cheap enough.

9. I haven't seen any major type sales since the end of last year locally, and usually there should have been two or three by now; Black Friday might really be the last chance for this year.

[Basileos Leandros I]

Agreed with your points Condo, which is why I will be focusing on the upcoming major sale event in November. Plus I would need to upgrade the RAM right away, since it comes out of the box with just 1 8GB stick. So I guess a couple of upgrades would be required right after purchase to make it top notch.

Eyeing this MSI GF65 model - https://www.msi.com/Laptop/GF65-Thin-9SX-GTX
(for some reason the model I found has GTX1660, not listed on their wesite)

[Ishan]

Yup it's a solid laptop if available at a reasonable price.

[Basileos Leandros I]

Price is about 900 EUR which is about 1050 USD, which is a very reasonable price for the product.

[Condottiere 40K]

Speaking of sales, Singles Day was a surprise.

There were a bunch of eleven thousand series Intel and some Ryzen laptops discounted.

Seems a good omen for anyone interested in a new laptop on Black Friday.

[Condottiere 40K]

On the final lap to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Surprisingly, screens may be getting cheaper, which I would have thought would be one of those items stuck on a containership, or they're clearing the warehouse.

Cost of hard drives may be easing on a dollar per capacity basis.

[Condottiere 40K]

1. New Chinese graphic card; probably compatible with ten eighty gaming.

2. Advanced Micro Devices are likely to charge ten percent more for their graphic chips, so prices next year aren't likely to go down, and a new generation does allow a readjustment, likely upwards.

[EarthFlatter]

1. New Chinese graphic card; probably compatible with ten eighty gaming.

2. Advanced Micro Devices are likely to charge ten percent more for their graphic chips, so prices next year aren't likely to go down, and a new generation does allow a readjustment, likely upwards.

That 5G thing looks like radioactive emitter, rather than graphics card.

[Basileos Leandros I]

So I guess supply chain issues are also affecting what I can purchase, and I'm definitely not gearing for a RTX3080 to mine bitcoin. I was planning a spring purchase of a MSI GL65, now that is out of stock where I live, so now I'm looking at MSI GF66 Katana instead.

Which, admittedly, is an upgrade - it has an RTX3070 with 8GB.

MSI GF66 - Intel Core i7-11800H, 15.6", Full HD, 144Hz, 16GB, 512GB SSD, NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 8GB

[Condottiere 40K]

Considering inflation, and scalping, it seems the prudent course might not be to wait for the next generation of graphic cards if you can find one that you're comfortable with now.

[Basileos Leandros I]

Because of the changes and problems with the supply chain, I will purchase once I find the best model that I think suitable. I don't see the supply problems easing in 2022 and another Ever Given ship blockade will cause significant disruption, so given that my laptop is 4 years old now, it needs a replacement.

Let's see if I can snag the MSI.

[Condottiere 40K]

Considered opinion from the grognards is that prices aren't coming down; one financial analyst feels twenty twenty four will have a glut on the market, but my calculation would place that in two and a half years, so unhelpful.