PC upgrade question

[JRR]

Hi all,

The good folks at TWC helped me around 5-6 years ago when I was choosing specs for my current PC. I thought I would post here again to benefit from the collective wisdom on offer when considering where to go next.

I'm currently deciding what route to take when I eventually upgrade my current PC. The specs of my current machine are as follows:

Windows 10 64bit
8GB DDR3 2400MHz Ram
Intel i7 4770K CPU @ 3.50 GHz
Matrix HD Radeon 7970 3GB
250 GB Samsung SSD
2TB WD Caviar Black HDD
Gigabyte 787X-UD3H ATX Motherboard
OCZ ZX 850w PSU

It's still pretty quick, although I'm starting to run out of space on my SSD and on certain tasks it has begun to slow down. I use it for a mix of general work, photo editing, and a bit of gaming (although I do less of the latter these days). I'm currently running it on a 24 inch monitor, which I want to upgrade to a 27 inch in the near future (mainly for photo editing purposes). I'm now considering that it is probably time to move to a newer PC, although this being my first one that I built I do have rather a emotional attachment to it.

My situation has changed since I last built this machine. I now have my own place with my GF, and although I do have a dedicated office space where the PC is located, I do often consider whether to get a higher end laptop for my needs that so I can use in our lounge (and also plug into a monitor where required). Long gone are the days where I can spend half a day locked away in front of my PC...

I did a bit of research on laptops that would suit my needs and the one I keep coming back to is the Dell G7 - either the 15 inch or the 17 inch - although on the UK site the 15 seems to have better specs. See here for more information: https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/lapt...laptop/cn71504

I want the usual decent processor, RAM, GPU etc. but I also want a decent sized SSD and a HDD (Ideally no less than 500GB on the SSD and no less than 1TB on the HDD) to store my games, applications and photographs. I'm not a high end gamer as such, I play some of the more recent Total Wars (Rome II, Attila, Thrones), CIV 6 and a selection of games from Paradox Interactive. I want to have some head room to play any new releases coming out over the next few years with good graphic and frame rates. I'm mainly play these sorts of games, so not particularly interested in FPS/RPG games. Again, if I went with the laptop I want to be able to game and edit photos on the laptop itself, plus on a 24/27 inch monitor.

Essentially, my question is should I invest my money in the Dell or something similar? Or should I look to build myself another desktop, although I think this would be less practical for me at this point in time. My budget is likely to be similar to the cost of that Dell laptop that I linked (£1,600 - £1,800 ish). My main concern is whether these 'gaming' laptops are suitable and worth the cost.

Also, is it possible to run install and run games/programmes off an external HDD/SDD? - This would be very worthwhile considering many of the laptops that I've looked at appear to be a bit light on storage space.

Thoughts and comments gratefully received

[z3n]

How long can you wait? The next generation of nvidia and amd cards should come within this year, probably by the fall.


If you're not interested in waiting for the next gen graphics cards, I can answer your questions if nobody else does in the meantime.

[JRR]

Thanks for your reply.

I'm not in any great hurry, but considering that I'm not a really high level gamer would it be worth it?

As I'm leaning towards laptops, roughly how long would it be until manufacturers started to put the new cards into their machines?

[z3n]

Generally worth it if you're not going to upgrade for another 5 years at minimum. It's a pretty hefty upgrade in performance and normally comes with a few new bells and whistles.




As for the laptop issue, honestly you may be better off getting a desktop alongside of a cheap laptop, which you may have already. You can stream from your PC right into any cheap laptop no matter its parts. What I'm saying is, you can run the games off your PC (using its hardware) while using your laptop wherever you want.

If you're not at home and using your local network then a semi decent internet connection is required to upload (5 or 10mbps at least) if you want to play while you travel or go on vacation but most people have that nowadays.

[King Athelstan]

Aye, a cheap desktop/good laptop combo is good enough for most stuff, unless you're planning on 8-hour long train journeys

As I'm leaning towards laptops, roughly how long would it be until manufacturers started to put the new cards into their machines?

As for cpu's at least, the Ryzen 4000 range was delayed from May till September I think, with Intel's refresh coming a bit earlier.
As for GPU's, Amd's next gen should come at the end of 2020, though I expect delays due to the Coronavirus. I don't believe a date has been set for nVidia, but I expect sometime similar

[Ishan]

I want the usual decent processor, RAM, GPU etc. but I also want a decent sized SSD and a HDD (Ideally no less than 500GB on the SSD and no less than 1TB on the HDD) to store my games, applications and photographs. I'm not a high end gamer as such, I play some of the more recent Total Wars (Rome II, Attila, Thrones), CIV 6 and a selection of games from Paradox Interactive. I want to have some head room to play any new releases coming out over the next few years with good graphic and frame rates. I'm mainly play these sorts of games, so not particularly interested in FPS/RPG games. Again, if I went with the laptop I want to be able to game and edit photos on the laptop itself, plus on a 24/27 inch monitor.

Playing TW games on a laptop would require some considerable CPU power which would then step up the price for laptop since laptops are usually bundled light and power efficient. Also when bundling it with a powerful multicore processor with bigger screen would mean considerable weight & size of the laptop. But seeing your choice it seems it not a big concern for you. You're mainly looking for RAW power.

Essentially, my question is should I invest my money in the Dell or something similar? Or should I look to build myself another desktop, although I think this would be less practical for me at this point in time. My budget is likely to be similar to the cost of that Dell laptop that I linked (£1,600 - £1,800 ish). My main concern is whether these 'gaming' laptops are suitable and worth the cost.

Dell G7 seems like a good choice but the 2070 G.card is an overkill for 1080p imo. But it can be effective for playing some older titles with DSR.

Also, is it possible to run install and run games/programmes off an external HDD/SDD? - This would be very worthwhile considering many of the laptops that I've looked at appear to be a bit light on storage space.

Yes you can run and install any steam game and programs from an external drive as well. Obviously they won't work if the HDD is disconnected & thus making them temporarily inaccessible, if travelling without the external drive.

My advice would be to wait a bit since price will drop down on the current RTX series after new releases from both sides. Also in gaming laptops generally MSI, ACER lead over Dell. But in the end finding a right gaming laptop is tough because the price\performance ratio is usually absurd by these 3rd party sellers\assemblers. MSI is a direct manufacturer of hardware mind you, so generally they have a far flexible range in comparison to Dell (Assembler).

[JRR]

Generally worth it if you're not going to upgrade for another 5 years at minimum. It's a pretty hefty upgrade in performance and normally comes with a few new bells and whistles.




As for the laptop issue, honestly you may be better off getting a desktop alongside of a cheap laptop, which you may have already. You can stream from your PC right into any cheap laptop no matter its parts. What I'm saying is, you can run the games off your PC (using its hardware) while using your laptop wherever you want.

If you're not at home and using your local network then a semi decent internet connection is required to upload (5 or 10mbps at least) if you want to play while you travel or go on vacation but most people have that nowadays.

It's definitely worth considering for sure. On the streaming issues, how would I go about setting that up? As that does sound like a good option.

Playing TW games on a laptop would require some considerable CPU power which would then step up the price for laptop since laptops are usually bundled light and power efficient. Also when bundling it with a powerful multicore processor with bigger screen would mean considerable weight & size of the laptop. But seeing your choice it seems it not a big concern for you. You're mainly looking for RAW power.

Dell G7 seems like a good choice but the 2070 G.card is an overkill for 1080p imo. But it can be effective for playing some older titles with DSR.

Yes you can run and install any steam game and programs from an external drive as well. Obviously they won't work if the HDD is disconnected & thus making them temporarily inaccessible, if travelling without the external drive.

My advice would be to wait a bit since price will drop down on the current RTX series after new releases from both sides. Also in gaming laptops generally MSI, ACER lead over Dell. But in the end finding a right gaming laptop is tough because the price\performance ratio is usually absurd by these 3rd party sellers\assemblers. MSI is a direct manufacturer of hardware mind you, so generally they have a far flexible range in comparison to Dell (Assembler).

That's really good to know that it is possible to run from an external HDD/SSD. If I went the laptop route I wouldn't be that bothered about the weight as I wouldn't be going to far, just to other rooms in my house, so as you said I would be choosing based on performance/power. I do like the flexibility a laptop offers.

I am generally slightly sceptical about gaming laptops as I do wonder if their parts are as robust or perform as well as a desktop equivalent. I also find that I dislike the design of some of the gaming laptops, I prefer ones such as the Dell I mentioned or the Razer laptops as they don't have that over the top aggressive look to them. You could easily use it for work and for play.

I enjoyed building my current desktop and it is still working fairly good so I wouldn't rule out building another, its just the flexibility of the laptop that attracts me, especially when I don't game as much as I used to. If I didn't do any gaming it wouldn't be an issue, I would just choose the best laptop for my photo editing needs and be done with it - to be honest I would potentially consider switching to an Apple machine.

[Ishan]

Yes gaming laptops are robust and reliable. As always the biggest enemy of electronics is dust, so just make sure to properly clean it from the inside every once in a while.
And yeah i do agree some gaming laptops look over the top and not fit for a professional environment.

[z3n]

It's definitely worth considering for sure. On the streaming issues, how would I go about setting that up? As that does sound like a good option.

Basically you just need a relatively recent nvidia card (GTX 9XX onward IIRC) on your PC, your laptop wouldn't need a graphics card unless you want to stream from the laptop instead of your PC. Then you need to use your choice of a free streaming software, I personally use one called Moonlight Game Streaming (a nvidia game stream derivative for the PC). You will have to open two specific ports on your router, a one-time process but after that you're home free.


It is a pretty simple process overall, although I'd recommend like I said, having decent internet just in case. (10mbps+ upload speed)


Alternatively, though I do not recommend it. You could try something like Google Stadia, which is a similar concept to what I just described but without the PC (you would need a laptop still) and has a catalogue of games, rather than the ones you want to play.