Out of Pod Experience

TL;DR: Should I buy a pre-built "gaming" laptop or build a custom desktop PC from components? (mostly for EVE, 1-2 clients)

My Surface 3 Pro is going to die and I'm looking for a replacement. Recently, I've mostly been using it as gaming PC and streaming server (Yeah, right, not exactly what you'd get a tablet-ish laptop for, but that's a different story... It was there, and it did run EVE and CSS just fine:)

I already have a powerful (and heavy) Lenovo work laptop, but I can't install games on it (personal, not company policy). Also, I think the NVIDIA GPU on it has issues...
I'm tired of dull graphics that look worse than in the 1990s, because (understandably) CCP won't bother supporting fancy special effects on weak GPUs. Also, some of the new particle effects (which EVE won't let me turn off) are somehow making the client run sluggish on the Surface. I first noticed that on sisi when citadels were new, and they had all those blinking lights...

On the other hand, I'm not planning to play any of the latest AAA titles (except perhaps "The Witcher 3", which is from 2016, so not that new) or run 20 EVE clients on one box (I'm not that pro), so it doesn't have to be high end. I guess EVE should look its bes and run smooth with a GPU from the last 3 years, and it uses 1 GB of RAM per client (and 10% CPU on my Surface 3 Pro). Correct?

Being lazy, I asked Google, and Google told me to throw lots of money at the problem: http://www.pcgamer.com/pc-build-guide-high-end-gaming-pc/
That build would cost about 25000 NOK (2725 EUR - electronics are insanely expensive in Norway) and is totaly overkill:
* 512 GB SSD in the age of Dropbox, Netflix, Spotify and streaming porn? No thanks, 256GB is way more than enough.
* 850W PSU? WTF! It's a PC, not a ******* high-speed train engine!
* Going back 1 generation of GPU and CPU saves more than half the price of those
* 32 GB. Yeah right. That's 16 EVE clients! I guess 8 GB will do just fine.
* Not sure what to look for in a mainboard (except being compatible with GPU, CPU and RAM), but there are huge price differences. Any reason to not just get the cheapest compatible one?
* What's the benefit of a water cooler for the CPU? Noise or just space? If the space is available, **** that.
* Has anything significant happened to cases and PSUs in terms of standards (cable/connector types), or should I dust off my old box from 2009, because it will accomodate 2016/17 hardware just fine?

After considering all of those, the price tag fell to a much more reasonable 9000 NOK (981 EUR).

Now to my question:

For that price, it seems I can get an ASUS laptop with almost the same specs:
https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/X550VX/
for a just little more $$$, I can get an even better one.

Where is the catch? Would the laptop be just as good? I'm particularly thinking about GPU performance. Is there a huge difference between laptop and desktop graphics these days?

* Upgradability is not an argument. In my experience, if you want to upgrade a PC, you have to replace almost everything that costs serious money (mainboard, GPU, CPU, RAM). I guess this hasn't changed. Correct?
* Being portable is nice, but I don't really need a private laptop. For browsing the web and using Google Docs / Office, I can use my work laptop. It's heavy and ugly but will do fine.
* Lifetime is my biggest concern. My old gaming PC still works, and if a desktop PC breaks, you can replace the broken component(s), but all laptops I have ever had have broken down with no chance of repair after 2-3 years.
* The laptop works out of the box and has warranty and support (which is for pussies, but being 10 years older and working more hours and making more money than 10 years ago, I may have turned into that kind of pussy).
* I'm playing on 2x 1080p monitors (1x client --> 2x monitors). Does that make a difference? My Surface did that nicely...

Other thoughs:
* Video recording from game: Where's the bottleneck these days? Disk space or CPU? Both? What's a typical bitrate for the raw recording (so I can estimate)?
* I figured using Windows from my MSDN subscription for non-development uses is illegal and might get my employer (and me) in trouble, so this is not an option. But I still own a decomissioned box with a legal copy of Windows 7 on it, which is mine. Any legal way to salvage this and upgrade to Windows 10 to avoid paying the full price for a new copy of Windows 10?
* Anyone from Norway reading this? Where do you buy your hardware?
* Is there a better forum for questions like this?

If you aren't expecting to game on the move or move houses often or move house once a year, get the gaming desktop.

Also, if you are looking to build a desktop that can only run Eve Online and nothing else, you don't need that high end. Look at the specs of the game you want to play, then head over to https://pcpartpicker.com/list/, put together the hardware, see if it's all compatible and it works and fits your budget, then make the purchase.

If you don't want to upgrade for the next 5 years then buy this.

Also if you looked at that PC Gamer's page carefully,on the side of the text there is a box titled "PC Build Guides".
The 500$,"the best cheap gaming PC" one would easily run multiple EVE clients since I managed to do that on my old ASUS EAH6850 gpu until 6 months ago ( it died of old age ).

My advice would be NOT to buy a laptop for gaming because
1) They break down after 2 years max. (A friend of mine who owns a PC repair shop can confirm this)
2) You can buy a gaming desktop at the size of a medium size box which you can carry around with ease instead. (e.g. LAN Party)
3) With the money you invest in it,you can build a superb,upgradeable pc instead.

Laptops are nice for people like me who are already insomniacs and want to read and watch stuff in bed.

My Eve computer is something I got from ibuypower, went with a PC that was on sale around $800 at the time and runs Eve super great! I also got a pair of Samsungs to match and I really feel embarrassed like have to toss a blanket over the legbeard nest in the corner when people come over.

So in my humble opinion, go desktop, and plan on having two monitors. I don't have to travel for work or anyhting like that so if your situation is like that then I'd go for the laptop in that case.

FWIW I managed to do it on my desktop 3 days ago. Just downloaded the updater from microsoft's website and it did the rest of the work without asking for any kind of license key.


OP: I bought a gaming laptop in 2015 but hardly ever game on it because of the temperatures. Even with a cooling pad it gets super hot, so I am back to playing EVE on my 9 year old desktop and my $1800 laptop is now used for netflix and web browsing in bed. If you're not planning to play on the go stick with a desktop.

Buy desktop.. unless you game on the move.. then get a laptop

That being said, if you're only using it for EVE and similarly demanding games, just about any current-day gaming desktop which will cost a lot less than 1000$ will be adequate.

I mean, come on, even my dinosaur can handle dual EVE clients just fine if you're not talking fleet fights, and at reasonably high detail with good FPS too, not just barely. EVE is not a very demanding game even after the graphics upgrades.

And just so you know, this ancient garbage of mine actually manages to play current-gen games if you're willing to sacrifice a lot of detail and accept a mediocre FPS - both No Man's Sky and Mass Effect Andromeda are playable even if the PC specs are noticeably below official minimums.

If you can spare the desk space and don't need to be mobile, always go desktop.


I heard you can still get the free upgrade by activating some features meant for disabled people. It's been a while since I saw the article, just search "windows 10 upgrade accessibility options free."

Someone seems to have done it the old way without hassle but they may have had a free upgrade token shipped with some older complete systems.

Yeah i did it before and then couldn't anymore after speaking with microsoft to confirm i am out of luck.

Got 2x win10 pro for 40usd total at the end with valid keys so i am good from now on.