Pre Built or Laptop

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After some research I have found several pre-built gaming desktops. I'm still on edge deciding if I am going to go prebuilt or gaming laptop. I would much rather just build my own desktop but due to the video card shortages it seems impossible at this time.. I'm in the market for around $1500 and don't really want to wait on this graphics card shortage to go away. Honestly it could be awhile.. I'll list some of the pre built desktops below I have been looking at. Just looking for some advice as I am having a hard time deciding. Also I already have a mouse, keyboard etc.

ASUS ROG Strix GA15DH Gaming Desktop PC, AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, AMD Radeon 5700XT Graphics, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD, Wi-Fi 5, Windows 10 Home, GA15DH-ES557 $1199.99

MSI Codex Z Gaming Desktop - AMD Ryzen 5 3600 - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti $899.99

CyberPowerPC - Gamer Supreme Liquid Cool Gaming Desktop - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 16GB DDR4 - 1TB PCI-E NVMe SSD - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB - 7 Color RGB Gaming Keyboard & Mouse - Custom RGB Case Lighting - Windows 10 Home (64-bit) $1399.99

Acer Predator Orion 3000 Desktop Intel i7-9700 3GHz 16GB Ram 512GB SSD Win10Home RTX 2060 - Manufacturer Refurbished $1199.99


Skytech SHIVA Gaming PC Desktop - AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.60 GHz, RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB GDDR6, 1 TB SSD, 16 GB DDR4 3000, B550 Motherboard, 600W Gold PSU, AC Wi-Fi, Windows 10 Home 64-bit, White $1399.99

Now I have still been keeping my eye on some of the gaming laptops too. I am able to get a military discount on a select few..
The only reason I was even looking at gaming laptops to begin with is portability.. Id love a desktop right now but the market seems to be a bit messed up at the moment. The only thing I would need with a desktop is a monitor as I have every other accessory I need.. Can Someone just en light me and steer me in the right direction without saying "BUILD YOUR OWN" or "JUST WAIT"
Thanks in advance!
 
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Hi again. Purely based on specs we can see there, the Skytech Shiva outperforms everything else on the list by quite a way. The CPU's in all the builds are roughly equivalent, but the 3060Ti is the fastest GPU by a ways. 1TB SSD 16GB 3000 RAM no question in my mind.

If you can do some research into their warranty and build quality and they come up O.K I'd vote for that one,
 
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Hi again. Purely based on specs we can see there, the Skytech Shiva outperforms everything else on the list by quite a way. The CPU's in all the builds are roughly equivalent, but the 3060Ti is the fastest GPU by a ways. 1TB SSD 16GB 3000 RAM no question in my mind.

If you can do some research into their warranty and build quality and they come up O.K I'd vote for that one,
How do you think todays 30xx gaming laptops compare to the Skytech Shiva? I read up on their warranties and I’m more worried about their cable management however I’m already expecting to have to disassemble the pre built to get the cable management where I would like it.. Unfortunately I’m very OCD about that stuff lol
 
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Sorry, I dont follow laptops at all. All I know is that the Nvidia laptop GPU's are getting cut down again vs desktop chips this generation due to the massive power/heat jump. Thats not to say they wont be powerful, just that the laptop 3080 will be slower then the desktop one. Looks like the mobile 3080 about as fast as a 3060Ti according to a quick search.

EDIT watch out for the Max Q versions of the 3000 series, they are severely downclocked to save power from the 'Mobile' versions by the looks of it. Perform quite a lot worse.



You always get much less for your money with a laptop anyway, if portability is the most important thing then you just have to pick the right tool for the right job.
 
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Sorry, I dont follow laptops at all. All I know is that the Nvidia laptop GPU's are getting cut down again vs desktop chips this generation due to the massive power/heat jump. Thats not to say they wont be powerful, just that the laptop 3080 will be slower then the desktop one. Looks like the mobile 3080 about as fast as a 3060Ti according to a quick search



You always get much less for your money with a laptop anyway, if portability is the most important thing then you just have to pick the right tool for the right job.
Yeah I understand I’m just having a hard time really finding a system in my price range. The 3060 desktop is in the range but I will probably just have to save up for a monitor. I’m really intrigued with the laptops however I know they don’t preform as well. Thank you for all of your advice. So should I just try to find a 3060 ti prebuilt? I wasn’t sure how the 1660 ti would preform as it wont really be future proofed too much
 
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You've done some research, best thing to do.

If you needed to get a monitor included in the budget, the Acer would be a decent choice IMO at 1200. But obviously the 3060Ti is the best card in the list.

Someone else might have opinions on a good laptop, or otherwise too. I'll be off for the night soon :)

EDIT to your post above. AMD have moved onto the 6000 series. I have a 5700XT, its roughly equivalent to a 2070 and is the fastest of the 5000 series.

6800 about a 3070
6800XT touch below a 3080
6900XT somewhere between 3080 and 3090

The RTX (raytracing) performance is not as fast as Nvidias version. Not all games have it yet but worth mentioning.
 
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You've done some research, best thing to do.

If you needed to get a monitor included in the budget, the Acer would be a decent choice IMO at 1200. But obviously the 3060Ti is the best card in the list.

Someone else might have opinions on a good laptop, or otherwise too. I'll be off for the night soon :)

EDIT to your post above. AMD have moved onto the 6000 series. I have a 5700XT, its roughly equivalent to a 2070 and is the fastest of the 5000 series.

6800 about a 3070
6800XT touch below a 3080
6900XT somewhere between 3080 and 3090

The RTX (raytracing) performance is not as fast as Nvidias version. Not all games have it yet but worth mentioning.
I can always wait and save for a monitor I have a super old one that could work temporarily.. However I just want to make sure that its worth it to go down to a 2060.. Idk how future proof it is? I looked at the 5700xt and liked it however like you said the 3060 ti is a good future proof purchase. I only ever considered getting a laptop because I’m set to deploy in october but I don’t NEED to bring a pc with me
 
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An RTX 2060 will play games for several years at playable frame rates. You just get to use higher quality settings and frame rates with the 3060Ti.

If you have an old 60hz 1080p monitor with the 3060Ti IMO youd be better off buying a better monitor, 1080p 144hz or even 1440p 144hz if you can fit it in the budget. and using a 2060 for now. You'd get a better overall experience now.
 
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You always get much less for your money with a laptop anyway
That's the key thing. If you don't need portability, then it's desktop all the way.

obviously the 3060Ti is the best card in the list
When the 30s launched 2-3 months ago, I saw claims that they were considerably more powerful than the 20s, ie much more than the usual 10-15% boost for a series jump. I haven't kept up with the topic though, maybe that's not true in practical settings?

But seems to me, shoot for the 30 if it's in budget for better future proofing.

I can always wait and save for a monitor
Can you get your hands on a TV in the interim? They're cheaper than monitors at larger sizes, or maybe someone you know has a spare lying around which you could borrow until you deploy.
 
When the 30s launched 2-3 months ago, I saw claims that they were considerably more powerful than the 20s, ie much more than the usual 10-15% boost for a series jump. I haven't kept up with the topic though, maybe that's not true in practical settings?

But seems to me, shoot for the 30 if it's in budget for better future proofing.

The 30 series is faster no doubt, but the 3090 jump isnt any more then 2080TI was over 1080Ti. Actually looking at the numbers on Techpowerups reviews the 1080 Ti was getting close to twice as fast as a 980TI.

Last 3 or 4 gens they engineered it so the the new gen 70 card is about the same as a previous gen top end Ti. No change there. The thing that changes most are the prices go up gen on gen.

To the point :).. I think of it holistically. You could have a 3090 if its paired with a 60hz 1080p monitor you wont actually experience any difference. A 2060 isnt as fast obviously, but it didnt get any slower when the new cards came out. Paired with a higher refresh better quality monitor would give a much better overall experience right now.

If you can buy a monitor and a 3060Ti the of course its a better option.

I know @Brian Boru like your TV's and its a good option if a large screen appeals :) I just wouldn't give up on my VRR having experienced it now.
 
When looking for a gaming laptop I would take somethings into consideration. How easy will it be to add RAM or a extra HDD. I had an Acer triton 500, I'm fuzzy on the model right now but it was beyond a pain to upgrade. The whole board had to be flipped over to access the RAM and HDD. It also had this weird known issue with the webcam, it would conflict with the intel integrated graphics and the 20 series card to the point were it would drop the 20 series card completely. I ended up grabbing a Asus ROG Strix Scar III and maxed it out.

TL;DR Watch some review or breakdown videos on the laptop you are looking at to get an idea for upgradability.
 
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When looking for a gaming laptop I would take somethings into consideration. How easy will it be to add RAM or a extra HDD. I had an Acer triton 500, I'm fuzzy on the model right now but it was beyond a pain to upgrade. The whole board had to be flipped over to access the RAM and HDD. It also had this weird known issue with the webcam, it would conflict with the intel integrated graphics and the 20 series card to the point were it would drop the 20 series card completely. I ended up grabbing a Asus ROG Strix Scar III and maxed it out.

TL;DR Watch some review or breakdown videos on the laptop you are looking at to get an idea for upgradability.
I have been watching Jarred‘s Tech on the laptops with the new gpu. I’m more concerned on wether the laptop will be able to last me a few years as well as play demanding games such as cyber punk
 
Paired with a higher refresh better quality monitor would give a much better overall experience right now
Thanks for the gen-on-gen info, educational :)

I fully agree with your above statement. For some reason I thought @Swankyouu was interested in future-proofing, my bad.

I know @Brian Boru like your TV's
I do, but I'd never claim they are better than monitors—rather they are better if their advantages are what you want, and their disadvantages aren't a problem. I mention them frequently because many people don't seem to know they're a viable alternative.
 
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I have been watching Jarred‘s Tech on the laptops with the new gpu. I’m more concerned on wether the laptop will be able to last me a few years as well as play demanding games such as cyber punk
I can tell you my Asus ROG Strix 3 G531GW with a 2TB NVMe and 2 TB SSD with 64 GBs of ram. With the 2070 card on board I can run anything my desktop can run and the temps may run high but not too high were I have to worry. I was playing CyberPunk until I got tired of the bugs.
 
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I fully agree with your above statement. For some reason I thought @Swankyouu was interested in future-proofing, my bad.

Well @Swankyouu is and you are correct to think that.

I just think if you spend 1500 on a 3060TI system now and use a standard 1080p 60 monitor (or worse, we only know its an old monitor) then you'll have a similar experience now as with a 2060 at that refresh rate and resolution in 99 % of games. Then you buy a better monitor for 300/400 in a while and have a better experience from then on. 1900 total spent

OTOH pay 1500 now for a nicer monitor and a 2060 rig, and youll have a slightly better experience now. Then in a while buy a better newly released 4000 series graphics card for 300-400, spend the same.

You can also certainly sell a 2060 second hand for more than you can a 1080p 60hz monitor at that time too.

I do, but I'd never claim they are better than monitors—rather they are better if their advantages are what you want, and their disadvantages aren't a problem. I mention them frequently because many people don't seem to know they're a viable alternative.

I know, it wasnt intended negatively, I'm sorry if it came across like that. If you like a bigger screen and if you dont mind either paying a lot for VRR or not having it, using a TV is a good option too. HDR is generally much better on TV's than monitors too. So much about what screen we prefer is subjective.
 

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