Need a new PC - Need some help


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Sup! It's time for some PC hunting around! I'm currently with a Laptop Lenovo Y510p from 2013 (Haswell i7 @ 2.4Ghz Quad Core - 16 GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz - 256 m.2 SSD + 1 TB 850 EVO SSD - 1080p@Matte + Nvidia 755m SLI ). 

 

I currently use this laptop for programming, content creation, CAD, and sometimes gaming (I don't push it anymore since it doesn't run the latest games). I just had the graphics card die on me (I had an old motherboard from the laptop which I mistakenly thought it was bad and ordered a new one... fortunately I kept that one, and was able to switch it). While I don't think it should give me any issues, earlier this day the trackpad was giving me problems (I had the original replaced by a Chinese OEM replacement, since it was already worn off). 

 

I honestly don't want to get a new PC, since this is performing really well for most of my tasks (I could benefit from something that could handle 2 monitors with HDMI @ 1080p - As of now, I'm using a USB to HDMI port to handle the second monitor, and it's not the best experience). 

 

I've been discussing with some of my friends whether it's time to get a new one or not... It's already 6 years old, and I've been trying to push a replacement as far as possible because nothing truly groundbreaking in performance has come since many years ago (except for Pascal, the GTX 10 series, AMD Zen 2, NVMe SSDs, WiFi 6, better battery life, and OLED displays). Therefore I've been holding off until Intel shrank the die more (Something like Ice Lake) or AMD released its 3rd Generation Mobile Ryzen processors (4000 series?). From what I've seen in the market so far, Intel has been recycling its processors since Kaby Lake (But I feel very grateful for them adding extra cores to the ultrabook line)

 

I've been debating as of late whether I should buy a medium-range laptop (<$750) and pair it with a Ryzen Desktop ($800), or go for another laptop (<$1600, being $1300 the sweet spot). I move a lot, and I spend just a few hours per day working at home. I do a lot of multitasking (especially working with Dropbox) and I would definitely love having 6 hours of battery life.

 

 

If I were to get a laptop, I'd like to get something with the following characteristics:

  • Intel Core i7 Comet Lake (6 cores ultrabook) - This theoretically can give me better performance than my Y510p and great battery life.
  • At least 6 hours of battery life (This includes having Dropbox sucking your CPU several times), having Chrome/Edge, Vivaldi, Firefox, VSCode (CPU hungry), Docker opened (They easily eat up 10 GB of RAM at
  • Screen Size: 14" or 15" (Where the 15" fits in a 14" chasis - A 17" could work as well, as long as it goes inside a 15.6" chasis)
  • 1080p screen anti-glare with 100% sRGB support  (Could be 4K but honestly I rather get my battery life).
  • Thunderbolt 3, 2 ports would be ideal as I can charge and get 2 1080p monitors without issues and throw in an external graphics card (even though it gets bottlenecked).
  • Have decent customer support. I've had history that my devices end up getting damaged because I somehow push them in temperatures (I live in the Dominican Republic with temperatures of 88°F-32°C every time. My Lenovo Y510p got fried one night while playing Watch Dogs and its vents were not blocked) I've loved Dell support for many years (previously owned a Dell XPS M1530 and they've fixed it many times in a blink of an eye).
  • Be at most $1600.
  • Weight < 4 lbs. Preferably in the 2 - 3.5 lb range.
  • Good keyboard travel.
  • Could be both: MacOS  or Windows. 

 

I've been eyeing the MSI Prestige 15, which seems to be perfect, I'm just worried about the warranty, the build quality and duration (in case it needs some part replacements). I would have gone with the Surface 3 15", but it's too expensive.

 

Lenovo's Carbon X1 and Extreme seem to be a good fit, but they're running old hardware...

 

 

Sorry for the long post! Any ideas?

 

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There a reason you need a laptop? Portability? A desktop at $1600 would be excellent. (I'll let mockingbird do the pcpart thing....)

 

With a desktop, you have great support across the line. Not just one product. (well, unless you go prebuilt)

 

What are you looking for in an i7? We don't go by generation name, we go by numbers. 9600X for example.

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Is that the most you want spend, or is your budget flexible?

 

I can't believe I'm saying this but both Alienware (m15) and razer (razer blade 15) have some good offerings in the $1800 range.

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9 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said:

There a reason you need a laptop? Portability? A desktop at $1600 would be excellent. (I'll let mockingbird do the pcpart thing....)

 

With a desktop, you have great support across the line. Not just one product. (well, unless you go prebuilt)

 

What are you looking for in an i7? We don't go by generation name, we go by numbers. 9600X for example.

Yup. Portability. Sorry for making the post that long, I move every day, every time. 

 

For Desktop, I believe either a i5 9600 could suffice, or a Ryzen 5 3500x. If I'm enthusiast enough an i9 9900K  (The 9700K doesn't have hyperthreading... -_-), although I'd go with AMD in that route with the 3700x.

 

Haha, yes, the I was referring to the i7 in the Comet Lake (14nm++++ - 10710u) or Ice Lake Intel Core i7-1065G7

8 minutes ago, trag3dy said:

Is that the most you want spend, or is your budget flexible?

 

I can't believe I'm saying this but both Alienware (m15) and razer (razer blade 15) have some good offerings in the $1800 range.

Correct! That's the most I'd spend for a laptop ;). I personally believe the cost/value you get on a machine you can't upgrade dwindles very fast after $1600. I could stretch it, I just don't think it's worth it :/

 

The Razer Blade is a nugget! I love that lappy, it's just too expensive for the reason I told you.

2 minutes ago, Mockingbird said:

How about a mini ITX PC?

 

It can be both powerful and reasonably portable.

Close enough 😆... I just need a screen that can come with it ;)

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Just now, Mockingbird said:

I would get a portable laptop (not a giant monstrosity) and an external GPU.

I'd love something in the Ultrabook range. It does get tiresome to take 10 pounds of computer with you (6.4 of the computer and 3.5 of the power brick)

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6 minutes ago, Jose_49 said:

Yup. Portability. Sorry for making the post that long, I move every day, every time. 

 

For Desktop, I believe either a i5 9600 could suffice, or a Ryzen 5 3500x. If I'm enthusiast enough an i9 9900K  (The 9700K doesn't have hyperthreading... -_-), although I'd go with AMD in that route with the 3700x.

 

Haha, yes, the I was referring to the i7 in the Comet Lake (14nm++++ - 10710u) or Ice Lake Intel Core i7-1065G7

Correct! That's the most I'd spend for a laptop ;). I personally believe the cost/value you get on a machine you can't upgrade dwindles very fast after $1600. I could stretch it, I just don't think it's worth it :/

 

The Razer Blade is a nugget! I love that lappy, it's just too expensive for the reason I told you.

Close enough 😆... I just need a screen that can come with it ;)

You can get a 4k monitor for less than $200 now, But obviously you won't be getting hdr or any kind of adaptive sync if those are the features you are after.

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Just now, trag3dy said:

You can get a 4k monitor for less than $200 now, But obviously you won't be getting hdr or any kind of adaptive sync if those are the features you are after.

Fortunately I haven't worked or seen any of that "drug", so I'm not after it. I know if I had to work in one I wouldn't go back. I still have 2 1080p monitors which I will change once they die. 

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Just now, Jose_49 said:

Fortunately I haven't worked or seen any of that "drug", so I'm not after it. I know if I had to work in one I wouldn't go back. I still have 2 1080p monitors which I will change once they die. 

I understand that. Once I got a 144hz monitor there was no going back to 60hz... and then I got 144hz 1440p monitor which ruined 1080p forever.

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6 minutes ago, Jose_49 said:

I'd love something in the Ultrabook range. It does get tiresome to take 10 pounds of computer with you (6.4 of the computer and 3.5 of the power brick)

Maybe consider some of these:

 

https://egpu.io/ultrabook-buyers-guide-external-gpu/

 

https://www.techconsumerguide.com/best-laptops-for-egpus/

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10 minutes ago, Mockingbird said:

I still think ultrabook + external GPU is the best option here.

Yeah, and then he has to lug around that heavy eGPU box and another power brick.

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45 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said:

Yeah, and then he has to lug around that heavy eGPU box and another power brick.

The eGPU could stay home. I just need a good CPU and 16GB+ RAM while out. 

 

The MSI Prestige 15 seems like an excellent bet. I'm just worried about durability and customer support (Which I've read it's awful).

https://www.msi.com/Content-Creation/Prestige-15-A10X

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/10/2019 at 4:42 AM, Jose_49 said:

I've been debating as of late whether I should buy a medium-range laptop (<$750) and pair it with a Ryzen Desktop ($800), or go for another laptop (<$1600, being $1300 the sweet spot). I move a lot, and I spend just a few hours per day working at home. I do a lot of multitasking (especially working with Dropbox) and I would definitely love having 6 hours of battery life.

To tell you the truth (and it's probably something you already know at the back of your mind), if you buy a PC, you're probably not gonna use it as often as you'd like since you've already gotten used to your laptop.

 

So, my advice, spend $1,800-2,000+ and get a killer top of the line, no compromises laptop that will last you another 6 years easily.

 

Dell Alienware

Acer Predator Triton

 

Good luck!

Edited by Peresvet
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