Affordable and portable PC for gaming

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bthizle1

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I´ve been considering a laptop for some time now, however I do not like the idea of it overheating so easily, not being upgradable, and expensive compared to a desktop. Anyways, I do not really have my own ¨place¨ so to say right now so portablity is pretty important (will most likely have to take it in various plane rides). I was thinking perhaps building a fairly portable desktop and then using the money left over I would have spent on the spendy gaming laptop on a cheaper $300-400 one. So my budget for the desktop would be around $700-$800. I´m assuming I could build something that´s on par or better than this laptop:

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8230-clevo-p151sm1-p-5840.html
sager np8230 ($1,200)
CPU: i7 4700mq haswell
GPU: GTX 770m

Any advice, or possible builds? I was looking at the new prodigy mATX case that´s coming out, perhaps that´s a possibility? Is a mid tower really going to be TOO heavy-akward to transport when needed?

I´d mainly be playing RPG´s and Strategies, especially the Total War series, including the new Rome Total War II that´s coming out. Also, I currently have no OS, and am leaning towards windows 7 due to game compatability.
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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The Prodigy is definitely not new, it's been around for quite a while. There's new variations of it, but the motherboards for mITX are what's new. The thing you have to remember is that laptops and desktops do not use the same hardware. Laptop hardware is proprietary, non upgradable, made for low power requirements, and because of that, laptops depreciate in value far faster than desktops do. Desktop hardware is upgradable, made for standard form factors, and the hardware on its' own doesn't depreciate as quickly in value.
 
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bthizle1

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Gunit, that´s exactly why I mentioned not wanting to spend the money on a gaming laptop and rather build a portable gaming pc, and than apart buy a much cheaper laptop. The mATX prodigy case is not even out yet as far as I know, I´m not refering to the mini itx prodigy. Any advice, or possible build?

EDIT:

Also a mini setup should be more or less just as upgradable as a mid set up correct? (within the boundries of size that is)
 
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bthizle1

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No, I do not have an OS, I´m thinking of going with windows 7 for game compatability though....I do not have a monitor either, but that could be exluded in the build, I suppose I could find a decent one for $100 or so. Also, the price with an OS I suppose I should say between $700-800.
 
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vertexx

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Well, this goes over budget, largely due to the case. But you have to admit, it's a pretty cool case - it has sort of a retro boom-box look to it IMO. You can save $80-100 by going with a cheaper Mini-ITX case. This is also a Haswell setup that would beat the laptop specs you provided. Something on par would be an I3-3220 paired with a GTX 650TI Boost or HD7870 Overclocked. That would also save close to $100.

The motherboard is a budget choice. More desirable would be an H87 board, for about $30 more.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1aYWd
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1aYWd/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1aYWd/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock B85M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($86.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($186.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Lian-Li PC-TU200B Mini ITX Tower Case ($175.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $888.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-27 19:36 EDT-0400)
 
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vertexx

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Here's another option with the Silverstone SG06 with included 450W SFX PSU:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1aZ6P
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1aZ6P/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1aZ6P/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($186.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Silverstone SST-SG05BB-450-USB3.0 (Black) Mini ITX Desktop Case w/450W Power Supply ($124.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $830.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-27 19:46 EDT-0400)
 
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vertexx

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And another option with a Cooler Master case and Corsair semi-modular PSU:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1aZaD
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1aZaD/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1aZaD/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($186.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $775.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-27 19:49 EDT-0400)
 
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vertexx

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All of those case options are much smaller and more portable than the Bitfinex. They are Mini-ITX, which means you have just one Expansion slot (the cases have 2 in order to accommodate the full size GPU).

If you go into Micro-ATX territory, I'd strongly suggest looking at the Silverstone SG09. It's the smallest Micro-ATX case on the market at this point.
 
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bthizle1

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Thank you very much for the help-suggestions, I appreciate it. I´m still another say 2 months or so out from making a purchase so for now I´m just trying to get a good idea. Those mini set ups, could I carry them around in a backpack fairly easily? In total more or less, around how much would they weigh in at?
 
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