College Student in Need of Help!!!!

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Chris Wirsing

Honorable
Dec 6, 2013
3
0
10,510
I am debating on what I should do for my gaming system that I want to build/buy, and I could really use some help with this one. First of all I am a college student who is on the go from class to class to work and every where else and I have a budget of about $1200
Alright so my first option would be to buy a chromebook and build a desk top for gaming purpose I would be looking for something that could play Dark Souls and Minecraft, things like that. I don't play a lot of games but I do play games with friends, and I have the whole console war things so this is where I am now PC gaming

My next option is to just flat out buy a gaming laptop, and I have not done a whole lot of research on this one so it is still up in the air. Any and all advice is much appreciated.
 
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H
grab a ~$20 bluetooth keyboard and use google drive / docs / evernote etc and it'll be an amazing experience
you can sync a lot of stuff between drive and apps like evernote between your tablet and computer
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geofelt

geofelt

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Oct 9, 2006
54,291
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Gaming laptops are expensive and tend to be heavy.

I suggest a more portable light mobile device for class and a gaming desktop pc.

Plan on budgeting about twice the cpu budget for the graphics card and you will have a balanced gamer.
If your gaming is not of the fast action Shooter type, your graphics and cpu requirements will be minimal.
You may find that integrated graphics will suffice. It is easy to add a discrete graphics card later.
 
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dwatterworth

dwatterworth

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Dec 5, 2012
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Unless you are really strapped for space, a gaming laptop won't be the best bang for the buck. Get a good low power laptop that has strong battery life for class and then an appropriate desktop system. I would reference the 'build your own' section on Toms. The System builder marathons that Toms puts on are pretty good starting points for the new builder, especially as far as price to performance goes.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-your-own-pc-overclocking,3621.html
 
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Chris Wirsing

Honorable
Dec 6, 2013
3
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10,510
I am not set on the chromebook at all but I didnt think that tablets would be good for taking notes and things like that due to the fact that they cannot store files, or has there been some technological advance that makes them able to do this (i am excluding the surface tablet)
 
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HopelessNoob

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May 28, 2012
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grab a ~$20 bluetooth keyboard and use google drive / docs / evernote etc and it'll be an amazing experience
you can sync a lot of stuff between drive and apps like evernote between your tablet and computer
 
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Solution
C

Chris Wirsing

Honorable
Dec 6, 2013
3
0
10,510
That is awesome, thank you for the advice. Well now that I am sold on that I can ask about a build.
If I do what HopelessNoob said and get the tablet and all that for about 300 that would put my budget at about 900. For that price range do you think that I would be able to set up an Intel rig? I would like AMD but I seem to find that to get the same performance from an AMD that you do from and Intel then you must overclock the system. Due to the fact that this will be my first gaming PC rig I really dont want to get everything setup then mess up on the Overclock and fry the entire system. Do you think that is too much to ask for
 
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ScrewySqrl

ScrewySqrl

Champion
Aug 2, 2010
11,199
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53,540
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($129.99 @ TigerDirect)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-D3P ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: PNY XLR8 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.94 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill Challenger-U3 ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer UM.WV6AA.A02 (V226HQL Abmd) 60Hz 21.5" Monitor ($114.00 @ B&H)
Keyboard: V7 CK0A1-4N6P Wired Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($11.08 @ Mwave)
Headphones: Rosewill RHM-556 Headset ($9.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $701.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-06 16:16 EST-0500)

here is a $700 PC, No OS is included because Microsoft is still offers a student-only OS install for far less than non-students can buy (Was as low as $30)

Add a good $450 A8 notebook and you can also gam on the laptop
 
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