Thread: hmmm...a big tech decision...

so I started a new internship last week with an R&D department and recently found out I got a hefty grant from the university. I finally have the means to make some upgrades and was wondering what you guys would do...

What I have:

desktop:
- 2.2 Intel GHz core 2 duo
- 2 GB DDR 2 RAM
- Dual Radeon HD 4870 with crossfire
- Massive Master Cooler case with plenty of room
- 1KW power supply

laptop:
- HP HD 16
- AMD 2.56 GHz dual core
- 4 GB DDR2
- NVidia 9600GTm
(very hefty, screen has burns in it and warranty is run out.)

I am trying to decide whether to get a fully loaded HP envy laptop or whether to upgrade my desktop.

(note: HP envy won laptop of the year award this past year and has been getting tremendous reviews. I know HP has sucked for the most part as far as laptop quality goes, but these ones really look like they take the cake)

within my price range of about $1200 I could build an HP envy with a i7 1.73GHz quad core (turbo boost 2.93GHz), a Radeon 5650, 4 GB of DDR3 ram, and it's all fit sleekly into a 1.1" thick case with backlit keyboard, beats audio, and a bunch of other little laptop flares. I'm seriously considering this because of the portability and power that it has. Has gotten some phenominal reviews.

I could also spend about that much to get some KILLER parts for my desktop:

3.2GHz Hexacore AMD Phenom II
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT90ZFBGRBOX
several different compatible mobos for under $200

there are several awesome GPUs all for great prices on newegg. The Radeon HD 6870 is only $200 bucks.
Newegg.com - HIS H687F1G2M Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

the GeForce GTX 570 is only a bit more...
Newegg.com - MSI N570GTX-M2D12D5 GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

there's also the option of sli or crossfire...
And RAM is dirt cheap these days, 6GB would only run about $100.

I am seriously considering this option as well since I already have a killer case and an adequate power supply.

What do you guys think? Mobility and moderate power of a gaming laptop, or stellar power for my desktop rig?

Go with desktop...

Respectfully,
h7g6f5

Originally Posted by h7g6f5

Go with desktop...

Respectfully,
space.cowboy

So all the above desktop parts would run around 800-900ish leaving some room to preorder BF3 and maybe grab a new monitor while I'm at it (dual streen 19"... they are so tiny )

Space.cowboy; lol...

Salty99, sound like a plan....

Respectfully,
h7g6f5

yup; desktop it is. I'll probably start ordering the new gear from newegg in a month or so

thanks for the input dudes. (thanks to h7 for actually typing your input )

Yeah def a desktop.

Consider a 1155 2500k Sandybridge over the AMD.

I just did my build and I have a 6870. I can't tell you anything about it yet because I am still downloading all my steam games :/. I can tell you the 2500k runs really really really cool at 100% all 4-cores maxed.

Edit:
I can tell you something about the 6870, at idle I can't hear it over my case fans.