Need expert help for deciding

[Jakob_Zmrzlikar]

Hi!

A friend of mine asked me to help him with this. He has $2000 budget and he needs something good for work (documents, presentations, light video editing) and gaming. I considered the following options:

1. Macbook pro + ps4

Macbook pro is probably one of the best laptops for work. It's thin and light, has brilliant screen, long battery life and excellent keyboard and trackpad. Core i5 and 8 GB of RAM is probably enough for all work and 265GB of ssd is a lot. If it rums out you can still get external hdd. This version of Macbook pro costs $1600.
Ps4 is probably the best budget choice for gaming. It has 8 core cpu, 8 GB RAM, good gpu and 500GB hard drive. DualShock 4 is also very good. Since my friend has a FHD TV (not really fancy one but still), he can play at 1920x1080. The ps4 costs $400.

2. Macbook air + gaming pc

Macbook air doesnt have the screen of Macbook pro, but still has enough power for less demanding tasks. I considered the 4gb RAM 128GB ssd model for $1000.
This leaves $1000 for gaming rig. I came up with the following:

Cpu: intel 4670k ($200)
Mobo: ROG Maximus vi hero ($200)
RAM: 8GB g skill ($100)
Gpu: Rog striker 760 ($300)
Cooler: corsair h100i ($100)
Psu: corsair cs 750 w ($100)
Case: a really cheap one
Hdd: he already has one

3. Only gaming pc

So maybe a $2000 gaming pc would be o.k. for everything he does, even though he said he'd prefer to have something portable. Anyway, this is what i considered:


CPU: Intel Core™ i5 4770K ($300)
RAM: G.Skill 8 Gb ($100)
GPU: 2x ASUS Striker GTX 760 4 GB sli ($600)
MOBO: ASUS MAXIMUS VI Formula ($250)
PSU: CORSAIR RM 850w ($150)
Case: Cooler master Cosmos II ($370)
Cooling: CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series H100i ($110)
SSD: SAMSUNG 840 PRO series 128GB ($120)

So what do you think? Which one should i tell him to choose? I know that z97 is coming out, he might wait for them. But still, this doestn change the price.

-Jakob

[kkn]

try 1 gpu i stead of 2.
get a large one for around the price 2 cost.

if he plays the games you do and you 2 can play against each other if you have the same games then buy #2 since he want portable.
personaly im against i thingies so.
up the psu in #2 that way he can add a second gpu for sli ( prefer the exactly same card for it to do so ( model and amount of ram ) ).

[Jakob_Zmrzlikar]

I guess i should go with nvidia 780ti instead of 760 sli. Probably the ROG Matrix edition 🙂

Do you really need more than 750w for sli? I thought it was enough?

[kkn]

yes you need more then 750W.
a 780 and upwards can pull 200W each on full load.
so yes a 850W or more is recommended. ( preferably gold -> platinum rated )

[Jakob_Zmrzlikar]

Ok, so after a talk with my friend he decided he would go with something like option 1 or 2. He found a very cheap macbook pro for $1100, so he still has 900 left for gaming rig. If it is necesery he can also get extre $100 so he can spend around $1000.

The only thing that i was conserned about was when he said he wanted to play crysis 3. As far as i know it is one of the most demanding games, and i am not sure if $1000 could manege that. My question now is, should he get a pc like one i mentioned above? What about steam maschines ( i don't know much about them, only they are like some advanced gaming consoles running linux).


-Jakob

[kkn]

go for #2
if he wants to expand ( lets say a second GPU ) he needs a larger PSU ( if it can SLI the board that is ( havent looked at it ) )
mabye he can buy a ssd or 2 later down the road to get faster boot and game load.
and yes crysis3 is demanding, but he can get an ok FPS on that card too.
not on the highest level but on normal i guess he can do an ok FPS.

[Jakob_Zmrzlikar]

Does this mean that he will, let's say, get average 60 fps on medium settings on 1080p or something like that? And yes, the board supports sli so if he gets 850w psu it should be enough for dual 760?


-Jakob

[kkn]

yes if he had a 850 it should be enough for dual 760.
well i dont know what frames he will get, try and google and see what you come up whith.
try google whit the card and game and see what it says.

[Jakob_Zmrzlikar]

Well it looks like the average on ultra is 25. However, there is no evidence for medium or high settings. Do you think it could manege 60 on medium?

[Jakob_Zmrzlikar]

Ok, so while my friend and i haven't decided just yet, the computex happened and that brought new options out.

What do you think about new gr8 and g20. They seem to be somewere between console and pc. What about a gaming laptop, like gx500 or razer blade? Or should he anyway fo with normal pc?

-Jakob