So

[Tasdik]

I'm going to college in a month, I need to buy, among other things, a laptop for school. Now, I could either A.) Buy a cheap laptop for writing papers, taking notes, etc. But no gaming. Or, I could take option B.) and buy a crappy laptop, for the above reasons, and have a friend build me a desktop for gaming. The specs are something like this:

8GB RAM
6-core Processor
1TB Hard Drive
1GB Add-in Graphics Card

This will cost about $528 with shipping, and does not include a monitor.

Now, I can't seem to decide if it's worth spending this much money on a computer, just for gaming. But then again, 4 years of no gaming at all? Hhhh.

Help me decide? =(

[Amarisa]

If it's for pure gaming you can settle for a quad core. Like I told you before on xfire I run an athlon x4 for games with no issues at all.

And unless you are like me who has a shit ton of games a 1TB is over kill

[.curve]

And unless you are like me who has a shit ton of games a 1TB is over kill

No such thing as overkill. 1TB just means more room for porn.

[Toshiharu]

If it's for pure gaming you can settle for a quad core. Like I told you before on xfire I run an athlon x4 for games with no issues at all.

And unless you are like me who has a shit ton of games a 1TB is over kill

I bought 1.5tb 2 years ago and I thought "Well I'm never going to fill that up." and look 2 years later it has 150gb left. Of course I have hundred+ games, a bunch of movies, anime, and a fuckton of pictures.

I would suggest buying the 1~2tb drive since the other ones are not worth the price anymore.

Anyhow back to the thread.. Depends on where you're going to college I'd say. If you're staying in a dorm then definitely not a computer. I guess that's just me, but I wouldn't want my computer to be in the open. $200 laptop? Well I wouldn't really care then

[MrTwilliger]

You should ask yourself this: do I enjoy gaming enough that I'd be willing to spend that sort of money? At the end of the day your paying the bill out of your own wallet so we can't really decide if $500 (give or take) is worthwhile. Hell, I'm not even too sure how relevant it is in regards to your overall income.

The way I see it is that you should do what you enjoy doing in life. If you enjoy gaming and if you will have the free time for it, than why not? Pick up a bit of extra work during holidays/in the next month before you start and you might just be able to generate the extra income to build yourself a new desktop. If you enjoy gaming than do go for it

[Mirosuke]

I have a better deal for you, check it out!

Spoiler!

Instead of a 'gaming computer', get a normal one enough for your college needs. And get a girlfriend if able. Profit between and after 4 years.

You choose.

If it's for pure gaming you can settle for a quad core. Like I told you before on xfire I run an athlon x4 for games with no issues at all.

And unless you are like me who has a shit ton of games a 1TB is over kill

How old are you again?

[Amarisa]

If it's for pure gaming you can settle for a quad core. Like I told you before on xfire I run an athlon x4 for games with no issues at all.

And unless you are like me who has a shit ton of games a 1TB is over kill

How old are you again?

19?

[Doron]

I have a better deal for you, check it out!

Spoiler!

Instead of a 'gaming computer', get a normal one enough for your college needs. And get a girlfriend if able. Profit between and after 4 years.

You choose.

Finally someone with the beauty answer ever!

Then again, in Tasdik's case a boyfriend would also be sufficient.

[CrimsonNuker]

I have a better deal for you, check it out!

Spoiler!

Instead of a 'gaming computer', get a normal one enough for your college needs. And get a girlfriend if able. Profit between and after 4 years.

You choose.

If it's for pure gaming you can settle for a quad core. Like I told you before on xfire I run an athlon x4 for games with no issues at all.

And unless you are like me who has a shit ton of games a 1TB is over kill

How old are you again?

The long term expenses of a girlfriend far outweighs the one time expense of a computer.

[MrJoey]

I have a better deal for you, check it out!

Spoiler!

Instead of a 'gaming computer', get a normal one enough for your college needs. And get a girlfriend if able. Profit between and after 4 years.

You choose.

Finally someone with the beauty answer ever!

Then again, in Tasdik's case a boyfriend would also be sufficient.

Oh har har, a gay joke from the worst of the forums gays.

[XMoshe]

I would spend the money man, also stick with that...I have not much experience with computers but with the games becoming better and better I doubt 4 cores will be enough at the end of the run (after 4 years that is).

Or maybe it will be enough! no idea lolol. Have fun at college man.

[Amarisa]

I would spend the money man, also stick with that...I have not much experience with computers but with the games becoming better and better I doubt 4 cores will be enough at the end of the run (after 4 years that is).

Or maybe it will be enough! no idea lolol. Have fun at college man.

The only benefit from having 6 cores over 4 right now and probably for awhile is if you do CPU heavy tasks, and gaming is not one of them.

[Mirosuke]

The long term expenses of a girlfriend far outweighs the one time expense of a computer.

At least is money well invested in long terms if she's not a whore. amirite?
No risk, no gain.

[Peachy]

When I went to college, I spent the first year gaming my life away, and ended up with a horrible GPA. I suggest a balance. Get a computer that suits your college needs, yet powerful enough to play a couple games for when you feel like it. But in the long run games won't really get you anywhere (Unless you're going into game design), especially silkroad. I actually stop playing games now when the semester starts, because it's just that much more important. Don't spend too much on a computer either. I spent 420$ on mine, tax included (I hope some of you just lost the game), Because you're going to end up getting one that's a million times better, later. Don't waste your money on a gaming computer for school, because if you're serious about your work you'll barely use it.
Especially if you get a girlfriend.
Here's my college computer specs:
AMD processor V120 2.2ghz
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 graphics up to 1205mb hyper memory
15.6" HD LED LCD
3 GB DDR3 Memory
250GB HDD
6-cell lithium ion battery
I can have SRO, several browsers, MSN, and music all running at the same time without a problem, and it fits in my adidas bag quite well for portability.
Good luck.

[Bananaman]

The long term expenses of a girlfriend far outweighs the one time expense of a computer.

This.

its not like you need to pay a lot of money to go to a singles bar and pick up the cutest chick that's into you and take her home that night anyway.

You can have your cake and eat her too.

And hey, if you get that awesome computer, you can go into producing music. Making tunes for Various companies, and commercials and make money on the side...

Then you can just *BUY* a woma...er *wife*

[penfold1992]

well laptop is pretty much required for studies, yet no matter how good they are... they always seem to:
run outta battery quickly
over heat quickly
quickly become not so great at almost everything
after a year become slow.

i recommend buying a cheapish laptop and get a ok pc...

if you want more help pm me your budget and ill give you some ideas of what i would do =)

[Mirosuke]

Who says money keeps your gf sticking with you.

[Zanti]

laptop for school/uni depends on what you're going to study..
during my bachelor i had a laptop that had to run 3d software and render, because of the lack of computers at my faculty. my laptop was pretty much a portable desktop (back then it was one of the first 17" laptops with a 64 bit processor lol <,<) and i therefore didn't have a desktop next to it. it ran anything i wanted it to run, from the software i was using to the games i was playing.
during my master i'm doing a lot more research rather than using 3d software, which means i mostly use my laptop to take notes and write reports. as soon as i found this out i swapped my big laptop for a netbook, and bought a pc to run my software and games.

besides what study you do i'd also say what you're going to buy depends on what games you're going to play. i personally only play mmorpg's so i don't need a lot of power in my pc. the only reason i have a high end pc is because sometimes when i have friends over they want to play lol.

[SM-Count]

The long term expenses of a girlfriend far outweighs the one time expense of a computer.

At least is money well invested in long terms if she's not a whore. amirite?
No risk, no gain.

Girlfriends are ridiculously overpriced and are one of the few investments on which the equity goes down the longer you invest - get a good computer. $500 is much less than what you'll spend on books + food in a semester and the worse feeling in the world is when you're in your third year in college and realize your computer is too slow but since you already bought it you don't want to use more money to upgrade so you're stuck with a really slow computer and hate your life. Again, $500 for a better college experience is nothing. You'll use that laptop anywhere. (assuming your going to a uni in U.S., dunno about other countries but I'd imagine it's the same)

[BuDo]

The long term expenses of a girlfriend far outweighs the one time expense of a computer.

At least is money well invested in long terms if she's not a whore. amirite?
No risk, no gain.

Girlfriends are ridiculously overpriced and are one of the few investments on which the equity goes down the longer you invest - get a good computer. $500 is much less than what you'll spend on books + food in a semester and the worse feeling in the world is when you're in your third year in college and realize your computer is too slow but since you already bought it you don't want to use more money to upgrade so you're stuck with a really slow computer and hate your life. Again, $500 for a better college experience is nothing. You'll use that laptop anywhere. (assuming your going to a uni in U.S., dunno about other countries but I'd imagine it's the same)

That statement alone is the trademark for the highly nerdy. If you think girlfriends are pricey then you're doing it wrong. Find yourself a girl who's equally (if not more) financially resourceful as yourself. Since you both like each other there is no problem for both of you to pay the tab or buy each other stuff. And stop following the status-quo that sez a man should pay for everything..that is so old school.

[SM-Count]

That statement alone is the trademark for the highly nerdy. If you think girlfriends are pricey then you're doing it wrong. Find yourself a girl who's equally (if not more) financially resourceful as yourself. Since you both like each other there is no problem for both of you to pay the tab or buy each other stuff. And stop following the status-quo that sez a man should pay for everything..that is so old school.

I have a long term live in girlfriend, we grocery shop, go out and pay together most of the time (65-35 I pick up the tab), she's still several hundred percent more expensive than $500. (to be fair she's spent a ton of money* on me as well, but that's kinda the point) If you don't think girlfriends are pricey then you're just wrong.

*'ton of money' used relatively to broke college students' financial situations, obviously

[Sovereign]

I'd personally get the desktop. Also, it's been a few years since I was in Uni but if your seriously thinking that saving the money that would buy a computer is gonna get you a girlfriend then you are seriously misguided.
There are no rules saying you can't have a desktop to enjoy some gaming and have a girlfriend at the same time, take everything in life in moderation and you'll find you can have a lot of things going for you. Didn't stop me when I was in Uni and hasn't stopped me yet so far.

[Toshiharu]

Not sure why every thread we have that revolves around money it ends up with save it for a girlfriend. We can never stay on top..

[cpinney]

buy cheap ass netbook + desktop = profit

[Tasdik]

... stay on top..

buy cheap ass netbook + desktop = profit

That's the current plan. I'll be buying the laptop tomorrow night, as well as the desktop parts for my friend to build. Yay tax free weekend?

[BuDo]

That statement alone is the trademark for the highly nerdy. If you think girlfriends are pricey then you're doing it wrong. Find yourself a girl who's equally (if not more) financially resourceful as yourself. Since you both like each other there is no problem for both of you to pay the tab or buy each other stuff. And stop following the status-quo that sez a man should pay for everything..that is so old school.

I have a long term live in girlfriend, we grocery shop, go out and pay together most of the time (65-35 I pick up the tab), she's still several hundred percent more expensive than $500. (to be fair she's spent a ton of money* on me as well, but that's kinda the point) If you don't think girlfriends are pricey then you're just wrong.

*'ton of money' used relatively to broke college students' financial situations, obviously

I think you have a primitive outlook on women and relationships. Saying things like "girlfriends are pricey" is also proof of your inexperience. You're situation isn't universal.