getting back into gaming.

[Tefal]

hey guys, so lately I've started getting back into gaming a bit, mostly darktide and rogue trader, using my laptop a;

Gigabyte Sabre 17W-CF1 NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 17.3"

FHD, Intel i7-7700HQ Gaming Laptop

from ocuk but i travel between the uk and Italy a lot (gf lives here) and its a bit big and awkward and only really getting 20-30fps the power brick is big and battery life is crap. back home i have a desk top set up set up that i haven't turned on in years tbh i started it up the other week and it bosd frequently ( i think that's why i stopped using it) also while tilting the case to plug something in smoke did come out so i quickly turned off and i was quickly leaving to come to Italy so didnt investigate further, is possibly just dust the room was dark or fog from an airduster residue.

im trying to decide on refurbing/replacing the pc or should i get a laptop, i have a nice 4k oled lg tv that i have hooked the laptop up to which is good but very low fps.

is there anything worth keeping from the pc?


desktop order copied from email 2015 wow

Asus PG278Q ROG Swift 27" G-Sync 144Hz Gaming Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - BlackRed
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming G1-Wifi BK Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail
Crucial BX100 500GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT500BX100SSD1)
OcUK Tech Labs - Pre Noise Dampened Case - Antec Performance Series P280 Midi-Tower - Gun Metal Black
Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11T3K216)
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614)


ill be back on tuesday so i can get the psu details etc but i assume its all out of date but the monitor

i do have a Samsung 980 1 TB PCIe 3.0 (up to 3.500 MB/s) NVMe M.2 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (MZ-V8V1T0BW) i got to put into the laptop but haven't yet too.

ive gotten so out of the loop with pc stuff and gaming that i really don't know anymore. i have a 4k oled tv at home plus the monitor which is good and in italy there is a samsung serif hd tv but no monitor (mrs is all mac)

budget is variable (im comfortable but dont want to unessecerily waste money) both pcs say they wont support win 11 and i understand windows is dropping win 10 support this year, my hearing is quite damaged these days and i use headphones so silence is less of a concern i assume the case is still good for the pc but ive found the 2kg+ laptop and 17 inch screen is impossible to use in the airport/on the plane where im frequently bored.


what do you guys think mini pc, laptop, desktop upgrade?

sorry for the vagueness i really dont know the options today, and sorry for the typolitus

 

[JollyJamma]

Would a Steam Deck or ASUs Ally work for your gaming needs with a 13” laptop for regular work also budgeted for?

I’m not a fan of gaming laptops per say, they don’t work nearly as well as they should given the cost and the Steam Deck actually allows you to game on to go since the OS is so refined.

 

[Tefal]

Would a Steam Deck or ASUs Ally work for your gaming needs with a 13” laptop for regular work also budgeted for?

I’m not a fan of gaming laptops per say, they don’t work nearly as well as they should given the cost and the Steam Deck actually allows you to game on to go since the OS is so refined.

I don't do any work on the laptop, atm my work is all physical so nothing outside of work (anything for work is done on supplied phone and only in work time) .

Yeah how are the stem decks and other handheld? Can they connect to say a 1080p TV and be a portable console while also doing travel duty?

Yeah the laptop is very hot (burns your had if mouse alongside the exhaust) very short battery life and relatively poor performance but I haven't tied the old desktop on the current games.
And it weighs a ton

 

[JollyJamma]

Yeah how are the stem decks and other handheld? Can they connect to say a 1080p TV and be a portable console while also doing travel duty?

I don’t know for sure if they can do 1080P but the ASUs Ally is more powerful AND a full computer that can run Excel etc

Yeah the laptop is very hot (burns your had if mouse alongside the exhaust) very short battery life and relatively poor performance but I haven't tied the old desktop on the current games.
And it weighs a ton

Yes, that’s my problem. They aren’t small enough to be truly mobile but run hot and aren’t large enough to deal with the cooling requirements.

I’m betting that when RISC professors take over, cooling will be easier (Apple M1 is a good example of a powerful yet easy to cool RISC processor) but that’s not today.

Looking at gaming laptops, it’s easy to spend £2k which would get you an Asus Rog Ally (£600 on sale at the moment) an HP Elitebook (£1025 in special) and £400 for a new GPU upgrade for your desktop or a Nintendo Switch or a PS5.

That’s before you consider how badly gaming laptops depreciate.

The value just isn’t there for gaming laptops but they do have a use case, I just can’t stomach the price to performance.

 

[Jae-So]

As an owner of the ROG Ally, mine has been RMA'ed due to issues and support is terrible.
Even when it works you are inundated with updates (ones that don't seem to make it much better) and doesn't work nearly as seamlessly as I would like.

Get the Steam Deck OLED if going that direction but would advise on a laptop.
My Alienware M17 R5 doesn't skip a beat (I also have a desktop though).

 

[JollyJamma]

As an owner of the ROG Ally, mine has been RMA'ed due to issues and support is terrible.

What was so bad about the support? Slow? Refusal to initially RMA the device?

I’m sure that it’s updated all the time but that’s not really an issue in my opinion as at least you’re getting updates.

Not getting any support from Asus would be an issue if they don’t back their own product (although I could understand if they didn’t want to RMA the device under certain circumstances)

 

[Jae-So]

What was so bad about the support? Slow? Refusal to initially RMA the device?

I’m sure that it’s updated all the time but that’s not really an issue in my opinion as at least you’re getting updates.

Not getting any support from Asus would be an issue if they don’t back their own product (although I could understand if they didn’t want to RMA the device under certain circumstances)

The updates are annoying, because it seems to get unresponsive all the time then I'll reboot and boom BIOS update and it often takes several times to get the update done.

As many may know, Asus outsource their RMAs to a 3rd party called Let me repair (just check out how bad they are on Trust pilot).
My personal experience with them has been bad. I RMA'ed my Ally for a faulty right analog and microSD port.

I sent it in and took pictures of the device before shipping to them (their courier brings a padded box). The device had no physical damage prior to shipping, but they sent me a picture of said analog practically ripped from the device and claim customer damage and say that's not covered by the warranty.

I've called, sent pictures etc and nothing works, I have to pay up, luckily it is not a large amount.

As soon as I get the device back (hopefully I get it back in decent shape), I'm trading it in, honestly should've just stuck with my Steam Deck but wanted to play Destiny 2.

That's my experience, yes, anecdotal so do with it what you will but the 3rd party support they use in the UK, means I'm not buying an Asus device again (and they used to be my go to).

 

[Tefal]

I don’t know for sure if they can do 1080P but the ASUs Ally is more powerful AND a full computer that can run Excel etc



Yes, that’s my problem. They aren’t small enough to be truly mobile but run hot and aren’t large enough to deal with the cooling requirements.

I’m betting that when RISC professors take over, cooling will be easier (Apple M1 is a good example of a powerful yet easy to cool RISC processor) but that’s not today.

Looking at gaming laptops, it’s easy to spend £2k which would get you an Asus Rog Ally (£600 on sale at the moment) an HP Elitebook (£1025 in special) and £400 for a new GPU upgrade for your desktop or a Nintendo Switch or a PS5.

That’s before you consider how badly gaming laptops depreciate.

The value just isn’t there for gaming laptops but they do have a use case, I just can’t stomach the price to performance

Yeah I've seen those mini handhelds but not tried one how are the screens still one them if you've tried? Yeah I've got a ps4pro I think I'll wait for the ps5 pri if I go that route but I don't massively use it as is.

Do you think a new gpu would being rhe oc up to the current gen even with win 10 losing support?
i think there's a few rog ally for 500 ish on the MM

As an owner of the ROG Ally, mine has been RMA'ed due to issues and support is terrible.
Even when it works you are inundated with updates (ones that don't seem to make it much better) and doesn't work nearly as seamlessly as I would like.

Get the Steam Deck OLED if going that direction but would advise on a laptop.
My Alienware M17 R5 doesn't skip a beat (I also have a desktop though).

Yeah I find the 17" laptop way too unuseable for a plane. I had thought about the windows surface pro kind of tablet/keyboard but I doubt they'd run much of anything game wise the decks/ally have a lot more going for them in that regard.


It's a bit awkward as if I'm away for just a weekend then there's no time to game as we're spending all out time together but when I'm there for a week or two when she has to work there's a fair bit of time to fill but the bulk of my time is at home where a pc seems like best bang for buck?


But 1 hour coach, 2 hour airport, 2 hour flight, 1 hour train. Each trip gets dull and a handheld or laptop seems ideal there

 

[Jae-So]

Yeh to be fair a combo of desktop for main gaming at home plus a Steam Deck for trips seems like might be a good balance for your needs.

Or just get the handheld and see how you get on. I would just avoid the Ally personally.

 

[Tefal]

Yeh to be fair a combo of desktop for main gaming at home plus a Steam Deck for trips seems like might be a good balance for your needs.

Or just get the handheld and see how you get on. I would just avoid the Ally personally.

Yesh the steam deck has the benefit of being purely for gaming. Which is what I need

Atm I don't need a laptop for work and if I ever do they will provide which is good plus I'm on holiday work can go take a running one, advantage of factory work there vs office I guess.


Your experience with asus (matches my experience with my monitor ended up having to buy a new powerbrick off amazon as the one that came with it failed repetedly blowing fuses and seemd to be a known issue with the monitor at the time) doesn't fill me with confidence buying say 2nd hand. I see msi is doing one soon? But steam deck seems like at least its all intergrated with the platform I biy games on


Has anyone tried a surface pro for gaming?

 

[pepp77]

I picked the Ally over the SD mainly because I have at least half my games not on steam. No complaints so far, but I've only had it 10 days, spent the first day doing all the updates and setting up playnite instead of armoury crate as my front end. Even allows me to install and run games on networked drives (slightly longer load times, but no issues when in actual games), so great for my main usage which is on the couch or in bed.

 

[Kill_Phil]

Another vote for the steam deck and docking station

 

[Noughtboy]

@Tefal this comes from a good place but when you are in Italy, wtf are you interested in gaming for? Your misses is there and when she isn't, I am sure there is much to explore around the city/town and within a day trip around you. I would put funds into replacing the desktop and a tablet to check email, watch Netflix on the coach and plane.

Depending on the budget, then consider the Steam Deck but that would be my order. Looking forward to hearing on your decision

 

[Tefal]

@Tefal this comes from a good place but when you are in Italy, wtf are you interested in gaming for? Your misses is there and when she isn't, I am sure there is much to explore around the city/town and within a day trip around you. I would put funds into replacing the desktop and a tablet to check email, watch Netflix on the coach and plane.

Depending on the budget, then consider the Steam Deck but that would be my order. Looking forward to hearing on your decision

Cause over the last 5 years I've explored the city pretty well. May as well say "you live in the uk why would you ever game there's so much to explore" other than updating my mental list of who has the best aperitivo (Bar vita and el forner are the top imo) there's not much to do.

It's been nice latley me doing a bit of gaming while she's learning new things for rendering etc.

We did bolzano as a day trip last week though, that's worth a trip.

 

[mdixson]

I have this monitor and always found it to be great (touch wood!) - but yes a steam deck seems great and would work nicely with your screen and tv!