Loaded question. For gaming/programming should I go with a laptop or pc? [I Build Computers]

But I have more questions. I have very limited knowledge of the internal components and what types are compatible with each other and what each type has to offer in terms of performance.

Let me put it to you this way, I want something affordable that isn't going to blow a hole into my checking account and I will spend extra money if I have to. I'm not looking for intense gaming, maybe steam games or league of legends but I also want to get back into programming such as C#, python, javascript etc. This computers intended use is to start retraining and reteaching myself since I don't have time or money to go back to college.

So what I'm asking for is helpful advice. Good places to design my own PC if the laptop option isn't viable which is what a lot of people are leading me to believe. Websites so I can educate myself on these specs such as CPU, graphics processor, etc. And in your opinion some of the best overall specs and brands to go with.

Again loaded question but I appreciate any advice on this. Basically I have a craving for knowledge once again. Ive spent too long spending my days off lounging on the couch and doing nothing. I want to re-educate myself especially in foreign languages, computer programming and database systems, discrete math, all the good stuff.

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FrosinStjarna

You'll have to pay a fair bit more for a "gaming" laptop than for a reasonable desktop. If portability isn't hugely important, I'd stick with the desktop machine.

I like Spokeskitties' recommendations pretty well -- the machine I just put together for the grandkids was:

MSI B450 Tomahawk Max motherboard (reliable and pretty good performance for the $)
Ryzen 5 3600 processor (seems to be the sweet spot in modest gaming processors for the money)
16 GB 3200 DDR4 RAM (8GB might be ok, but I don't build anything less that 16GB these days).
1660 Ti Graphics Card (but even an old GTX 750 Ti would work fine for what you want and that's probably under $100 on the used market these days)
500 GB SSD that I had laying around (this was a SATA drive, but if I were doing it from scratch, M.2 is faster)
WiFi card from my parts bin
500 W power supply and case that I had from an old machine (power supply is probably a little small, but it works ok. I'd have used a bigger one -- 650 W or so -- if I didn't already have this guy).
A few extra fans (with LED lighting so the kids would think it's cool).

If you're on a budget, you can probably find the case, power supply, WiFi and video card on the used market.

Your local computer store would likely put the processor, fan, SSD and RAM on the motherboard for free so all you have to do is install it in the case and plug in the rest of the parts. There are a ton of videos online on how to assemble the machine -- it's not hard.

I'd guess you could get something reasonable for $900 to $1000.

Setting it up to dual boot Windows or Linux is a good idea. I still like the Ubuntu distribution for Linux. Dual boot might be a little fiddly to get set up, I think. I haven't done that for a while -- I use a stand-alone Linux machine for most programming work. I'm sure there's good info about doing this online.

Good luck... enjoy...

CuddleFeesh · 31-35, M

@FrosinStjarna Awesome. Yah thats what I was thinking about as far as the price range goes. this might take me a few weeks or months to put together but the portion where I can get specific parts at used stores actually helps a lot. I was think a 5 or 7 processor. Seems to be about the right range but i think a 5 is more than enough for me, 7 is a little too high performance for what i need

SW-User

Programming is a passion. You need something portable to do it if you want to do it from anywhere. Some of it may consume a lot of CPU and memory based on what you do. I'd also say make sure it has Linux on it to make it easier for you to install using the command line. Anything that has more than 16GB RAM would be good enough.

If you want the cheaper alternative, you can have your own PC and install linux in it, but make sure you have enough RAM to handle what you wish to do.

Regarding learning programing, college is an overkill for it. You just need to start somewhere and do as much coding as possible, but remember to learn your data structure first. There are a lot of free youtube tutorials and also have a stackoverflow account(be warned there are a lot of jerks out there who may demean you for your posts, but ask away if you want to learn).

I'm not a programer, but I do my own programing when I need it at work. I taught myself how to do it because these so called programmers take ages and charge you a fortune just to write 10 lines of code for you. I'm not a fan of C#, but I can help with python and javascript.

CuddleFeesh · 31-35, M

@SW-User I was going to investigate linux, i forget the term but there was a way to install a secondary operating system, we had them at our college and programming with linux was awesome. However I'm unsure if the command line by default works with C++ or if it was modified for that purpose. When I took classes, programming in the beginning wasn't hard but like you said you need to know what exactly those lines are doing, visuals helped me alot. I do remember stack overflow and a few other sites we used we were criticize by people but we were also on a time crunch and had absolutely no idea what we were doing

SW-User

@CuddleFeesh You can always have a Virtual box or a VM installed in your windows that can give you the linux flavors. Or else, you can go for Ubuntu shell that enables linux.

Demos and visuals really help. Unfortunately not many people have the patience to deal with learners. Not even the teachers who just want to get the job done and move on.

stound

Do you have a budget for learning? Are there local groups you can dig into? Whats your computer budget? Do you have any need to be portable with your setup?

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CuddleFeesh · 31-35, M

@stound And I appreciate the input. This process im starting, well its more than just reinventing my passions but its also like an attempt at coping with my life. Finding something that excites me, finding something that makes me re-evaluate my life and keeping my mind free of things I don't want to think about by constantly keeping it busy with something else. Something that has value

stound

@CuddleFeesh uh. Im not sure that fits into a healthy response to things, but hopefully it goes well

CuddleFeesh · 31-35, M

@stound Maybe I'm just bad with words. The idea is to find something to enrich my life rather than squander it away like I have been doing all years.

CuddleFeesh · 31-35, M

On another note, are there any pages or groups on social media or web articles I can follow to sort of bring myself back into the loop? Maybe possibly find like minded individuals in which I can network with?

Elevatorpitches · F

No, learn instead about the rest of the world.

CuddleFeesh · 31-35, M

@Elevatorpitches why

Spokeskitties75 · 46-50, M

Here you go...

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