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