I had the same dilemma, just a month ago. My main Desktop PC is a massive gaming rig with triple GPU, full water cooling and what not.
My problem is that I no longer play much/at all and the gaming PC is emitting ungodly amount of heat (not to mention consuming too much leecy), which is bad news in hot summer days. So I was looking at options to retire the monster and replace it with something that would still allow me to play games if I want to, but be cool and quiet for the 95% of the time that I don't play. The best way to achieve this is an external eGPU enclosure on TB3 and laptop/PC with TB3 ports. I narrowed it down to essentially 3 options:
Mac Mini, Macbook air, or non-apple Laptop.
Although we are "Apple shop" when it comes to mobiles and the missus is using an aged Macbook air as her laptop, I just couldn't stomach the price premium and lack of warranty/repair-ability of the first 2 options. For the price of a high spec Mac mini / Macbook Air (Core i5 / 16GB RAM / 256-512 SSD) with 1 year warranty, where if something goes wrong with customised gear you have to wait for days/weeks for a replacement. I ended up with a top spec Core i7 16GB RAM 1TB Dell XPS13 Laptop with 5 years of next business day on site warranty.
Desktop PC isn't really worth it, unless it's for pure gaming. For like £100-200 more you will get a laptop with same specs and decent screen, that is quieter and portable.
My problem is that I no longer play much/at all and the gaming PC is emitting ungodly amount of heat (not to mention consuming too much leecy), which is bad news in hot summer days. So I was looking at options to retire the monster and replace it with something that would still allow me to play games if I want to, but be cool and quiet for the 95% of the time that I don't play. The best way to achieve this is an external eGPU enclosure on TB3 and laptop/PC with TB3 ports. I narrowed it down to essentially 3 options:
Mac Mini, Macbook air, or non-apple Laptop.
Although we are "Apple shop" when it comes to mobiles and the missus is using an aged Macbook air as her laptop, I just couldn't stomach the price premium and lack of warranty/repair-ability of the first 2 options. For the price of a high spec Mac mini / Macbook Air (Core i5 / 16GB RAM / 256-512 SSD) with 1 year warranty, where if something goes wrong with customised gear you have to wait for days/weeks for a replacement. I ended up with a top spec Core i7 16GB RAM 1TB Dell XPS13 Laptop with 5 years of next business day on site warranty.
Desktop PC isn't really worth it, unless it's for pure gaming. For like £100-200 more you will get a laptop with same specs and decent screen, that is quieter and portable.
Comment