Uprading Gaming PC, Buying Labtop. Help!

[Derpamis]

Alright so i have what i would consider a mid range gaming PC curently (specs below) and a 3yr old screen i plan to update to a 1ms proably ISP. I want to start recording basically everything i do game wise (WoW/SC2/BF3) and making videos. Im also traveling to see guildies and debating ethier 1) picking up a cheap gaming labtop or 2) picking up a labtop for primarily video editing but still capable of running WoW and other games when not home.

Current PC setup.

Windows 7, 64 bit
128gb SSD
Cooler Master HAF (Top 200MM fan needs to be replaced)
Basic Asus Disc Drive
M5A97 Asus Motherboard
AMD FX(tm)-6100 Six-Core Processor 3.30 Ghz
8Gb Ram
Nvidia Geforce Gtx480

Since my friend help me build my PC i didnt realise my Mobo couldnt run SLI only crossfire, i love Nvidia cards but am willing to consider something like 2x Radeon HD7970s (I saw them going for 420.00$) which may be an alternative to running (1) 690 or higher powered card.

Im currently looking to replace the Mobo/CPU/GPU, add a larger Hard drive and going up to 16gb corsair vengeance. I think i could buy a cheaper case and transfer some leftover parts from a build 4 years ago (PS/HD/OS etc) and recover 400$ from the parts im getting rid of.

So basically, ive got around 3000.00$ to spend on upgrading my PC + Labtop and i just want to see my $ be used (worried about buying a gaming labtop and only using it FOR gaming while traveling, which atleast a macbook pro could do all my video editing.)

[Toffie]

For 3000 bucks you could get a laptop capable of running all games for years maxed and still do video editing.

Something along the lines of

3630QM
2x7970M
256 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD
1 TB 7200rpm storage drive
16GB vengeancy 1600MHz ram.

[Derpamis]

Hey Toffie thanks for the quick reply,

Im not the biggest fan of Labtop gaming from what i heared and 3000$ would make it my primary/only computer. I want to use the labtop for 1-2 week trips 2-3 times a year, when im at school (may be going back to college) and just chilling at friends. I dont think i should make my labtop better then my PC.

Also would running crossfire 7970s (looking at be around 840.00$) and upgrading my CPU but keeping my mobo possibly be a good way to go?

[Deleted]

For 3000 bucks you could get a laptop capable of running all games for years maxed and still do video editing.

Something along the lines of

3630QM
2x7970M
256 GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD
1 TB 7200rpm storage drive
16GB vengeancy 1600MHz ram.

That will have about a 20 minute battery life.

[Deleted]

This Laptop comes with a GTX680 and an i7 for $1800 after MIR, and it seems pretty meaty - the only issue is the lack of an SSD.

That would leave you $1200 to upgrade your PC, which I would recommend as this, seeing as you're doing extensive video editing:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($80.84 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LX ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($107.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card ($472.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1077.76
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-06 14:40 EDT-0400)

[Toffie]

Looks good, but graphics card is single cooler and will be loud and get hot leaving no option for decent overclocking.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3938566&SID=

Performs very close to a 680 stock. Best 670 overclocking card available according to 3dmark.

[Derpamis]

If i spend over 1000.00$ on a labtop im going to proably have to use it as my primary video editing machine in order to fit my budget, and if im spending close to 2k wouldnt that be about the only time someone could justify buying a macbook pro? For 1500-2k on a mac u could get something to game fine (On the go i would primarily be playing Blizz titles)

[Deleted]

I appreciate all the suggestions so far! really helping narrow down my choices. I see the majority of people on here are suggesting/using Intel builds, i was always under the assumption AMD would be better/equal for gaming at a much better price. How does something like a AMD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8350FRHKBOX compare to an i7 3770k 3.5ghz quad (which is 30 more) ?

Also is there any reason to possibly go over 16gb ram to 32gb for my needs? I wont be doing actual rendering but i will be editing 1080P recorded gameplay. Keep in mind i plan on recording already intense processes such as WoW 25mans by recording it all and running other programs at the same time.

I am starting to think a 670 or 690 will be my card of choice, unless i can justify a 690 (People say 680 isnt worth the extra hundred and if your going to go past a 670 go 690

See, this was where my issue was - If you're going above the 680, you may as well go for the TITAN at that point, which would have eaten up pretty much any excess budget from buying the laptop I recommended. If you didn't need that, then I'd suggest something like this at around $3150 (and you can save some by using your current CPU):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($189.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($80.84 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($179.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($106.25 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Constellation ES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($195.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($214.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX Titan 6GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($1025.91 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX Titan 6GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($1025.91 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($125.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $3145.83
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-06 15:36 EDT-0400)

[Derpamis]

I cant justify 2x titans, maybe 1 but 2 would be beyond overkill

[Deleted]

I cant justify 2x titans, maybe 1 but 2 would be beyond overkill

One dedicated to the game, one dedicated to the editing? I mean, that would be a killer setup. Alternatively, replace the second TITAN with a dedicated Capture card and chaneg the CPY/Mobo tot he i7-37770k and the same brand Mobo for the 1155.

[yurano]

Im not the biggest fan of Labtop gaming from what i heared and 3000$ would make it my primary/only computer. I want to use the labtop for 1-2 week trips 2-3 times a year, when im at school (may be going back to college) and just chilling at friends. I dont think i should make my labtop better then my PC.

I second this motion.

For the laptop, it would be a good idea to grab a high clocked i7-QM and just run off of Intel HD 4000 ($700-800). It can still play WoW at low settings and will have the battery life and lightness needed for portability. Laptop i7-QMs are basically lower clocked versions of desktop i7s so you'd be all set on the video editing front.

With a $3000 budget though, you can probably afford a Sandy Bridge-E or Xeon processor for the desktop. Since your laptop will have the Intel HD 4000, you're not going to be missing out on QuickSync should you ever need it.

[Toffie]

He have a 3000 budget, playing on a HD4000 is probaly gonna be a rather shitty experience. For that amount he could replace the parts of his computer with a high-end components and still have money to spend on a laptop running WoW at good settings without coming close to the 3000 budget.

Also spending 1500 on a macbook is a waste unless you like certain things about macs or for the looks, mostly the hardware is average with a high pricetag. I will try to look for a decent laptop for 1000 that I think I saw earlier at work today.

Final price assuming you live near microcenter or wanna take the drive to save 100 dollars on the CPU. Took the 750 psu since you wanted to run Crossfire (I suggest waiting since a single 7970 will do you more than fine right now).

You should look into getting a capture card, atleast thats what all the biggest streamers use to not interfere with gaming performance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($90.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.63 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($389.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1094.57
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-06 17:07 EDT-0400)

Are you planning on video editing on the desktop ? If so then you probaly better off getting a 670/680 card. If you want any decent performance video editing on a laptop then your looking at i7 with 16 gb ram and a 660m or better.

[yurano]

He have a 3000 budget, playing on a HD4000 is probaly gonna be a rather shitty experience. For that amount he could replace the parts of his computer with a high-end components and still have money to spend on a laptop running WoW at good settings without coming close to the 3000 budget.

Then and again, he's only using the laptop when he's home from school or on the go. The Intel HD 4000 isn't all that bad for WoW. You can go 1080p with acceptable frames on low. Plus, going with an iGPU greatly prolongs battery life which is important since he's using the laptop as a portable device, not as a desktop replacement.

Your build is missing a case ($100), OS ($100) and SSD ($100). Adding on the suggested capture card ($200) and you're cutting into the "gaming laptop" budget.

Most video editing software is run on CPU so getting a 660M on the laptop won't do much to speed up video editing. Instead, a 6-core Ivy Bridge/Haswell-E would be better for the money.

[Toffie]

He got a case a OS and a SSD Up to him if he wants a larger ssd.
The plan was also to play games on the laptop while video editing.