Hey all! I’m looking to invest in my first gaming PC this holiday season, but I have no idea where to start. I’m currently running a fairly solid MacBook Pro from 2013 (I know, I know… please don’t judge me).
I’m looking for a solid, entry-level gaming PC that won’t break the bank (ideally sub-$1k) but that will be an upgrade from my current system and remain viable for at least a couple years. In terms of games, I’m mainly on WoW and maybe a few casual Steam games.
I really have no idea how to compare/rate video cards, and as such failed using that approach toward selecting a new system.
My current setup
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)
Processor: 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
Memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2 GB; Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB
Thank you so much in advance! I’m totally lost here >.< !!
do you want to stay on a mac or going to windows? tbh the new m1 macs can run wow decently
Indifferent, I suppose. Windows would be nice only for the sake of having other historically PC games at my fingertips. But a new/used M1 may be more economical anyway. Thanks!
yeah that is true… I still have a windows desktop for gaming mostly, or else I woulda switch to a macOS machine.
Windows machines around your max budget should play WoW better than the MacBook pro. Just spend as close to your max budget as possible so it’ll last longer. The specs to look for is 16gb of ram, either NVIDIA or Radeon separate graphic card, and the size of the SSD. Something like this:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-nitro-5-gaming-laptop-15-6-fhd-144hz-intel-11th-gen-i7-geforce-rtx-3050ti-16gb-ddr4-512gb-ssd-windows-11/6486189.p?skuId=6486189
Spend some time researching and you’ll find something that works for you.
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Don’t feel bad about your macbook. Those 2013 models are solid machines and are still plenty serviceable as long as you aren’t doing graphically demanding on them. Even if you get a new computer for gaming I would recommend keeping the 2013 as a backup or dedicated task machine.
Are you looking to get a desktop or a laptop? What are you looking to play, and with what screen? These questions change recommendations considerably, mainly due to desktop graphics cards being scarce and expensive right now.
A gaming laptop will unquestionably be easier to find, but comes with a few tradeoffs:
- Current generation laptop GPUs are about as powerful as last gen desktop GPUs, despite sharing model names
- Gaming laptops get hot and noisy, and typically have terrible battery life when not being used for gaming
- You’re getting less hardware for your buck, because miniaturization comes at a premium
- On lower cost units, things like chassis rigidity and quality of keyboard, screen, etc get cut meaning that if you want a more “well rounded” gaming laptop you’re going to have to dish out more dollars
On the desktop side of things, be wary of prebuilt towers. A LOT of these are built badly, with problems like almost zero airflow and dodgy power supplies. There are a few reasonable prebuilt desktop vendors but if you’re going desktop I would highly recommending building yourself if at all possible.
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My 2013 mac is still my primary machine these days. Work wanted it back for decomm and gave me a newest x86 Air. The Air is a coffee pad right now.
Mac is doing a lot of right things IMO. I don’t think we can really tell with Mac, gaming industry, econ and consoles all doing a lot of cool things but who knows what’ll pan out.
PC is a safe bet. Mac might win out in the end for better perf. We really can’t tell at this time.
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Hey, thank you for the input! Appreciate the details. And yes, I do still love my 2013, but it would be nice to get something a little bit newer for obvious reasons.
Mainly looking to boost my experience for WoW and a few Steam games (maybe even to the level of Mass Effect or Fallout 4).
Those laptop tradeoffs make total sense, but I would definitely be playing with an external monitor and would plan on purchasing a cooling pad as well. I already have a Razor keyboard and mouse that I quite enjoy using.
Tower does make sense for long-term efficacy, but I think for cost and storage/space at the moment, I’d probably hold off. So far, I’ve got my eyes on the Acer Nitro 5 that Earthie posted above, as well as the MSI 15.3in laptop. Thank you again!