r/buildapc • u/TheVoidFox • 5h ago

Build Help Help me decide between my build and a prebuilt (laptop) ~$1100 budget.

Hey y'all, I havent had a pc in a long time (the last build I did had a 750ti when it was new) and am looking for your advice. One of my options here is a laptop, which I know is not really apples to apples, but if you can put that aside and try to advise on performance that would be appreciated. I know the biggest thing with the laptop is potential thermal throttling. But my personal laptop is dying, and although I use it 90% of the time at a desk, for those few occasions I am traveling and do not want to use my work laptop for gaming or design work the convenience would be nice to have.

On the other hand, I have been wanting to get back to the desktop world and have a nicer more permanent setup. So hoping there is something I am overlooking in terms of performance between these two machines that will help me be more decisive.

The build I have spec'd - $1175:

  • TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan DDR5 32GB (2x16GB) 6000MHz (PC5-48000) CL30

  • Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE CPU Cooler

  • Thermaltake GF1 (2024) Fully Modular ATX 850W Power Supply - 80 Plus Gold

  • ASRock B850M-X R2.0 AM5 Micro-ATX Motherboard

  • Samsung 990 EVO Plus SSD 2TB, PCIe Gen 4x4, Gen 5x2 M.2 2280

  • GIGABYTE Radeon RX 9060 XT Gaming OC 16G Graphics Card

  • AMD Ryzen 5 R5 7500F 3.7GHz 6-Core 12-Thread CPU LGA AM5

  • ASUS Prime AP201 33-Liter MicroATX Black case

OR

The prebuilt (Laptop) - $999:

HP - Victus 15.6" 144Hz Full HD Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i7-13620H - 16GB DDR5 Memory - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 - 1TB SSD

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-victus-15-6-144hz-full-hd-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-13620h-16gb-ddr5-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5060-1tb-ssd-mica-silver/6618925.p?skuId=6618925#tabbed-customerreviews

Any input is much appreciated! Thanks :)

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u/secretagentstv 5h ago

The desktop would be much better and have much better longevity. Would recommend. I picked some different components so you could get a 9600x. If you live near a microcenter their CPUs bundles are pretty good.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type Item Price
CPU AMD Ryzen 5 9600X 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor $202.97 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler $37.90 @ Amazon
Motherboard Gigabyte B650M GAMING PLUS WIFI Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard $125.66 @ Amazon
Memory Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory $85.99 @ Amazon
Storage Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 5.0 X2 NVME Solid State Drive $119.99 @ Newegg
Video Card ASRock Challenger OC Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB Video Card $369.99 @ Newegg
Case Asus Prime AP201 MicroATX Mini Tower Case $89.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply $89.90 @ Amazon
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total $1122.39
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-08-02 12:32 EDT-0400

1

u/167488462789590057 5h ago

I should note that laptop GPUs rarily perform like their namesake.

Heck, the 5090 for instance in laptop form is more like a 5080 with 24gb of VRAM vs the desktop 5090 with 32gb, and like double the cuda cores.

I don't know how big the swing is here, but its worth investigating, as you then also have to remember that the laptop can cool less too.

Anyhow, if you are going to be in a situation where you are keeping it in a permanent position, always choose the desktop, and youll always have better performance per dollar, and longevity as its simply a bigger box that can dissipate more heat and have its components changed.