Mini-PC or a Laptop

[Pepsi_Jamie]

Upon purchasing a gaming laptop with good customer service (before and after the sale), my brother has decided to purchase a customised machine from PCSpecialist in the near future. However, he can't decide whether or not to purchase a mini-pc or a gaming laptop.

My brother has a £2,500 budget and these are the specifications that he has created in the customisation sections.

Mini-PC:

CORSAIR GRAPHITE SERIES™ 380T YELLOW GAMING CASE
Intel Core i7 Quad Processor i7-4790k (4.0GHz) 8MB Cache
ASUS Maximus VII Impact: Mini-ITX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, WIFI
16GB HyperX BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2133MHZ X.M.P
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX TITAN X - DVI, HDMI, 3 X DP
2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 64MB CACHE
BENQ XL2411Z 24" 1MS 3D GAMING MONITOR
CM Storm Devastator Keyboard and Mouse
SteelSeries QcK Gaming Mouse Pad
Razer Leviathan 5.1 Bluetooth Soundbar

£2,325,00.

Laptop:

Intel Core i7 Quad Core Processor i7-6700k (4.0GHz)
32GB HyperX IMPACT 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4
NVDIA GeForce GTZ 980M 8.0GB DDR5 Video RAM, DirectX 12, G-SYNC
2TB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 32MB CACHE.


£1,806.00

Which is better for performance? I appreciate any feedback.

 

[keynes]

A desktop will offer better performance but if it is only for gaming both systems look unbalanced. A gtx Titan x is not good value for money and 32gb is unnecessary just for gaming

 

[GeorgeHillier]

Also, the laptop you selected has a desktop cpu in it which means a short battery life and the unit ends up weighing 4kg. For gaming the defiance would be perfect with the standard i7 it comes stocked with.

As Keynes said don't get the titan X, get the 980ti instead.

Only get the laptop if you need portability, if you don't then get the desktop as it will perform much better

 

[Glissov]

Why does he want a mini PC?
Does he really need a laptop?
What is he going to be using them for? Just games? You need him to answer these questions as these are what determine what kind of system you need.

As already mentioned; Desktops are more powerful and they are also far more up-gradable (more future proof) and with such a big investment, you should be considering this too.
I noticed you have no SSD in either of your builds, I would highly recommend one in both builds for the OS.
Battery life for a gaming laptop is irrelevant in my opinion as you are never going to be gaming without being plugged in. If you often game at LAN parties etc a laptop is better than a mini PC as lugging a separate monitor and keyboard around is lumber-some and difficult. If you want a desktop replacement which you can move from room to room in the same house, then dont be put off by the weight of a laptop but if you plan to carry it around town in your backpack, George's advice is sound, you want something around 3kg or less and the defiance is a well rounded 2.5.

Both of the systems you have there are some of the best in their class. Best for desktop and best for mobile but if you are comparing them to one another then asking which is better for performance is the wrong question (in my opinion).

 

[Pepsi_Jamie]

Why does he want a mini PC?
Does he really need a laptop?
What is he going to be using them for? Just games? You need him to answer these questions as these are what determine what kind of system you need.

As already mentioned; Desktops are more powerful and they are also far more up-gradable (more future proof) and with such a big investment, you should be considering this too.
I noticed you have no SSD in either of your builds, I would highly recommend one in both builds for the OS.
Battery life for a gaming laptop is irrelevant in my opinion as you are never going to be gaming without being plugged in. If you often game at LAN parties etc a laptop is better than a mini PC as lugging a separate monitor and keyboard around is lumber-some and difficult. If you want a desktop replacement which you can move from room to room in the same house, then dont be put off by the weight of a laptop but if you plan to carry it around town in your backpack, George's advice is sound, you want something around 3kg or less and the defiance is a well rounded 2.5.

Both of the systems you have there are some of the best in their class. Best for desktop and best for mobile but if you are comparing them to one another then asking which is better for performance is the wrong question (in my
opinion).

Thanks for the responses guys.

The primary purpose for the mini-pc/laptop is for a portable gaming machine, that can play video games on the highest settings possible. I asked if a desktop was an option and he said yes, but they're usually more expensive (his words).

 

[Glissov]

A mini-PC is not portable. Its still going to weigh like 10-15 KG and you still need external peripherals such as monitor, keyboard, mouse; as opposed to a laptop which has everything together.
A desktop mini or otherwise and a laptop have two very different target audiences. If he buys a desktop he WILL get better performance but it would be a nightmare if he plans to move it anywhere, a laptop wont get as great performance but you can pick it up and carry it. So you need to get back in touch with your brother and ask him if he really needs it to be portable. If he does, get a laptop if he doesn't get a full size desktop. Only get a mini pc if you have no space in your room for a tower.

 

[Stephen M]

Agree with all of the above. The Defiance would be a better portable laptop. The Octane is bulky and heavy (3.9kg) machine without the power "brick" that comes with it. Saying that it is a great machine but is more a desktop replacement than a pure laptop, I need mine to be semi-portable but when I do move it is only to another work environment where it will stay for a week, if I am only out for a couple of days or need to work on site I take an older and smaller machine with me (bit slow these days but easier to transport).

 

[GeorgeHillier]

Thanks for the responses guys.

The primary purpose for the mini-pc/laptop is for a portable gaming machine, that can play video games on the highest settings possible. I asked if a desktop was an option and he said yes, but they're usually more expensive (his words).

Desktops are usually cheaper to get the same performance. If he doesn't need it to be portable then go with the desktop as it will last longer and can be upgraded.

If he needs the portability and is going to move with around every day then the defiance would be best, but if it was just moving it around every few weeks then the octane would be fine, but you wouldn't want to be moving it around every day.

A mini-PC is not portable. Its still going to weigh like 10-15 KG and you still need external peripherals such as monitor, keyboard, mouse; as opposed to a laptop which has everything together.
A desktop mini or otherwise and a laptop have two very different target audiences. If he buys a desktop he WILL get better performance but it would be a nightmare if he plans to move it anywhere, a laptop wont get as great performance but you can pick it up and carry it. So you need to get back in touch with your brother and ask him if he really needs it to be portable. If he does, get a laptop if he doesn't get a full size desktop. Only get a mini pc if you have no space in your room for a tower.

A mini itx pc wouldn't weigh 10-15kg, my full tower pc weighed less than that with two graphics cards in it and a decent case. Heavy systems are usually so heavy because they have some stupidly heavy case.

As for moving a mini itx build around it depends how often it will be done and why. If it was for work or something then I definitely wouldn't want to be doing that, but if for a lan party or something then I do so often, it's only a case, 3 peripherals and some cables