Videocard vs. Macbook Air: Buying Advice

So, I have an opportunity in the near future to make a large purchase of some kind. I was wondering if maybe you guys could give me some advice. The 2 options I have in mind right now are: a GTX 780 video card for my PC, or a new 11" Macbook Air (with i7 processor). I'll explain my thinking behind each one.

Macbook Air: My only laptop at the moment is a 2008 white Macbook. It wasn't a bad computer for its time, but it's really showing its age now, compared to my much faster desktop computer. Plus, it has an issue with the trackpad button that makes typing very difficult. I mostly use the desktop these days, but it would be nice to have a decent laptop for when I travel, or when I'm in different parts of my apartment. I like the 11" Macbook Air because it's very light and compact, so it's easy to carry around and store. Let's please not turn this into a Mac vs. PC debate, though. I think there are merits to both Macs and PCs, but if I'm going to get a laptop, I want a Mac.

GTX 780: given the fact that the next generation consoles are going to be PC-based, it seems to me like it might make more sense to build a very powerful gaming PC. I already have a pretty fast CPU, SSD, and memory. My videocard (560 Ti) is not bad, but it was not a high-end card even when I initially got it, and it's been superseded by newer cards by now. With a 780, my PC would probably be significantly more powerful than either of the next-gen consoles. There are a few games I already own that would almost certainly benefit from a faster card, such as Bioshock Infinite. I'd also like to be able to play F-Zero GX at full speed, and I think that would be possible with the 780. There are also some next-gen games that will probably also be released on PC that I'd like to buy, though I'm not sure if there are enough to justify buying the 780.

So, what it ultimately comes down to is this: which of these two items will get more use from me, and which will I get more enjoyment out of? Given that I use my desktop for most of my computing needs these days, maybe I don't need a new laptop. Then again, considering that I already have a decent PC gaming machine, and perhaps a limited wish-list of new games, maybe I don't need a new videocard. Which do you think I should get?

 

Personally I would say go with the card. It seems more beneficiary to have a high end desktop PC than a laptop. When it comes to laptops, Mac or Windows, you just can't upgrade them as easily or as much as a desktop. Plus, with a desktop you get more power and use out of it than a laptop.

 

i'd get the gfx card or what ever AMD's equivalent offering is

but im biased i hate anything mac related, dont like the hardware and dont like the software. but thats just me. + 11" is more of a powerful net book than a laptop.

 

There is no equivalent AMD card. The 780 is the 2nd most powerful consumer videocard on the market right now, behind the Titan. If I'm going to get a new videocard, it'll either be the 780 or possibly the 770.

 

im currently out of the video card loop and didnt really look into it. but still, yeah i'd go with the gfx card.

 

Another vote for the video card, says I typing from behind a MacBook Air (Late 2010)...
If you are using the PC as your main computer, pimp it out! :congratulatory:

 

Macs are throw away items, and repairs are super expensive. So I'd go with the graphics card as well.

 

3-5 years on a Mac and it's time to upgrade again! I'll need to consider upgrading in a year or two too!
Ahhh planned obsolescence! :smile-new:

 

3-5 years for a graphics card is usually time to upgrade too. Plus the resale on the mac is much higher than a graphics card, as the cards are usually worse than current gen low-mid range by then.

 

Ah at least they can have their components upgraded somewhat. Poor Macs with their limited upgradability, value used to hold many years ago.
These days a poor 2008 machine wouldn't sell for a few more than hundred!
At the end of the day we're all just suckers to the big corporations trying to appease their shareholders! :wink-new:

 

Today i just received my 2013 MBA 13". Compared to your 2008 macbook, it would be a total night and day difference. By no means are they power houses, but they are absolutely wonderful at being portable. I use mine for mobile IOS development and general computing. Compared to my friends 2012 MBA, the 2013 excels in SSD access speeds and I'm averaging about 13 hours per charge.

Graphics wise the 2013 does decent. I would say the HD5000 is Intel's first actual decent graphics chip, i can play some standard popular valve games at moderate settings. With the new PCIe SSD it is extremely responsive, just make sure you get the 256GB edition! The 256GB SSD is a samsung drive and average over 400Mbps more than the 128 Sandisk SSD.

Whether you get an 11 or 13 inch doesn't matter much except resolution an battery life. The 11 inch model felt a tad cramped to me and didn't last as long.

This is the newest mac i've purchased and here are the pros and cons i've come across personally.

PROS

1. The build quality is top notch as usual. It's feels very well put together, much better than any other laptop i've used.

2. The multitouch features are near perfect, i have a samsung that also does multitouch. The mac is lightyears ahead of it.

3. The audio, while not being of any higher DAC quality of any other laptop, makes no additional noise at all. I cannot tell you how many other laptops i have had that produce a slight his on the headphone jack. This mac is dead silent.

4. The ambient light sensor works great, another feature that many other computers don't usually get working perfectly.

CONS

1. Everything is soldered together, no upgrades in any way shape or form.

2. The CPU, other than being less power hungry, has no performance increase from last years model. If you don't care about the PCIe SSD and HD5000 GPU, then last years model would be cheaper.

 

I like the 11" because it's super portable, and I think I could fit it on my bedstand. If I were using it as my main computer, I would probably want something larger, but it would definitely be a secondary computer. I was considering getting the i7 option - it's only $150 extra, and I think it's worth it to have a better processor. The processor is something you can't upgrade later, so it makes sense to me to spend a little extra on that part.

 

Agreed, also keep in mind that the RAM is also soldered onto the mainboard, you might want to add an extra 100 just get the 8GB as well. The SSD's however are replaceable, but are proprietary.

 

My feeling is that with all the current Apple products you just have to think of them as being disposable machines, and order them with a spec that will meet your projected future requirements for the life of the unit. I guess this makes a certain amount of sense with something like the MBA - but the fact that they have applied the same design approach to the the new Mac Pro is depressing.

 

If you actually know where to look, you can actually find 2008-2009 Mac/MacBook computers at a rather cheap price but for the most part, they are still rather pricy. I have the early 2009 model running OSX Mavericks Developer Build right now and this thing runs really smooth. Plus, I only picked it up for $169USD with a couple of dollars for the shipping charges which brought it up to $175USD. What's odd though is that I've seen even early 2009 models which are still unibody polycarbonate in the exact condition of mine run some pretty steep prices and when I say that, I mean they get almost as expensive as buying an iPhone 4S or 5 without a contract. I don't know if that's just differs from seller to seller; however, they do seem to be going strong still.

As for the topic, it is a very hard decision to choose from. On one side of the spectrum, you'll have a portable computer but you won't have the upgradability of both that particular computer and your desktop. On the other hand, you could go and buy the GTX780 at its most current price; however, you wouldn't have a laptop then aside from your 2008 MacBook thus forgoing the aspect of portability. It's always hard to choose which one would be more beneficial since the MacBook is something that you said you could take with you while you are traveling which would make it extremely helpful on your part. I was doing some thinking and I did come up with one idea, but the only issue is knowing your money situation and if eventually buying both would be in your future. My idea was just going for the GTX780 and then holding off on the MacBook Air until later models come out. The reason I say this is because even the older models are still quite delightful to use even if it isn't the top of the line newest. I made mention above that my Early 2009 MacBook is currently running the Developer Build of OSX Mavericks, and I must say that it runs almost as good as it would on something like a 2013 MacBook Air or even an iMac. Before I started using Mavericks, I was using Mountain Lion and I had no issues with it aside from maybe the occasional hiccup in the system. Seeing that the GTX780 depending on where you look is currently in the price range of 600-800USD, I would think that the graphics card should come first considering you can get quite lucky with your finds on eBay for MacBook and MacBook Air laptops; however, I see both items having their pros and cons which makes it hard to find which one has the higher priority.

 

I'm fairly certain that I were to get a Macbook, I would want it to be the newest model available, which is the 2013 model that came out a few weeks ago. In the case of either one, I want something that'll last me a long time. I've never had a high-end videocard before - I've mostly had mid-range cards in the past, so it would cool to have a very fast machine. One thing I was wondering about is, would my current PSU be able to power that beast of a card? I have a 650W Antec PSU. I think my CPU (i7-3770K) uses about 100W, and supposedly the 780 uses around 400W. So theoretically that should work, right? It might be pushing it though.

 

Unfortunately the answer depends on the usage you give/would give to your desktop and laptop...
Are you using mostly your desktop because your laptop isn't powerful enough?
Would the laptop be for work? Gaming (I doubt it, as you're going with Mac, but still an option)? Hobby?
If you don't really need portability (and I really mean: if you don't NEED it), you may want to get the video card, and install a Hackintosh in your desktop; that way you can still use Mac OS and play games.

 

Going by this statement, I would have to suggest the graphics card. You'll most definitely have other opportunities to get a MBA down the line, so high end graphics card seems more worthwhile. Especially if you're into more than just gaming, like digital art or video editing. I too have been stuck mostly with mid-range cards, and I'm dying for something high end myself.

 

It all depends on the wattage of all of your components in your build. If the GTX780 uses 400W, you would want to make sure that the wattage given out to your RAM, Processor, Motherboard, etc. would still fit that. When I built my PC/Hackintosh (2 HDDs with an OS on each) during my Senior year of High School which was 2 years ago, I originally bought a 650W PSU that should have powered my computer on with no trouble at all; however, I didn't take the time to calculate how much total wattage would be used and I ended up screwing myself out of an extra $130 bucks. I say this because I had to buy a whole new PSU from Best Buy which in the long run, has actually saved me from having to replace this current PSU. I would say if you are concerned about it, think about picking up a 750W PSU because you can never be too sure on how much everything is going to require just to function. I bought the Corsair Gaming Series 750W PSU and I haven't had any issues with the PSU in the time that I've used it.

 

its also good to note a power supply will not always be able to run at 100% load so a 500w psu may only handly 420-450.

but yeah imo there's no such thing as overkill with PSUs, i've had a 580w hiper Type-R (awesome psu) never let me down, currently have a 750w powering 3 hdds 2 dvd-rs 2 HD5830s and numerous 120 and 80mm fans and a UV cathode,

had a nice 600w psu too but gave it away

with my next build of a gaming rig i'm going for nuclear power or maybe around 1k watts or so