With the price of RAM so high, I'm looking to buy a really good pre-built desktop or laptop for gaming which offers the best performance for a reasonable price.

Are laptops or desktops generally better for this? In the past, it used to be desktops hands down but people are now saying that gaming laptops are where it's at.

I'm looking at 3 ranges of pricing:

Under $1000 -> want it to run D2R very very smoothly without 8 second load times like my current laptop has
Under $1500
Under $2500

Would like your thoughts of if those price upgrades are worth it and what type of games may justify that.

If your plan is to use the Laptop while traveling or at work then YES
BUT if your plan is to have get a computer for home use (Gaming) then I suggest getting a Desktop.

The issue with Laptops is you wont be able to upgrade them in the long run (aside from changing RAM/HD) they are typically not built to be upgraded in the future.
Laptops also tend to run higher temperatures then desktops as well.

I would recommend waiting a bit before deciding to buy the Desktops (as you know current RAM prices are up the roof, even things like NVMe are higher then usual)

Do you think RAM prices will not affect pre-built or laptop prices? Building a desktop yourself will still be cheaper.

If you need mobile, smaller package etc then laptop is nice, otherwise desktop will be superior in almost every way

Cool, thank you guys! I don't need the mobility so I'll definitely go with desktop then.

How much more does a decent pre-built desktop cost vs building it yourself? And if you had to choose a "top" pre-built one for each of those price ranges, what ones would you lean toward?

the issue with "Pre-Builts" is that you never know which components they will be using, sometimes they may use generic brands for most of the products (To save them Money) so sometimes its better to buy the components yourself, are you located in the US? If so, I would recommend searching if you have Microcenter nearby, they are pretty much the "Toy's R Us" when it comes to computer components.

Thanks! Yes, US-based. I'll see if there are any nearby.

search for this video in youtube = Best Prebuilt Gaming PC 2026 | 1440p, 4k, & Budget | Best Gaming PC 2026

owner of channel is called Pc Builder

Perfect, this is exactly the type of info that I'm looking for. Thank you!

There are so many random ones out there with discounts and sponsored ads and people's own agendas that it was tough for me to actually tell a good deal from a terrible deal.

you are welcome , just keep in mind that its a like 2 month old video and prices may be different

speaking of best deal i suggest you buy your own pc parts (brand new with warranty prefered ) and build it or find reliable person to build it for you for like $100

look for bundle deals from newegg , microcenter , bestbuy

i suggest you go with amd am5 platform with at least 32 gb ddr5 ( 6000 mt / cl 30 , 32 or 36 prefered ) ram (2x16) as minimum , make sure the ram is in the QVL list of your motherboard

anyway for like $1500 you can build very good pc and for $2500 a cool pc

This was a fantastic idea. I called a bunch of local shops and one of them said they can help me with all of the ordering and build it for me for $250. I'm gonna go with that option I think

Thanks everyone here for your help!