Vortex 3 enquiry

[saelie]

Hey PC specialist,

I'm interested in purchasing a custom built Vortex 3 however I'm kinda clued up about the SSD/HDD combination. I want the OS and games to be installed on the SSD and HDD to store music, office files, photos and such. is this better than using a SSD alone with an external hard drive or a HDD with mSATA?

I have been browsing through forums and have a few concerns regarding the model, especially keyboard buttons not registering as it should or fixed properly in position, is that a common problem in this model? I just don't want to keep returning the laptops for repairs.

Also I'm looking at getting the i7 processor which is at 2.7ghz, however looking at the alienware website, it says it can be turbo boosted to 3.7ghz etc. Can that be done with all processors, or do I have to request for it to be turbo boosted when purchasing the vortex laptop?

(sorry for the stupid questions! )

[keynes]

I want the OS and games to be installed on the SSD and HDD to store music, office files, photos and such. is this better than using a SSD alone with an external hard drive or a HDD with mSATA?

I do the same in my laptop, keep only the OS and programmes on my SSD and any storage files (music, pictures, office files) on an external hard drive.

Also I'm looking at getting the i7 processor which is at 2.7ghz, however looking at the alienware website, it says it can be turbo boosted to 3.7ghz etc. Can that be done with all processors, or do I have to request for it to be turbo boosted when purchasing the vortex laptop?

If the processor has the option for turbo boost then yes, it has to be enable though.

[Music Guy123]

I would try to not use external drives. They are slower and cumbersome. I would suggest an internal SSD and HDD. Depending on whether you want a 15.6" or 17.3" though. The 17.3" can fit both of these in and an optical disk drive. The 15.6" can only fit either two drives or one drive and one optical disk drive. If you are going to get the 15.6" model, I would suggest getting an external optical disk drive and then getting an internal SSD and an internal HDD. As for the cpu, the intel 3820qm has a clock speed of 2.7GHz but a max turbo frequency of 3.7GHz. So, if the temps are good enough and it is needed, it will go faster! However, you may want to consider saving ~£150 and getting the intel 3720qm which has a clock speed of 2.6GHz and a max turbo frequency of 3.6GHz. It is very little, if any performance difference for a huge price difference. I hope this helps.

[saelie]

thank you for the responses!

I will be getting the 15.6 inch vortex since I will be doing alot of travelling and taking it to uni etc, and will mostly be using this laptop for gaming I definately consider the 2.6ghz instead of the 2.7

Also, for the internal SSD/HDD combination, I don't know whether I should use raid or not, as mentioned in my OP, I just want games and OS on SSD and music/office files etc on the HDD. do i even need raid?

[dangro474]

Hi saelie,

The only raid conbination you may be able to set up should the drives differ would be raid stripe, which really would not be worthwhile.