First gaming laptop

SM09

New member
Hello everyone! Have been scoping out the site and was wondering if anyone could help me build a gaming laptop if possible it's been a while since I was on the gaming scene since going console but I'm ready to step back in. I'd ideally like to play my games on ultra mostly play FPS

Budget anywhere from £2000 to £3000.

Thanks for anyone's input I appreciate it
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I would say the vortex is the sweetspot for gaming and effective cooling.

This is an example, not really holding back, obviously you can amend the storage size if you feel you need more:

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Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Vortex IX Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + Sound BlasterX® Pro-Gaming 360°
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 M.2 GAMING + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
MULTI COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Chassis
Clevo PB50RF (8GB RTX-2070, i7-9750H, 144Hz, G-Sync, Thunderbolt)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Price: £1,709.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/VortexIX-15/UfsQhJa9FJ/
 

SM09

New member
Thanks for the quick reply obviously its years away from needing it but how easy/hard is it to upgrade graphics cards on laptops? If not I'd obviously want it to be as future proof as possible
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Thanks for the quick reply obviously its years away from needing it but how easy/hard is it to upgrade graphics cards on laptops? If not I'd obviously want it to be as future proof as possible
You can't basically. Most modern chassis, the GPU is actually part of the motherboard, it's soldered on, so not a card that you can swap out.

There is one chassis that has a card which is the Octane, but upgrading the card relies on a few things:

1/. New card, extremely expensive, for instance for the octane currently, an RTX2070 is £1000 just for the card:

2/. Just fitting a new card won't allow it to work, you have to have a compatible BIOS. Clevo won't supply updated BIOS's for an old chassis to accomodate more modern cards that aren't in spec with the chassis, so really you have to source a custom BIOS, which is difficult.

3/. There's no guarantee that the cooling will be sufficient for the new card or even that it will fit. A chassis is designed for that particular card, so if you order the Octane with a 2060, that's one particular chassis, if you order it with a 2070, that's a different chassis. So it's a complete gamble anyway.

Really the way we're heading is that they'll scrap GPU's in laptops alltogether, other than onboard graphics, and then we'll strap on an external GPU when we need the graphics grunt. There are a couple of units out there that do this already, the best being the Razer Blade Stealth which has basic graphics capability built in, but is designed to be linked to the Razer Core X Chroma when you want gaming power. In that you can fit any GPU of your choice and it connects via thunderbolt to deliver about 70 - 80% of the GPU power to the laptop.

BUT, I digress. The RTX2070 is really well positioned to deliver 1080p at 144Hz for years to come, really it's overpowered for 1080p so will last a long time in that chassis.
 

Bradden

Bronze Level Poster
I've recently bought a vortex.. excellent machine. Considering your budget I'd go for more storage.. many games come in at 100gb.

I also went for the faster ram.. not sure how much difference it makes though.
 

Jonnus

Active member
This time last year I bought an Octane for your budget (2-3k) and I'm still future proofed a year on pretty comfortably.

As others have mentioned you won't be able to easily upgrade so if you have the funds, and are willing to spend them, I would. An additional layout of money now will give you an extra year or so with your beast; which will save you some cash in terms of cost per year. Anyway, I digress....but I'd go for something like the below (I'm sure someone more worldly than me can advise on changes to things like HD type):

Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 3000MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 330W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ WIRELESS-AC 1550 M.2 GAMING 802.11AC + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
4 x USB 3.0 Ports + 2 x USB 3.1 Type C Ports
Keyboard Language
OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Chassis
Clevo P775TM1-G (8GB RTX-2080, 144Hz, G-Sync)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Price: £2,622.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/octaneVI-17/JXf0waz00D/


The 2TB hard drive is for storage of games you don't really play often but don't want to delete; the 1TB for OS and games you play. Almost 1k more than the other suggestion but, well, if you want to spend the cash and can I'd always advise getting the most bang for your buck!
 

Jonnus

Active member
I would note it will be very heavy. It will get hot. The battery won't last long. It's basically a portable desktop. But if space is an issue and you want portability the Octane is awesome!
 

XCJ

New member
My understanding with the Octane is that the maximum RAM speed supported is 2400MHz. So regardless of what RAM you attach into it (3000MHz or 3 million) it will only run at 2400. Is that correct/is faster RAM in that case a waste of money?
 

Jonnus

Active member
I had no idea when I bought mine....which has 3000MHz RAM on it.

Not to say it runs at 3000MHz, just that when I posted to the forums it wasn't something anyone shouted about. By all means, if it doesn't run at 3000MHz get the 2400MHz.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
My understanding with the Octane is that the maximum RAM speed supported is 2400MHz. So regardless of what RAM you attach into it (3000MHz or 3 million) it will only run at 2400. Is that correct/is faster RAM in that case a waste of money?
Yes, that’s right.
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
I wouldn't recommend the Octane for gaming. The only reason to get the Octane is for heavy processing. It'll smash gaming, absolutely no doubt, but meaningfully better than a Vortex with an i7 chip? I seriously doubt it.

With 1080p you WILL be CPU bound, fair enough, but that's going to be at 200000+ FPS anyway on a 2070 so I wouldn't worry much (Maybe a slight exaggeration but you get my point).

I'm an Octane user and an Octane fan..... I just wouldn't recommend it as a gaming system.

Now.....

Are you going to be playing on a monitor? If so, the 15" is probably well suited. If you're going to be using the laptop screen though I would always push for a 17" chassis.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I wouldn't recommend the Octane for gaming. The only reason to get the Octane is for heavy processing. It'll smash gaming, absolutely no doubt, but meaningfully better than a Vortex with an i7 chip? I seriously doubt it.

With 1080p you WILL be CPU bound, fair enough, but that's going to be at 200000+ FPS anyway on a 2070 so I wouldn't worry much (Maybe a slight exaggeration but you get my point).

I'm an Octane user and an Octane fan..... I just wouldn't recommend it as a gaming system.

Now.....

Are you going to be playing on a monitor? If so, the 15" is probably well suited. If you're going to be using the laptop screen though I would always push for a 17" chassis.
If absolutely agree with this.
 

SM09

New member
Hello boys about a month later but I lost my phone and couldnt hold of the account details for the life or me hahha but I'm back on it now I would be using the screen as I'll be using it whilst away with work (which seems pretty much all the time now) any other upgrades on the vortex build? I'll be pulling the trigger tonight or tomorrow

Thanks again
 

polycrac

Rising Star
I've been looking at laptops lately, with similar questions. The vortex is awesome, but not available at 17 inch. For 15 inch I'd go vortex. At 17 inch it has to be the Octane for me, its the only Gsync option which is important.
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
I've been looking at laptops lately, with similar questions. The vortex is awesome, but not available at 17 inch. For 15 inch I'd go vortex. At 17 inch it has to be the Octane for me, its the only Gsync option which is important.

The main reason I wouldn't bother with G-Sync is that it's 1080p. None of the viable options are going to struggle to hit 60+fps with reasonable settings in mind so G-Sync shouldn't really come into play.

I went with the octane on my system with the GTX1080. At 1080p it rarely kicks in but it is used from time to time :)
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
None of the viable options are going to struggle to hit 60+fps with reasonable settings in mind so G-Sync shouldn't really come into play.

It really does - you can still get horrible tearing over 60fps. I notice when gsync isn't on even at 70-75fps.

Depends on the game ofc.

That said, buying an Octane just for gsync is a hard sell. :)
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
It really does - you can still get horrible tearing over 60fps. I notice when gsync isn't on even at 70-75fps.

Depends on the game ofc.

That said, buying an Octane just for gsync is a hard sell. :)
I would agree with this, I’ve experienced tearing at good frame rates, I would never go without variable refresh nowadays, the experience is just such a benefit overall.
 

SM09

New member
Is there any new hardware due out that could affect pricing now or should I just go ahead and press the buy button? 😂
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I'm not aware of anything imminent. Maybe some new stuff will be showcased at CES but it may take a while to become available.

e.f. if AMD launch new mobile CPUs it may be a while before we see them in Clevos
 
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