vortex vs octane

keynes said:

for pricing you may need to contact PCS directly.

Click to expand...

Okay, thanks

My final build!

Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4690 (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980M - 8.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
1st Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
240GB KINGSTON SSDNow M.2 2280, SATA 6Gb/s (550MB/R, 520MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-7265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS (1 x POWERED) + 1 e-SATA/USB 3.0 PORT COMBINED
Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 230W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language
OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Windows 10 Upgrade
FREE Upgrade to Windows 10 with all Windows 7 & Windows 8.1 Purchases*
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1


What do people think...?

Looks fine but I would change a couple of items. For an extra £15 you could have the 'K' cpu. Which would be the better option. And for an extra £6 you could change from the standard Kingston memory to the HyperX module.

On my build I also went for the usb external optical drive for £19, it comes in handy

Mick

micgup said:

Looks fine but I would change a couple of items. For an extra £15 you could have the 'K' cpu. Which would be the better option. And for an extra £6 you could change from the standard Kingston memory to the HyperX module.

On my build I also went for the usb external optical drive for £19, it comes in handy

Mick

Click to expand...

Yeah I'm not going to be overclocking so I don't need the K version and I wanted the mSATA/M.2 format SSD so I can have extra room for another HDD or SSD in the future. I also can't remember the last time I used my disc drive on my laptop haha. Thanks for your input though I am now living on beans until payday. Just ordered it.

No worries its a good build as it is
Just thought for 15 extra notes, it's a cheap way of adding some future proofing to the machine.
Bar the 2mb extra cache and hyper threading, you can get the 4690k upto 4790k speeds quite easily

Mick

How does the laptop handle that heat though...? Does it not mean the laptop won't last as long...?

Hello everyone,

It has now been nearly 4 years with this laptop that I remember taking so long to decide on! It is still going strong, no hiccups whatsoever... I am now looking to add an additional HDD. What do people recommend? And what specific HDD should I be putting into it? SATA 6GBs rings a bell. The laptop is a P771zm that i bought in May 2015! GTX 980m is still punching through the AAA titles!

masyarrum

I think that is the same Octane as the first I got from PCS, so you should be able to get a 1TB SATA 6GB SSD for it, probably be a Seagate as if you buy through PCS that is their current drive but it is fine. You may find cheaper HDDs if you shop around but Seagates are fine, although avoid Hybrids as they are pants.
Another option would be a USB HDD for storage as you can get some large 4+TB that are good and not over expensive.

Stephen M said:

I think that is the same Octane as the first I got from PCS, so you should be able to get a 1TB SATA 6GB SSD for it, probably be a Seagate as if you buy through PCS that is their current drive but it is fine. You may find cheaper HDDs if you shop around but Seagates are fine, although avoid Hybrids as they are pants.
Another option would be a USB HDD for storage as you can get some large 4+TB that are good and not over expensive.

Click to expand...

Hi Stephen,

Thanks for the info. I don't think I can stretch to an SSD! I think you meant HDD anyway as I can't find a seagate ssd 1TB.

masyarrum

Yes did mean HDD, the perils of trying to type just after you have got up. I had a quick look at the configurator for the current Octane: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/octaneVI-17/
The Seagate is the first 1TB HDD on the drop down menu for first storage drive.