The 17.3" Octane II Review

Hi Everyone,

I have recently purchased a 17.3" Octane II laptop from PC Specialist.
Specification below:

Chassis & Display Octane Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-6700k (4.0GHz) 8MB Cache
Memory (RAM) 4GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 4GB) (Upgraded with extra 16GB of the same RAM, just 1 x 16GB) (20GB total)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970M - 6.0GB DDR5 Video RAM, DirectX® 12, G-SYNC
Memory - Hard Disk 750GB WD BLACK 2.5" WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
2nd Hard Disk 1TB Toshiba 2.5'' SATA 5400 RPM (Had a spare)
M.2 SSD Drive 512GB SAMSUNG SM951 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2150MB/R, 1550MB/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
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ WIRELESS-AC 1535 M.2 GAMING 802.11AC + BLUETOOTH 4.1
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 Lead & Adaptor 1 x UK Power Lead & 230W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System Genuine Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language United Kingdom - English Language
DVD Recovery Media Windows 10 (64-bit) Professional DVD with paper sleeve
Browser Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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)
Delivery SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 12 NOON)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days



I'm planning to switch to a more powerful graphics card later on, as of now the current one suits my needs flawlessly.

I have had this beast for about a month now and all I can say is, I have never had/seen a laptop like this.
It's definitely impressive when powering your laptop on and playing GTA V on max settings is separated by around 20-30 seconds of waiting time.
Not using this for gaming, though all I threw at it so far for testing purposes was handled perfectly.
It is a great machine no doubt.

Not sure there's much bad I can tell about it, to be honest nothing at all.
I have the 6700k 4Ghz i7 processor inside (that's a desktop CPU) and a powerful 970m graphics card, never have I had my laptop get warm or turn op the fans to the point where I could hear them.
Even after couple of hours of Maxed out GTA V or Crysis 3 gameplay. I have checked the temps on MSI Afterburner, max I ever had on my GPU was 61 C. - CPU - 71 C.
To my mind this is a great achievement made by guys at PC Specialist.

Screen is great too, no dead pixels, no glare. One thing I have noticed though in a dark room when the screen is pitch black, it seems that it bleeds light in couple of corners on the right side, though that's nothing I have ever noticed during gameplay/etc.

All in all it's a great buy, great quality, no gimmicky and weird looking Trade marks, just simple, bold design. Something that I find appealing.

If anyone has any questions please do ask and I will try to answer below.

It's an absolute beast of a laptop, no doubt. I can't wait to get my hands on a 6700k laptop

FYI you ideally want to match the RAM you are putting in to get the benefit of dual channel. They need to be fully matched in size and timing. Currently you will be getting a performance drop due to this.

I'm planning to switch to a more powerful graphics card later on, as of now the current one suits my needs flawlessly.

Click to expand...

Do keep in mind that compatibility with next gen GPUs is not guarantee due to a BIOS upgrade needed. Also if you wish to upgrade to the gtx 980m , by the time you may require the upgrade the gpu may reach end of life. That means you are potentially likely to spend a lot of money for a second hand gpu. Not sure what your intended use is but I would suggest just sticking with with gtx 970m.

The_Scotster said:

It's an absolute beast of a laptop, no doubt. I can't wait to get my hands on a 6700k laptop

FYI you ideally want to match the RAM you are putting in to get the benefit of dual channel. They need to be fully matched in size and timing. Currently you will be getting a performance drop due to this.

Click to expand...

keynes said:

Do keep in mind that compatibility with next gen GPUs is not guarantee due to a BIOS upgrade needed. Also if you wish to upgrade to the gtx 980m , by the time you may require the upgrade the gpu may reach end of life. That means you are potentially likely to spend a lot of money for a second hand gpu. Not sure what your intended use is but I would suggest just sticking with with gtx 970m.

Click to expand...

That is very right. At least for the time being, chances are prices will drop with time, I'm confident I shouldn't run into too many problems given the current setup for couple of years (no heavy gaming).
Talking about gaming GTA V seems to be a right to challenge this laptops capabilities.

Hi , Password - My question is about the screen - I was considering buying an Octane 2 [ still am ] when a poster on here stated in his review that it was the worst screen he had ever come across but still gave it a very good review - it put me off buying initially but I'm coming round to it again .
At the moment it's between the Octane 2 and a couple of other brand name 17.3" laptops - I've never spent so much on a laptop before and I wanted to be perfectly sure before pressing the button .

Sorry for a late reply, all I can say about the screen is that it looks very crispy and clear, colour balance seems to be on the point and also it features g-sync, which is preventing tear on higher than monitor refresh rate frame rates.