Defiance build, comments welcomed

JimW

Member
Just got a quote on the build below, I'm looking for a laptop that would be my main PC so while this is over the top for my work usage (word processing by and large) it will allow me to game as well, I don't mind if it's not entirely top end but seems like it would handle most stuff well enough for my fairly casual requirements. Would appreciate any suggestions for tweaks as I'm not the most savvy buyer.

Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 7700HQ (2.8GHz, 3.8GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 - 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
FREE Rocket League with select GTX 10 Series GPUs!
1st Hard Disk
500GB WD Blue™ 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 545MB/sR | 525MB/sW)
FREE Ghost Recon: Wildlands Code with select WD Blue SSDs!
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SLIM SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 200W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ WIRELESS-AC 1535 M.2 GAMING 802.11AC + BLUETOOTH 4.1
USB Options
3 x USB 3.1 Type A, 2 x USB 3.1 Type C AS STANDARD
Battery
Defiance Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (60WH)
Keyboard Language
DEFIANCE SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
ASUS ROG Sica USB Gaming Mouse
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,431.00 including VAT and delivery
 

JimW

Member
That's 1400 quid and around the most I'd like to pay. Games are not usually that demanding, Crusader Kings 2 which is more CPU than graphics AFAIK and being a cheapskate older stuff that's on sale at Steam like the previous Witcher game. Though if I do get a free Ghost Recon as I would with this would certainly be giving that a go. Mostly meant that I'd not be unduly put off if it can't do the very latest games at highest settings.
ETA and thanks for the quick reply!
 

Portland

Bronze Level Poster
Couple of possible tweaks to consider. The Samsung 850 ssds are generally cheaper then the WDs and appear to be 99.9% as good and actually better in some areas. The 6700 (6th Gen) i7 is real world pretty much the same as the latest Kaby lake (I'm personally looking to "downgrade" my build to this to save £) assuming it's an option for this chassis. It is also anecdotally quicker in single thread mode, which many games use. This would free you up cash for a 1070 gpu, which will keep you happy ai 1080p for years to come, especially if you like Turn based and real time strat as opposed to hyper realistic FPS games. Keeping 16gig of RAM is prolly the way forward.

I've used killer wifi cards for years, but there have been issues reported with the latest one and I'd personally go the new intel if available for this machine (don't need the pro version) as they appear to be more reliable as well as cheaper, so consider swapping out for the intel 8265.

Finally mouse wise, have a shop round, may be able to get the mouse of choice cheaper elsewhere, see also caddys, cooler trays etc. Having said that, PCS were cheapest for the Zalman cooler I snagged last time regardless. I'm personally a fan of the corsair wired mice - last one only failed after repeated assaults by kittens and 3yo's and have great tracking and feel in hand.
 

JimW

Member
Couple of possible tweaks to consider. The Samsung 850 ssds are generally cheaper then the WDs and appear to be 99.9% as good and actually better in some areas. The 6700 (6th Gen) i7 is real world pretty much the same as the latest Kaby lake (I'm personally looking to "downgrade" my build to this to save £) assuming it's an option for this chassis. It is also anecdotally quicker in single thread mode, which many games use. This would free you up cash for a 1070 gpu, which will keep you happy ai 1080p for years to come, especially if you like Turn based and real time strat as opposed to hyper realistic FPS games. Keeping 16gig of RAM is prolly the way forward.

I've used killer wifi cards for years, but there have been issues reported with the latest one and I'd personally go the new intel if available for this machine (don't need the pro version) as they appear to be more reliable as well as cheaper, so consider swapping out for the intel 8265.

Finally mouse wise, have a shop round, may be able to get the mouse of choice cheaper elsewhere, see also caddys, cooler trays etc. Having said that, PCS were cheapest for the Zalman cooler I snagged last time regardless. I'm personally a fan of the corsair wired mice - last one only failed after repeated assaults by kittens and 3yo's and have great tracking and feel in hand.

Thanks for that, those sort of comparisons on possible SSDs etc are exactly what I was looking for. Not sure the CPU downgrade is available on this chassis but will check that out too.
Shied away from the 1070 gpu both due to cost but also because i thought it might have heat problems in this smaller chassis, think I'm over-cautious there?
ETA Though checking it out it seems the Samsung SSDs are actually a bit pricier!
 
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Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
and appear to be 99.9% as good and actually better in some areas.
Yeah, the 850 Evo is just better, pretty much all over.

The 6700HQ isn't available in the 15.6" chassis, and it doesn't have better single threaded performance than the 7700HQ. The 6700 (non-HQ) isn't and never has been available in any of the Defiance chassis, since it's a desktop CPU and is only in the Octanes.

If your gaming uses are fairly casual I'd probably suggest sticking to the 1060, since it's capable of running many modern games at very high settings as it stands.
 

JimW

Member
Yeah, the 850 Evo is just better, pretty much all over.

The 6700HQ isn't available in the 15.6" chassis, and it doesn't have better single threaded performance than the 7700HQ. The 6700 (non-HQ) isn't and never has been available in any of the Defiance chassis, since it's a desktop CPU and is only in the Octanes.

If your gaming uses are fairly casual I'd probably suggest sticking to the 1060, since it's capable of running many modern games at very high settings as it stands.

Cheers, seems like if I swap the SSD for a Samsung it'll be about twelve quid more which I don't mind if it's clearly the better option.
 

Terrilocks

New member
I just ordered something very similar. Like you, I didn't choose the 1070 since I was also worried about the extra heat/power usage and 1060 is more than enough for the games I play.

Main differences
I went for the 256GB SM961 M.2 drive since I already have a spare 1TB HDD to use. I'm using a Samsung 850 Evo in my current laptop though, so can also highly recommend them.

I went for the Intel 8265 since, like Portland, I've read about problems with the Killer.

I don't think the heat paste is worth it.

Otherwise, looks good to me! :)
 

JimW

Member
I just ordered something very similar. Like you, I didn't choose the 1070 since I was also worried about the extra heat/power usage and 1060 is more than enough for the games I play.

Main differences
I went for the 256GB SM961 M.2 drive since I already have a spare 1TB HDD to use. I'm using a Samsung 850 Evo in my current laptop though, so can also highly recommend them.

I went for the Intel 8265 since, like Portland, I've read about problems with the Killer.

I don't think the heat paste is worth it.

Otherwise, looks good to me! :)

Cheers, just re-ran the quote with a Samsung SSD and the Intel 8265 and sticking with the 1060 - as well as the potential heat issue that really is a big price jump between the two.
Half wondered about a smaller SSD as my current system partition is only approaching 200GB after several years of use but there doesn't seem to be a massive saving and I'd rather have the space and not need it than the other way round. Looking close to final then, might stick with the fancy heat paste as again it's a smallish saving.

ETA and looking at the final total I've saved a whopping three quid on my initial build :D
 
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Portland

Bronze Level Poster
Sorry Ouseebon, typo while using phone (ordering new laptop today) meant to say outside of single core. Some early benchmarks showed older generation quicker, but may have been an artifact of benchmarking. Glad you found a slightly better configuration, totally understand keeping with 1060 btw.
 

JimW

Member
Sorry Ouseebon, typo while using phone (ordering new laptop today) meant to say outside of single core. Some early benchmarks showed older generation quicker, but may have been an artifact of benchmarking. Glad you found a slightly better configuration, totally understand keeping with 1060 btw.

Thanks, this has been really useful and I've appreciated everyone's input. Always a bit daunting spending on something you want to last you a good few years when you don't feel like you've got a full grasp of the facts.
 
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