Heavy Duty Laptop for Post Production

BushyMan

New member
Hi guys,

Big Noob here but would like some advice about building a laptop for Video Editing & 3D Rendering + Compositing (Premiere Pro, Maya & After Effects) that will be somewhat future proof such as dealing with 4k footage and the likes for the next 5 years and intense usage.

I've got a budget of £1700. I've been playing around and have put this build together, anybody got any thoughts? :)


Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 120Hz LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 7700HQ (2.8GHz, 3.8GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 Max-Q - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Hard Disk
500GB Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Thermal Paste
EK-TIM ECTOTHERM THERMAL 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
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
This doesn't quite fit in the budget, but I present it as something to consider:

Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 120Hz LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Six Core Processor i5-8400 (2.8GHz) 9MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 OC 1518 MHz - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 32MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/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)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS, 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS, 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Keyboard Language
OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook 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)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,842.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/octaneiv-15/b0q5UQHUrT/

The CPU offers about 30% better multithreaded performance, thanks to higher frequencies, more cores, and more L3 cache.
See: i77700hqVSi58400.png
https://tinyurl.com/y9zqhl48

The GPU is also better - it's not Max-Q so isn't downclocked - in fact it has a clock speed boost over a regular laptop 1070.

Some people have posted that the Defiance XS doesn't do so well for CPU temps. Certainly that's not everyone's experience but if you're using it for rendering and scenarios where you'll be loading up the GPU a lot, it's worth bearing in mind.

The Octane should have no problems cooling an i5 8400.

Also as the CPU isn't soldered on you could potentially upgrade it to an i7 8700k in the future. It's not ideal value to do that VS just buying the i7 now, but it is a possibility.

Worth considering the Octane if you can stretch the budget.
 
Last edited:

BushyMan

New member
Woah, Thanks Oussebon.

Funnily enough, my budget has now been stretched to £2800.

What do you think of this?


Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 120Hz LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700k (3.7GHz) 12MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 OC 1518 MHz - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Hard Disk
500GB Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 2.5" SSHD - UP TO 5X FASTER THAN HDD!
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/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)
Thermal Paste
EK-TIM ECTOTHERM THERMAL 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
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS, 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS, 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Battery
 
Is there a reason for three hard disks? Two I understand - a very fast SSD for the OS and programs and swap file, and a second for data. I've had experience of Windows 10 needing to reinstall, and not be able to retain files, so keeping them on a second disk is eminently sensible. But you can't keep your programs either in that case.

But I'm with Oussebon - go for as big an SSD as you can justify rather than the Firecuda. I'm sure he's said before that if you have an M2 drive for your OS, you don't get the Firecuda benefits.
Is a PM961 overkill for data? I'd have thought maybe it is.
 
Top