Please help me with a build suggestion

Hi all,

Currently I have a laptop from PC-Specialist which I bought back in 2012 for £1k and it still runs very well with a i7 3610QM, the only thing holding it back is the graphics card for gaming as it has a GTX 660M. (Fortnite is difficult to play in such low settings although Realm Royale is pretty good - overwatch impossible).

So I'm currently looking at spending around £1600/1700 on a PC or laptop (17.3inch) which I will mainly be using for Producing music through Ableton, playing games (mostly Fortnite, Overwatch and Realm Royale) as well as a bit of video editing here and there.

Would like a screen that's at least 120hz (is there much difference between 120 and 144?), Graphics card at least GTX 1070 (pushing the budget for a laptop I know) and was looking at a 2TB HDD Hybrid (or 1TB HDD 7200rpm - I don't really know which is best in terms of performance like what exactly is a hybrid HDD?) with a 512gb SSD and I guess 16gb ram would help with the music/video editing.

For a laptop I can spec all the above at just around £1700 with the Defiance V, however I've read a few reviews on the forums of people having issues keeping itself cool (with one person complaining it's unuseable to play as the keyboard get's too hot). So that lead me to look at a gaming PC. When building the PC I will also then need to purchase a 120/144hz monitor, gaming mouse and keyboard also so please do keep that in mind pricing wise. When it comes to all these motherboards and cooling (would ideally like something that's not gonna heat up my entire room as it's quite a small room I currently stay in and I have enough gadets doing that already haha) and whatnot I literally have no idea how to spec myself a PC whereas a laptop is very simple so if anyone could help build something around that would be really useful.

Also keeping in mind I purchased my last laptop just as new technology came out so was a very good time, does anyone know how far through the current round of hardware we're at - if it's worth waiting a month or two then I probably would.

Thanks in advance for any help

You say you're looking for a PC or laptop, but only describe what you'd want from a laptop. Is a desktop PC a viable option at all? It would net you more performance for a lower price and give you the option to upgrade components in the future such as the GPU, which you couldn't with a laptop.

Hello Stevenf980, What is SSHD or a Hybrid drive?

Its the solution to meeting improved storage performance and capacity needs within the budget constraints of IT organizations is a blend of solid state drive (SSD) and hard disk drive (HDD) technology. Solid state hybrid drives (SSHD) effectively merge these technologies, providing storage devices that are compatible with traditional HDD modules, while delivering one of the most compelling value propositions the storage market has seen in years: SSD–like performance and hard drive capacity.

You may read more about it here. If you have any HDD questions, just ask.

In terms of gaming performance, an SSHD or an HDD should make no difference. SSHDs are built around slower 5400rpm drives versus the 7200rpm ones. However, you'll likely keep your favourite games on the SSD anyway for faster loading (faster than an HDD or SSHD). It's also very easy to swap game installs between drives (a few mouse clicks in Steam).

Some users on this forum have found SSHDs very disappointing in performance, and the consensus among the community has generally seemed to favour SSD + faster HDD.

There's also the value question. SSHDs can be a lot more expensive than the HDDs, depending on pricing fluctuations.

Are you able to consider a desktop? You suggested you might in your post but I wasn't 100% clear on that

Hi Stevenf980. I am not sure why Seagate surfer popped up but you should know he works for the company and is most likely try to push their good. In short Hybrid drives are a waste of time and money, the SSD cache is not big enough to store anything major and after that you are left with a standard HDD. The best option if you do not want to spend loads on SSDs is a 256GB SSD for the OS and main progs plus a decent 7200rpm HDD for storage.

Stephen M said:

Hi Stevenf980. I am not sure why Seagate surfer popped up but you should know he works for the company and is most likely try to push their good. In short Hybrid drives are a waste of time and money, the SSD cache is not big enough to store anything major and after that you are left with a standard HDD. The best option if you do not want to spend loads on SSDs is a 256GB SSD for the OS and main progs plus a decent 7200rpm HDD for storage.

Click to expand...

Thanks, that's really useful

Oussebon said:

In terms of gaming performance, an SSHD or an HDD should make no difference. SSHDs are built around slower 5400rpm drives versus the 7200rpm ones. However, you'll likely keep your favourite games on the SSD anyway for faster loading (faster than an HDD or SSHD). It's also very easy to swap game installs between drives (a few mouse clicks in Steam).

Some users on this forum have found SSHDs very disappointing in performance, and the consensus among the community has generally seemed to favour SSD + faster HDD.

There's also the value question. SSHDs can be a lot more expensive than the HDDs, depending on pricing fluctuations.

Are you able to consider a desktop? You suggested you might in your post but I wasn't 100% clear on that

Click to expand...

Yes indeed sorry if I wasn't very clear; I'm looking to spec a gaming/producing computer solution for the £1600-1700 budget. I struggle to find a laptop with GTX1070 that I have confidence in (just read a few bad reviews on the Defiance V which the only one that would do that) so a desktop is a very real possibility but I know nowthing about speccing a PC versus a laptop which (as I've done above) is very easy to spec. So looking for some advice speccing a PC build to suit. The build budget with the PC would also have to leave enough room for the peripherals like monitor and keyboard though.

Any help would be much appreciated

Aha, I'm with you now

If the budget were around £1700 as per the laptop you mentioned in the first post, I'd suggest the Magma Pro: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/configure-review/259/ which is £1500, has powerful CPU, GTX 1080, 16gb fast RAM, an SSD plus HDD, and various goodies like a gold rated PSU, high end cooler, decent case, etc. Still leaves enough for a 144hz screen, etc

The Review specs have a built in discount which in the case of the Magma Pro is about £1750's worth of hardware for £1500 or so.

With what you want the Octane would be over 1700 but if you are willing to spend the extra it is a great machine and cooling should not be an issue. I have the first edition Octane and although not a gamer do a lot of stuf on it with video, photo-editing and stuff and have no over-heating problem - do use a cooling tray as well. The Octane is more a desktop replacement than laptop, nearly 4kg but if you are not going to be moving it about much that would not matter.

Thanks for the info chaps, will take it into consideration