Octane III - i5 or i7?

Hi there,

I recently purchased an Octane III from PC Specialist (I guess it was the last one because it seems to have completely disappeared from the website!), it is currently in the building phase. When I purchased it, the only processor available was the Intel Core-i5 7400 3.00GHz. Since then, i've noticed in the "amend order" section, that the Intel Core-i7 3.6GHz is now available? I was just wondering if I should upgrade? I will post my specs:

Chassis & Display Octane Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor i5-7400 (3.0GHz) 6MB Cache
Memory (RAM) 16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
1st Storage Drive 1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 2.5" SSHD
2nd Storage Drive 500GB WD Blue™ 3D NAND 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive 250GB WD Black™ M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/s R | 1600MB/s W)


I mainly want to play games on the new laptop, I ordered a PC Specialist laptop about 5 years ago which has served me very well but I struggle to play the games that I enjoy most on a graphical level that isn't "Low". The games I play the most are Total War: Warhammer 2, Football Manager 2019 (which runs fine but is a bit slow when loading), Rainbow Six Siege, Rust and XCOM 2. I can probably afford to amend it, but it's an added expense, I just have a feeling of FOMO (fear of missing out) if I decide to stay with the i5. For comparisons, here is my old PC Specialist computer:

Chassis & Display Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 860M - 2.0GB DDR5, 640 CUDA Cores - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card NONE
1st Storage Drive 120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Storage Drive 1TB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)

Maybe I just want people to make me feel better that my new computer will be a big upgrade and reassure me that the i5 is good enough? There's also the fact that I'm incredibly impatient and don't want to delay the process by getting them to change it on monday morning? I'm really conflicted, please help!

CameronLFC said:

Hi there,

I recently purchased an Octane III from PC Specialist (I guess it was the last one because it seems to have completely disappeared from the website!), it is currently in the building phase. When I purchased it, the only processor available was the Intel Core-i5 7400 3.00GHz. Since then, i've noticed in the "amend order" section, that the Intel Core-i7 3.6GHz is now available? I was just wondering if I should upgrade? I will post my specs:

Chassis & Display Octane Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor i5-7400 (3.0GHz) 6MB Cache
Memory (RAM) 16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
1st Storage Drive 1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 2.5" SSHD
2nd Storage Drive 500GB WD Blue™ 3D NAND 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive 250GB WD Black™ M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/s R | 1600MB/s W)


I mainly want to play games on the new laptop, I ordered a PC Specialist laptop about 5 years ago which has served me very well but I struggle to play the games that I enjoy most on a graphical level that isn't "Low". The games I play the most are Total War: Warhammer 2, Football Manager 2019 (which runs fine but is a bit slow when loading), Rainbow Six Siege, Rust and XCOM 2. I can probably afford to amend it, but it's an added expense, I just have a feeling of FOMO (fear of missing out) if I decide to stay with the i5. For comparisons, here is my old PC Specialist computer:

Chassis & Display Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 860M - 2.0GB DDR5, 640 CUDA Cores - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card NONE
1st Storage Drive 120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Storage Drive 1TB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)

Click to expand...

You've ordered an old processor which is hugely outperformed by the newer generations in both performance and thermals.

I would definitely upgrade to the i7 which i assume is the 8700? Much better processor.

SpyderTracks said:

You've ordered an old processor which is hugely outperformed by the newer generations in both performance and thermals.

I would definitely upgrade to the i7 which i assume is the 8700? Much better processor.

Click to expand...

It's the i7-7700? I feel like I may have bought an old laptop because, like I said, it's completely gone from the website? :no:

CameronLFC said:

It's the i7-7700? I feel like I may have bought an old laptop because, like I said, it's completely gone from the website? :no:

Click to expand...

I would personally cancel the order.

The 7th gen were not very good processors when compared with the 8th gen and 9th gen.

If the chassis isn't currently available, it's for 2 reasons:
A: Stocks are dry, very unlikely
B: New chassis refresh is due, very likely to include the 9th Gen processors alongside 8th Gen on that chassis.

I would completely cancel and wait for a week or so, I'm willing to bet everything I have they'll be releasing an updated version of the chassis

Thanks for the advice. I've sent an email to PCS Customer Service and have to wait until monday to contact Hitachi Personal Finance regarding the cancelation. Really disappointed but I think it'll be better in the long run... It's frustrating that it's the weekend so I have to wait a couple of days to get this all sorted out.

CameronLFC said:

Thanks for the advice. I've sent an email to PCS Customer Service and have to wait until monday to contact Hitachi Personal Finance regarding the cancelation. Really disappointed but I think it'll be better in the long run... It's frustrating that it's the weekend so I have to wait a couple of days to get this all sorted out.

Click to expand...

I think you've done the right thing, especially ordering a beast like the Octane, there's no point ordering a 2 year old processor on a new system, just a shame.

Next time you're deciding on a build, post it on the forum and we can help advise you and give you the pro's and con's. None of us work for PCS, we're just volunteers, most of us are customers, but other than that we have no ties to the company. All we care about is you guys getting the best bang for buck, plus of course through our purchases, we're pretty big fans of PCS :yes:

Thanks for your help, SpyderTracks. I have sent the different emails and now just have to wait until monday before looking again. I'll definitely use the forum before ordering next time! There are a few i've got my eye on until then. You can close the thread if you like!

CameronLFC said:

Thanks for your help, SpyderTracks. I have sent the different emails and now just have to wait until monday before looking again. I'll definitely use the forum before ordering next time! There are a few i've got my eye on until then. You can close the thread if you like!

Click to expand...

No worries, glad could help and sorry you have a bit of annoyance to go through, but I definitely think it's worth it in the long run.

The thread will remain open, others may find it useful.

Hope to see you back in the near future, if you have any problems, give us a shout.