Im planning on replacing my aging mac air with something i can study with and play some decent games, and if i'm going to do that i may as well get something that should last me 3 or 4 years.
The study component would mean running 4 or 5 VMs, hence the extra RAM, and i want to enjoy games for the coming 3 or 4 years. They don't have to be on high or anything insane, but i would like to to still be able to be able to play some games toward the end of its life (coming from integrated i5 gpu that struggles with civ5 but it's still enjoyable), but can't justify the jump to the 980M.
Going for the 15.6 as it will spend the majority of its time at home but should be able to fit in a backpack to get to work and at travel overseas occasionally, and il be honest, its one of the more aesthetically pleasing and less garish models.
Couple of questions i have;
- Whether the i7-4870HQ is worth an extra 20 quid, if its just a bigger battery drain for something il barely notice at all, im not convinced.
- How much faster two 250gb crucial mx200 m.2 ssds in raid 0 would be? and if that is worth it too.
Thoughts?
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Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4720HQ (2.60GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970M - 3.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Free Item
FREE METAL GEAR SOLID game with select GTX 9 Series GPUs! -Subject to T&Cs
mSATA/M.2 SSD Drive
500GB Crucial MX200 M.2 2280 SSD (upto 555MB/sR | 500MB/sW)
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 (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-7265 M.2 (300Mbps, 802.11BGN) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS (1 x POWERED, 1 e-SATA COMBINED)
Battery
Defiance Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (60WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language
DEFIANCE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
The study component would mean running 4 or 5 VMs, hence the extra RAM, and i want to enjoy games for the coming 3 or 4 years. They don't have to be on high or anything insane, but i would like to to still be able to be able to play some games toward the end of its life (coming from integrated i5 gpu that struggles with civ5 but it's still enjoyable), but can't justify the jump to the 980M.
Going for the 15.6 as it will spend the majority of its time at home but should be able to fit in a backpack to get to work and at travel overseas occasionally, and il be honest, its one of the more aesthetically pleasing and less garish models.
Couple of questions i have;
- Whether the i7-4870HQ is worth an extra 20 quid, if its just a bigger battery drain for something il barely notice at all, im not convinced.
- How much faster two 250gb crucial mx200 m.2 ssds in raid 0 would be? and if that is worth it too.
Thoughts?
-----------
Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4720HQ (2.60GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970M - 3.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Free Item
FREE METAL GEAR SOLID game with select GTX 9 Series GPUs! -Subject to T&Cs
mSATA/M.2 SSD Drive
500GB Crucial MX200 M.2 2280 SSD (upto 555MB/sR | 500MB/sW)
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 (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-7265 M.2 (300Mbps, 802.11BGN) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS (1 x POWERED, 1 e-SATA COMBINED)
Battery
Defiance Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (60WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language
DEFIANCE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)