17,3" Recoil II RTX vs 17,3" Octane VI. Which one is better? (specs in the post)

Mustafo95

Silver Level Poster
I'm not gonna post all the unnecessary details and instead focus on key features that everyone cares about, including me. So here we go:
Display:
I'm not aware of all the technical details but seemingly both laptops have <17.3" MATTE FULL HD 144HZ SCREEN>. The key difference being Octane 6 has the G-Sync module. There is really no debate to be had here imo. Octane 6 takes this one. So on to the next component.

CPU: i5-9600K vs i7-9750H. This is where it gets more complex, maybe not so much though. That's why I need help. Right off the bat, we're talking about Base Frequency of: 3.70GHz(i5) vs 2.60GHz(i7). And then Turbo Boost clock of: 4.60GHz(i5) vs 4.50GHz(i7). 6 cores for both of them, but threads are 6(i5) vs 12(i7). TDPL 95W(i5) vs 45W(i7)

GPU: RTX 2060 Desktop (octane 6) vs RTX 2070 Mobile (recoil 2). I don't think there is anything indicating these facts in the configurator, about which one having mobile GPU and which one having the real desktop GPU. But I'm pretty sure that I got the GPU types correct. So again, here you have a seemingly weaker GPU in RTX 2060 with only 6GB VRAM vs 8GB for RTX 2070, but I imagine the comparison is never that straightforward. This is where I need some assistance too.

RAM: 16GB for both, don't see any difference. 2x8 sticks clocked at 2666MHz.
SSD: NVME Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 1TB version.
Price: €2005 for Octane VI vs €1939 for Recoil II RTX.

I made the price limiting factor and worked around it. €100 plus minus isn't a big deal. The laptop would be basically desktop replacement. I just don't wanna build a PC myself and worry about it when moving houses. It's exclusively for gaming. Let's just assume that I'll play any and every AAA games. the most demanding, the most power and resource hungry games. When it comes to future proofing, I'd expect 5 years of decent service. When it can't hit 60FPS in the latest games, that's when it will bite the dust. I'd really appreciate any feedback on this.
I'm also aware that 1440p panels could be in stock soon, but then again, who knows. They were supposed to be available in late may too, but that didn't happen.

Edit 1: Oh and forgot to post the dimensions of both laptops:
Recoil II RTX -> 395.7mm x 260.8mm x 27.45mm. Weighs at 2.5KG
Octane VI -> 418mm x 295.3mm x 40.9mm Weighs at 3.9KG
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
The Octane isn't a laptop, it's a desktop replacement and has desktop cpu's. Overall the power on the octane is going to smash anything if it's for gaming, even though it's the I5 with fewer cores. But that comes at the sacrifice of portability and battery life, very very heavy, and maybe a couple of hours battery life at severely hampered performance.

Both have mobile GPU's, all laptops do. Think how large a desktop gpu is, just wouldn't fit in any laptop. They're both downclocked off the normal desktop variants.

But given the choice, neither is the optimum choice, I would go for the Vortex which is IMHO the best choice of chassis for gaming for both cooling and screen.
 

Mustafo95

Silver Level Poster
The Octane isn't a laptop, it's a desktop replacement and has desktop cpu's. Overall the power on the octane is going to smash anything if it's for gaming, even though it's the I5 with fewer cores. But that comes at the sacrifice of portability and battery life, very very heavy, and maybe a couple of hours battery life at severely hampered performance.

Well as it happens, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Pure gaming performance. No portability, no extended battery life is necessary. It's never going to get moved, will always stay plugged in.
Also good shout about GPUs. I don't know why I thought those monstrous desktop GPUs would fit in these tiny laptops. That's actually better for me, simplifies everything even more. So the deciding factors for me are: CPU, Display, Price. Everything else like battery life, portability, laptop size, weight, doesn't matter.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Well as it happens, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Pure gaming performance. No portability, no extended battery life is necessary. It's never going to get moved, will always stay plugged in.
Also good shout about GPUs. I don't know why I thought those monstrous desktop GPUs would fit in these tiny laptops. That's actually better for me, simplifies everything even more. So the deciding factors for me are: CPU, Display, Price. Everything else like battery life, portability, laptop size, weight, doesn't matter.
whilst the CPU's in the octane are raw performance, they have throttling issues due to high temps. I'm not certain how the i5 fares, but certainly the i7 option suffers pretty badly and you basically have to resort to an undervolt to keep it in check. That's not an issue with the chassis so much as the chips, they're just really poor imho, the only thing that can adequately cool them is a liquid cooler or extremely high performance air cooler like a noctua. They don't stand a chance in a laptop.

Intel chips suck atm and will do for the foreseeable future.

For overall performance and dare i say it.... longevity, I would always go for the Vortex. The mobile i7 will be perfectly adequate for gaming for some time to come, paired with a RTX2070, you'd have a beautiful system for years to come. RTX2060 or GTX1660ti (If you're not worried about Ray Tracing gubbins) would be more than adequate at 1080p 144hz, but the RTX2070 along with GSync for when fps starts to suffer would lead to a much longer lifetime overall for gaming.

The only sacrifice would be to opt for 15" as the 17" vortex only has the 10 series cards, although there may well be a chassis update coming. But seriously, the extra 2 inches across corner to corner makes zero difference.
 

Mustafo95

Silver Level Poster
whilst the CPU's in the octane are raw performance, they have throttling issues due to high temps. I'm not certain how the i5 fares, but certainly the i7 option suffers pretty badly and you basically have to resort to an undervolt to keep it in check. That's not an issue with the chassis so much as the chips, they're just really poor imho, the only thing that can adequately cool them is a liquid cooler or extremely high performance air cooler like a noctua. They don't stand a chance in a laptop.

Wouldn't desktop i5-9600k beat i7-9750H even in a thermally throttled state. I'm not basing it on anything, but it's using like 2x more wattage so even at its best, the mobile i7 probably couldn't reach desktop i5 at its lowest performance level. Does that make sense?

there may well be a chassis update coming

I hope so. Most of the rumours were predicting late may for chassis/panel refresh, but that obviously didn't happen, so now who even knows when they're coming. Guess I'll just have to cross my fingers and wait it out.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Let's just assume that I'll play any and every AAA games. the most demanding, the most power and resource hungry games.
The CPU is not really that relevant as you'll be GPU limited in most titles.
I'd expect 5 years of decent service. When it can't hit 60FPS in the latest games, that's when it will bite the dust. I'd really appreciate any feedback on this.
If you're expecting 60fps at the higher settings for 5 years, don't buy a laptop. Or a desktop. Neither will guarantee you that. Look where a GTX 980 or R9 290x are now. They're still great for 1080p gaming, as long as you manage the settings, and some newer titles (especially Ubisoft brutes) really will hammer you into turning the settings down. I don't have the game so can't say, but a GTX 970/980 would probably struggle to keep 60fps on Total War Three Kingdoms at the High preset (apparently a GTX 1060 will struggle a little).

But in any of these cases, it's not usually the CPU that's the issue; it's the GPU.

Since both the Recoil and Octane sport mobile GPUs, if the Recoil gets you a 2070 for the same price as an Octane's 2060, the Recoil just won hands down.
 

debiruman665

Enthusiast
the i9 9900k will peak around 4.2Ghz under full load, that's where it drops down to when it thermal or power throttles.

for less super intensive tasks, single threaded etc you can get 5GHz but you will need to adjust the multipliers. the default settings will have you running at 4.7GHz
 

Mustafo95

Silver Level Poster
The CPU is not really that relevant as you'll be GPU limited in most titles.
If you're expecting 60fps at the higher settings for 5 years, don't buy a laptop. Or a desktop. Neither will guarantee you that. Look where a GTX 980 or R9 290x are now.
Nah, no way, I'm not expecting 60fps at high details. Right now I'm playing most games at somewhere between 30 and 50fps so I don't really have a problem with sub-par experience. I mostly stay offline and play against AI, so I'm fine with lower FPS.

But in any of these cases, it's not usually the CPU that's the issue; it's the GPU.

Since both the Recoil and Octane sport mobile GPUs, if the Recoil gets you a 2070 for the same price as an Octane's 2060, the Recoil just won hands down.

Thanks for the definite answer. That settles it for me. I'll go for rtx 2070 and mobile cpu.
I'll still wait for chassis refresh, so maybe that'll change the equation.
 
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