Check my laptop please!

[martyn47]

Hey everyone! I'd like people to check this spec! I was looking for a laptop that was super-fast, used for general everyday use, some website browsing and work (games only when unable to be at PC, which wouldnt be a great deal). Because used for work, wanted it to be super fast. If anyone has any suggestions on changes, let me know. Many thanks!

Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 17.3" Matte QHD 120Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (2560x1440) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 Six Core Processor 8950HK (2.9GHz, 4.8GHz Turbo)
FREE Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Hard Disk
960GB KINGSTON UV500 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 500MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Battery
Defiance Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (66WH)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + Sound BlasterX® Pro-Gaming 720˚
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 Ports + 1 x USB 3.1 Type C Ports
Keyboard Language
DEFIANCE SERIES PER-KEY RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
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 MEGAPIXEL 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 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price £2,033.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Oussebon]

This is not a good spec for performance or value.

What software will you be using on it? i.e. what is 'work'? Photo editing, video editing?

 

[martyn47]

This is not a good spec for performance or value.

What software will you be using on it? i.e. what is 'work'? Photo editing, video editing?

More detail; game wise I'll dabble in WoW, Football Manager, Medieval War, Sims, Civ 6.
I'll work on it, meaning usual office programs and some possible video editing in future.

It might seem overkill for what I want it for, but I want to make sure it runs fast and stays fast for at least a few years. I'm a total novice when it comes to laptops, so suggestions on how to improve performance and price would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Oussebon]

The i9 might not offer a great deal more performance than the i7, depending how the chassis handles it. The i9 runs a lot hotter than the i7, which the Defiance already can struggle to cool in some people's experience.

Google: i9 8950HK macbook
and you'll get a sense of what I mean...

If you do need a monster of a CPU, then the Octane with it's full-fat desktop (-S series) i7 8700k would be the way to go. The i7 8700H is already more powerful than any laptop (-H series) CPU that came before it by a long way.

The UV500 is among the slowest SSDs on offer.

Something like this would make more sense in my opinion:


Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 17.3" Matte QHD 120Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (2560x1440) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
---FREE Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
NOT REQUIRED
1[SUP]st[/SUP] M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 2500MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Battery
Defiance Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (66WH)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + Sound BlasterX® Pro-Gaming 720˚
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
4 x USB 3.0 Ports + 1 x USB 3.1 Type C Ports
Keyboard Language
RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
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 MEGAPIXEL 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 4 to 6 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,705.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/defiancev-17/nwKkNbUMqj/

WoW and FM like faster RAM, and it's relatively cheap. The 970 Evo is much, much faster than the UV500. Though you could drop the M.2 SSD and go for a cheaper SSD from the Hard Disk menu. The 860 Evo is a lot cheaper than the 970 Evo, but is still much, much better than a UV500.

The 8700H is still very powerful for your uses, is ~£400 cheaper, and the chassis might have an easier time keeping temps in check too.

If you don't need the 1440p screen from a productivity point of view, drop that to 1080p and the graphics card to a GTX 1060 (the 1060 being appropriate for 1080p gaming), taking the build down to £1440 (assuming you went for the 860 Evo).

If you want to drop £2k on a laptop for maximum performance just because, get an Octane with the i7 8700k.

 

[martyn47]

Thanks for your help Oussebon.

I’m torn between getting an Octane V or going. For something cheaper.

I want something that will be super quick, but I worry about overheating. Say I decided to get an Octane V, and only play things like WoW and FM, will those sorts of games cause overheating, or is overheating caused by much more intensive games?

 

[Oussebon]

The laptop should not overheat at all. If it does overheat, it is either a) a problem with the unit (which could be software or could be a physical issue like a fault or it needing a clean) or b) a flawed product design that inherently leads to overheating.

It's not acceptable for any PC to overheat. Some tasks will make it run hotter than others of course, but it should never overheat just by you using it for regular use

While many people are happy with the Defiance, there have been reports of cooling issues in quite a few instances, so I think it would be unwise to put an i9 in one.

Besides which, all of these CPUs (i7 8750H, i9 8950HK, i7 8700K, etc) are very fast. In fact you'd be hard pressed to notice much difference between them in general usage, and in most games most of the time.

Frankly you could buy a Recoil II with an i7 8750H, GTX 1060, fast SSD and RAM for a lot less than even the spec I posted. And it's lighter. The 15.6" Recoil has very good cooling by all accounts, so I assume the 17.3" one base on a similar chassis does too.

If you want the beefiest rig you can where neither size nor price are an issue, then the Octane is a sound choice and it does handle the temps from the CPUs going by accounts on these forums.

 

[martyn47]

The laptop should not overheat at all. If it does overheat, it is either a) a problem with the unit (which could be software or could be a physical issue like a fault or it needing a clean) or b) a flawed product design that inherently leads to overheating.

It's not acceptable for any PC to overheat. Some tasks will make it run hotter than others of course, but it should never overheat just by you using it for regular use

While many people are happy with the Defiance, there have been reports of cooling issues in quite a few instances, so I think it would be unwise to put an i9 in one.

Besides which, all of these CPUs (i7 8750H, i9 8950HK, i7 8700K, etc) are very fast. In fact you'd be hard pressed to notice much difference between them in general usage, and in most games most of the time.

Frankly you could buy a Recoil II with an i7 8750H, GTX 1060, fast SSD and RAM for a lot less than even the spec I posted. And it's lighter. The 15.6" Recoil has very good cooling by all accounts, so I assume the 17.3" one base on a similar chassis does too.

If you want the beefiest rig you can where neither size nor price are an issue, then the Octane is a sound choice and it does handle the temps from the CPUs going by accounts on these forums.

Perfect advice. Thanks so much