First ever laptop build: need advice

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Gagaman

Member
Finally decided to upgrade from my knackered old HP laptop and have spent the last few days obsessing over details of a few laptop builds as I want to get it just right.

What I'm after: Needs to be able to capture games via FRAPS and my PVR smoothly, and needs to be a video rendering/editing and Adobe Suite beast for my Youtube channel work (Premiere Pro is my most used program, with HD 60fps hour long videos to render). Game wise I don't play a lot of the more intensive AAA games but being able to run a smooth 60fps 1080p on stuff like Sonic Generations at the least would be great.

Not sure if this is possible with this high-spec laptops, but I need one that has a pretty quiet fan, or at least only makes noise if I am playing high-end games, as I do a lot of let's playing with a mic that picks up the fan noise on my current one. I know this is probably a tall ask though.

Budget: Up to around £1400

The laptop configs I've been tinkering with are the 17.3" Defiance, the 15.6" Defiance and the 15.6" Vortex IV.

Graphics: Going with the GTX 970M - 6.0GB DDR5, which they all have. The 980M takes them all above my budget.

RAM: Been sticking with 16GB Hyper-X Impact so far, double my current set up. Any more would be overkill correct?

Storage: Currently have a 1TB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s in all of the configs. Costs a bit more but one big SSD would be better than a 1TB HDD and a smaller SSD or would it? Again thinking of video rendering speed.

17.3" Defiance:
CPU: i7-4720HQ (2.60GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
- Easily the cheapest of the three configs at around £1300 so far.
- 4 x USB 3.0 ports (1 x powered, 1 e-SATA combined)

15.6" Defiance:
CPU: i7-4870HQ (3.7GHz Turbo, Iris™ Pro)
- Thinnest and lightest 2.5kg
- 4 x USB 3.0 ports (1 x powered, 1 e-SATA combined)
- Config currently £1420

15.6" Vortex IV:
CPU: i7-4810MQ (2.80GHz) - according to CPU boss the best of the three?
- The CPU and GPU are apparently not soldered in, meaning I could upgrade or repair in future.
- Smaller width and length
- Includes a Subwoofer
- 3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
- Only one that supports a DVD drive though I could always just get an external anyway.
- Includes Firewire port: could be useful in future for camera work.
- Most expensive config at the moment £1480

I can post the full configs if needed. Any advice at all on any of these elements (especially the storage as I have never had an SSD before) would be brilliant. So far I'm leaning towards the Vortex IV but not 100% sure yet.
 
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Danpez

Active member
Will you be moving the laptop around? If not, the size and weight is a non issue except a bigger screen is more game to look at :)
The 17" Defiance will more than likely run a little cooler as bigger chassis=better airflow. That being said, none of these are going to be silent.

I would advise against such a big SSD. The rendering work is not constrained by the speed of transfer to/from the storage drive so you can save a significant amount of cash by going small SSD for boot and large HDD for storage.
 
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Gagaman

Member
Thanks for the tips on the SSD! Would you say something like a 250GB SSD and a 1TB HDD would work? Also should the SSD be where Windows 7 and my other programs be installed?

I do carry my laptop to a friends (15 minute walk) and to my girlfriends (hour train journey) regularly, though I believe my current laptop is pretty much the same weight as the heaviest of these anyway.

As for the fan noise, my current one sounds like a jet engine taking off when I have so much as two programs on at the same time, let alone games. I should imagine these will be an improvement as I read up that they have two fans in them?
 
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Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
Have you looked at the Octane, the i4790 (3.6GHz, 8MB cache) is a good CPU, that with a GTX 970M GPU, 16GB RAM, plus a 250GB Samsung SSD and a 750GB Scorpio Black (7200rpm) is just over 1,4000.
Yes, the OS and your main programs should be on the SSD.
 
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Danpez

Active member
I personally find 120GB fine as an SSD, I just keep Windows and other programs on it. All of my games, music and videos sit on the HDD as they dont really need the fast read/write speeds.

The lightest of those three is going to be a heavy blighter so I think the choice really is if you are willing to accept the extra dimensions of a 17" in your bag over the 15".

Just a note on the upgrade/repair potential on the Vortex. In terms of repair if a component breaks, you will have a bit of flexibility. Upgrades however shouldn't really factor into your thinking. A CPU upgrade will either be the same socket type (and therefore only a marginal gain so not worth it) or a leap in technology that will probably not fit due to an updated socket type. Also, you are tied down to Clevo releasing the BIOS to get the new CPU working.
Buying new mobile graphics cards is usually not worth it as they are eeeeeeeeeeeeeeexpensive and can be tricky to come by plus the reasons mentioned above.

I wouldn't let the upgrade/repair potential influence your decision too much
 
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Gagaman

Member
I haven't looked at the Octane, I'll give it a look Stephan!

Danpez: thanks for letting me know, I won;t worry about that detail then. :)
 
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Gagaman

Member
Oh yeah, that's pretty good though it's a shame I'd be stuck with Windows 8 if I got that, and the reviews details about the 'annoying fan' worry me, again I guess it depends how often and from how much work it revs up loud.

I think the difference between using that deal and my current config of it with mostly the same specs about without Windows included is about £45. But then upgrading to 10 is an option..hmm..
 
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Gagaman

Member
If I was to go a bit beyond my original budget I could get these kind of specs, how do they sound?

Chassis & Display Octane Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790 (3.6GHz) 8MB Cache
Memory (RAM) 16GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980M - 8.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - Hard Disk 250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk 750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
mSATA/M.2 SSD Drive NONE
2nd mSATA/M.2 SSD Drive NONE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NONE
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NONE
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
Sound Card Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-3160 M.2 (433Mbps, 802.11AC) + BLUETOOTH
Wireless Router/HomePlugs NONE
USB Options 4 x USB 3.0 PORTS (1 x POWERED) + 1 e-SATA/USB 3.0 PORT COMBINED
Battery Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor 1 x UK Power Lead & 230W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Windows 10 Upgrade FREE Upgrade to Windows 10 with all Windows 7 & Windows 8.1 Purchases*
DVD Recovery Media NO DVD RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Carry Case NONE
Laptop Cooling Stands NONE
Stand-Alone Monitor NONE
Additional Keyboard NONE
Notebook Mouse INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Gaming Mouse Pad NONE
Game Streaming NONE
External Speakers NONE
Webcam INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM
Headsets NONE
Surge Protection NONE
Printer NONE
External Hard Drive NONE
Warranty 3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Home Installation NONE
Dead Pixel Guarantee NONE
Insurance 1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Pricing Information
Price (excluding VAT) £1,300.00
Price £1,560.00
Order Quantity 1
Bulk Discount £0.00
Total Order price (Ex VAT) £1,300.00
Total Order Price £1,560.00

According to Userbench mark this would be a beast, 81% Desktop, 66% gaming and 56% workstation. Quite a jump from my 2012 HP laptops' 22%, 12% and 16%! :O

A 970M instead would make it £1429, just £10 over the Defiance review deal, or I could drop the RAM to a 8GB to cut some cash off too £1509.
 
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Gagaman

Member
All sorted now, ordered a laptop mostly the same as the above with some memory stuff swapped about. Can't wait! Thanks for all your help everyone, once I;ve had it for a short while I'll make sure to leave a review here :)
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
Now is the worst part, waiting for it to arrive. I shall look forward to your review as those specs are very similar to the laptop I am thinking of getting.
 
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Danpez

Active member
Great to hear you pulled the trigger.
Laptop construction tends to happen quicker than desktop so you shouldn't be waiting too long. I look forward to your review
 
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