High Performance Laptop?

[grizzlybear]

Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2760QM (2.40GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1102 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N NETWORK CARD

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Battery
Upgrade to 62.16WH 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (£39)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W Adaptor (GT 540M) / 120W Adaptor (GT 555M)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
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


Recommendations welcome.

 

[mantadog]

That is indeed a fairly high performance laptop, before giving out any advice, what kind of things will the laptop be used for, i presume gaming is one of the uses? Also a top end budget would be helpful.

Overall it looks like it will handle whatever you want it to, depends on exactly how much performance you need the one thing i would say is look at the CPU choice. Is 0.2GHz really worth the premium to you? Off the tp of my head i think it adds approx £100 i think. I also hear that the gaming card is a bit of a marketing ploy with no performance gain to speak off.

 

[Music Guy123]

That wifi card is good for fast connections, if you don't have one, I would drop to the intel 6300 as it has a greater range and is still fast. Also, you may want to consider the 17.3" optimus, I think it is around £20 more for the same spec, imo, worth it! As before, budget and intended uses will help!

 

[grizzlybear]

Yes gaming will be one of the main uses, another thing is im not sure of whether ive made it more powerful than needed.
I was looking at the cpu bellow the current one selected but that means there is compatibility issues with the 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB).
Another thing i was considering was a SSD but not sure?

 

[grizzlybear]

I will take look at the 17.3" optimus, and i do have a fast connection, how much difference is they in the ranges between the two wifi cards?

 

[Music Guy123]

I would go with the intel card as the range is superior and it does still allow for very fast speeds but it is your choice. I wouldn't go with the 1600mhz ram, there have been a couple of problems with it and there is no noticable performance difference and it is quite expensive. You could very easily drop the cpu one notch, but again, it is your choice. SSDs are personal preference really, I like them and would recommend them. However, if you are gaming, I would recommend looking at the vortex series, possibly dropping the SSD and the cpu one notch to afford it, the 560 is about 50-80% faster.

 

[grizzlybear]

Just to clarify your suggesting dropping to the Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB? and having the INTEL® ADVANCED-N 6230 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH?, also what HDD/SSD would you recommend?

 

[Music Guy123]

I don't suggest dropping the cpu to the 2.2GHz but if you can't afford higher, that one will be more than adequate. For the wifi card, I'd recommend the one above that, it has three aerials so extra range. I would recommend the scorpio black for the hdd, it is fast and reliable. However, what I would do if possible is remove the odd (get an external one) and then get an SSD (I'd recommend kingston hyperx) as the first drive and get a storage one, scorpio black if you can afford if not, any, as this doesn't need to be fast, seagate momentus will be very good but a non branded one will be fine. Hope this helps and thanks for the rep!

 

[grizzlybear]

I looked at the optimus and there isnt the option for the 6300 wifi card, what would be my best bet going for as thats not avaliable on that laptop? Because i think ive decided that the vortex is a bit over budget.

 

[Music Guy123]

I don't know why that isn't there, it used to be, I will follow it up, if you wait a bit, I will find out for you. Otherwise, the intel 6230 is absolutely fiine and is a very good card.

 

[grizzlybear]

That would be very much appriciated if you could follow that up for me.

 

[AndyL]

the 560 is about 50-80% faster.

Im not sure why you keep saying this. If you actually compare benchmarks between the two cards, it can be seen that the average performance increase is approximately 55%. The game which I saw the biggest increase in was DIRT 3 (@ High Settings) where the GTX560M gave a 64% increase in frame rates. I have never seen an increase in performance of anywhere near 80%.

 

[Music Guy123]

Would you like me to say 50-70% then? I was just told these figures when I arrived and I just stuck with them, they are fairly close though, don't really see a big problem about it!

 

[Music Guy123]

Ok, have followed that up, apparently they were temporarily removed for testing as the model changed ever so slightly. They are fine and should be in the configurator for you.

 

[grizzlybear]

The intel 6300 wifi card is now appearing as an option to pick, thank you for the help.

 

[AndyL]

Would you like me to say 50-70% then? I was just told these figures when I arrived and I just stuck with them, they are fairly close though, don't really see a big problem about it!

50 - 60% would be more accurate. I was only correcting you so that people who buy the laptop arent disappointed when they dont achieve an extra 20% performance that you claimed was possible.

IIRC you were commenting on a forum member recently about them always suggesting to people that they should get a wireless card in desktop builds, so if you are going to dish out a bit of criticism then you should be able to take a little yourself. Anyway didnt mean to offend you if I did, your advice other than that is spot on.

 

[grizzlybear]

This might be a newbie question but what is the difference between a glossy screen and a matte screen?

 

[Music Guy123]

50 - 60% would be more accurate. I was only correcting you so that people who buy the laptop arent disappointed when they dont achieve an extra 20% performance that you claimed was possible.

IIRC you were commenting on a forum member recently about them always suggesting to people that they should get a wireless card in desktop builds, so if you are going to dish out a bit of criticism then you should be able to take a little yourself. Anyway didnt mean to offend you if I did, your advice other than that is spot on.

Don't worry, didn't offend me! I don't think we should be arguing about the 10% difference though.

This might be a newbie question but what is the difference between a glossy screen and a matte screen?

Difference comes with the reflection that the glossy screen has, I think there is a colour quality difference as well but am not certain!

 

[AndyL]

Don't worry, didn't offend me! I don't think we should be arguing about the 10% difference though.

20%

Difference comes with the reflection that the glossy screen has, I think there is a colour quality difference as well but am not certain!

Correct, the Matte screens do not reflect light as much and are therefore better for using in places with strong light sources (such as outside i.e. the sun), however the Glossy screens produce more vibrant colours.

I have the 72% Gamut Matte screen and it is very good, but if I were to order another Vortex laptop then I would order it with a glossy screen, especially considering the Matte screens are about £70 more IIRC.

 

[grizzlybear]

Okay thank you, this advice is much appreciated.