How loud/hot would this SkyFire III be?

[niall79]

Hello all,

I'm looking for a laptop I can use for gaming, work, and a few other things besides. The below set-up ticks all the boxes. My only concern is that it might run very hot or, alternatively, be annoyingly loud with the fans running. If anyone has purchased something similar, could they let me know the sort of decibels I can expect? I was originally looking at the Optimus V 17.3", but was put off by reports of hairdryer levels of noise.

Thanks in advance

niall
---
Chassis & Display
SkyFire Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 870M - 3.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
1st Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
mSATA SSD Drive
128GB Plextor PX-128M5M mSATA SSD (upto 540MB/sR | 320MB/sW)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 2 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® N135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
SkyFire Series 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Laptop Cooling Stands
Zalman ZM-NC3500 Ultra-Quiet Laptop Cooler, up to17.3 inch
Keyboard Language
BACKLIT MSI UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 3.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Quantity
1

 

[keynes]

The chassis is built to stand high temperatures, the fans should kick in when gaming and it is going be noisy as with any gaming laptop. Got a vortex and it is pretty silent when browsing or watching a movie.

 

[niall79]

Hi, thanks for the quick reply!

Might I ask a couple of quick questions?

1) Just how loud are we talking (need to wear headphones loud?)
2) Are the fans during gaming constant or intermittent?
3) Is there a reason you chose a Vortex over the other chassis?

 

[keynes]

Hi, thanks for the quick reply!

Might I ask a couple of quick questions?

1) Just how loud are we talking (need to wear headphones loud?)
2) Are the fans during gaming constant or intermittent?
3) Is there a reason you chose a Vortex over the other chassis?

1) it is relative though, what do you consider loud? It is difficult to describe and measure. It does not bother me, I have noise cancelling headphones.
2) should be constant since that's when you are pushing the gpu
3) better chassis and offers better graphics cards.

 

[mantadog]

My brother has a skyfire 2 with a high end GPU. Presuming it will be similar, its really not bad. (make sure you get the upgraded thermal paste, he did and it really helps.


1) Just how loud are we talking (need to wear headphones loud?)Not really, its fairly quiet even in full on gaming mode. You could probably hear it if the game was quiet but its not off putting. not to me anyway.
2) Are the fans during gaming constant or intermittent? It depends on the game form what I can tell anyway. it kick's into high gear for maybe 15/20 seconds every now and again but its really not bad. The overall level just goes up when your gaming but that's to be expected.

 

[niall79]

1) it is relative though, what do you consider loud? It is difficult to describe and measure. It does not bother me, I have noise cancelling headphones.

The fact you wear noise cancelling earphones suggests it might be a bit loud. For me, if I can't hear music, SFX, and V/O over the noise of the fans without headphones, the fans would be too loud.

 

[niall79]

My brother has a skyfire 2 with a high end GPU. Presuming it will be similar, its really not bad. (make sure you get the upgraded thermal paste, he did and it really helps.


1) Just how loud are we talking (need to wear headphones loud?)Not really, its fairly quiet even in full on gaming mode. You could probably hear it if the game was quiet but its not off putting. not to me anyway.
2) Are the fans during gaming constant or intermittent? It depends on the game form what I can tell anyway. it kick's into high gear for maybe 15/20 seconds every now and again but its really not bad. The overall level just goes up when your gaming but that's to be expected.

Thank you, that's exactly what I wanted to hear!

 

[keynes]

The fact you wear noise cancelling earphones suggests it might be a bit loud. For me, if I can't hear music, SFX, and V/O over the noise of the fans without headphones, the fans would be too loud.

No, I was trying to say I don't notice it. The noise cancelling headphones is something I use when commuting and if I am travelling I use it with the vortex but it was never intended to be for the laptop. I can play without headphones and still listen to the speakers.

 

[niall79]

Thanks, that's good to hear! I sometimes use the laptop in bed while my girlfriend's asleep (in which case I'd be using headphones too!) It would be a major bummer if the machine kept waking her up. But like you say, I guess that's relative too. Some people are just light sleepers.

Feeling pretty confident now. Think I'm going to go for it. Thanks again for your help.