Laptop advice - general use and some gaming- thanks!

B

Bunk

New member
Hello,

Just wanted to check this was a decent build for a laptop, going to be used for work, web browsing and some gaming (appreciate it won't be at top settings). Is this a decent mix of parts, ideally wanted to be a little cheaper, but wasn't sure if anything could be dialed down, equally if a few pounds more would improve anything? Is the processor a fair balance with the GPU?

Thanks for any help


Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 3 Gb/s, (7200rpm)**SPECIAL**
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
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus/Voyager Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
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) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £781.00 including VAT and delivery.
 
Tom DWC

Tom DWC

Moderator
Moderator
There's nothing wrong with your spec at all, it's excellent. Nothing you have there is "unbalanced" as such but in regards to dialling it down a bit to lower the budget, I think you can get away with an i5 CPU for your requirements. This is still a new Ivy Bridge processor, a dual core with hyper threading so 4 overall "cores" /processors as such and turbo boost up to 3.1Ghz on single threaded applications. As I say a very nippy chip, well up to the job including a bit of gaming because you'll be limited by the mobile GPU long before the CPU anyways.

With all of that in mind:

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-3210M (2.50GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 2GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 3 Gb/s, (7200rpm)**SPECIAL**
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 & WIRELESS INTEL® ADVANCED-N 6235 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
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 & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
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) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £774.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/optimusIII-17/oquIUoxb4c/

I used the extra room gained from dropping the CPU to improve practical things - better wifi card, higher capacity battery and improved thermal paste for longevity; but all of these are optional upgrades and by removing those you will still have a very capable laptop system for round about £65.00 less than your original quote. If you want to try and allow for as much future proofing as you can, stick with your original setup.
 
Last edited:
Tom DWC

Tom DWC

Moderator
Moderator
Iosif said:
Would a uild similar to this one run games like Skyrim or max payne 3 etc on decent settings?
Click to expand...

Take a look near the bottom of this page for an idea of general frame rates on the GT 650M: http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-650M.71887.0.html

It's funny you should mention Skyrim - it's the exception and not the rule in that it's very dependant upon the processor and not the graphics card.

I would imagine somewhere between medium and high settings would give you playable frame rates at 1920x1080. The first settings to scale down on Skyrim if you're ever having performance issues are the shadows.
 
I

Iosif

Member
Tom DWC said:
Take a look near the bottom of this page for an idea of general frame rates on the GT 650M: http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-650M.71887.0.html

It's funny you should mention Skyrim - it's the exception and not the rule in that it's very dependant upon the processor and not the graphics card.

I would imagine somewhere between medium and high settings would give you playable frame rates at 1920x1080. The first settings to scale down on Skyrim if you're ever having performance issues are the shadows.
Click to expand...

OK, cool, Thanks. I'm after a machine for similar things to the OP, but probably more gaming then work, around the same price range, Im not too fussed about ultra graphics, just enough for things to look pretty. Are there any tweaks you would make to the above build to make it more suitable? or is the current build as good as?
 
B

Bunk

New member
Thanks for your help Tom, much appreciated.

Will have a bit more of a play with the configuration based on your advice, and get it ordered.
 
B

Bunk

New member
Sorry, or more thing, is there any benefit to buying 2 x 2gb memory over 1x 4gb. The 4gb is a little cheaper.
 
I

Iosif

Member
Thanks from me too tom,

I would use a machine for a similar reason to the OP, ut with less work and more gaming. Are there any tweaks that would improve performance for gaming to this set up (keeping it in the same price range) or is it as good as?
 
Tom DWC

Tom DWC

Moderator
Moderator
Iosif said:
Thanks from me too tom,

I would use a machine for a similar reason to the OP, ut with less work and more gaming. Are there any tweaks that would improve performance for gaming to this set up (keeping it in the same price range) or is it as good as?
Click to expand...

About as good as in this price range really. With laptops you're always paying a premium to get equivalent desktop performance and the 660M machines just push the price up too much. As long as you're prepared to tone the settings down a bit on the latest games you shouldn't have any problems, especially not with older titles.
 
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