laptop for game development

[smokey]

so here's the spec I am thinking of.

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4810MQ (2.80GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
32GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (4 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
2 x AMD® Radeon® R9 M290X - 4GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
1TB WD SCORPIO BLUE WD10JPVX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 8MB CACHE (5400 rpm) (OS will be on this HDD)

2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

mSATA SSD Drive
120GB Kingston SSDNow mS200 mSATA (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW) (this will be used for game development programs)

2nd mSATA SSD Drive
240GB Kingston SSDNow mS200 mSATA (upto 540MB/sR | 530MB/sW) (this will be used for testing the games)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW) (I don't know about this, might get the blue ray option instead)

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)

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1202 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0 (needs good wireless to test multiplayer features)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Anti-Virus
NORTON 360 SUITE - 1 Year Licence for upto 3 PCs (£29) *SPECIAL*

Carry Case
Trust Sydney 17.3" Notebook Carry Bag (£29)

Laptop Cooling Stands
Zalman ZM-NC3 Ultra-Quiet Laptop Cooler, upto 17.3 inch (£15)

Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)

Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£19)

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH (£39)

what do you think?

 

[A314159]

Looks pretty good.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Looks pretty damn good! That thing will fly!

Out of interest, any reason you went for amd graphics?

 

[evvo123]

Looks good. For such a high end build, the memory configuration is a little odd though, I'd want the OS on an SSD, or at least an SSHD... not on the slowest HDD.

 

[smokey]

Looks pretty good.

Looks pretty damn good! That thing will fly!

Looks good.

thanks, that's what I wanted to hear

Out of interest, any reason you went for amd graphics?

price was a factor but the main reason is that the r9 m290x has roughly the same performance as the 870m (its around 2% worse performance) and with decent drivers it can more or less match the 870m, I did think about the 880m but I found out that they often have an overheating problem.

For such a high end build, the memory configuration is a little odd though, I'd want the OS on an SSD.

I know it sounds odd so I'll explain, the 120GB SSD will be for the game development software witch needs to run as well and as fast as possible, the 240GB SSD will be used to test cooked versions of any games I make so they will also need to run as well and fast as possible but on an independent drive so I can test them properly, they also serve as emergency backups I can use if one gets fried. the reason I want the OS on the HDD is because my current laptop runs windows 8 as well/fast as I need it to run plus the awesomeness of UE4 is more important to me, I could always change it at a later date as well

not on the slowest HDD.

I might switch the HDD's around and have the OS on the 750GB.

 

[evvo123]

thanks, that's what I wanted to hear



price was a factor but the main reason is that the r9 m290x has roughly the same performance as the 870m (its around 2% worse performance) and with decent drivers it can more or less match the 870m, I did think about the 880m but I found out that they often have an overheating problem.



I know it sounds odd so I'll explain, the 120GB SSD will be for the game development software witch needs to run as well and as fast as possible, the 240GB SSD will be used to test cooked versions of any games I make so they will also need to run as well and fast as possible but on an independent drive so I can test them properly, they also serve as emergency backups I can use if one gets fried. the reason I want the OS on the HDD is because my current laptop runs windows 8 as well/fast as I need it to run plus the awesomeness of UE4 is more important to me, I could always change it at a later date as well



I might switch the HDD's around and have the OS on the 750GB.

Makes sense . Have you considered the 1TB Seagate SSHD instead of the Scorpio Blue? Would cut boot times from ~2 minutes to ~25-30 seconds was all I was thinking.

 

[smokey]

Have you considered the 1TB Seagate SSHD instead of the Scorpio Blue?

well I wasn't but reading your post just reminded me that my current laptop has a quick start feature so when you turn it on it takes about 4 secs to get to the password screen and then about 3 secs to load windows 8 default screen and about 4 secs to load desktop mode(although it's quite slow for about 1 min after loading), as it only costs £14 more I think I might go with the SSHD.

 

[Wozza63]

I highly doubt that all of the software you use, the OS and the games you have produced are going to be more than 240GB all together. Personally I'd put them on a single SSD.

And having developed games myself, I never noticed too much difference between running them through an SSD or hard drive although it depends how many huge textures you have and stuff like that.

 

[smokey]

I highly doubt that all of the software you use, the OS and the games you have produced are going to be more than 240GB all together.

well the laptop will also be used as a normal laptop and I want it to last 3-5 years, my current laptop has a 1TB HDD and I have used 600GB(including the OS) in around 18 months.

although it depends how many huge textures you have and stuff like that.

there will be quite a lot of 2K and 4K textures as well as a few high poly meshes.

 

[Wozza63]

well the laptop will also be used as a normal laptop and I want it to last 3-5 years, my current laptop has a 1TB HDD and I have used 600GB(including the OS) in around 18 months.



there will be quite a lot of 2K and 4K textures as well as a few high poly meshes.

I think a 240GB/480GB single 2.5" SSD would be a better investment in that case. They tend to be more reliable and slightly quicker. Then you can put most stuff on this and other stuff on a standard caviar black or hybrid drive

Having a fewer number of drives would also improve battery life in short and long term helping the laptop last longer. The 2.5" SATA ones tend to have a lot more read/write cycles too.

With the money saved you could get another upgrade elsewhere such as a higher graphics card or RAM or CPU.

And one more note, OS should almost always be on the fastest drive. You have a lot of RAM so it won't be too important but the page file by default will be on the OS drive, page file acts as RAM (kinda) so you need that to be quick.

 

[smokey]

I think a 240GB/480GB single 2.5" SSD would be a better investment in that case. They tend to be more reliable and slightly quicker. Then you can put most stuff on this and other stuff on a standard caviar black or hybrid drive

I will think about it.

Having a fewer number of drives would also improve battery life in short and long term helping the laptop last longer.

I am not really worried about battery life because I always keep my laptop plugged in.


I have a new problem, I wasn't very happy to see there were no glossy screens and had to have a matte screen but I was prepared to make the minor sacrifice, however yesterday I saw this https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?36779-Vortex-IV-screen, I checked what screen the vortex IV Elite SE came with and its the same screen, the person who made that thread also linked to a 2 year old thread where even someone from PCS said it was a bad screen, I did some googling on the screen and found some mixed reviews, I don't want to spend £2000+ for a laptop and have a bed screen.

does anyone have this screen, if you do can you tell me if its any good?

 

[SpyderTracks]

I have a new problem, I wasn't very happy to see there were no glossy screens and had to have a matte screen but I was prepared to make the minor sacrifice, however yesterday I saw this https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?36779-Vortex-IV-screen, I checked what screen the vortex IV Elite SE came with and its the same screen, the person who made that thread also linked to a 2 year old thread where even someone from PCS said it was a bad screen, I did some googling on the screen and found some mixed reviews, I don't want to spend £2000+ for a laptop and have a bed screen.

does anyone have this screen, if you do can you tell me if its any good?

It's the same screen as on my Vortex IV 17". I didn't actually check the screen brand before purchasing so can't be sure if it was stating the same model when I purchased. I have nothing bad to say about mine, very happy with it indeed. I'm used to IPS 24" monitors which I've used for a while on my desktop and personally can't tell the difference. Worth mentioning though, if the screen gets dirty then it'll start looking grainy, my surroundings get quite dusty so I give it a wipe down every couple of months.

I read that thread you referred to and it's the only comment I've seen on a screen not being good enough quality where there hasn't been a defect. It's certainly not common at all. I wouldn't read too much into it.

 

[smokey]

I read that thread you referred to and it's the only comment I've seen on a screen not being good enough quality where there hasn't been a defect. It's certainly not common at all. I wouldn't read too much into it.

I did a lot of googling on the screen and while most of the reviews (mostly from laptop reviewer type websites) say its a good screen I also found quite a few people (on forums and places like that) having issue with the screen being grainy, I checked out the alternative AUO screen as well and couldn't find any bad reviews. I think I am just going to email PCS and see if there is any way to have the AUO screen because I cant take the chance of having poor visuals while using UE4, I am also not so keen on spending £2000+ on a laptop with a dodgy screen.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I did a lot of googling on the screen and while most of the reviews (mostly from laptop reviewer type websites) say its a good screen I also found quite a few people (on forums and places like that) having issue with the screen being grainy, I checked out the alternative AUO screen as well and couldn't find any bad reviews. I think I am just going to email PCS and see if there is any way to have the AUO screen because I cant take the chance of having poor visuals while using UE4, I am also not so keen on spending £2000+ on a laptop with a dodgy screen.

I totally see why it's important for you to have high quality screen tech for ue4. Definitely give pcs a call and c a N you post back a nd let us know the outcome?

 

[smokey]

c a N you post back a nd let us know the outcome?

will do