Laptop spec feedback please

[mugelbbub]

Hi Forum,

Hoping for some feedback on new Laptop Spec I am considering and perhaps existing users of PC Specialist experiences.

I am using this for work/pleasure predominantly work as a mobile business analyst/consultant and always spec quite high for speed having multiple applications running (with an option for gaming if time allows!).


Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Kingston SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
FREE WATCH DOGS 2 with select SAMSUNG SSDs!
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
Ultra Slim 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
2 x 120W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
2 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema 2
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ WIRELESS-AC 1535 M.2 GAMING 802.11AC + BLUETOOTH 4.1
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
2 x Optimus VI Series Battery Pack, 62.16WH (One Spare)
Keyboard Language
OPTIMUS SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Professional 2016 (1 License) (although maybe will go office 365 instead)
Anti-Virusmyself)
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE (will be loading Kaspersky
Browser
Google Chrome™
Carry Case
Wenger/Swissgear iBex 17" Backpack
Wireless Display Adapter
Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) Adapter
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE (will be getting a lofitech mouse myself)
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM
Headsets
LOGITECH® STEREO HEADSET H110 - IDEAL FOR CALLS, MUSIC & GAMES
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days

Thank you

 

[Oussebon]

If you can stretch a bit may I suggest the new Optimus VIII chassis which is in
15.6" https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/optimusVIII-15/
17.3" https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/optimusVIII-17/ flavours

They seems to be a bit thinner, and sport the new Kaby Lake CPUs, plus DDR4 RAM, and 1050 series GPUs. The 1050 series alone is well worth it over the 950M if you want the option for gaming. The GTX 960M is a somewhat weak GPU, substantially less powerful than modern entry level gaming GPUs for desktop PCs (it's less powerful than the recommended GPU for World of Warcraft, put it that way). The GTX 1050 alone is 40-50% more powerful than it, with the GTX 1050 ti being almost twice as powerful. (The 1050 ti is £43 more than the 1050, so if you have the cash it's well worth it imo).

They may also have slightly better audio (it says they have SoundBlaster Cinema 3 vs the Optimus VII's Cinema 2...)

In terms of CPUs if your applications don't really use much in the way of hyperthreading (i.e. if it's mostly generic office and productivity applications you use) then you could stick to an i5 CPU. For general office programs a Kaby Lake i5 is just as good as a Skylake i7 (same single-threaded performance).#

In terms of the SSD, you could drop the 850 Evo in favour of the PM961 M.2 SSD (under the M.2 SSD Drive section) because it's quite a bit faster and is only £2 more. Or splash another £50 on the SM961 which is even faster.

 

[mugelbbub]

Oussebon,

Thank you very much for some great feedback and advice which I will look into.

Can I ask, Is a M.2 SSD a generally better option than a SSD Hard Disk? I don't know much about the M.2 features over the conventional SSD Hard Disk.


Thanks again

 

[Oussebon]

M.2 is a connection and form factor for SSDs that's different to Sata. The drives can be the same or pretty similar drives - Samsung have done an an M.2 version of its 850 Evo (which is more commonly seen as just a regular sata drive) where it's the same drive by just plugs into an M.2 slot.

The difference that we're interested in is that the M.2 interface also allows for really, really fast SSDs using PCI-E connectivity which overcomes the bottleneck of Sata III. There's a video here that goes into it if it's of interest: https://youtu.be/u-kACJLKNOI?t=106

If you look at the dropdown menu for "M.2 SSD Drive" in the laptop configurator you'll see some drives towards the bottom end of the menu with "NVMe" in the name that list speeds a lot faster than all of the others. This chart shows the kinds of difference you might see from an NVMe drive like the Samsung SM961 vs a very good Sata III SSD like the Samsung 850 Pro

Source: https://nl.hardware.info/reviews/6967/9/samsung-sm961-1tb-review-recordbreker-met-issues-as-ssd

With the current relative pricing and performance differences, I'd say that an SM961 NVMe M.2 drive is generally worth going for over an already somewhat expensive sata III SSD like the 850 Evo since it's a bit more expensive for a lot more performance.. The NVMe drives used to be horrendously expensive but they've gotten quite a lot more affordable, while sata III SSDs haven't gotten cheaper.

Cheap M.2 drives aren't any better than sata drives and are often slower, e.g. an SSDNow M.2 240gb would be slower than an 850 Evo 250gb (Sata III) drive. All you're doing is using up your precious M.2 slot so you can't have a fast NVMe drive in it.

 

[mugelbbub]

Thanks for taking the time to answer, it's very helpful information for me to follow up.

Much appreciated