Laptop Spec Suggestions

[XELANAMYT]

Hi,

I believe it is time to get a new laptop for myself as my current one is having some weird issues (occasion BSOD due to RAM slots and inability to install Chrome etc.) anyway that's besides the point... I want a new laptop!

I play a lot of games on my laptop, so it needs to be pretty powerful, but at the same time I'm not too bothered about getting top notch graphics, in fact I am more bothered about temperatures, so sometimes I reduce what my laptop is capable of just to get lower temperatures.

My current laptop is a G150 (based on Clevo P150HM I believed) which I bought 3 years ago from Kobalt Computers (about 2 months before they "closed down") and has held up well, hence me considering some of PC Specialist's laptops as I believe they are based on Clevo chassis. Anyway that has a i7-2630QM, NVidia 485M, 8GB RAM and 500GB HDD, so you can see what I am used too.

I want to cover the following points in my new laptop:

1. ~15" screen at 1080p.
2. i7 quad core CPU (lower powered as I rarely find my CPU to be the bottleneck).
3. Decent GPU (probably a 860M as I prefer NVidia and the 485M from my current laptop was never used to it's full power due to my temperature concerns mentioned above).
4. 8GB RAM.
5. Potential SSD (maybe HDD as a secondary (Steam library)? in which case I will probably need an external DVD drive). I have never had an SSD before due to reliability concerns, but hopefully they have got better over the past 3+ years) (Will an SSD reliably last me for 3 or more years which is my laptop buying cycle).
6. OS (Which one? I have very little experience with Win8 so I'm not sure if I should stick with Win7 or not).
7. Less that £1500 (much less if possible), I expect over £1000, but I would like it to be closer to that than the £1500.

A few questions about PC Specialist and their laptops:

1. Are there any new chassis coming soon that anyone knows of that I should wait for?
2. Is there any new hardware that I should consider waiting for that is due out soon?
3. Is the build process good and do they keep you informed of what's happening?

If anyone can make any suggestions/comments it will be very much appreciated. If you need to know more, please ask and I will give as much detail as possible.

Thanks very much.

 

[SlimCini]

Vortex in the review section:

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 870M - 6.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Free Item
FREE £90 IN-GAME VOUCHER with GTX 650 / 750 /7000M / 8000M Series GPUs
Free Item
FREE WATCH DOGS with GTX 660 & 7 Series GPUs!
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE HYBRID GEN3 SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
2nd/3rd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY
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
WIRELESS INTEL® N135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 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 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £999.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[SpyderTracks]

This comes in just over £1100. Went for the Vortex chassis (Clevo P150SM-A) as it has optimum cooling and it's very sturdy. I have the 17" version of the same and temperatures are very good, never get close to danger levels. These are all premium parts, so you can save here and there if you wanted to opt for lesser components...


Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (1 x 8GB) (Higher spec RAM, probably no performance increase, but probably more stable and robust)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 770M - 3.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11 (Bit over the top but good for future proofing)
Free Item
FREE £90 IN-GAME VOUCHER with GTX 650 / 750 /7000M / 8000M Series GPUs
Memory - Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm) (Secondary storage drive, good fast performance HDD)
mSATA SSD Drive
120GB INTEL® 525 mSATA MLC SSD (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW) (Good performance SSD, should be enough for os, programs and a few games. If you can afford it, get a 240Gb if you want loads of games installed)
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) (Helps keep the cooling up)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1202 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0 (a lot of reports of issues with the intel cards with dropouts, weak signal etc. I've got one of these and have had no issues at all.)
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79) (Up to date, now as easy to use as windows 7, in fact you can set it up to be exactly the same as windows 7)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED BACKLIT 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) (5 Quid extra, no brainer)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,159.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/VortexIV-15/gjUURYPgT3/


I would personally steer clear of SSHD's, they sound good, but you get very little performance increase over the scorpio black.

1. There will be new chassis coming out, but who knows when...
2. The 800 series cards were only released about 3 months ago, so they're new. These CPU's have only just been released also, so there won't be anything new for a little while. Now's a good time to buy.
3. When you select a build it should show you the estimated current build time. They are excellent at keeping you informed throughout the build by email. The first bit of it takes the longest like up to a week, but after that it flies through.

 

[SlimCini]

I would personally steer clear of SSHD's, they sound good, but you get very little performance increase over the scorpio black.

True. But for £160 more would you get your build over the review model that has the better gpu just because of the SSHD?

 

[SpyderTracks]

True. But for £160 more would you get your build over the review model that has the better gpu just because of the SSHD?

Personally, yes. I wouldn't settle for default options, buying something like a performance laptop, i'd want it exactly the way I wanted it, that's the joy of custom builds.

The review model would leave me unhappy with the SSHD, worried about the wireless card issues that would arise, I DEFINITELY would never opt for a spec like this with standard cooling paste. It may not be much, but to me, these differences are worth the extra few quid.

 

[A314159]

Depends, personally I would get what slim suggested but then again I would never by choice buy a laptop.

 

[XELANAMYT]

Thanks guys, that will give me something to think about tonight. Seems like it will be a bit cheaper than I realistically expected, which is a nice surprise considering money is a little tight (just bought house).

Depends, personally I would get what slim suggested but then again I would never by choice buy a laptop.

The reason I have been having laptops for the past 7 or 8 years is due to space (one bedroom flat) and I thought I would get a desktop once I got a house, however I'm used to playing on my big comfy chair and having the TV on in the background and also when I factor in the fact I will need a decent desk, chair and monitor along with the desktop, there doesn't seem to be much in it cost wise.

 

[SlimCini]

Personally, yes. I wouldn't settle for default options, buying something like a performance laptop, i'd want it exactly the way I wanted it, that's the joy of custom builds.

The review model would leave me unhappy with the SSHD, worried about the wireless card issues that would arise, I DEFINITELY would never opt for a spec like this with standard cooling paste. It may not be much, but to me, these differences are worth the extra few quid.

All valid points. Though:

a) I've had that wireless and had no issues with it.
b) It would only take a call to PCS to ask them to put on some thermal paste and they'd do it

The SSHD is still there as not a great option. But all depends on budget vs needs.

 

[XELANAMYT]

What is the differences between the different 15" chassis? Some of them only seem to support certain GPUs, but other than that I can't the differences. In fact, after looking at some of the pictures of them, I realise they are almost identical to my current laptop in looks!

 

[keynes]

All valid points. Though:

a) I've had that wireless and had no issues with it.
b) It would only take a call to PCS to ask them to put on some thermal paste and they'd do it

The SSHD is still there as not a great option. But all depends on budget vs needs.

I had that wireless and it was pretty poor, connecting/disconnecting and when I was connected it was way slower than the killer 1202. I would still go and get the spec in the review section, replacing the thermal paste and wireless cards yourself still ends up cheaper.

What is the differences between the different 15" chassis?

What chassis are you comparing?

 

[XELANAMYT]

I had that wireless and it was pretty poor, connecting/disconnecting and when I was connected it was way slower than the killer 1202. I would still go and get the spec in the review section, replacing the thermal paste and wireless cards yourself still ends up cheaper.

What chassis are you comparing?

I would get the extra thermal paste anyway. I will probably get the other wireless card too as my current Intel one is a little unpredictable at times. However I would just pay for them at build time rather than pulling my new laptop apart to do it myself, sods law I would break it!

As for the chassis, there just seems to be several very similar ones:
15.6" Optimus V
15.6" Vortex IV LE
15.6" SkyFire III
15.6" Vortex IV

 

[keynes]

Optimus is the cheapest of them, not as good cooling as the others and you are not able to upgrade the GPU. Vortex LE and Skyfire are quite similar to the Vortex but limited in terms of the GPU you can choose, it doesn't allow you to go for the highest/top range GPU.

 

[XELANAMYT]

Hi again everyone!

I'm resurrecting this post as I never got around to buying the laptop specified above, buying a house kept me too busy!
Anyway I am considering a similar system again, in fact I put in the details and was surprised that it seems to be about £100 more expensive now, which is not what I expected.

So my question is; is this still a decent spec for my requirements? Has anything changed in the last 4 months concerning components that I should be aware of?

Thanks very much,

 

[keynes]

Which chassis?

 

[XELANAMYT]

Which chassis?

I believe I was originally considering the Vortex IV 15.6, but I'm open to all 15.6 chassis. Cooling is something I am concerned about, so the best one in that respect would be best.

 

[keynes]

I believe I was originally considering the Vortex IV 15.6, but I'm open to all 15.6 chassis. Cooling is something I am concerned about, so the best one in that respect would be best.

New GPUs have been released for the vortex IV

 

[XELANAMYT]

New GPUs have been released for the vortex IV

I was looking at the 870 previously, are the new ones a big step up in power/heat/cost? I'm still trying to keep the spec around the £1000 mark.

 

[keynes]

For £1000 you are looking at the vortex gt in the review section for £999. To check difference in performance you could check benchmarks online for the gtx 970m and gtx 980m. They are significantly better than the previous generation.

 

[XELANAMYT]

For £1000 you are looking at the vortex gt in the review section for £999. To check difference in performance you could check benchmarks online for the gtx 970m and gtx 980m. They are significantly better than the previous generation.

I looked at that system in the review section when I saw someone else mention it, however there are 2 things that I want to change about it (the warranty to silver or gold and the better thermal paste), but that makes it an extra ~£170 as you can't modify review laptops as you probably know. Also, do review laptops still take the normal 2-3 weeks to build or do they generally have them in stock?

 

[keynes]

The warranty is something you can add once you placed your order. Thermal paste not sure, but the reason for the increase in price is that you lose the discount. If I were you I buy thermal paste for £5 and do it myself, plenty of YouTube videos on how to do it.