Looking at a new laptop following Vortex IV

[NorthDakota]

Hey all,

I have a Vortex IV currently dispatched in June 2014 beginning to bottleneck and show it's age so looking for an upgrade.

Budget is about £1400-1700

Currently thinking DTR - Nova

CPU: Following the comments the consensus is go with AMD the now anyway so I've selected that

Use: Gaming, everyday use and future proofing ideally to get the same longevity out of this one.

Opinions please!

Chassis & Display
Nova Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
2TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 660p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 1500MB/sR | 1000MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Nova Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 M.2 GAMING + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.2 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
15" NOVA SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

Would you still recommend AMD over Intel for the time being? Am I best waiting i.e. is there a new CPU/GPU coming out?

 

[SpyderTracks]

We’re expecting new AMD 4000 mobile laptops, but no idea when they may show up, but they’re set to destroy intel in both gaming and multithreaded performance as well as using half the power so battery life and thermals are much better also.

The argument for an Intel laptop is that something like the Vyper or Recoil has Thinderbolt 3 where you could plug in an eGPU once the dedicated GPU became too weak and extend the gaming lifetime of the laptop as long as the CPU remains competitive which is a very attractive proposition.

The Nova is exceptional, there’s no doubt, but the eGPU proposition is equally attractive.

This is an example of an eGPU:

Razer Core X - Thunderbolt™ 3 eGPU | Razer United Kingdom

Now compatible with Mac and Windows laptops, featuring 3-slot PCI-Express desktop graphic cards, 650W power supply, and charges via USB-C.

www.razer.com

Then you can fit any desktop grade GPU to it and get about 80% performance through the laptop.

 

[NorthDakota]

@SpyderTracks ,Thanks for your reply.

Would you potentially hold off on the AMD 4000 or do you think this will take it way out of my budget?

Otherwise I'd be looking to put the order in over the weekend.

How do you feel about my current set up? Do you think it's feasible, do you see any potential bottlenecks. Do you think the AMD Ryzen 9 would be better in terms of future proofing ?

Looking for general feedback as although I've had a PCS laptop before I'm not that tech savvy in terms of the technical aspects. So that's where I'd like some advice

 

[SpyderTracks]

Would you potentially hold off on the AMD 4000 or do you think this will take it way out of my budget?

It’s a really tough one. The Nova is outstanding and definitely my go to out of the current line up.
If I were looking for something that required good battery life and mobility then I’d probably wait for AMD 4000’s but if you’re ok with the drawback of a DTR (heavier chassis, poor battery) then I wouldn’t hesitate with the nova.

How do you feel about my current set up? Do you think it's feasible, do you see any potential bottlenecks. Do you think the AMD Ryzen 9 would be better in terms of future proofing ?

I think for your uses it’s spot on. For gaming the 3900 would actually be less effective than the 3700x as it has far lower boost clocks. It’s more for productivity like video editing or something that requires the extra cores. For gaming the 3700x is perfect.

The only amendment I’d make personally would be to swap the primary M2 for a Samsung, just far better drives.

Just with adding you can transfer your current windows license to the new laptop very easily by tying it to your Microsoft account:

How to link your Windows 10 product key to a Microsoft account

If you're using a local account, use this guide to link your Windows 10 product key to your Microsoft account for easier re-activation.

www.windowscentral.com

Then when you get the new PC, you just install windows and log in with that same Microsoft account and it will set up the license and all your settings. That would save you over £100

 

[NorthDakota]

@SpyderTracks I didn't know you could do that with the windows key. Then I'd just need to get a usb drive and download windows right? Do you happen to have a link to the software/guide to do this (just in case I mucked it up).

So does this seem better?

Chassis & Display
Nova Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
2TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Nova Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 M.2 GAMING + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.2 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
15" NOVA SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 10.30AM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
QTY
1
£1,392.50
ex VAT
£1,671.00
inc VAT and Delivery

 

[SpyderTracks]

You download the installation tool here and it will automatically create a windows usb for you:

Download Windows 10

Then you just boot the USB, delete any partitions currently on the drive and install to the space left. Windows install will take you through the rest, it’s really easy and takes about 10 minutes.

 

[NorthDakota]

@SpyderTracks

No worries thank you for your help

Are you happy with the spec etc? It's just before I order it.

 

[Bukky]

Hey there

I'm hijacking this thread since I am also very interested in buying the Nova. Just wanted to ask a quick question : how is it that we get no option for the thermal paste ? Surely this DR really reeeeeeally needs a good paste to keep the thermals in check so why doesn't PCS gives this possibility in the configurator ? What is it that I'm missing there ?

 

[SpyderTracks]

@SpyderTracks

No worries thank you for your help

Are you happy with the spec etc? It's just before I order it.

Yes spec is perfect.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hey there

I'm hijacking this thread since I am also very interested in buying the Nova. Just wanted to ask a quick question : how is it that we get no option for the thermal paste ? Surely this DR really reeeeeeally needs a good paste to keep the thermals in check so why doesn't PCS gives this possibility in the configurator ? What is it that I'm missing there ?

It comes with enhanced thermal paste by default

 

[danhar827]

Only thing I'd add spec wise, is maybe think about getting 2x 8GB of RAM instead of 1x 16GB. Duel channel is preferable for performance.

Other than that, it's pretty much the same as the one I've got coming!