Looking to purchase a laptop, Advice please :D

[iFantasyX]

Hi, I've been searching through the pc specialist site quite a bit looking at the laptops they have on offer, but im kind of new to building a laptop

I want high RAM and a Good Processor, maybe an i7? - but i dont understand the speed things.... GHz?

The main uses of the laptop would be for gaming, But I'm planning to leave it on for around 10-12hours a day, with MOST Of its ram being used, so i need it to be able to handle quite a bit, i'll also be using photoshop, and some other editing programs, also it not over heating or making too much noise would be great too.

I'd appreciate it if someone could build me a good spec laptop please D:, My budget would be around £1300. :]

Thanks =]

 

[Evil Tactician]

Just one of the options at your disposal, for your budget. You can up the CPU one more level for £50 if you are prepared to go over £1300, but this should really be adequate for what you are describing.

Note that the SSD is 'only' 120GB - so you might want to use an external drive with this, or change to a conventional HDD if you require more space.

Chassis & Display
Viper II: 18.4" HD+ LCD Backlit Widescreen (1680x945) Super Clear Matte

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Mobile Processor i7-820QM (1.73GHz) 8MB Cache

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
1GB ATI® Radeon™ HD 5165 PCI Express

Memory - Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Integrated 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD, MS PRO, MMC, MS)

Network Facilities
INTEGRATED GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD (AS STANDARD)

USB Options
3 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Bluetooth & Infrared Options
Integrated V2.0 Bluetooth Adapter + EDR Capability

Battery
Viper Series 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (6,600 mAh)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

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

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 4 to 6 working days

Price: £1,269.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[iFantasyX]

Just one of the options at your disposal, for your budget. You can up the CPU one more level for £50 if you are prepared to go over £1300, but this should really be adequate for what you are describing.

Note that the SSD is 'only' 120GB - so you might want to use an external drive with this, or change to a conventional HDD if you require more space.

Chassis & Display
Viper II: 18.4" HD+ LCD Backlit Widescreen (1680x945) Super Clear Matte

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Mobile Processor i7-820QM (1.73GHz) 8MB Cache

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
1GB ATI® Radeon™ HD 5165 PCI Express

Memory - Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Integrated 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD, MS PRO, MMC, MS)

Network Facilities
INTEGRATED GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD (AS STANDARD)

USB Options
3 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Bluetooth & Infrared Options
Integrated V2.0 Bluetooth Adapter + EDR Capability

Battery
Viper Series 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (6,600 mAh)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

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

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 4 to 6 working days

Price: £1,269.00 including VAT and delivery.

hmm, thanks for that, what does the 8mb cache stand for? also i dont mind with 120gb hard drive because i wont need mnore thanm that

 

[Evil Tactician]

hmm, thanks for that, what does the 8mb cache stand for? also i dont mind with 120gb hard drive because i wont need mnore thanm that

TL;DR - More cache = better.

Long version:
From Wikipedia:
A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit of a computer to reduce the average time to access memory. The cache is a smaller, faster memory which stores copies of the data from the most frequently used main memory locations. As long as most memory accesses are cached memory locations, the average latency of memory accesses will be closer to the cache latency than to the latency of main memory.

When the processor needs to read from or write to a location in main memory, it first checks whether a copy of that data is in the cache. If so, the processor immediately reads from or writes to the cache, which is much faster than reading from or writing to main memory.

Most modern desktop and server CPUs have at least three independent caches: an instruction cache to speed up executable instruction fetch, a data cache to speed up data fetch and store, and a translation lookaside buffer used to speed up virtual-to-physical address translation for both executable instructions and data.

 

[iFantasyX]

TL;DR - More cache = better.

Long version:
From Wikipedia:
A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit of a computer to reduce the average time to access memory. The cache is a smaller, faster memory which stores copies of the data from the most frequently used main memory locations. As long as most memory accesses are cached memory locations, the average latency of memory accesses will be closer to the cache latency than to the latency of main memory.

When the processor needs to read from or write to a location in main memory, it first checks whether a copy of that data is in the cache. If so, the processor immediately reads from or writes to the cache, which is much faster than reading from or writing to main memory.

Most modern desktop and server CPUs have at least three independent caches: an instruction cache to speed up executable instruction fetch, a data cache to speed up data fetch and store, and a translation lookaside buffer used to speed up virtual-to-physical address translation for both executable instructions and data.

Sorry, not to be rude, but i didn't understand the descriptions, i know now that more cache is better.

 

[Evil Tactician]

I don't think you are being rude, don't worry. Please do not hesitate to ask anything - it's wise to inform yourself as much as possible when making an important purchase.

 

[Phoenix]

I think this analogy might work: more cache is better because the CPU can remember more things, so 1mb of cache is like someone knowing 30 historical dates and 2mb of cache is like someone knowing 60, when a question about the 31st of 61st date is asked the person doesn't know so they go to wikipedia to find out which takes more time than if they simply knew the answer in the first place.

 

[iFantasyX]

I don't think you are being rude, don't worry. Please do not hesitate to ask anything - it's wise to inform yourself as much as possible when making an important purchase.

thank you Your very kind.

the speeds of the processors confuse me a bit, i'm guessing the higher speed it is the better it can perform?

I just need a laptop which can run with %90 of its ram being used, ( will keep games on whilst im away ) for around 10-12hours a day.

 

[iFantasyX]

I think this analogy might work: more cache is better because the CPU can remember more things, so 1mb of cache is like someone knowing 30 historical dates and 2mb of cache is like someone knowing 60, when a question about the 31st of 61st date is asked the person doesn't know so they go to wikipedia to find out which takes more time than if they simply knew the answer in the first place.

Sorry, but what?

 

[Phoenix]

Sorry, but what?

Hmm I was trying to give an analogy of cache but it failed :/

 

[iFantasyX]

Hmm I was trying to give an analogy of cache but it failed :/

Indeed, it did

D: So any other suggestions guys?

 

[Evil Tactician]

I wouldn't worry about it too much iFantasyX - generally speaking any of the Core i5 Quad Core models and up are fine for what you described. Core i7's are perfect for your needs, and every step 'up' is a little better. You do want to balance your budget with how far you go in that though - as there are always 'sweet spots' in price vs. performance.

Have a look at a benchmark chart such as http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html and you'll get a better idea of relative strength. As always, take benchmarks with a pinch of salt, these don't represent every day use, but should give you a vague idea of CPU vs CPU. (E.g. if you see a BIG difference on the chart, then you can be pretty certain that CPU is a lot better)

 

[iFantasyX]

I wouldn't worry about it too much iFantasyX - generally speaking any of the Core i5 Quad Core models and up are fine for what you described. Core i7's are perfect for your needs, and every step 'up' is a little better. You do want to balance your budget with how far you go in that though - as there are always 'sweet spots' in price vs. performance.

Have a look at a benchmark chart such as http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html and you'll get a better idea of relative strength. As always, take benchmarks with a pinch of salt, these don't represent every day use, but should give you a vague idea of CPU vs CPU. (E.g. if you see a BIG difference on the chart, then you can be pretty certain that CPU is a lot better)

Thank you for that information, i'm just trying to understand the graph now ^.^

Do you think you guys could design me a laptop with an i7 for under £1000? i just want a min of 6GB ram and an i7 :]

 

[Sleinous]

Hi, I've been searching through the pc specialist site quite a bit looking at the laptops they have on offer, but im kind of new to building a laptop

I want high RAM and a Good Processor, maybe an i7? - but i dont understand the speed things.... GHz?


The main uses of the laptop would be for gaming, But I'm planning to leave it on for around 10-12hours a day, with MOST Of its ram being used, so i need it to be able to handle quite a bit, i'll also be using

photoshop, and some other editing programs, also it not over heating or making too much noise would be great too.

I'd appreciate it if someone could build me a good spec laptop please D:,


My budget would be around £1300. :]

Thanks =]

Ive already done this for you in your old thread. What happened to the old thread? The i5 is largely ample, like I said before running 10-15 sessions of RS simultaneously will require the full 8gb RAM and the 260M GPU preferably with its additional 1GB of VRAM.

 

[iFantasyX]

Ive already done this for you in your old thread. What happened to the old thread? The i5 is largely ample, like I said before running 10-15 sessions of RS simultaneously will require the full 8gb RAM and the 260M GPU preferably with its additional 1GB of VRAM.

Thanks this is my old thread, the one you commented on before was the new one, ;]