New build advice please

[MAnBe]

I am thinking of replacing my MacBook Pro with a PC laptop.

When I bought my laptop in late 2013 I bought the highest spec available and it has been great for the last 6 years. However, now that it is time for a change I am asking myself whether there is any reason to stay with Mac, given that most of the reasons I switched to Mac in 2011 have become obsolete.

In choosing this spec I think I have gone over the top, I don't really need 4TB of storage ... but I don want to future proof as much possible and I would prefer to have my archive (approx 1TB) on my machine as well as backed up etc.

My use is research intensive work where I save and produce many large documents - but I do relatively lit for graphics or design -, and personal usage including saving of photographs and films.

Any comments or advice would be very gratefully received. Many thanks in advance.

Chassis & Display
Lafité Series: Aluminium Chassis: 14" Matte Full HD IPS LED (1920 x 1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Pentium® Gold Dual Core Processor 4415U (2 x 2.30GHz) 2MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS (CPU Dependant) - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
1st Storage Drive
2TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 760p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 3230MB/sR | 1625MB/sW)
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x Lafité Series 40W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
2 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
2 x Lafité 3 Cell Battery (One Spare, Requires Assembly)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS
Keyboard Language
LAFITÉ SERIES SINGLE COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Stand-Alone Monitor
Samsung LS24E45KBS/EN 24" Monitor
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Kensington Lock
Kensington Combination Ultra Laptop Lock
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Chassis
Clevo N141WU (Pentium 4415U)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Price: £1,436.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Oussebon]

What software do you use?

Why do you feel 32gb RAM will be helpful?

What's the thinking behind the CPU?

If the mass storage is for archiving, why the QVO HDD rather than an HDD?

 

[MAnBe]

Thanks very much for your prompt reply .. and good questions!

On RAM and CPU, I guess I was just aiming to upgrade that I've got (16gb and 2.8 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7) to future proof the laptop for as long as possible.

On the storage unit ... I'm especially open to advice here, I understood the QVO was faster but if you think it is daft please tell me why.

Many thanks for your help.

 

[Oussebon]

If 16gb RAM is actually fine for your uses (which it almost certainly will be) then you can stick to that. Your documents would have to be very large to warrant 32gb RAM. e.g. editing images that are 500MB+ in Photoshop.

The CPU (4415U) should be regarded as extremely basic by modern standards. An i5 (quad core with hyperthreading) is much more of a sweet spot.

I see there are no i5 options in the Lafite III. This is because a new generation of CPUs has just come out, so Lafite III is now EOL. Instead, look at Lafite 4.

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(and don't bother with the i7)

On the storage unit ... I'm especially open to advice here, I understood the QVO was faster but if you think it is daft please tell me why.

You're right that the QVO being an SSD will be faster than an HDD - my point is that it might not actually matter.

If you are archiving material to it, especially things like films, then it doesn't matter how fast it is. Movies don't gain any benefit from being on an SSD. Likewise archived projects that you rarely if ever look at. A 2TB HDD is £160 cheaper. That's money that could stay in your pocket, or pay for a better CPU (i5).

Or even go towards a very fast SSD like the 970 Evo for your M.2 slot. Since for those files that do benefit from being on very fast storage, you might want the storage to be as fast as possible.