leftfield20
Active member
I have been reading the forums for the previous year or so (only registered recently) so thought I would give something back and my review of my new big Octane!
Here is the spec:
Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790S (3.2GHz) 8MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980M - 8.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1525 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS (1 x POWERED) + 1 e-SATA/USB 3.0 PORT COMBINED
Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 230W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language
OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
I came home and it had been delivered and the box seemed huge! On opening I saw it was very well wrapped so I took off all the protective covers and I was having palpitations by the time I plugged it in!
I had been umm-ing and ahh-ing for weeks about this and I had decided on the 17.3 Vortex and was about to order when I saw this lovely new Octane get released so I started all over again!
I was stuck between the Skyfire III, Vortex IV and Octane. I was like "Do I really need a 980m, do I need a top CPU?" The answer was YES to all these questions so I ended up with my most expensive choice
Now I know the screen is 17.3" but honestly, it seems HUGE! If I didn't know I would said it was at least 20"
I was impressed how quickly Windows loaded, even for the the first boot and then I loaded up the system information to check I had all the bits and pieces that I had paid for
I had a go with the Intel XTU program and ran a stress test, during this test I couldn't get the temperatures on the CPU to go over 70C and once the test stopped it was down to 50c in seconds!
The fans are sublime! They don't suddenly go off like rockets, it is a very smooth acceleration and they are much quieter than I thought but very powerful, I could feel the air on my bare feet (I use it on a table over my lap)
I started doing a few ordinary tasks, playing a browser game, watching a few youtube videos. This was when I realised the speakers are really very good and can go loud! I mean my old Dell D630 was obviously very crappy in this area but I find myself with the volume on about 20-25% maximum most of the time, even though the fans are quiet, these speakers easily drown out any noise created.
I use a USB mouse most of the time but the trackpad is a nice size and the palm rest has a sort of rubberized feel to it. This will definitely show up finger marks and things but I do like the look of it and I don;t mind using a cleaning kit to get it like new again.
I am not going to go into describing the drives as they are what they are, although I will say I am glad I went with the SSD, it is a marvellous thing!
The screen is crisp and clear but doesn't make things so small that I can't read icons names, although I think that is only the case with 3K+ screens.
I know it sounds like everything is good and because I bought this I want it to be good but so far I haven't found anything I don't like! Coming from a Dell D630 though, things are going to be pretty sweet with this beast
Well that's about it for now, maybe I'll get to add more to this at some point. Any questions? Just ask!
Here is the 3dmark score if anyone wanted it (8419)
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4192855
Here is the spec:
Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790S (3.2GHz) 8MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980M - 8.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1525 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS (1 x POWERED) + 1 e-SATA/USB 3.0 PORT COMBINED
Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 230W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language
OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
I came home and it had been delivered and the box seemed huge! On opening I saw it was very well wrapped so I took off all the protective covers and I was having palpitations by the time I plugged it in!
I had been umm-ing and ahh-ing for weeks about this and I had decided on the 17.3 Vortex and was about to order when I saw this lovely new Octane get released so I started all over again!
I was stuck between the Skyfire III, Vortex IV and Octane. I was like "Do I really need a 980m, do I need a top CPU?" The answer was YES to all these questions so I ended up with my most expensive choice
Now I know the screen is 17.3" but honestly, it seems HUGE! If I didn't know I would said it was at least 20"
I was impressed how quickly Windows loaded, even for the the first boot and then I loaded up the system information to check I had all the bits and pieces that I had paid for
I had a go with the Intel XTU program and ran a stress test, during this test I couldn't get the temperatures on the CPU to go over 70C and once the test stopped it was down to 50c in seconds!
The fans are sublime! They don't suddenly go off like rockets, it is a very smooth acceleration and they are much quieter than I thought but very powerful, I could feel the air on my bare feet (I use it on a table over my lap)
I started doing a few ordinary tasks, playing a browser game, watching a few youtube videos. This was when I realised the speakers are really very good and can go loud! I mean my old Dell D630 was obviously very crappy in this area but I find myself with the volume on about 20-25% maximum most of the time, even though the fans are quiet, these speakers easily drown out any noise created.
I use a USB mouse most of the time but the trackpad is a nice size and the palm rest has a sort of rubberized feel to it. This will definitely show up finger marks and things but I do like the look of it and I don;t mind using a cleaning kit to get it like new again.
I am not going to go into describing the drives as they are what they are, although I will say I am glad I went with the SSD, it is a marvellous thing!
The screen is crisp and clear but doesn't make things so small that I can't read icons names, although I think that is only the case with 3K+ screens.
I know it sounds like everything is good and because I bought this I want it to be good but so far I haven't found anything I don't like! Coming from a Dell D630 though, things are going to be pretty sweet with this beast
Well that's about it for now, maybe I'll get to add more to this at some point. Any questions? Just ask!
Here is the 3dmark score if anyone wanted it (8419)
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4192855
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