Optimus III 17.3"

[Adli]

Chassis & Display Optimus Series: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
2nd Hard Disk NONE
1st 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)
Sound Card Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery Optimus/Voyager Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor 1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Laptop Cooling Stands Zalman ZM-NC2000 Ultra-Quiet Cooler, upto 20 inch (£39)
Carry Case NONE
Monitor NONE
Keyboard & Mouse INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse MICROSOFT WIRELESS MOBILE MOUSE 4000 (£15)
Speakers NONE
Webcam INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Headsets (VOIP) LOGITECH® PC HEADSET 860 - STEREO WITH IN-LINE VOLUME CONTROL (£8)
Surge Protection NONE
Printer NONE
External Hard Drive NONE
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Home Installation NONE
Dead Pixel Guarantee NONE
Insurance 1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Data Recovery NONE
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Charity Calendar NONE
Pricing Information
Price (excluding VAT) £722.50
Price £867.00
Order Quantity 1
Bulk Discount £0.00
Total Order price (Ex VAT) £722.50
Total Order Price £867.00
P/O Number - Edit P/O Number
Payment Method Debit Card
Delivery Details
Production Dates
Processed Date 05-07-2012
Build Date 06-07-2012
Test Date 12-07-2012
Awaiting Dispatch Date 16-07-2012
Dispatch Date 16-07-2012
Who Worked on This Order?
Built By Ben Alderson
Tested By Carl Auckland
QC'd By Carl Auckland
Packed By Anthony Cunliffe



i havent taken the plastic sheet off the screen, webcam or VGA button, so the flash reflected off them when i took the picture . the 1920x1080 screen is a massive difference compared to my PC's 1600x900 monitor. everything is much more detailed and words are a lot easier to read in windowed mode. ive played a few minutes of Just Cause 2 in 1080 and it is very beautiful, running on high settings with 30-40 fps. in Skyrim it manages to hold a steady 30FPS on the high settings preset (whilst running several mods). the WASD area and the exhaust vent gets quite warm but not uncomfortably so. when the top of the laptop gets warm i always run my hand underneath the chassis and it is always cold due to the NC2000S cooler. its a wonderful cooler and the laptops own fans are louder than the cooler on its lowest speed. on maximum the fans are a lot louder, but not enough to be a nuisance when gaming.

i would recommend buying a pair of decent headphones when gaming, as the laptop speakers don't do the audio justice. plus with headphones you dont notice the cooler running on full, so you can run it on maximum speed to keep the chassis cool without it affecting the games audio.

ill take some screenshots in-game in a little while, with the FRAPS overlap on so you can see what performance to expect from the Optimus models.



the maximum viewing angle for the screen, for me it doesn't need to go any further back, but if you have it on the cooler it does give it a little extra slant so that reduces the angle slightly. not a huge issue, but keep it in mind if you have a low desk.

it was in production for 7 working days, several of which were spent waiting for the CPU delivery to arrive. after that it passed testing and QC quite quickly and was shipped the next day. despite DPD missing a 10 hour long delivery slot (8am-6pm and it arrived at 7:30pm) i appreciate that they worked a lot later to ensure first day delivery. it was a bit annoying, but it came here in perfect working condition with no damage from delivery so i give hats off to PCS and DPD both.

setting it up was very simple. turn it on, enter the Windows 7 verification key, create a user account, personalise windows 7, install Drivers from a supplied disk and restart. voila, laptop is working the MS 4000 mouse is working great for me and that was also a simple CD installation.

i would seriously recommend PCS for anyone that wants a premium laptop without having to pay the inflated costs of prebuilt laptops from suppliers such as Dell. very good value for money, if a little daunting at first.

 

[Geser]

Make sure you post those in game pics I am considering almost the same spec as this and was wondering about performance in games like Skyrim!

 

[Adli]

to the FRAPSmobile!!!

(i totally forgot XD)

 

[Adli]

FRAPS BENCHMARK AT 1080 + High Settings + Mods:

2012-07-18 01:25:30 - TESV
Frames: 102 - Time: 3401ms - Avg: 29.991 - Min: 28 - Max: 32

2012-07-18 23:55:06 - TESV
Frames: 65 - Time: 2480ms - Avg: 26.210 - Min: 24 - Max: 28




1920x1080 on High preset, with Lush Grass, Lush Trees and Pure Waters installed via Steamworks:





ill take some more at 768p which is what i play on (smoother framerate) once i've uploaded these pics.

 

[Adli]

ok, some 768p screenshots coming along soon (same High preset and mods as the 1080 screenshots)




it runs very fluently at 768, and you can push it to 1080 if you dont mind 30FPS maximum


i'll take some screens of Just Cause 2 and Fallout New Vegas next. JC2 runs at 1080 on medium-high with no issues (im using all settings on High in these screenshots, but once again i tone a few settings down one notch when i play since i like a higher framerate)

 

[Adli]

and a cap from the Benchmark (it has higher FPS due to less being rendered/calculated compared to the actual gameplay screens):
View attachment 1729

 

[AzY]

.

What temps are you getting on idle and load when gaming without the cooling stand , and with the cooling stand

 

[Adli]

Fallout New Vegas on Ultra settings @1366x768:

 

[Adli]

What temps are you getting on idle and load when gaming without the cooling stand , and with the cooling stand

not sure. how do you check?

 

[AzY]

programs like core temp for cpu, not sure how to check gpu temp

 

[Matchu]

Try a program called HWMonitor...it'll give you the various temps within your laptop and you can capture data live.

 

[Adli]

idle temps are 40-50 Celcius without the cooler according to HWMonitor.

im running the cooler at max now, will report back.

ok never mind, ill do a proper test tomorrow when its actually idle.i still have programs running and ive been gaming on this most of the day already.

 

[AzY]

ok thanks, do an idle and gaming temp with and without cooler, i ordered near same spec to you yesterday .

 

[Adli]

45-46 C idle package = cooler off.
42-43 idle package = cooler on.

that was after a minute or two of the cooler being on. the temps do still fluctuate but not as much as the uncooled package.

ill run the JC2 benchmark (from idle temp) and see how much the temp increases.

the cooled package is at a steady 42 C now. very little fluctuation.

 

[Adli]

ok.

Concrete Jungle JC2 Benchmark, High settings at 1920x1080

Uncooled start = 45 C
Uncooled end = 67 C max
temp rise = 22 C


im waiting for the package to cool to 42 for the next test.

 

[Adli]

Cooled start = 42 C
Cooled end = 64 C max
temp rise = 22 C

the cooler doesn't reduce the temperature increase, but it does lower the maximum temperature by several degrees, which is good.

 

[AzY]

Ok thanks alot, guess i wont need a cooler then, was looking at the NotePal U3 Laptop Cooling Stand which had good reviews, but decided to put it off untill i see the temps i experience.

What would you class typical idle temps, and what would be high idle temps for gpu + cpu, same again for typical and high temps for each when gaming

+ rep each of your posts

 

[Adli]

idle temps = around 45-50. they will be higher if you have been gaming recently and still have heat being lost. right now im on 42 C with the cooler on minimum speed, and have 3 chrome tabs open and steam in the background.

load temps = gaming on the dedicated GPU. things like Fallout, Crysis and Skyrim. i dont have a max temp for hour-long sessions but so far the max has been below 70 without the cooler. ill play some long sessions and check the temps later

here's an in-depth review from notebookcheck: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Clevo-W150ER-Barebone-Notebook.74595.0.html

 

[Geser]

Thanks very much mate, looks pretty good to me

 

[Adli]

ok, i played an hour of Just Cause 2 at 1366x768 with everything on High settings. every time i checked my temps they were at 64-65 C. this is with the cooler on maximum speed.