Ordered! Optimus II - should I get a cooling mat?

[Donsta3000]

I have ordered my Optimus with the specs below, and I was wondering if I should get a cooling mat? And also just out of interest what type of games I could play on this. Thanks!


Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2760QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 3 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
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® ADVANCED-N 6230 (300Mbps) + 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 & 90W Adaptor (GT 540M) / 120W Adaptor (GT 555M)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Carry Case
Belkin Black/Red 17.3" Neoprene Notebook Sleeve (£15)
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month 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
Quantity
1

Price: £876.18 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/optimusII/

 

[mantadog]

For the cooling mat, it sepends how you will be using it. They do have a small effect but not huge, if you fell happier using it then go for it.

You will be able to play most if not all games at some level. Just crank the settings down and you will eventualy hit a FPS that you like. I don;t want to say game X will play like this and game Y will play better but you will be able to play agmes, just not on ultra if you get what i mean.

On the laptop sepc itself, any reason why you went for the 2.4Ghz processor? I always tend to advise the 2.2Ghz processor because it's only 10% slower and really not woth the extra £90 to upgrade for 10%.

 

[Azmodai]

It really does depend on the settings that you want to play the games at. If you crank the resolution and details up then your card will start to struggle when games start to use a lot of lighting effects etc. As the post above me says, you can easily tone down the resolution and settings to play the majority of games with decent quality and smoothness. For example, I am still running an old Geforce 8800GTX at 1440x900 and I can still play all the games I want to, although I can't really crank the settings on the most modern games.

Regarding your cooling pads - you might try looking here to see if they have anything that you like:
http://shop.itmanx.com/accessories/laptop-tablet-and-kindle/stands-and-mounts.html

I have not used one myself so can't comment on the difference they make. The best bet is to make sure that you don't obstruct the vents on the laptop and ensure that you try and keep it away from dusty environments, which will help prevent the vents from getting clogged from the inside.