Poison ivy

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Ideasweasel

Active member
Hi all. I made a post a while back and just wanted to do a follow up. I am trying to decide what best to do. Any advice is welcome

Originally I was after a sli 580m or 675m machine. Since the p270wm is delayed or dead I am looking elsewhere. I was looking for a top end laptop and was looking at the vortex 3.

1. Is ivy bridge goin to realistically make a difference in frames per second in games with a 675m. Sandy v ivy for say Battlefield 3 will it make a noticeable difference? I want to buy sooner than later so unless ivy is going to be significant I might just go for sandy today. Things keep getting pushed back so I dot want to get into the trap of always waiting for the next thing. I read somewhere on a German website that ivy is similar to sandy, not sure if it's true. Was along the lines of without extra gpu ivy is far better. But with dedicated gpu the gain is minimal. Anyone have any thoughts

2. In terms of upgrading laptops and buying components how do pc specialist operate? Would I be able to purchase a sandy bridge processor now with 675m card as then have you guys sell me/install ivy and 680m when they come out? Is this een possible ie might they not fit?

3. Lastly I was thinking of getting a vortex 3 with cheap lower end q6 but notice on the configuration that this doesn't support 16gb of ram. Can you explain if this is a mistake it the reason why? I'm not very technical so wasn't sure why it doesn't work

If anyone can help with any of the above questions I would be very grateful : )

Cheers
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
1. Until IB is released we cannot compare any performance benefits. My guess is that IB will be a lot better than SB because otherwise it would be pointless in Intel launching this.

2. If you purchase a chassis from us you should be able to purchase a 680M once they are released providing the chassis supports this. Only the Vortex III will support 680M.

3. 16Gb of 1600MHz RAM is not supported irrespective of what other companies state. We have documentation from Clevo stating so - it can occasionally cause instability. You can however order 16GB 1333MHz. If I put two laptops side by side both with 16GB RAM - one with 1600MHz and one with 1333MHz your naked eye would not see any difference in performance.
 
Finn

Finn

Enthusiast
PCS said:
1. Until IB is released we cannot compare any performance benefits. My guess is that IB will be a lot better than SB because otherwise it would be pointless in Intel launching this.
Click to expand...

However, a fair portion of the improvement seems to be in the integrated GPU part which you will not use in game, if you have a dedicated GPU then the only time you will be using the integrated GPU is when optimus is active (eg the dedicated GPU isnt). The reported benefits on the cpu side of ivybridge are there but a lot smaller.

Going by some posts on the internet, some seem to think that the boost to the integrated gpu will give a boost to their dedicated gpu, that just isnt true.
 
R

Raptor

Enthusiast
1. Ivy bridge wont be too significantly better than sandy bridge HOWEVER AMD trinity is coming out and it's meant to be the next best thing in replacing desktops iwth laptops
as shown in this video the laptop runs a demanding game whilst watching a 1080p video and converting video at the same time ON 2 EXTERNAL SCREENS + the laptop screen with no lag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsmTDb-Mlws
 
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Ideasweasel

Active member
Thanks all for replies.

@ PCS 1. I didn't mean to question the reason for the release. I was more curious as to the specific benefit that I as a user would notice. This is covered I think by Finns comment. This leaves me wondering if it's worth the wait. 2. Fantastic news that good that you guys offer upgrades. 3. Thanks for the info I was on the configurater And picked a lower end I7 but it said that 16gb 1333 channel wasn't available with less than the q7 something. I was hoping to get a cheap as chips I7 now and replace with ivy later. Is it just that the lower I7's can't cope with ram? Thanks again for your input so far PCS

@Finn if you were me mate what would you do? Really want a super beast laptop soon but don't want to find out in 2 weeks something better is out lol. But then don't want to wait forever...hmm it's a tough decision indeed

@raptor interesting I ha not seen that. When is the possible eta?

@all I really want a laptop thR is capable as being a desktop replacement do I can game in the living room without the missus complaining I am in the other room. I have very little free time so a high end gaming laptop makes sense over a desktop. I get the feeling though that waiting till June/July is when all the good stuff like sli 680ms and 675m sli are out. Not sure if I want to wait longer than mid may though... So all if you were/are in my shoes what should I do? :wacko:
 
Finn

Finn

Enthusiast
Ideasweasel said:
Thanks all for replies.
@Finn if you were me mate what would you do? Really want a super beast laptop soon but don't want to find out in 2 weeks something better is out lol. But then don't want to wait forever...hmm it's a tough decision indeed
Click to expand...

I'm in exactly the same position, and i'm 5 days in on pre-production on my vortex 3 order...

Something better is always out in a short time, if its not ivy bridge its kepler, if its not either of those its the runmoured intel retina displays for pc laptops next year. Even if you went out and a bought a pc from a shop, it would be legacy by the time you got it home.
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Finn said:
Something better is always out in a short time, if its not ivy bridge its kepler, if its not either of those its the runmoured intel retina displays for pc laptops next year. Even if you went out and a bought a pc from a shop, it would be legacy by the time you got it home.
Click to expand...

So true...:)
 
dangro474

dangro474

Bright Spark
Short and sweet answer to quesiton 1 is no.

@PCS: Upon requesting an upgrade component wise for my Vortex II 17.3" (2 months after delivery had been made) I was told that you do not offer an upgrade service. Is this still the case, or is it dependant on the component?

@Ideasweasel: If you intend to do some heavy duty gaming in GPU intensive games such as Battlefield 3 and can afford to wait, I would recommend waiting for the inevitable yet unconfirmed release of the 680M, as benchmarks show a significant performance increase over the 675M (36% in synthetic benchmarks - may not translate to real world performance). However if PCS confirmt hat they would be happy to upgrade your system to Ivy / 680M later down the line and you are willing to spend the (high amount of) money you could always go for a Vortex 3 now.
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
We try to offer upgrades where possible and soon you will be able to do this online: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/upgrade/

However, if you want to upgrade the GPU you can only change to GTX 560M, GTX 580M or HD 6990M unless drivers are produced for the GTX 670M/GTX 675M. We haven't tested this yet but it might be possible.
 
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Ideasweasel

Active member
Do we know if the vortex 3 will support 680m? Any idea of release date? Or any idea when we would be able to know if a straight upgrade would be possible? Also Assuming ivy is out in 10 days time it might be worth waiting for ivy right? Even though it won't change much worth getting it case? I take it PCS have a NDA on release date but a smiley face might indicate in right... Hehehe
 
Finn

Finn

Enthusiast
Have you also read the rumours that the yeilds have been so poor that they have had to crank the voltages up to sandy bridge levels meaning the wattage ends up at sandy bridge too?

So the initial chips seem to use the same amount of power as sandy but run hotter due to the smaller surface area (which leaves question marks over their reliability over time as they are now effectively over-volted as stock).

Even if they do come out on the 29th I'm not sure i'd want one of the first off the production line, better to wait until they have ironed out the teething problems (eg pick it up on service pack 1 in windows speak)
 
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Ideasweasel

Active member
So get something like the below lads? Then throw in a 680m and ivy bridge later in the year?

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series:17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2760QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (4 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
240GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£59)
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
Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Surround 5.1 PRO External (£64)
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1102 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N NETWORK CARD
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire & Video Editing
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Laptop Cooling Stands
Zalman ZM-NC3000S Ultimate Cooler, 220mm fan, upto 17.3inch (£35)
Carry Case
TARGUS XL CITY GEAR 16" - 17.3" LAPTOP CASE TCG417 (£43)
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£19)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,875.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/vortexIII-17/
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
1. 680M will be available in the Vortex series all being well, although this is not yet confirmed. You are looking at September at the earliest.

2. 7970M will be in stock in the first half of May in the Vortex series.
 
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