So much to choose from, but which would you pick?

angryboy

Member
Ok I guess what I would like to have here is a general consensus on what would be the overall preferred laptop for gaming and photography on these forums. Money is not a factor. I am a bit confused on which one to choose as all look good and fast, but having spent several days reading reviews on each, I read cons about all of them too so I cannot pick one build which I think will work for me considering I cannot in any way see or try the laptops in person.

would you get a 15 or 17 inch? I was leaning towards 17 inch both for the bugger screen and especially for better cooling as I live in a hot county.

which case is best overall? I like the octane vi 17 inch but the weak rgb light keyboard i heard it has is keeping me off.

best screen? Is 4k really worth it?

as for gpu, am i right in saying the gtx 2060 is good enough for most and that the 2080 is not really much better?
i would really appreciate any help as I would like to get a new laptop for the new year but feel kind of stuck in front of all these choices...

thank you all
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Money is always a factor :) otherwise you could just max every option.
GPU choice depends on type of games you play as well as resolution. I assume for photography you may want the best screen available.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
For gaming, the vortex is the best chassis and best screen.

The Octane isn't really designed for gaming.

4k even on 17" isn't worth it for gaming, it's more designed for media.

As @keynes says though, without a budget, it's impossible to advise.
 

angryboy

Member
Thanks Spyder and keyness. I guess I could max everything out but then the heating factor would come into the equation, no? I mean you wouldnt want to have all that goodness only for it to g et damaged a few months down the line, right?
re the screen, in your opinion i should opt for 4 k oled If i will use this most for photography, media? I forgot to state that only occasionaly will it be used for gaming. I am very busy with work as it is that the gaming is more of a thing i do in free time , which is little these days. So i guess it needs to be more of a media, powerful machine. My budget is 3 to 3.5 k . Thanks again
 

angryboy

Member
Of course if you think i should opt for a different chassis, please specify. What i am looking for is power and speed, screen quality and all the things you would need to work with photo editing and media (multiple tasks) and very light occasional gaming.

i would also like to know if the octane vi 17 inch keyboard can in anyway have the rgb light made to shine brighter as its hardly visible. Other chassis have sweet rgb effects on the keyboard but this one strangely seems very very dim.

as for the graphics, is the 2060 enough?
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Of course if you think i should opt for a different chassis, please specify. What i am looking for is power and speed, screen quality and all the things you would need to work with photo editing and media (multiple tasks) and very light occasional gaming.

i would also like to know if the octane vi 17 inch keyboard can in anyway have the rgb light made to shine brighter as its hardly visible. Other chassis have sweet rgb effects on the keyboard but this one strangely seems very very dim.

as for the graphics, is the 2060 enough?
Ah, if it's more media, then yes, the Octane would be a good bet with the 4k screen. You'd have to reduce settings significantly if you wanted to game or reduce resolution in game to 1440p, but I'd pair with a minimum of the 2070.

Are you actually using the 4k output out and about, or is this mainly designed for use in an office / home? Reason I ask is 2 fold, one the Octane is not very portable, it's extremely heavy, has poor battery life. 2 is that if it were me, I'd still spec it with a 1080p screen and then output to an external monitor for design work.
 

angryboy

Member
Spyder, no this will be moved rarely so weight and battery life are not an issue. I read all about how thirsty this beast can get!
re the 4 k display, i guess i could use an external monitor, yes. Can i ask why you would opt for that setup though instead of getting the 4 k display on the laptop already? Is it a price issue, a compatibility issue with the gpu or processor maybe, or something else? I was thinking about the i9-9900. would that be compatible/durable/ideal when paired with the 4k display? And what about the 2060 gtx? I am presuming , for my work, the 2060 would be more than enough, right? And 32 gb ram. Thanks again for all your help mate
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Spyder, no this will be moved rarely so weight and battery life are not an issue. I read all about how thirsty this beast can get!
re the 4 k display, i guess i could use an external monitor, yes. Can i ask why you would opt for that setup though instead of getting the 4 k display on the laptop already? Is it a price issue, a compatibility issue with the gpu or processor maybe, or something else? I was thinking about the i9-9900. would that be compatible/durable/ideal when paired with the 4k display? And what about the 2060 gtx? I am presuming , for my work, the 2060 would be more than enough, right? And 32 gb ram. Thanks again for all your help mate
It's just that even at 17", 4k is truly wasted, it's far too small to see anything, you'd have to raise the DPI scaling which defeats the point of having 4k.

I've got a 28" 4k display and even that's too small, I would say 32" is the smallest you want with 4k output.

The real question if you're using this purely home based, why not consider a desktop?

The 9900k is a powerful processor, but in this chassis, you WILL get thermal throttling without fiddling around and undervolting. Intel chips are not the best anymore, in fact when it comes to mobile use, they just plain can't perform within their thermal tollerances, they're really poor chips.

An AMD desktop would give far superior performance for less cost.
 

angryboy

Member
Skyder thanks again. I am getting the laptop as sometimes i do need to have to move with it, like on the terrace, in the garden or in bed, where i do have power intakes close by but i could not do that with a desktop. Lets say its a question of comfort! Although this is a chunky beast! I will get the non 4 k screen then.
as for the processor, would you recommend a different one? Which one?
as for the chassis, do you think this is the one i should get after all? Maybe a different chassis that you think would best suit my needs? I am open to as much knowledge i can get before i invest so much money on this. Thanks.

oussebon, yeah i had seen something like that in fact. I read there were problems with the 4k at first, and heard people saying it was still a bit early. Thanks mate
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Just to put this out there, have you considered screen-casting/ remote control / Steam in-home streaming (now called remote play).

The idea is that the screen on one PC is mirrored to another computer you can control the PC from that other device. There's lots of remote control options, and Steam has a specific one for games.

It's not perfect. The video is being streamed from device A to B so in gaming there can be a bit of fidelity loss, and the game may not be quite as responsive. But, if you're usually on a 4k screen on the main PC and moving to 1080p when mobile you're already taking a fidelity hit relative to your desktop experience anyway so maybe not so bad.

And it gives you the advantages of having a desktop - you can upgrade it / easily replace parts if they break, so it's cheaper long-term, and you have a lot more cooling options.

The laptop that video is being streamed to doesn't have to be powerful at all, it's just receiving video and transmitting some button clicks.

Worth at least considering before settling on something like an Octane :)
 

angryboy

Member
Thanks for the info Oussebon, but for now I'm geared towards a laptop. Would you choose the Octane as a chassis? and which processor should i couple with a gtx 2060 to avoid overheating? keep in mind i live in malta and today december 16 its 21 degrees celsius with near 100% humidity. i will let you imagine what kind of temperatures we have in the spring-summer here. and i cannot tolerate ACs!! so cooling of the laptop could be an issue if i do not configue it well. the downsides i see with the octane chassis - and correct me if im worng - is that apart that its a full fat bulky pig, it has thick bezels, a cheap dim rgb keyboard light and looks aesthetically antique overall. thanks again!!!
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
To be brutally honest, any of the laptops - and probably from any company - are going to struggle with temperatures if you're gaming at 30-40 degrees C ambient. The Intel CPUs all run pretty hot anyway, and if the air is roasting hot...

You don't buy the Octane for the aesthetics, you buy the Octane if you need a desktop CPU in a laptop chassis - specifically the 9700k or 9900k. So if you are playing exceptionally CPU-demanding games, or you are a video editor or do something else that needs every last drop of CPU horsepower. Otherwise something like the Vortex 15.6" laptop makes more sense.
 

angryboy

Member
Thank you Oussebon. I will not be gaming much at all, but i just want to keep a sort of gaming option for the future when i hopefully will get a bit more free time! Basically i am still leaning towards the octane With a gtx 2060 and a 9700 or 9900k processor. Is there any other laptop at pcs that comes close to octane’s performance? Kerp in mind it will be used mostly for photo work, editing...with multiple tasks running. And with an option to game a little in future. I will look into the vortex
 
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