Vortex IV review - i7 4700 & GFX 780M

[Presariofu]

Firstly, I had been deliberating buying a dedicated gaming laptop for several months and, initially looked at the Alienware machines as, that was all I knew about gaming laptops.

I have been a Mac user for the last 10 years having moved away from PC with the lure of Apples design and, operating system. I still have an iMac as my main desktop but, whilst gaming on the Mac has got better over the years since Steam started supporting, Apple don’t include the hardware in any machine outside of the Mac Pro for serious gaming.

After trawling the internet I started to see there were many companies out there that would build a high end gaming laptop away from Dell. After reading service reviews online and, this forum I made up my mind to order through here. Do I have any regrets? Yes, I should have ordered sooner!

This is the spec of the laptop I ordered on the 14th July 2013 with the fast track 5 days service. My first bit of advice is, if you are impatient, make sure you fast track. It really does work as, you will see below in the production dates.

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4700MQ (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 780M - 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB 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 & KILLER™ 1202 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH (£39)
Production Dates

Processed Date 14-7-2013
Build Date 15-7-2013
Test Date 17-7-2013
Awaiting Dispatch Date 17-7-13
Dispatch Date 18-7-2013

Who Worked on This Order

Built By Ben Alderson
Tested By Mark Bradley
QC'd By Ben Alderson
Packed By Adam Kirby

Before I review the laptop itself, firstly, the service from PCS. The online configurator is very simple to use and, if you are unsure of any component, each has its own help box to give you more information. Whilst I don’t claim to be an expert in PC components, a basic knowledge and a budget is all you need first off. After that, you can post your specs to this forum and, the numerous helpful other members will guide and assist to ensure the PC is what you need. I also understand the PCS team will assist although, I never used this service. Forum members Keynes, Kruppsy & SlimCini were on hand to offer valuable advice and, very quickly after my initial post.

Placing the order and making payment was very easy and, PCS advise by email of any developments and progression of your order as it moves from processing through to dispatch. Again I never had any need to contact PCS for any changes but, my understanding is that all the staff are very accommodating. I would also like to pass on my thanks to Ben Alderson, Mark Bradley and Adam Kirby in doing a great job. My laptop was dispatched on 18-7-2013 and, arrived on 19-7-2013, delivered to my work address. I therefore also cannot fault the service by DPD, getting my order to me next day and, in perfect condition.

Now, the best part, the laptop. I will not post up loads of unboxing pictures as, they can already be seen elsewhere on here but, it was a large box, containing a well packed smaller box which, contained a well packed laptop with all manuals, disks and power leads. The laptop was covered in protective plastic sheets which, took an age to carefully remove. The power brick for the laptop is large as, reported elsewhere and, if carrying around with the laptop will, give you a bit of weight to carry. For me, this is not an issue as, the laptop will be used mainly indoors but, if you are looking for portability, a few weeks in the gym before buying will not go amiss. That said, if you are buying a top end gaming laptop, you will never get the portability of a tablet or, MacBook Air.





Whilst removing the protective layers from my new machine, I hit the power button and, the laptop burst into life. I had PCS install Windows 7 on my laptop and, on initial start-up, I had a blue screen reporting windows had failed to close properly. I left the machine to reboot, selected start windows normally and, everything worked fine. I was pleased that the machine only included the OS and, programmes relevant to the hardware in the laptop along with Bullguard so, it would be protected out of the box. My first software install was steam followed by 200GB of games.

As I mentioned earlier in this review, I have been a Mac user for 10 years with a MacBook, two iMacs and, a MacBook Pro and, out of the box, this laptop feels well-built and, is very aesthetically pleasing on the eye. It’s not super slim but, neither am I so, I cannot hold that against the laptop. The backlit keyboard is not necessary but, a nice addition, it has enough outputs (as detailed in the spec above) to connect anything you will need from external screens to external hard drives. All connections are a good fit. The slope of the laptop on its feet is also very good without any cooling stands. I do not have a cooling stand and, have also not noticed the machine running hot at any time over the weekend.

There has also been mention in other post with regards to the noise of the fans. Now, I have been running Metro LL on the highest settings in a room that is about 28c and, whilst the fans hit full pelt, I personally don’t think they are overly noisy. OK so, after you stop playing and the machine lowers the fan speed to reflect the more idle state you do appreciate they were not silent but, it has not affected me. I just turned up the game audio a little and, drowned the fan out. Personally, I would rather have the comfort of fan noise safe in the knowledge my new graphics card was being cooled and, was not going to fry inside the laptop.
In conclusion, my experience has been brilliant from start to finish buying from PCS. I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone that cares to listen when they are looking for a new PC especially something custom built for specific tasks.

PCS Service – 5 working days from order to receiving the delivery 10/10

PCS Forum – Excellent advice and great community members 10/10

Vortex Build Quality – Everything is solid and, pleasing on the eye 10/10

Laptop Performance – 4th Gen i7 and GFX 780M 10/10 (Plays everything on High/Ultra) 10/10

Overall – 10/10 A very happy customer. Now to enjoy my new PC

 

[moosEh]

Great review, I will get PCS to add it to the config!

 

[vanthus]

Nice review + rep.

 

[luckyluca]

Regarding the fan noise, do you find that the fans cycle on and off every minute at low load?
it's driving me crazy

L

 

[Presariofu]

Not that I have noticed. When the machine is idling/light tasks, there is a very gentle sound of the fan but, it is constant. When I load the system and play a game on ultra, the fan wakes after a few minutes and hits full pelt and stays there. I just drops around 30secs to a minute after playing to idle again. I have heard it use the fans in steps of power but, not on a cycle.

 

[luckyluca]

No, mine occasionally starts cycling from no fan to light fan every 20 secs for about 15 minutes.
It is very irritiating and it only happens at light load, for instance when copying heavy files from an external HD to the internal HD.

when I start more demanding apps the fan kicks in and stays which in a way is much more pleasant. A constant noise is more pleasant than an intermittent one

I wish I could alter the fan logic so to avoid the cycle, it is quite irritating and distracting when trying to concentrate.
L

 

[nick.ske]

Nice cant find alot vortex 4's i prob gone buy one tho only with the lowest gpu (770m) but beter cpu,double ram,second hdd (1st one ssd) and no optical dvd burner/reader how is the keyboard feels like can you give like a discreption would be nice thanks

 

[Presariofu]

I quite like the keyboard. Keys are all flat on the surface and, only travel a few mm with a press. I have quite chunky fingers and, don't find myself hitting numerous keys as I have in the past on little netbooks. As it has a number pad, everything feels a little to the left hand side but, you adjust almost instantly. It is a silent type keyboard, not a clunk clunk keyboard like the ones with raised keys. It may help that I use three or four different machines each day so, hot swapping between keyboards is the norm for me everyday.

To be honest, its hard to say the keyboard is like X computer as, it is quite unique. HTH

 

[luckyluca]

you get used to the keyboard layout easily.
keys feel fine, perhaps there is a very small flex on the left side of the keyboard (cntrl shift tab keys) but you really need to be picky to spot it

biggest issue is the ac adapter brick, it's huge and the cable is too short to keep it on the floor, it must stay on the desk

 

[Presariofu]

Just popped back in here on the 3 month birthday of my new laptop. Do I have any regrets 3 months down the line.... NO

The PC has been used daily since its arrival leaving my consoles gathering dust. Everything has been hassle free and, thanks to Steam, I now have more games than I really need (don't we all LOL). Damn those daily specials.

If I built again, I would probably go SSD/HD combo and, lose the DVD drive but, with the services of PCS, I can either arrange that as an upgrade or, grab a caddy for the Clevo chassis and, do it myself. Its no deal breaker though.

 

[Paddy]

I've a 1+ month old
Vortex IV 17.3
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Extreme i7-4930MX,
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 780M

It seems that it's idle temperatures are between 54c, under some basic programmes it's going up to 64c, Just want to know what others who have similar models, or any similar specification idles at?

I've a Cooler Master CM Storm running at full output and yet the temps don't seem affected, is this ok? All the cores are running in the 40c+ range

I have to say though that I'm thoroughly impressed by PC Specialist build time, quality and price, can't fault them at all 10/10 on all levels

 

[dancon]

Great review lad def helped me make up my mind to get the vortex 15.6 (+rep)