Vortex IV Review

Niem

Enthusiast
So I received my Vortex yesterday (much excite). Now it's all set up and I've done a bit of gaming on it I'll post a review.
My Specs are: i7-4700MQ, 8GB Kingston Hyper-X Genesis, 4GB GTX 780M, 120GB Kingston Hyper 3K SSD, 750GB WD Scorpio Black HDD, Arctic MX-4 Extreme Thermal Compound, Gigabit LAN & Killer 1202 Wireless, Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)

photo.jpg


Ordering
I've always found the PCS build configuration easy to use but as this was my first Gaming Laptop I was slightly more apprehensive this time picking parts and deciding what Chassis to go with. The Vortex stood out from the start and I was really pleased when I saw the 15" version as I wasn't looking for a bulky laptop, Just something sleek and simple to game on. As I decided to go for the 5 Day Fast Track delivery I had to wait a couple of days for the 750GB Scorpio Black to come back into stock but that was no problem as I know PCS are very efficient with parts and will update their site as soon as they become available. Whilst I was choosing my final build I decided to read up on Laptop Coolers/Pads and saw that PCS had a variety available on their site so added the Zalman NC3500 to my order. As always ordering was a breeze, a hell of a lot easier than deciding what parts to go for!

Build/Delivery
My order went from Processing the day of ordering to Pre-Production the next day. Then not long after I received an email saying that my order had been built and was awaiting Testing, great stuff. The speed at which they got my order completed was brilliant as always, especially with fast track. My Laptop was dispatched on the Friday so I knew that I'd have to wait til the Monday for it to be delivered which was fine by me. After all who can complain after having their order completed within 3 days. As I thought I received an email from DPD on the Friday evening stating that my order would be delivered on the Monday.
Woke up to a text Monday morning saying that my delivery slot would be between 10:05 and 11:05 which was a nice surprise as I usually have to wait until the afternoon for deliveries from DPD in my area.
My Laptop arrived about 10:35 and was handed over to me, Not a scratch on the packaging even though it had been stored over the weekend. Everything was brilliantly padded inside the box and the Laptop was securely in place between a lot of Polystyrene. My Zalman Laptop Cooler was also packaged safely in it's own box and placed next to my Laptop.

Laptop Review
Out of the box I was impressed how sleek looking my Vortex was. At the same time it looks well built and sturdy. I'm definitely pleased I chose the Vortex Chassis.
Turning on the Laptop for the first time I was greeted with a quick start up thanks to the SSD, Only a few seconds and I was onto the Windows set-up screen. Made an account and activated my copy of Windows 7 and everything was quick and simple. I personalised my desktop, downloaded all the programs I needed. The Illuminated Keyboard is another reason why I chose the Vortex IV, I also changed the colour of the LED's to purple and finally everything was how I wanted it. I opened Steam and started to download some Games, The Wireless card was definitely worth the money as my download speeds are super fast everywhere in the house, which is what I want especially when I have Fibre Broadband.
I played a few games to test out my 780M, nothing too demanding yet, mostly Borderlands 2 on Ultra settings. The 780M handled everything with ease and I played for a few hours without no problems, a powerful GPU.
Whilst gaming my Vortex was being kept at decent temperatures by my Laptop Cooler, it definitely made a difference and even with the fans high on the Laptop and Cooler it was comfortable gaming. I'd recommend a Cooling Pad to everyone, especially when Gaming. The Zalman NC3500 fits snug on my lap and the single 220mm fan is hardly noticable even on the turbo setting.
After 24 hours everything has been running fantastic so far apart from a BSOD which I managed to correct using the event log, since then running smoothly again.
Once I've had my laptop a little while longer I will probably add to this review, but so far I'm really impressed! Thanks PCS :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks for the feedback, we've added your review to the configurator section on our website!
 
Top