Was this an upgrade or should I look again?

M

maryea

Member
Hey, I love PCS, will always buy from here.

6 years ago I bought a great gaming laptop from PCS, it's still serving me well but I'm in the market for something newer. I went for something a bit lighter this time (actually HALF the weight) but I'm wondering if I'll regret it. Would love some expert advice for instance on how these processors fair up against each other:

(6 years old now) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

(brand new) Intel® Core™ i7 Dual Core Processor i7-7Y75 (1.30GHz, 3.60GHz Turbo)

If anyone's interested, full specs here.

OLD
Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
1st Hard Disk
320GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD3200BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
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)
Battery
Optimus/Voyager Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£12)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £689.00 including VAT and delivery
Click to expand...

NEW
Chassis & Display
Enigma Series: 14" Matte FHD IPS Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Dual Core Processor i7-7Y75 (1.30GHz, 3.60GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB LPDDR3 1866MHz LOW PROFILE SOLDERED
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS 615 - DirectX® 12
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SU800 M.2 2280 (560 MB/R, 520 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x Enigma Series 36W AC Adaptor
Battery
Enigma Series Lithium Ion Battery (5400mAh)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Sound Card
Realtek 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8260 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
1 x USB 3.0 PORT (Type C) + 1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS
Keyboard Language
ENIGMA SERIES SINGLE COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
DPD PICKUP - COLLECT FROM YOUR LOCAL SHOP FROM 12 NOON
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £732.00 including VAT and delivery
Click to expand...

I'm just wondering if I've ended up paying more money for something not-that-much-more powerful. I will be building a gaming desktop eventually, one day, but in the meantime... Have I "upgraded" or have I purchased a shiny new slimmed down version of something of comparable quality?
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
The CPU and graphics are weaker than what you already had.

Depending on what you actually use the system for you may not notice. You might well notice the difference in weight more. But if we're talking specs and performance under heavy load, the CPU is upto ~50% weaker and the graphics offer maybe about 1/3rd of the performance of your old system
GPU: https://benchmarks.ul.com/compare/best-gpus?redirected=true
CPU: https://tinyurl.com/y76a9s3c

The SSD is a nice upgrade but then of course you could have just bought one for your old system. Likewise you could have added more RAM if you're still somehow chugging along with 4gb.

I'd have bought an SX6000 M.2 SSD unstead of the SU800 since it's a lot faster for £8 more, or the Intel 760p maybe now that the prices are less of a joke.

But if you're happy with it, it meets your needs, is lighter and ideally has longer battery life, only you can say whether that was worth what you spent on it :)
 
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