Which laptop for university?

[Jaack]

My son is deciding between these two laptops for university, he will be using it for Virtualbox, Photoshop, Microsoft Office, coding and a little bit of gaming on CSGO, Overwatch and Rocket League when he is on his break and travel as he has a gaming computer at home, which one is the better choice?

15.6" Optimus VII

15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Intel i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
16GB HyperX IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 8GB)
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster Cinema 2
Intel AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BT 4.0
Nvidia GTX 960M - 2GB DDR5
120GB SSD
4x USB 3 ports
Backlit keyboard
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader
DVD drive

Price - £748

15.6" Optimus VIII

15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Intel i5 Quad Core Processor 7300HQ (2.5GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
16GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster Cinema 3
Intel AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BT 4.0
Nvidia GTX 1050 - 2GB DDR5
120GB SSD
2x USB 3, 1x USB 2 and 1x USB 3 Type C port
Backlit keyboard
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader

Price - £809

 

[kalas22]

Fos this money difference I'll go for the 809£ one. Has Usb typeC and Faster RAM

 

[Oussebon]

The Optimus 8 spec has has a much more powerful GPU, which will help for gaming and other applications that make use of the GPU, e.g. some photo editing, video editing, etc. Given that you can't upgrade laptop GPUs and the 960M is showing its age.

However, if he is running virtualbox, the hyperthreading of the i7 6700HQ of the Optimus 7 has a definite advantage: http://envobi.com/post/virtualbox-hyper-threading-benchmark-surprise/

Which SSD are you going for?

 

[Jaack]

The Optimus 8 spec has has a much more powerful GPU, which will help for gaming and other applications that make use of the GPU, e.g. some photo editing, video editing, etc. Given that you can't upgrade laptop GPUs and the 960M is showing its age.

Is the 4GB 1050Ti worth the extra £51 for his needs or the 2GB 1050 is fine?

However, if he is running virtualbox, the hyperthreading of the i7 6700HQ of the Optimus 7 has a definite advantage: http://envobi.com/post/virtualbox-hyper-threading-benchmark-surprise/

I don't mind paying £63 more for the i7 7700HQ just for the peace of mind as that's the best CPU for that laptop/motherboard so he doesn't have to worry in the future.

Which SSD are you going for?

The 120GB SSD is Kingston UV400 but will be replaced with a spare 500GB Samsung 850 Evo that I have and will use the Kingston SSD in my build for games.

 

[Oussebon]

It depends on your budget.

The i7 7700HQ isn't vastly more powerful than the 6700HQ (it is better, just not massively better). so it's not necessarily worth getting the Optimus 8 over the 7 just to have the best CPU. It's more the case that whichever laptop you buy you will want to have an i7 CPU if one of its main purposes is to run virtualbox.

The GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 ti are a lot better than the 960M, however. This gives a fair idea the relative performances:


So if you have the budget I'd therefore go with the Optimus 8 with the i7 7700HQ with either the GTX 1050 or GTX 1050 ti.

To put those relative performances in some context, the 960M is technically less powerful the recommended graphics card for World of Warcraft.

While it's not being bought as a gaming machine, if gaming over the next few years will be a part of its function £51 for the GTX 1050 ti (around 6% extra cost) will buy 35% better gaming performance. The extra VRAM may be an asset for certain uses such as photo or video editing as well.


Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 7700HQ (2.8GHz, 3.8GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti - 4.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON UV400 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (550MB/R, 350MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 120W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema 3
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
USB Options
1 x USB 3.0 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Battery
Cosmos VI Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Keyboard Language
SINGLE COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

£825.83 ex VAT
£991.00 inc VAT and Delivery

Obviously that ends up making it much more expensive than the Optimus VII spec, but for that you'd have a somewhat better CPU, double the GPU power of the 960M, plus things like USB 3.1. So could be worth it over the span of 3-5 years.

==

On a separate note regarding the SSD, the UV400 is not a very fast SSD:

But even leaving that aside, the 120gb version is actually quite a bit slower than the 240gb version.

I assume you're buying the UV400 because you have to buy some kind of storage with the laptop, and that's just the cheapest and least useless option.

However, If you're paying £54 for a 120gb UV400 you may want to consider just getting a 240gb version for £80 since that's double the storage and a faster drive for only 50% extra cost. Since games can be 10-50gb so will use up an SSD quite fast.

 

[Jaack]

It depends on your budget.

The i7 7700HQ isn't vastly more powerful than the 6700HQ (it is better, just not massively better). so it's not necessarily worth getting the Optimus 8 over the 7 just to have the best CPU. It's more the case that whichever laptop you buy you will want to have an i7 CPU if one of its main purposes is to run virtualbox.

The Optimus VII is not available anymore so will be going for the VIII. For his second and final year of university, he is required to use Virtualbox for his assignments/projects but probably won't be using it after he graduates so I think the i5 7300HQ will be enough for his needs and gaming, what do you think?

The GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 ti are a lot better than the 960M, however. This gives a fair idea the relative performances:
View attachment 9774

So if you have the budget I'd therefore go with the Optimus 8 with the i7 7700HQ with either the GTX 1050 or GTX 1050 ti.

To put those relative performances in some context, the 960M is technically less powerful the recommended graphics card for World of Warcraft.

While it's not being bought as a gaming machine, if gaming over the next few years will be a part of its function £51 for the GTX 1050 ti (around 6% extra cost) will buy 35% better gaming performance. The extra VRAM may be an asset for certain uses such as photo or video editing as well.

He doesn't play the latest AAA games, only light gaming on CSGO, Overwatch, Rocket League, Fifa on Medium/High settings when he is over to his friends house and travel as other heavy games, he can play on his gaming computer at home so I think the 1050 2GB will be enough playing them games on Medium/High settings, what do you think?

Obviously that ends up making it much more expensive than the Optimus VII spec, but for that you'd have a somewhat better CPU, double the GPU power of the 960M, plus things like USB 3.1. So could be worth it over the span of 3-5 years.

Hopefully, the laptop will last him for 4-5 years or more.

On a separate note regarding the SSD, the UV400 is not a very fast SSD:

View attachment 9775

But even leaving that aside, the 120gb version is actually quite a bit slower than the 240gb version.

I assume you're buying the UV400 because you have to buy some kind of storage with the laptop, and that's just the cheapest and least useless option.

However, If you're paying £54 for a 120gb UV400 you may want to consider just getting a 240gb version for £80 since that's double the storage and a faster drive for only 50% extra cost. Since games can be 10-50gb so will use up an SSD quite fast.

Thanks, I will go for the 240GB version instead of 120GB.

 

[Oussebon]

How many virtual machines is he planning to run and what is he planning to do with them? I'm not experienced in this area so perhaps another forum member can comment in more detail, but I do know that running multiple VMs is one of the relatively few areas where buying an i7 over an i5 is a very good idea.

The GTX 1050 should be fine for those games. It should, afaik, be fine for Overwatch on ultra settings. The 1050 ti would be a good deal more future-proof if games he does with his friends change over the next 5 years but if it's only for the last 2 years of a degree then probably not worth it as you say.

 

[Jaack]

How many virtual machines is he planning to run and what is he planning to do with them? I'm not experienced in this area so perhaps another forum member can comment in more detail, but I do know that running multiple VMs is one of the relatively few areas where buying an i7 over an i5 is a very good idea.

He will be running one virtual machine (Windows, Linux, Kali etc) at a time, it is for his assignments/projects to setup, configure and testing stuff in the OS, maybe more but not sure.

The GTX 1050 should be fine for those games. It should, afaik, be fine for Overwatch on ultra settings. The 1050 ti would be a good deal more future-proof if games he does with his friends change over the next 5 years but if it's only for the last 2 years of a degree then probably not worth it as you say.

Yeah, the 4GB 1050Ti for £49 extra (30-35% performance increase and 2GB extra VRAM) is a good price but I think I will go with the 1050 2GB, as it should last him for the 2 years in university and he probably won't be gaming on the laptop often if he finds a job so will just use the laptop for work.

 

[Oussebon]

He will be running one virtual machine (Windows, Linux, Kali etc) at a time, it is for his assignments/projects to setup, configure and testing stuff in the OS, maybe more but not sure.

Ah, then from what I read the i5 ought to be enough. None of the other uses you've described would necessarily benefit a lot from the i7 over the i5 either.