Advice on HD and processor

N

Nico

Member
Hi everyone,

I would like a word of advice for a new laptop. I will be using this laptop mostly for work, which involves fairly heavy data analysis on big datasets or very heavy images (up to several Gb).

I think I am pretty much set on a 15" Optimus V, although I am happy to listen for other suggestions.

So far, I have chosen this configuration. In red are the parts that I am not completely sure about (see below).

Chassis & Display Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 24GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (3 x 8GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 860M - 2.0GB DDR5, 640 CUDA Cores - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk 240GB INTEL® 730 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 270MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk 750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 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)
Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options 3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery Optimus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)

Price: £1153 :)no:)
Note: I will be running Linux on this.

Now, let's start from the processor. I am pretty set on getting an i7. I have the choice of:
i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
i7-4810MQ (2.80GHz) 6MB (+£79)
i7-4910MQ (2.90GHz) 8MB (+£206)

Is there a difference in performance to justify the increased price tag? I have seen a few benchmark and they seem quite similar.

And now, the BIG question. What HD should I get? I have to say, my choice was more or less... how can I put it... random :)

Note that although I often deal with large files I do not generally store them long term on my laptop, but either access them from local network at work, or temporarily copy them on the laptop while working on them. So, I do not need enormous amount of space. Currently I have 300Gb on my laptop and run between 30 and 60Gb available.

Which SSD would you suggest, Kingston, Intel or Samsung?
And, as for the 2nd HD, any suggestion? I see there are hybrid drives from Seagate, are they worth getting, since the price is pretty much the same as the other HD, but they have 64Mb cache rather than 16Mb (how much does that improve speed)?

Any suggestion will be very appreciated.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Personally, I'd say a couple of things...

Upgrade the wireless, there are driver issues with that card that lead to dropouts and poor speeds (really poor speeds)

I guess the work you're doing is going to benefit from extra cpu power, but I'd say the jump from 4710 to 4810 is not going to be noticeable. The 4910 will make quite a noticeable improvement because of the increased cache size, but it's a big outlay. The other thing to consider is the 4910 has a boat load more instruction sets enabled which may be required for your needs (no idea if they would be). There's a good comparison here:
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4910MQ-vs-Intel-4710MQ

Any of the ssd's are excellent. I've got the 240 Samsung EVO and it's really responsive, highly recommend them. The Intel has a 10 year warranty I believe which is also appealing. If Kingston, steer clear of the v300 (really poor speeds, way less than advertised) and go with the hyper-x, got one of those too and they're also excellent.

As for hdd, I think you've selected the best option for ssd/hdd combo. The Scorpio black will perform about as well as the sshd, they're really only worth it if you can't afford an ssd.
 
GeorgeHillier

GeorgeHillier

Prolific Poster
Nico said:
Hi everyone,

I would like a word of advice for a new laptop. I will be using this laptop mostly for work, which involves fairly heavy data analysis on big datasets or very heavy images (up to several Gb).

I think I am pretty much set on a 15" Optimus V, although I am happy to listen for other suggestions.

So far, I have chosen this configuration. In red are the parts that I am not completely sure about (see below).

Chassis & Display Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 24GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (3 x 8GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 860M - 2.0GB DDR5, 640 CUDA Cores - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk 240GB INTEL® 730 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 270MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk 750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 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)
Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options 3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery Optimus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)

Price: £1153 :)no:)
Note: I will be running Linux on this.

Now, let's start from the processor. I am pretty set on getting an i7. I have the choice of:
i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
i7-4810MQ (2.80GHz) 6MB (+£79)
i7-4910MQ (2.90GHz) 8MB (+£206)

1) Is there a difference in performance to justify the increased price tag? I have seen a few benchmark and they seem quite similar.

2) And now, the BIG question. What HD should I get? I have to say, my choice was more or less... how can I put it... random :)

Note that although I often deal with large files I do not generally store them long term on my laptop, but either access them from local network at work, or temporarily copy them on the laptop while working on them. So, I do not need enormous amount of space. Currently I have 300Gb on my laptop and run between 30 and 60Gb available.

3) Which SSD would you suggest, Kingston, Intel or Samsung?
And, as for the 2nd HD, any suggestion? I see there are hybrid drives from Seagate, are they worth getting, since the price is pretty much the same as the other HD, but they have 64Mb cache rather than 16Mb (how much does that improve speed)?

Any suggestion will be very appreciated.
Click to expand...

1) I wouldn't bother getting anything other than the i7-4710mq, it's a good cpu and will keep cooler than the higher clocked ones

2) The HDD you chose is very good, the scorpio black runs at 7200rpm which is the fastest you can get in a laptop :)

3) Any of the SSD brands are good, the only one I would avoid is the V300. I personally go with samsung as they're cheaper than intel and very reliable.

Here's what I'd get, comes to £1049:

Chassis & Display Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB Processor should be fine
Memory (RAM) 24GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (3 x 8GB) Do you really need this much RAM?
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 860M - 2.0GB DDR5, 640 CUDA Cores - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - Hard Disk 250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW) Cheaper than the intel SSD :)
2nd Hard Disk 750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm) Best HDD for a laptop
RAID NONE
mSATA SSD Drive NONE
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
Sound Card Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-7260 (300Mbps, 802.11BGN) + BLUETOOTH Better wifi card as standard one has issues
Wireless Router/HomePlugs NONE
USB Options 3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery Optimus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor 1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
DVD Recovery Media NO DVD RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Carry Case NONE
Laptop Cooling Stands NONE
Stand-Alone Monitor NONE
Keyboard Language BACKLIT OPTIMUS UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Additional Keyboard NONE
Notebook Mouse INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Gaming Mouse Pad NONE
External Speakers NONE
Webcam INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Headsets NONE
Surge Protection NONE
Printer NONE
External Hard Drive NONE
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) Better warranty
Home Installation NONE
Dead Pixel Guarantee NONE
Insurance 1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Miscellaneous FREE WATCH DOGS with GTX 660 & 7 Series GPUs!
Miscellaneous FREE £90 IN-GAME VOUCHER with GTX 650 / 750 /7000M / 8000M Series GPUs
Pricing Information
Price (excluding VAT) £874.17
Price £1,049.00
 
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