Critique this Defiance III build please

[Portland]

I'm fairly set on this as a spec. Happy to save a couple of quid on processor, as Kaby are only an increment quicker, plus go "normal" ssd over m.2 for the sake of fractionally quicker boot times: Half terabyte m.2 is not cheap. My only dilemma is whether the extra £ for the WD drive is worth it. I've (fingers crossed) never had a WD fail from 8086 days, so am a happy punter. Any idea what brand/model the generic 1 and 2tB hdd are?

Chassis & DisplayDefiance Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)Processor (CPU)Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo) (Special Offer)Memory (RAM)16GB Corsair VENGEANCE 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)Graphics CardNVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC1st Hard Disk500GB Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)2nd Hard Disk1TB WD SLIM BLUE 2.5" WD10SPCX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (5400 rpm)Memory Card ReaderIntegrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)AC Adaptor1 x 200W AC AdaptorPower Cable1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)Thermal PasteARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUNDSound CardIntel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3Bluetooth & WirelessGIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0USB Options3 x USB 3.1 Type A, 2 x USB 3.1 Type C AS STANDARDBatteryDefiance Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (60WH)Keyboard LanguageDEFIANCE SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARDOperating SystemGenuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single LicenceOperating System LanguageUnited Kingdom - English LanguageOffice SoftwareNO OFFICE SOFTWAREAnti-VirusNO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWAREBrowserFirefox™Notebook MouseINTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSEWebcamINTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAMWarranty3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)Dead Pixel Guarantee1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage CostsInsurance1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & TheftDeliverySTANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)Build TimeFAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
QTY
1
£1,398.33ex VAT£1,678.00inc VAT and Delivery

 

[Portland]

Incidentally, will be used for day to day browsing, bit of music playback, TBS and the odd bit of FPS gaming, will be doing odd bits of photo editing and occasionally HD video. Also tedious office use and Citrix into the work hive mind. May perhaps install a sandbox sql server to mess about with too.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Afaik, the generic drives are seagates, good drives.

I'm like you though, big fan of wd, used them for years and still got one going strong from my first build in 2002, so I'd always pay the premium.

I'll leave the critique to others more capable.

 

[Oussebon]

The WD Blacks are 7200rpm drives unlike the regular HDDs that, while entirely respectable, are 5400rpm. So they'll be a good bit faster. The price difference is a good bit smaller than between the desktop regular and WD Black drives.

... heh, just saw you were going for the WD Blues. The WD Blacks are £20 cheaper than the blues...

 

[Portland]

Yeah, oddly the 1 and 2 tB blacks aren't available on the configuration at the moment. Out of stock maybe...

 

[Oussebon]

They are - just only in the 1st HDD menu. Possibly because one's a 9.5mm bay and the other's 7mm?

Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo) ()
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK 2.5" WD10JPLX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Hard Disk
500GB Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.1 Type A, 2 x USB 3.1 Type C AS STANDARD
Battery
Defiance Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (60WH)
Keyboard Language
DEFIANCE SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Quantity
1

Price £1,658.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/defianceIII-17/cVmE5Vxgvg/

They say they will install the OS onto your 1st HDD. However, I'm sure it wouldn't be beyond their capability to install it onto the 850 Evo if you asked them. Or even if it was (really..?) you could just reinstall yourself when you get the system, having saved £20 and got a faster drive.

 

[Portland]

Ah yes, makes sense. Finally opted for 2gig generic (with larger cache) which I assume will be a barracuda. Only had 200 gig free on old lappy hdd, and there will always be more photos! Fingers crossed for next week :clap:

 

[Portland]

Anyone happening on this thread and just needing a gig as their storage drive, this is a nice little minor upgrade and cash saver from Oussebon :rockon:

 

[Portland]

One final flip flop, checked my backup log and there's actually quite a large mirror partition on my old 1gig, so don't need quite so much space after all. Accordingly have gone for the WD black, have spoken to the peeps who have put extra comment on order to make sure os goes on the ssd.