Defiance III vs Octane III

[Animal_79]

Hi,

I have been holding off from ordering a Defiance III through nervousness around the reviews complaining about screen bleed but think that I am going to take the plunge.

The spec (copied below) is virtually identical to one of PCS' "next day" builds but with the addition of arctic paste.

However...

I can spec out a Octane III to be virtually identical, other than the fact that the Octane III is around £150 more expensive.

Presumably this is just the additional cost of the chassis or some differences in the screen (possibly eliminating the bleed issue), but can anybody explain to me what is better about the Octane and why it costs the additional amount - or am I missing something?. Has the Defiance screen bleed issue been resolved since the reviews?

Many thanks in advance for any help.


Defiance spec (£1,351)

Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)

Memory (RAM)
8GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 - 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
FREE PARAGON GAME READY PACK with select GTX 1060 Systems!

Memory - Hard Disk
1TB WD SLIM BLUE 2.5" WD10SPCX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (5400 rpm)

M.2 SSD Drive
120GB KINGSTON SSDNow M.2 2280 G2, SATA 6Gb/s (550MB/R, 200MB/W)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED

Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)

AC Adaptor
1 x 200W AC Adaptor

Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)

Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8260 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS 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 & 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 2.0 MEGAPIXEL 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)


Octane spec (£1,503)

Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-6700 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache

Memory (RAM)
8GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 - 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
FREE PARAGON GAME READY PACK with select GTX 1060 Systems!

Memory - Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)

M.2 SSD Drive
120GB KINGSTON SSDNow M.2 2280 G2, SATA 6Gb/s (550MB/R, 200MB/W)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED

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 Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8260 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS, 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS, 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)

Keyboard Language
OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

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 2.0 MP FULL 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 4 to 6 working days

 

[Oussebon]

The Octane has desktop CPUs as opposed to mobile CPUs (i7 6700 as opposed to i7 6700HQ). While more powerful, for a lot of people and uses there will be hardly any difference in performance. For gaming for example, spending £150 more on the Octane for an i7 6700 makes no sense when that would cover most of the cost of upgrading to a GTX 1070 GPU.

M.2 SSD Drive
120GB KINGSTON SSDNow M.2 2280 G2, SATA 6Gb/s (550MB/R, 200MB/W)

I would avoid that SSD as an option for a build of this budget. It's quite small, and also pretty slow even for its size. Consider the 128gb PM961 SSD which won't be very much more expensive but will be a lot faster.

Furthermore, 128gb is also quite low capacity. The 256gb SM961 would be even faster and give you a lot more room on the SSD. The SM family is faster than the PM family, and on top of that 256gb SSDs are generally faster than 128gb SSDs due to how they're built: http://lifehacker.com/opt-for-the-larger-ssd-capacity-to-also-get-a-speed-boo-1770691500

Also whether the WD Blue is worth £37 more than the "1TB SLIM SATA HDD (5,400)" is debatable, especially if you can spend that on more SSD storage.

 

[Animal_79]

Oussebon,

Thanks for the response.

I did think that there must be something which wasn't immediately obvious (to my uneducated eye), and this makes sense.

Much appreciated.

Do you know anything about the reported screen bleed issue on the Defiance? I know that people are more likely to post if they are unhappy but there do seem to be a high number of complaints about it.

 

[Oussebon]

I haven't followed the chassis in detail, so I'm not really up to speed on thing like whether one is more prone to bleed or not. However looking at the review section the four most recent Defiance reviews I can see : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?15-Show-off-your-new-PC-Laptop!

15.6"
Another surprise was the black PC Specialist wallpaper because of
issues I had heard of from other users about backlight bleed, but I must have been very lucky as I could notice none. Yep, none, unless I gave a little pinch when adjusting the screen angle.
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/foru...I-review-(i7-6700HQ-GTX1070-16GB-2xSSD-1080p)

17.3"
no back light bleed. I heard from a few different reviews that this series of Laptop's screens suffered from back light bleed. This was a deal breaker for me. Thankfully the screen was perfect without any issues.
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?51930-Defiance-III-17-3-Laptop-Review

15.6"
Sorry for the delay in replying. Yes I have seen the screen bleed issue since reviewing the laptop, though it is only noticeable when the screen is displaying all black; if there is any colour it isn't noticeable. It doesn't really annoy me as a few weeks in I've only really noticed it once but depending on what you use it for I could understand it being a concern. https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/foru...TX-1060-Review&p=378088&viewfull=1#post378088

size ?
There's a small amount of back light bleed with this model around the screen at a couple of places but is only noticeable when it's very dark, like if you're watching a movie with thick black framing. Something to do with the bezel being too tight a couple of other reviewers have worked out. https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?51800-Defiance-III-1060-Review

Which I read as there sometimes being a bit of bleed, but just what you might expect and nothing horrendous.

So it's possible the laptop got a bit of a bad rep from a few bad cases, or that PCS have changed the way they do something (whether a QC change, or not overtightening the bezels or something, I'm speculating here) such that it's not been an issue for the most recent reported purchases.

 

[Animal_79]

Sorry, last question...

I take it that on a "bang for buck" basis with a machine that I will be mainly using for gaming, it is probably a better bet to stick with the Defiance and its mobile CPUs than to go for the Octane and a "lesser" i5 non- mobile processor?

Do the desktop cpus perform significantly better?

 

[Animal_79]

I haven't followed the chassis in detail, so I'm not really up to speed on thing like whether one is more prone to bleed or not. However looking at the review section the four most recent Defiance reviews I can see : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?15-Show-off-your-new-PC-Laptop!









Which I read as there sometimes being a bit of bleed, but just what you might expect and nothing horrendous.

So it's possible the laptop got a bit of a bad rep from a few bad cases, or that PCS have changed the way they do something (whether a QC change, or not overtightening the bezels or something, I'm speculating here) such that it's not been an issue for the most recent reported purchases.

Thanks, that's very reassuring. In reading the reviews I didn't actually think to consider them in chronological order. Probably a bit thick of me.

 

[Oussebon]

I take it that on a "bang for buck" basis with a machine that I will be mainly using for gaming, it is probably a better bet to stick with the Defiance and its mobile CPUs than to go for the Octane and a "lesser" i5 non- mobile processor?

I would say so, yes.

CPU benchmarks: http://tinyurl.com/glflxhd
You can see the i7 6700HQ has about the same single threaded performance as an i5 6500 (desktop CPU) and higher multithreaded performance (it's an i7, it has hyperthreading). So overall it's actually better than a mid-range desktop i5.

Also the GTX 1060 for laptops is about ~10% weaker than a GTX 970 (which is a desktop GPU that is starting to struggle to run new releases at ultra settings). You'd not be getting much of a return by going for an i7 6700K because the GPU's horsepower rather than the CPU's will be what's limiting your performance anyway.

The only exception I can think of is if there are certain specific games that you are really invested in that do rely on CPU performance. For instance if WoW or certain other MMOs were your main games there might be a case for going for the Octane with a 6600k and overclocking it, as that game appears to benefit particularly strongly from single threaded performance and seems to be more likely to be CPU bound in some situations than many other games.

But for general gaming with a GTX 1060, the Defiance wins the bang for buck award over the Octane hands down.