First draft of a new laptop build

[AgrippA]

Hi all,

I would really appreciate some initial feedback on a new laptop build. I am aiming for a balanced set of components and am frankly unsure if some of my hardware choices so far lack parity. The laptop will be used principally for gaming, no significant video editing work, it will spend most of its time plugged and peripherals are already taken care of. Budget is in the region of £2500 but I want to get components that will work well together, I don't want to put money down on a flashy GPU if it then dramatically outperforms the screen on the chassis.

I know there are issues with GPU wattage at the moment and I'm also aware of some of the problems with recent TongFang chassis types. I was going to order once there are answers and feedback on these two so am open to changing those if circumstance suggest it. I also am under the impression that Intel CPUs are not considered optimal at the moment, I am open to alternatives as well but stock seems to be questionable for non Intel kit currently. I don't mind waiting, but I don't want to get caught in the waiting game because there is always something new around the corner.

Anyway, to the specs:


==============
Chassis & Display
Ionico Series: 17.3" Matte QHD 165Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1440)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor 10875H (2.3GHz, 5.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 665p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 2000MB/sR | 1925MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 665p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 2000MB/sR | 1925MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
2 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
2 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Ionico Series Integrated 91WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
IONICO 17 SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD 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
Chassis
TongFang GM7MG7P (8GB RTX-3070, i7-10875H, 165Hz QHD, Blank KB)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Promotional Item
Get 6 Months Founders Membership to GeForce Now w/ select RTX 30 Series Laptops
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

Price: £2,017.00 including VAT and Delivery

==========

Suggestions or feedback based on usage or experience would be most appreciated. In case its relevant the games I tend towards are games like Total War: Warhammer 2, Guild Wars 2 and Stellaris. That said I have been known to dip into games like Cyberpunk every once in a while so having a bit of performance headroom would be good.

Many Thanks!

 

[Bhuna50]

You're obviously aware of whats been said on the forum re tongfang etc so wont mention that again so the only suggestion is to consider changing the Intel SSDs for something else.

Reports say these are not as durable (number of times read from and write to) as the others on offer so if you have the budget go Samsgung.


This is £2,181 but enables you to have OS and system files on one drive and all your games and storage on the other rather than 2 x 1TB (which would be £2,165)




Chassis & Display
Ionico Series: 17.3" Matte QHD 165Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1440)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor 10875H (2.3GHz, 5.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 2300MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
2 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
2 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Ionico Series Integrated 91WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
IONICO 17 SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD 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
Chassis
TongFang GM7MG7P (8GB RTX-3070, i7-10875H, 165Hz QHD, Blank KB)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Price: £2,181.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/ionico-17/z7Yu9Zhjhh/

 

[longdog42]

I think the specs are good. Regarding the storage I think you should opt for a high performance, SSD with a long life like the 970 Evo Plus instead the 2 intel ones.

Edit: In relation to Andjef, it's the NAND Flash that the 665p uses, QLC is cheaper to use for large capacities but will wear faster (would still last a very long time if it's for day to day use), but the other and more important thing is that the performance tends to fall off very quickly when faced with repeat/large loads.

 

[AgrippA]

Thank you both for the reply. I'll take a closer look at drives and will probably do as advised with Samsung's - I have had excellent results with Samsung drives in the past so should really stick to them.

Does anyone have any suggestions, input or feedback on the collective CPU, GPU and screen group? As I said I am aiming for component performance balance with headroom for some future proofing. As a reminder this is for heavy gaming use, but I am not an E-sports or streaming rock star. In fact, truth be told when friends and I play games we are not very good and get stuck on things that aren't actually obstacles.

 

[Grumpywurzel]

What sort of gaming are you planning, 32gb is over the top. The 3070 will drive the 1440p screen with ease, no one knows really how the suppliers are handling the temps yet, it's a bit up in the air tbh. You havent got a great deal of choice ref the CPU. Deffo bin the Intel drives.

Can you post up the link to your build pls?

 

[AgrippA]

@Grumpywurzel:

As requested.

As I said, the games I tend towards are games like Total War: Warhammer 2, Guild Wars 2 and Stellaris. That said I have been known to dip into games like Cyberpunk every once in a while so having a bit of performance headroom would be good. I do play e-sports type games like Overwatch and CS:Go but not at a level where getting eye watering FPS will make all the difference.

 

[Macco26]

I pre-ordered the same machine with 16 GB total and Samsung SSD, other than that it's all equal. Expect assembly the 15th.
Jarrod's Tech soon should review a chassis like this (e.g. with the Intel processor) vs the already reviewed Zen3 processore (not available via PCS, too much shortage of those). Check it out on YouTube.

PS: if you have already a retail version of Windows consider to transfer it. Even Windows 7 license would be fine. Upgrade still works.

 

[Grumpywurzel]

Had a tweak- https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/ionico-17/dxH7458Kcj/

Just checking, but you have added an extra power pack and lead?

Had to drop the primary drive down to 500gb to get Samsung, you could tweak this again if you want. Deffo get someone else to check this spec

 

[Macco26]

My suggestion is to stick with a brute force very capable SSD for OS (snappy Samsung 970 FTW) while for storage/data a QLC SSD is plenty. It's not to being accessed continously in burst like the OS. It'll be the fastest thing compared to a 2.5" SATA anyway.
And double power brick you say? Why would we? One is enough I guess.

 

[Grumpywurzel]

My suggestion is to stick with a brute force very capable SSD for OS (snappy Samsung 970 FTW) while for storage/data a QLC SSD is plenty. It's not to being accessed continously in burst like the OS. It'll be the fastest thing compared to a 2.5" SATA anyway.
And double power brick you say? Why would we? One is enough I guess.

That was my point, the OP is ordering two power packs and leads, they might need them but worth checking.

 

[AgrippA]

Just checking, but you have added an extra power pack and lead?

And double power brick you say? Why would we? One is enough I guess.

Its useful for me due to how I work and my setups where I live so its not a mistake. Also the win10 licence is correct, my old machine is no longer with a game worthy GPU but its still usable as a general device.

Thank you for the spec suggestion, Ill take a closer look later. Still open to suggestions or ideas if anyone else wants to weigh in.

 

[Macco26]

Sorry Grumpy. For some reason I thought you were the OP and did choose the 2 bricks for yourself 😋

 

[Bhuna50]

What sort of gaming are you planning, 32gb is over the top. The 3070 will drive the 1440p screen with ease, no one knows really how the suppliers are handling the temps yet, it's a bit up in the air tbh. You havent got a great deal of choice ref the CPU. Deffo bin the Intel drives.

Can you post up the link to your build pls?

I left it at 32GB for the OP in my suggestion purely as its only £47 difference it will save the hassle later in upgrading and futureproof it a little more.

 

[AgrippA]

Thanks for the input. I'm going to readjust my original build spec and look to order once some feedback starts coming in from others who are ordering similar hardware.