First gaming laptop

[neon989]

Hi Guys, I am in the market for a new laptop and was considering getting the octane with a 2080 in it and I9 processor - I wanted it to be as future proofed as possible - that was my thought by getting the octane with a 2080 - i want to be able to game maxed out at 1080p and hopefully as high as possible at 1440p - are you saying that it's definitely not worth going for the i9/2080 octane and better to go for the vortex - 17/2070? thanks

 

[Scott]

Right now, and visibly into the future, the 2070 more than smashes 1440p. The level required for nice visuals and AAA 1440p play is around a 2060. The laptop version of the 2070 will be around the 2060 power level. This isn't a compromise, it's where we are at right now and what we would recommend for that level of gaming.

The Octane with an i9 and a 2080 is as good as it gets... there's nothing mobile that's better. That doesn't make it the right fit though. You could pocket the £1k savings, put them in the bank then 3 years down the line pair it with another £1k to purchase a laptop that will make the Octane look like a calculator..... who knows?

 

[neon989]

@The_Scotster thanks for your advice above. Could I pick your brain a bit more and ask you to give me a bit more guidance as this will be my first gaming laptop purchase. So if I scrap the octane idea.. preferably a 17 inch as it will be on my knee in the evenings (on a cooling pad) playing the latest games at maxed at 1080p and 1440p settings which chassis would you go for? Which processor? 16 or 32gb of 2666 or 3000 mhz RAM? From there I think with your guidance I should be able to configure something to my requirements that will play all games maxed out hopefully? Again thanks for your help mate

 

[Scott]

I don't think there are any 1440p 17" laptops to be honest. I think it would possibly be wasted on a 17" screen anyway. The only real push for 1440p from a laptop should be when connecting to a monitor so that you can get the best from it.

With 1080p in mind I would consider either of the following:

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/recoil-III-17/zZHJ5Pxn2u/ £1644 - 17" Recoil

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/defianceV-rtx-17/!MXyP0NwhT/ £1920 - 17" Defiance

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/VortexIX-15-240hz/8RFfJeEDG5/ £1705 - 15" Vortex

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/VortexIX-15-240hz/RMWss3FMkK/ £1990 - 15" Vortex (Special)


There are pro's and con's to them all...

Recoil will have the best cooling, but this comes at a cost of bulk/prettiness. It's also the cheapest while being a good spec.

Defiance has a great sleek look, this comes at a cost of heat and cost. Similar spec to the recoil but almost 300 more. Comes with a Max-Q 2080 which is similar to the laptop 2070 but costs £££s due to being low power.

Vortex is only a 15" chassis but it packs the same punch as the other configs. Has a bonkers 240hz screen which is probably aimed at more professional level gaming but anything over 100hz is going to look pretty sweet on it.

The last option I built up was more for fun. It has the crazy priced laptop i9 with its 5Ghz boost. The rest of the spec is the same so it's a LOT of money for such a small performance gain. Just showing that there are some frequency munching laptop options outwith the Octane.

I've chosen the equivalent of a 2060 desktop GPU in all of these. You could save money and select the 2060, which would more than smash 1080p for a decent time. The reason for the higher than required selections throughout is longevity. It'll simply last longer at high levels as development progresses.

To answer your specific questions:

On the knee I would prefer a 17" laptop. I would like a 15" for occasional use and mainly playing through a monitor. If you aren't ever going to hook up to a monitor I think the extra real estate on the screen would make a difference. IMO you don't need to go past 1080p for 17", never mind 15".

Processor, you want the highest frequency, the most modern chipset at the best relative price. At the moment that's the 9750H at laptop level. I don't think there are too many other options to be honest. The 9980HK is the laptop equivalent of the 9900k, and while impressive statistically..... it's not going to make THAT much difference with gaming, if any at all. The costs are ridiculous, as shown above, so if you go down this route understand that it's a purchase that's for pub talk and pride more than it is production.

With RAM 16GB is more than enough for a gaming rig. Nothing at the moment makes good use of 16GB, even more so at 1080p. I would never suggest more than this for anything but a bespoke professional application. Virtual machine work is probably the most obvious, but when you are serious you are looking at bespoke workstations rather than laptops. As fast as you can get, within reasonable costs, is always the choice to make. 3600mhz RAM is still extortionate for Desktops, 3200mhz is often recommended as it is at a reasonable price point. With Laptops, 2666 is normally the "Fast" option. Maximise the channel while minimising the slot usage (Ie, for 16GB you want to opt for 2x8GB as this uses 1 channel, 4x4 would use 2 channels and waste the IPC). The only time to use the 2 channels is when you have saturated the size limit (Ie if the system allows 32GB per channel and you wanted 64GB you would opt for 4x16 as you wouldn't be allowed 2x32)

Have a play, post up some builds and we will see what fits.

 

[neon989]

thanks for your detailed response! I forgot to mention that I have a 43 inch 4k tv that I will at times want to connect the laptop up to for playing games in a higher resolution than 1080p (mainly at weekends) ie. 1440p and 4k if possible hence wanting the best I can.
Thinking about it as alot of the time I will be using it on my lap via a cooler the lighter the better it would be for me as I don't want dead legs! lol.

I'm also conscious about the heat whilst hopefully on a coller it will help I will be gaming on it an awful lot so don't want it to die on me for abusing it on long gaming sessions so what sort of heat would I be looking at on long gaming sessions at max settings and how long is it likely to last.. a year or 2 or long er if properly cared for?

Also you posed an interesting point for me to consider... 2070 desktop version or the 2080 max q version? obviously i'm sure the 2070 will run hotter due to being a bigger desktop variant but is the extra heat it will generate worth it for the performance gains over the 2080 max q?

I have looked at the above configs (again thanks) and am swaying towards the defiance with a 2080 max q depending on heat that would be expected or unless its worth me going with a 2070 full fat instead?

Cheers
Alex

 

[Scott]

If you look at the size of the power pack that comes with the laptops that will give you an idea of the power. With these systems it pretty much relates exclusively to the GPU.

The 2070 in the laptops isn't a desktop version, it's a laptop version. The -Q variants are stripped down versions again. I'm not sure of the exact chronological order but I believe it's something like this....

Desktop 2070, 2080 Max-Q, Laptop 2070.

There isn't a great deal in it between the Max-Q and the 2070 either way though, sometimes it's a couple of FPS and sometimes the 2070 Laptop would actually out perform. It all depends.

The Max-Q variants are in slim chassis though. This has to be considered when it comes to cooling.

Personally I would be looking at a 2070 Laptop option. The 2080 Max-Q is far too high in cost.

The laptops are built to be used. Gaming use isn't something I would worry about. Keep the fans clear, use the cooling pad and just be sensible and all will be fine regardless of choice.