Gaming laptop, comments please

[andpee]

Hi guys,

I currently work overseas so I am looking to buy a laptop which will essentially be my "second" machine as I already have a decent desktop back in the UK. With that in mind, it does'nt need to be able to play the latest games at the top settings, but it would be nice to be able to play most things without it grinding to a halt or overheating. I have very little experience with gaming on laptops and I am a bit paranoid about the heat issue so any advice or comments will be welcome,


Chassis & Display
Vortex II: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD® Radeon® HD 6990M - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 3 Gb/s, 32MB 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 (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Laptop Cooling Stands
Zalman ZM-NC3000S Ultimate Cooler, 220mm fan, upto 17.3inch (£35)
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
PCS EXTRA-CARE DIAMOND DELIVERY - MON-FRI, PRE-10AM (£16)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,391.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[AndyL]

Thats a solid laptop you have speced there. If you are worried about heat (and have the budget) then I would suggest upgrading to the GTX580M (this card runs very cool in this chassis).

Also, with this spec you can expect to play the latest games with almost the very best settings as the GPU is currently the fastest mobile GPU available.

 

[andpee]

Thanks for the reply, just for clarity, when you say it will run the latest games with almost the best settings, do you mean with the 6990M or if I upgrade it to the 580M?

Perhaps I have overspecced a little, but no harm in that I guess

 

[Music Guy123]

I think he is talking about the 580m. Also, I would recommend the 20" stand, it seems to fit the vortex very well.

 

[andpee]

Thanks guys

 

[AndyL]

I was refering to the GTX580M but the 6990M is almost just as good to (in terms of performance).