Help with Vortex III specs

[Jebs]

Hello,

I was considering getting a new laptop that I could use to game with for the next year or couple of years. Games I would like to run are Guild wars 2 and the most recent games like Bioshock, Far Cry, etc. It doesn't have to run at the highest settings, but I would like something that will keep running games well into 2014.

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3740QM (2.70GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
AMD® Radeon® HD 7970M - 2GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE HYBRID SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 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

I was considering these specs but I've heard about all the issues surrounding this card/board combo. The 680m is a lot more expensive, but probably safer and cooler. For an extra £100, I could get 2 x AMD® Radeon® HD 7970M - 2GB DDR5 Video RAM instead in the Vortex Elite, which doesn't seem a bad idea.

So which video card should I go for? I don't really have a price limit but I can't really justify spending £2000 on a laptop and I'm looking at longevity and best bang for bucks.


Cheers!

 

[Dr_Jameo]

Hi,

Have you seen all of the issues with the 7970m? I understand your concern, but I think the initial offset of cost will be outweighed by the disappointment of the performance of the card, if the support continues as is.

 

[Dr_Jameo]

As for other points, try:

- 1x8GB rather than 2x4, as you could upgrade it in the future in this config.
- Intel SSD rather than Kingston (faster r/w).
- 680m vs 7970m. 680m reliability vs 7970m risk and price.

 

[SmokeDarKnight]

The AMD 7990m works fine as long as your not using Beta drivers with Windows 8 for most of its issues, AMD beta drivers have issues with the Brightness controls but tha main drivers work fine, and as long as you tell the computer to use the AMD card through the AMD software the machine will run fine.

The 7990m is a great card and gives good bang for buck and personally i wouldn't knock it.

On the other hand if i had the money i would go for the 680m.

Performance wise the cards sway back and forth between performance depending on the game but only by a few FPS which isn't worth shouting about, where they do differ is that Physix enabled games will run a lot better on a Nvidia card than and AMD, games such as Borderlands 2 and the Batman Games for example. Although Physixs is nice you wouldn't miss it if you werent looking for it. Same works the other way however TressFX works better on AMD cards than Nvida and gives better hair effects, again something you wouldn't miss in my opinion.

If your on a budget id say AMD, if you want to shell out a bit for a bit more quality i'd Nvidia it

Id also increase your 500GB HD to a 7200RPM, you will get faster loading times with any games you put on there also.

Hope this helps

 

[KrossBowKitty]

Yeah I have to say Mobility Cards from AMD, don't live upto their Desktop parents. No-matter how much I like AMD (because I think they're pro ) I would advise you to go for an NVidia card for a laptop, if you're willing to pay the extra.

 

[Jebs]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Will definitely swap SSD type.

At first I thought going for the 680m and reading all the issues people have with the 7970m is super worrying, especially on Clevo/Sager but for an extra £100 I could get the 7970m Crossfire coming with the Vortex III Elite (pretty sure this one has enduro disabled) and it seems that would be quite a step up from the 680m so I'm really having a hard time deciding on that one.

 

[Aster1on]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Will definitely swap SSD type.

At first I thought going for the 680m and reading all the issues people have with the 7970m is super worrying, especially on Clevo/Sager but for an extra £100 I could get the 7970m Crossfire coming with the Vortex III Elite (pretty sure this one has enduro disabled) and it seems that would be quite a step up from the 680m so I'm really having a hard time deciding on that one.

Humm, how do you get the 7970m Crossfire for just an extra £100? I've been looking at something similar, but when I try the same setup on the Elite it costs about £300 more. Can you get the sepcs url so I can have a look?

Thanks

 

[Jebs]

Vortex III
Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3740QM (2.70GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680M - 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE HYBRID SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
2nd/3rd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY
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 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ADVANCED-N 6235 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
£1,572.00


Vortex III Elite
Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3740QM (2.70GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
2 x AMD® Radeon® HD 7970M - 2GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE HYBRID SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 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® ADVANCED-N 6235 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
£1,716.00

That's around £100 difference before VAT. Less if you swap the SSD for a hard drive. The 680m is quite expensive.

 

[Aster1on]

Ah, I see... I was assuming you were jumping from a single HD7970m to the Crossfire.

I would go with the second option, but if you still need to make it cheaper I would rather keep the SSD and go for a I7 3630QM CPU instead. That Crossfire spec is very similar to what I would like, but it's stretching my budget. I'm hoping for a good company bonus and pay rise, so maybe who knows in a couple of months.