Laptop any good for gaming? Cpu advice needed.

[mikesaa309]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a gaming laptop (I know desktops are better because you can upgrade components and better cooling etc but like the portability). I currently have this one in mind with theses specs:

Chassis & Display Octane Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6600K (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Memory (RAM): 16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970M - 6.0GB DDR5 Video RAM, DirectX® 12, G-SYNC
Memory - Hard Disk: 1TB SEAGATE HYBRID GEN3 SSHD Drive, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (5400 rpm)

I'm wanting a good balance between price and performance my budget is around 1200 so far this comes to £1318 (including vat) which I don't mind and can do but would like to see if I can get it cheaper but still a decent system. I went for 16 gb because although 8 is only really needed for gaming I still wouldn't mind multitasking and I use photoshop and occasionally 3D modeling in maya and video editing in after effects so went for a 16gb option 32gb brought the price up too much and I can upgrade in the future if needed.

Same with the graphics card, an 8gb option is available but starts getting pricey and seeing as it's only a 1080p screen and games like gta 5 only use 4-5gb of vram at 4k resolution, again this seemed a good balance point between price and performance.

The cpu is where I'm struggling though. On a different laptop available I can get all the same specs except the cpu I can get an i7 quad core, 8 threads running at 2.6 ghz which with intel's turbo can go up to 3.5 ghz. I asked a mate who is more knowledgeable at pc's than me and said the i5 is better because of the faster clock speed and that most games don't use the amount of threads the i7's have. My only concern though is that the i7 is much cheaper I can bring price right down to 1100-1200 with the i7 and while it only clocks to 2.6 ghz normally can go up to 3.5 ghz is turbo the same as a faster clock speed or is it come virtual thing that isn't quite as good? Not only that but the i7 has more threads so surely better for other things like 3D rendering and a much better all rounder?

Any spec suggestions or corrections in my choices welcome.

 

[ahad]

while the i7's you've mentioned do indeed have more threads but they are still weaker overall due to the fact the the CPU in the octane is in fact a desktop i5 CPU and the ones you are looking at are laptop i7's. They are designed to be clocked lower so as not to create too much heat.

Also while turbo speed is 3.5Ghz thats only for one core. These speeds fall the more cores that are used e.g in the 6th gen i7's the clock speed comes down to i think 3.1 GHz when all 4 are working away.

For gaming both are perfect so i would have suggested the cheaper i7 as it handles everything you will throw at it but im not sure about editing modeling and the rest and im sure others here could guide you better

hope i was of some help

i personally have just ordered a laptop with the mobile i7's instead as don't need anything more for gaming

 

[Stephen M]

Definitely the i7 for editing etc but if you do go for the i5 the K is not needed, likewise the 16GB RAM for editing etc while 8 is enough for gaming. I would change your main drive, you don't notice much with a hybrid, the SSD part is small so most of the time you are using a 5400rpm drive. The WD Black is a great drive, 7200rpm, only 750GB but a better option. Ideally, the best set up is a small SSD, 240/250GB and the WD Black, if you cannot budget for that now adding an SSD is a simple upgrade and can be done whenever you want. If you do go for an SSD, they are all fine except for the V300 which has performance issues.

 

[moheli]

Defiance Series - 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB) RAM
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970M GPU - 6.0GB DDR5 Video RAM, DirectX® 12
120GB Memory Samsung 850 EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
500GB Segate Hybrid SSHD Drive with 64MB Cache (5,400rpm)
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1525-AC M.2 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0 NETWORK CARD
Genuine Windows Home (Premium) 64 Bit - Inc. License & DVD
Arctic MX-4 Extreme Thermal (Paste) Conductivity

3-Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour
30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
PCs Extra-Care Diamond Delivery, Mon-Fri Pre-Noon Service

That comes at a cost of £1,198 which should be much more budget-friendly for you. I couldn't find the same hard drive configuration you chose for your Octane so I went with what I felt was most compatible (and effective) for you within your price-range. Whilst the Defiance does not boast a desktop CPU, you can get the preferable Quad i7 at a cheaper price. And it comes with Nvidia Optimus Technology, which the Octane doesn't have, designed to optimize battery life and GPU usage. Click here for a more in-depth comparison between these two laptops.

 

[mikesaa309]

Thanks for the replies. I'm tempted to push the budget and go for the I7 6700 3.4 ghz. I want to do video editing as well as gaming but not sure if the extra 56 quid is worth it? I've ordered the laptop with the specs I originally posted though It shouldn't be too late to change some specs. With the hard drive I'd only want the OS on the ssd side to improve boot up times and would want 1tb storage.

Is going for the i7 worth it over the i5 at 3.5 ghz? It's slightly faster than the i7 but less threads.