Laptop spec for VR and 4K TV

[Paulbax]

Hi. Looking for some advice for a Laptop that can run VR and output to 4k 50/60Hz TV’s. The VR will be with an Oculus Quest 2 (USB 3.2 type C), but I may in future upgrade to a Reverb G2 (USB 3.0 type C) or other? I would like the laptop to be able to meet a high level of graphic fidelity on MSFS20 for the G2 in case, as well as on a 4K TV. I will use the laptop for general tasks and casual gaming but am unlikely to play games outside of VR or connected to a 4K TV via HDMI 2.0, so whilst a 17”QHD would be nice, a 15.6FHD may be sufficient and cheaper? I need to be able to use in different rooms in the house so need a laptop and not a tower.

I would like a little future proofing and expectation of slowdown… and am looking in the £1500-£2000 range.

What sort of spec would you recommend?

 

[Paulbax]

Nursemorph, thank you kindly for your reply. I had spec'd out something similar by begineers luck more than skill.
I was not sure about the 3080 but lets see if others agree?
Not being an expert, why specify 2 ssd's? Isn't one sufficient? Why the partitioning using multiple drives? OP Sys / Games?
And are cooling stands a good idea? Seeing mixed messages with limited research.
Thanks. Paul

 

[Stephen M]

Two drives are handy. There is always a chance you will need to do a fresh install of the OS, so useful to keep that separate to the stored data and games.

 

[Bhuna50]

This is a really difficult one to advise on at this time due to the worldwide shortages in stock etc and the current changeover of laptops to incorporate the 3000 series GPUs.

I agree with @Nursemorph selection for the time being but you might be worthwhile trying to contact PCS directly to ask if they are looking at any laptops with the 3000 series GPU but with a desktop CPU for what could be one heck of performance laptop

Re the spec above though - I know its already over budget but an addition £40 would see a faster larger (250gb) Samsung 970 in place of the Adata drive that I think for the sake of the £40 would be worth it.

 

[Paulbax]

Interesting stuff. Is the 3080 really worth £400 more than the 3070. £1800 sounds more arguable with the other half than £2200.... Would I need 16GB VRam or would 8 suffice? (Ultra vs divorce???)

 

[Paulbax]

By the way I agree with your ssd proposals ANDJEF796.

 

[Paulbax]

Hi. After some reality checks and reconsideration of usage. I am tempted to drop the 4K TV requirement (I have a XB Series X) and focus on OQ2 VR usage and general laptop stuff.
The Ionico 15 with 3070, QHD, 32gb and 1tb sounds good for £1700. Then I read about the ionico issues. These appear to affect the 17 only??? At least for battery usage. I could live with the keyboard concerns.
Anyone aware of any issues with the Ionico 15?

 

[Bhuna50]

The Ionico hasnt been released yet but suggest you search TongFang - as that is the chassis manufacturer - on the forum here - there have been some known issues (keyboard, battery performance) however this is not to say that it is the same for these new ones coming out.

Appreciate the mobility you want of the laptop, but there is not a lot of difference in price between the 15 and 17 inch versions - worth a look if you do consider this make.

I did a quick table of each of the new machines with a standard template build where i could and as you can see there is only £5 difference at the time I did it:

15.6" RTX 3000 series laptops at PCS.

Just a quick comparison for people to see whats available PCSPECIALIST - 15 inch Laptops for Gaming, Custom Laptops : It should be noted that you should not take these as gospel when making your decision and prices are as per when I did this (13/1 9am ish). This was put together reasonably...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

17.3" RTX 3000 SERIES LAPTOPS AT PCS.

OK - I have done something similar for the 15.6" laptops, so here is the 17.3" version. Was interesting to see that the Defiance price gap between the 15.6 and 17.3 is a huge whopping £1 for the two models and the same price for the third model - yes I did go check the 15.6" to ensure I hadnt...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[Paulbax]

Thanks. I had checked Tongfang, Max-17 etc via an internet search. Some suggest battery issue may be PCS bios related??? That was reason to think about 15 version even if similar price?

 

[Paulbax]

Any idea what the Tongfang chassis numbers are for the ionico 15 and 17? They dont seem to be mentioned in the quotes?

 

[Stephen M]

I think if you go through the order process but not as far as paying you get a full spec which includes chassis number. That may have changed though.

 

[Paulbax]

Thanks. Not much on the internet, especially for the 15. The 17 appears to have been launched in March 20 so may not be the latest TongFang chassis as being discussed on some forums???
Do these chassis numbers align with the problematic Vypers?
Were there any issues with the Vyper 15?
I have seen some negative battery comments about Max-17 chassis mainly due to small battery compared to competitors which may or may not align with low battery lives as mentioned in this forum?

 

[barlew]

Thanks. Not much on the internet, especially for the 15. The 17 appears to have been launched in March 20 so may not be the latest TongFang chassis as being discussed on some forums???
Do these chassis numbers align with the problematic Vypers?
Were there any issues with the Vyper 15?
I have seen some negative battery comments about Max-17 chassis mainly due to small battery compared to competitors which may or may not align with low battery lives as mentioned in this forum?

The 15 inch Vyper was very well received on this forum and there have been very few people reporting problems with it.

the 17 inch was a mine field. The Ionico appears to be based off of the same chassis however we will not know if it suffers from the same sorts of problems untill people start getting hands on with it.

Lessons may have been learned from the Vyper so hopefully all the problems are squared away.

 

[Scott]

I would personally hold off to be honest. Wait and see what the reviews are like on the chassis when it comes out.

I have a DTR laptop and for serious gaming I wouldn't recommend a normal chassis. If you're sticking with the Quest for VR and not eyeing up the HP anymore then a 3070 mobile unit will be a fine choice, otherwise the 3080 variant will be required (the 3080 mobile = the 3070 Desktop..... ish).

With everything in mind regarding that, I personally wouldn't recommend a laptop at all...... but if you were insistent, it would be a DTR I would be after.

 

[Paulbax]

Thanks. I'll have a think. May just bite the bullet before senior management purchasing permission is withdrawn rather than risk waiting? Fancied a 17" qhd but 15" qhd rtx 3070 32gb 1Tb sounds lower risk and if I'm honest is probably more than adequate considering my planned usage.
Spec escalation is addictive! Will probably add a second drive and a few bells and whistles.

 

[Paulbax]

Ok. I will probably order this in the next couple days. Mainly general laptop use, Oculus Quest 2 VR with MSFS20 and HL Alyx being the main candidates. Possibly connect to 4k/60hz tv via hdmi 2.0 on occasion.
Does anyone have any comments, advice or recommendations?

Chassis & Display
Ionico Series: 15.6" 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
1TB 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
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Ionico Series Integrated 62WH 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 AX201 (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 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 - Supplied on USB Drive
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 Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
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: £0.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Paulbax]

Well, I just ordered the above spec. Fingers crossed all ok.

 

[Paulbax]

Asabove, if you go to the configurator, sort your spec. When done, click proceed, click through the message that follows...on the next page, scroll down to just below the spec list and you will see "post to forum"...click that and, near the bottom of the spec, it will list the chassis for that particular spec.

However, because I am feeling helpful, here they are:

Ionico 15": TongFang GM5MG0Y (6GB RTX-3060, i7-10875H, 165Hz QHD, Blank KB)
Ionico 15": TongFang GM5MG7Y (8GB RTX-3070, i7-10875H, 165Hz QHD, Blank KB)

Ionico 17": TongFang GM7MG0P (6GB RTX-3060, i7-10875H, 165Hz QHD, Blank KB)
Ionico 17": TongFang GM7MG7P (8GB RTX-3070, i7-10875H, 165Hz QHD, Blank KB)

Incidentally I ordered the Ionico 15 3070 and still cant see the chassis number anywhere on any of the details???

 

[Bhuna50]

If you log into your account, click show on your order to bring up the details, scroll down to under the spec and click on "post to forums"...near the bottom it should show the chassis number.

However, as I'm feeling helpful:

TongFang GM5MG7Y (8GB RTX-3070, i7-10875H, 165Hz QHD, Blank KB)

Its funny though as I had a similar issue finding the chassis type after I placed the order for the machine I currently got - even looking in the post to forums from my account/order bit, it wasnt listed - yet if I went to reselect everything again in the configurator and did the post to forums - it came up on the list.

Must be a slight tweak occurs on whats displayed when an order has been placed on the configurator.