Laptop Spec - Thoughts?

[pez]

Guys, I've been doing a lot of homework since my previous post, and I've also had a nice surprise from the Boss. He's given me a budget of £1500 inclusive of VAT to get myself a Crimbo bonus

I've checked a LOAD of sites, and it seems there is little to no performance difference between the HD5870 and the 460m - and the 460 even runs colder.....

So, I've put this together and wanted you PRO's thoughts on it

---

Chassis & Display Vortex i7: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Mobile Processor i7-820QM (1.73GHz) 8MB Cache
Memory (RAM) 4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460M - 1.5GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - Hard Disk 80GB Intel® X25-M 2.5" SSD (34nm / upto 250MB/sR | 70MB/sW)***SPECIAL***
2nd Hard Disk 320GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD3200BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader Internal 7 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/MS/MS Pro/MS DUO/SD/Mini-SD)
Network Facilities ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & INTEL ULTIMATE-N 6300 WIRELESS - UPTO 450Mbps
USB Options 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Bluetooth & Infrared Options Integrated V2.0 Bluetooth Adapter + EDR Capability
Battery Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3,800 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor 1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Firewire & Video Editing 1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Operating System NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Stands & Port Replicators NONE
Carry Case NONE
Stand-Alone Monitor NONE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables NONE
External Keyboard & Mouse NONE
Notebook Mouse INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
External Speakers NONE
Webcam INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Headsets (VOIP) NONE
Surge Protection NONE
Printer NONE
External Hard Drive NONE
Home Installation NONE
Insurance 1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Data Recovery NONE
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity 1

-----------------------------------

Anything I should change / adjust.

I'm planning on running the OS, STEAM, TF2, L4D2, L4D1, CS:S on the main SSD
Everything else off the HDD.

I noticed it says "Second GFX Card None" - Can I possibly sacrifice the SSD for a second GFX or is there no space?

Thanks Guys

p.s. Looking to order early next month - so I get it before Xmas....so if there are any new GFX in the pipeline, can PCS let me know?

Cheers
Matt

 

[Sleinous]

Ive noticed that before, wbut when I try and spec, I donts ee any space for a second GPU, so i think its just a little bug in the configurator. Nope you cant add a SSD in its place, the compartments and connections arent the right size / type.

However, there is a laptop somewhere with 2x drive bays, but I think only a GTX 425M

 

[pez]

Cheers Sle.

And in terms of the actual spec for the money, good choice or should I change it around?

Also, which GFX? 5870/460/the other one

 

[Sleinous]

the 285 is the other one I do believe, i'd go for the 5870 for pure gaming, the 460M for gaming and photoshop (cuda core plugin)

 

[pez]

hmmm.... interesting.

I've read over at toms hardware that the 260 runs colder and about 1-1.5fps slower on most games. For the cost difference, not sure of the benefit.

Also I do tend to use PS a fair amount, but the games I'll run are pretty low brow.

ARGH! - I hate making these decisions !!!

 

[Sleinous]

Obviously the other biggy for the 400 series is the DirectX11 which should be used a little more in upcoming titles.

 

[Nemesis]

As you might have noticed, the new 2nd gen vortex has only one hdd (i noticed this was one of your specifications) and also is a bit over your budget
Not sure what future offerings are. None of the current laptops seem to offer firewire either (how important is this)

Im hoping that by posting here people with answers will come back to this thread which seemed to die unfinished

I wouldve said this :
Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2720QM (2.20GHz) 6MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB 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)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & INTEL ULTIMATE-N 6300 WIRELESS - UPTO 450Mbps
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORT + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery - 48.85WH
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £922.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/optimusII/

But this comes well under budget and lacks a few features that the old vortex offered!!

Would buying a laptop with only a SSD inside and using an external hard drive be an option??

like this??

Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2720QM (2.20GHz) 6MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
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)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & INTEL ULTIMATE-N 6300 WIRELESS - UPTO 450Mbps
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORT + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery - 48.85WH
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
External Hard Drive
WD 1TB My Book Essential USB 3.0 External HDD WDBACW0010HBK - Black (£69)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,119.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/optimusII/

 

[pez]

Cheers Nem.

I was wondering whether I could get away with purely a SSD and an external. I'm just concious that 120gig is not a huge amount.

I doubt using USB2 or even 3 would be good enough for running games on, so I don;t think that is an option.

2 Drive bays is the preference *shrugs* but I'm guessing this is not possible now.

 

[Nemesis]

Yeh i do think that it will be an option (2 HDD Bays)
As far as im aware they are testing them at the moment which is why it isnt an option
though i may be mistaken

Here we go PCS clearing everything up!!

Just to clarify - the only new chassis that supports two hard drives by default is the 17" VortexII: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/vortexII-17/

However, with the new Intel SSD 310 series drives (http://www.intel.com/design/flash/nand/310series/overview.htm) any chassis with a full size mini PCI-E port can in theory support 2 drives. However, the SSD 310 option will not be added to our configurator until we have fully tested this product. Realistically it will be April before this option is added.

 

[pez]

Cheers Nem.

Dead thread now, as opened the final one up in "Spec's"