Need some pro advice!

[Retro]

Hey guys and gals,

I started off with a budget of €900 but i have raised it to €1100 and by the end of November (when i am buying it!) i should be ok to go with the cost of this. But i do not have the money to fire a load more parts on. So if people could have a look at the below and let me know what you think i would appreciate it greatly!

The laptop will be for gaming. Primarily Warcraft but also CS:GO and CS Source. What i was thinking was to put Warcraft on the 120GB SSD with the OS to improve performance.

I know some computer jargon but im not hugely techy so thats why i need your help!!!

Thanks in advance.

-Retro


Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Memory - Hard Disk
750GB WD BLACK 2.5" WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
2nd/3rd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY (9.5mm)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema 2
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-7265 M.2 (300Mbps, 802.11BGN) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language
OPTIMUS SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (£19)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price: €1,122.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/optimusVII-17/4V75eYZOm0/

 

[Stephen M]

Don't get the V300 they are poor drives, for the SSD either the Kingston Hyper X of the Samsung would be fine, I have the Hyper X and am very happy with it. Definitely change to the Arctic extreme thermal paste, it is only a few Euros more and well worth it. For gaming, an i5 CPU is fine, you could think about saving money with that and going for a 240GB SSD and perform a bit better. Agree about the OS on the SSD and any of the main games/programmes you use.

 

[Retro]

Thanks for the reply Stephen!

I have modified the spec going by your advice and this is how it comes out. This what ya mean?

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor 6300HQ (2.3GHz, 3.2GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
12GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB, 1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX SAVAGE SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 560MB/sR | 360MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD BLACK 2.5" WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
2nd/3rd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY (9.5mm)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Price changed to €1078 which is still good i think!

Let me know if this is what you meant Stephen?

And if anyone else has input on the original or the update i would still appreiciate it

-Retro

 

[GeorgeHillier]

No need to get 12GB of RAM for gaming, 8GB is fine.

I would spend that money on getting a 240GB SSD if possible, it makes a big difference

 

[Stephen M]

I think you may have clicked the wrong RAM by accident, you only need 8GB. Other than that fine, the size of the SSD is up to you but upping to the 240GB Hyper x is on about 40 Euros more. I am unsure how the warranty works to the ROI, here it would be worth geting the silver warranty but you would need to check whether returns are covered to where you are, I think they may not be.

 

[Retro]

Ok guys, thanks again for the replies

Changed again to the below spec. That all good?

Also on a side not can i ask why the i5 processor and the 8gb of RAM are sufficient? Does improving one/both of these not improve the performance of games (such as latency etc.)? Don't get me wrong, i trust your opinions. Just from my limited knowledge, going higher with those would have been better than going higher on hard drive quality. Obviously i was wrong (thank god i posted here before buying my machine!) but i just want to know why im wrong!

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor 6300HQ (2.3GHz, 3.2GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Memory - Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX SAVAGE SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD BLACK 2.5" WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
2nd/3rd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY (9.5mm)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

-Retro

 

[Stephen M]

You would not or any, or hardly any, difference with an i7, that and extra RAM would be more of a help for video-editing, modelling, photoshop and mukti-tasking. If mainly for gaming and browsing, the i5 config is fine, there will come a time when games need more but that is a way off.

 

[Retro]

Fair enough then!

Thanks for your help Stephen!

 

[Retro]

Which is better?

Hi all,

Getting a laptop from here the end of November and have to keep it under €1100.

Can i just get an opinion on these two to see which you guys think would be a better choice? (Its for gaming)

Number 1:

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor 6300HQ (2.3GHz, 3.2GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Memory - Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX SAVAGE SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD BLACK 2.5" WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

€1088


And number 2:

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4720HQ (2.60GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
4GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970M - 6.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)

€1089

The second one obviously i can upgrade the RAM but the hard drive is the lowest i can go for. But on the first the graphics card isn't the best... Can i get some opinions?

Thanks

 

[Stephen M]

For gaming the best GPU you can get is the way to go, so the GTX 970 is the best gaming machine and adding drives is easy, although on option 2 I would go for 8GB RAM.

 

[Retro]

I see, and as i know nothing about it how easy is "easy" with regards to adding drives?

I thought the only thing that was simple to change in a laptop was the RAM :wacko:

 

[Stephen M]

Laptops will change inside but generally the Clevos not too much. This is a review of the Octane (http://www.notebookcheck.net/One-K73-5N-Clevo-P771ZM-Notebook-Review.135088.0.html), have a look at the pics, you can see the drive bay. Changing the drive just entails slipping it off the connector at one end and slipping another in, although some drives may also be screwed down at the corners but still not a problem. My experience of a lot of local "repair" shops is that they maintain a myth of difficulty so as to maintain their profit margins.

 

[Retro]

Thats good to know Stephen thanks!


I have been trying to look at the Proteus II online to find out if it looks as easy as the Octane pics you posted but i cannot for the life of me find any pictures of it open!

It looks like i would be able to get cheap enough hard drives when i am looking to replace the standard 500gb one i will have to get to start out!

 

[Stephen M]

I am not sure what chassis the Proteus is, the majority of PCS laptops are Clevo, but this is not, I think. Here are the Clevo models: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptops/clevo-laptops/40/

 

[Retro]

No, you're right. The Proteus II does look like a completely different chassis!

Maybe someone else will be able to shed some light for me as i will need to be confident i can change the HDD myself before i go for that model.

Fingers crossed!

 

[Stephen M]

I will have a search, I am intrigued now, these fora make learning infectious, although fun as well. The chassis makes a massive difference, I have just cleaned up and repasted my Aunt's laptop, a Compaq Presario - had to take most of it apart to get at everything, while my old Voyager and new Octane just need a few screws out to access almost everything, of course we are encouraged to do things ourself here while the major companies prefer it if a 50p at home job is done for 50 quid by them.

 

[Retro]

Yeah thats one of the things i love about PCS and i havent even got my system ordered yet!

Just so much more of a sense of community and family intent on helpin than a faceless corporate entity (im sure we've all comes across those sites!) who are out to get as much of your cash as they can!!

Hmmmmm, the Proteus II has disappeared from my browser on both my mobile and my work pc when i try to display all the PCS laptops. Wonder whats causing that?!?

Let me know if you have any more luck than i did finding the insides of that chassis Stephen. Thanks!

 

[Retro]

Updated question guys,

Where do i find out what kind of motherboard these laptops have?

As above i am torn at the moment between the Proteus II and the Optimus VII. The Proteus now has only the 960M graphics card so there is no difference there between the two machines. I would be getting the same RAM (8gb Hyper-X IMPACT) and similar hard drives (1 x SSD and 1 x HD) and the Artic MX-4 Thermal Conductivity Compound on each machine so i just wanted to know if the motherboards are the same or different and what the actual models (of motherboard) are so i can have a read about them.

As always any and all help is appreciated.