Please comment on my chosen spec.

[Landyman]

Greetings All,

I am wanting to buy two laptops, for my wife and I. We do NOT want to use them for games, but as high-spec workstations. Digital mapping is probably the most intense use of a separate graphics card. A fast re-draw as the map changes is required. We will also be doing editing of digital images We both use a Logitech BT mouse and our internet is a "Three" Mi-Fi that uses it's Wi-Fi network for connecting our computers TV etc.

I have an iiyama ProLite B2875UHSU 28" matte monitor (3840 x 2160), hence the selection of the display. We both want a matte screen, like this monitor and all of our previous screens.

I assume that the '1st Storage Drive' will be drive C: and any added M.2 SSD would be drive D:, based on the selection order on the website.

I understand that M.2 SSDs are faster than SATA SSDs (I have a SanDisk 960GB SATA SSD in my current laptop). So if I were to remove the Samsung 1TB and add a '1st M.2 SSD it would then be Drive C:. After my new PCS laptop is up and running, could I then re-format the SanDisk and use as a Drive D: in the new laptop?

A final question. In the other features I read, "If you order an operating system it will come fully installed with a genuine licence key (hard-coded into
your BIOS)."

I know that the licence can't be transferred to another computer. But what does "fully" mean?

1.) Windows 10 Pro is installed, but the normal setting-up of giving the required user name of choice etc. are still needed.

Or

2.) Windows 10 Pro is completely installed, with 'USER', or other name pre-set.

This is the spec:-

Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 17.3" Matte 4K LED 60Hz 72% NTSC Widescreen (3840x2160) (No G-Sync)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700 (3.0GHz) 12MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 330W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
2 x Octane Series Battery Pack, 82WH (One Spare)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
4 x USB 3.0 Ports + 2 x USB 3.1 Type C Ports
Keyboard Language
OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL 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
Chassis
Clevo P775TM1-G (6GB RTX-2060, 144Hz, G-Sync)

Many thanks,

Alan.

 

[Oussebon]

I know that the licence can't be transferred to another computer. But what does "fully" mean?

1.) Windows 10 Pro is installed, but the normal setting-up of giving the required user name of choice etc. are still needed.

Or

2.) Windows 10 Pro is completely installed, with 'USER', or other name pre-set.

You'll need to complete the Windows OOBE where you set up your preferences and user account.

A final question. In the other features I read, "If you order an operating system it will come fully installed with a genuine licence key (hard-coded into
your BIOS)."

I know that the licence can't be transferred to another computer. But what does "fully" mean?

You can often transfer the licence if you tie it to your MS account

How to transfer a Windows 10 license to a new PC or hard drive

It might be possible to transfer a Windows 10 license to a new PC, and in this guide, we'll show you how.

www.windowscentral.com

I have an iiyama ProLite B2875UHSU 28" matte monitor (3840 x 2160), hence the selection of the display. We both want a matte screen, like this monitor and all of our previous screens.

Are you using the external monitor instead of or as well as the laptop screen?

I assume that the '1st Storage Drive' will be drive C: and any added M.2 SSD would be drive D:, based on the selection order on the website.

If you order it with an M.2 SSD, that will be the C: Drive as that is where Windows would be installed. Assuming you're buying a fast M.2 SSD drive, that is where you want Windows to go. Or do you mean if you add an M.2 SSD yourself after market?

I understand that M.2 SSDs are faster than SATA SSDs (I have a SanDisk 960GB SATA SSD in my current laptop). So if I were to remove the Samsung 1TB and add a '1st M.2 SSD it would then be Drive C:. After my new PCS laptop is up and running, could I then re-format the SanDisk and use as a Drive D: in the new laptop?

Yes. You'd buy your laptop with an M.;2 SSD which will be C: and have Windows on it. You can then add any other SSDs you want and that the laptop has vacant bays/slots for and assign any drive letter you wish including D:

What are your thoughts on the CPU and RAM? the 9700 and the 1 x 16gb 2133Mhz RAM.

 

[Landyman]

You'll need to complete the Windows OOBE where you set up your preferences and user account.

Good. That's what I was expecting.

You can often transfer the licence if you tie it to your MS account

OK.

Are you using the external monitor instead of or as well as the laptop screen?

I use both depending on what I am doing. On existing laptop <Fn> + <F3> is a fast switch.

Having 3840x2160 on both will mean a single rectangle on doing a screen grab, rather than two different size joined rectangles, I now use.

If you order it with an M.2 SSD, that will be the C: Drive as that is where Windows would be installed. Assuming you're buying a fast M.2 SSD drive, that is where you want Windows to go. Or do you mean if you add an M.2 SSD yourself after market?

I would only need one M.2 and would fill any empty SATA slot with existing SSDs.

Yes. You'd buy your laptop with an M.;2 SSD which will be C: and have Windows on it. You can then add any other SSDs you want and that the laptop has vacant bays/slots for and assign any drive letter you wish including D:

What are your thoughts on the CPU and RAM? the 9700 and the 1 x 16gb 2133Mhz RAM.

Fastest withing budget and single 16GB should allow an easy extension to 32GB if needed.

Many thanks,

Alan.

 

[Landyman]

I thought that I should provide an example of my intensive processing. I have a large collection of digital maps. Many are produced by merging a number of small maps into one very large map, as large as 3.5GB in a single file.

Consider a chess board of 8 x 8 maps, but unlike the chess board each square overlaps all the adjacent square's edges. Each map is calibrated in latitude and longitude, the British National grid system or the Dutch system etc. Thus the top edge of a small map can be at a slant to the top edge of an adjacent map and be at a slightly different latitude.

The merge program will load the top lines of the top row of 8 maps. The calibration of each map requires to be adjusted to the grid system of the single final output map. Pixels are then read, re-positioned (i.e. moved up or down and left or right, taking into account any slants and adjusted to the output grid system. Overlaps are compared in this process.

No desktop or laptop can have sufficient memory to hold this data for processing, so the result is saved on a different disk to the disk used for the input maps.

As the processing moves south, the second row of 8 maps will be loaded as required and the first row's maps gradually closed. This continues to the most southerly part of the maps.

This data can be significantly larger than the final output map. Multiple passes through this stored data is then processed and re-stored in more temporary files.

Eventually, the output map is saved to disk. Processing can run into more than two days!

Hence the choice of high speed processor.

Any suggestions in change of spec. would be appreciated.

Alan.

 

[Oussebon]

It would probably be worth saving up for an i9 9900k before buying, for the hhyperthreading as well as additional frequency. If you're sinking this much into a system, would seem to make sense to get the most of it.

As for the RAM, how much do you think you will end up adding? the most the laptop supports is 64gb. You will ideally want the RAM to run as dual channel (2 sticks or 4 sticks, not 1 or 3) for the additional bandwidth. If you're only going to 32gb, there's an argument for getting 2 x 8 gb now and then the same again later.

 

[Landyman]

Thanks for the advice on the i9 9900k.

I've been retired for 16 years, but in my early years for memory sticks, two of the same size was a cheaper option than one double the size. Guess that's now the other way round! Up-grading was then just add one stick rather than replace two.

I chose 16GB, expecting to go for 32GB based on price.

Thanks again.

Alan.

PS: My first PC had only 8KB RAM.

 

[Oussebon]

The Octane has 4 slots for the RAM, so you could go for 2 x 8gb now, and add 2 x 8gb later.

It's worth noting that, versus 1 x 16gb 2133MHz RAM:
2 x 16gb 2133MHz (+£68)
2 x 16gb 2666MHz (+£75)

Googling quickly, a 16gb SODIMM stick is about £60. A pair of 16gb 2133Mhz sticks is around £110 and a pair of 16gb 2666MHz sticks around £125.

Your cheapest route to 32gb RAM would be to buy the laptop with 1 x 4gb RAM and just buy and fit your own 32gb RAM purchased elsewhere. (saves you ~£15).

Your easiest route would be to just buy the laptop with 2 x 16gb 2666MHz, because it doesn't cost much more than DIY upgrading and saves you the bother.

Either would probably be preferable to buying some now and adding more later, because you don't then need to worry about compatibility.

Sometimes even sticks that for all the world look like they should be the same, even down to identical part numbers, don't play nice with other sticks. Easiest to buy a matched kit.

And I'd definitely get the faster frequency RAM in view of the potential increase to performance and the modest price differences, certainly relative to the cost of the system as a whole

 

[Landyman]

I would agree that going for all now without later upgrade and buying a set from PCS is the best solution. I did not realise that the Octane has 4 slots for the RAM, so might fill all at first buy.

I want a laptop for myself and one for the wife. Had at first thought of a lower spec for her one, but thought that having the same would be more sensible. However she does not need the processing power that I need, so it would look like me having max memory and her one with minimum memory would be the best price combination.

Do all keyboards have the squares around the 'W A S D' keys? Also the 'N' key is 'n'. I guess that this is for games. A normal keyboard would be better.

Many thanks for your detailed comments.

 

[Oussebon]

Fill all? With 64gb you mean?

Do her needs specifically need a lot of RAM?

 

[Landyman]

Both will be 2x sticks. Mine 32 or 64 hers min.

Keyboard?

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

[Oussebon]

No idea about the keyboard, sorry. I assume it's for gaming.

 

[ubuysa]

I think the keyboard layout is fixed by the laptop model. You could call PCS and see whether there is an alternative.

Those highlighted keys are almost certainly for gamers. The N key just follows the font used for all the other keys, note the 7 for example.

Sent using Tapatalk

 

[kelstu]

I have had four laptops in total and never had one with "Gamer" keys highlighed.. although i amcurrently waiting for my first PCS laptop.