Spec check please - Octane Laptop!

[MattS2K]

Hello

Would be grateful for any comments or suggestions on the following laptop spec please before I make the final decision to go ahead.

The laptop will be used all day everyday mainly for software development (web development, and desktop app development) It will also be used for photo and video editing using (mainly) Lightroom, Photoshop, Premier Pro and After Effects which is why I have gone for a lot of memory. I also play a few games like COD and used to play Battlefield so would quite like to play the latest version of this.

Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700 (3.2GHz) 12MB Cache
Get Just Cause 4, PUBG & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
Get Battlefield V -OR- Anthem with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
480GB ADATA SU650 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd 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
Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +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
Genuine Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Quantity
1

Price £2,185.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations//733EaUsCwv/

Thanks for any thoughts or comments

 

[Oussebon]

How sure are you that you actually need 64gb RAM? 32gb is very often more than plenty for video editors.

You're also buying an Octane chassis but buying a locked, 9th gen i7, and the lowest end GPU it offers. It would arguably make a lot more sense to just get a way cheaper chassis with an i7 8750H and RTX 2060, especially if 32gb RAM will suffice.

You're buying an Octane but not taking advantage of what it's there to really offer - very high end CPUs and GPUs.

And on the SSDs, you're buying the 2 slowest SSDs on offer pretty much. The 860 QVO is not nearly as good as the 860 Evo. I'd probably take a WD Blue over a QVO... and the SU650 isn't a particularly fast SSD either. I'd suggest looking at M.2 NVMe SSD options.

Also, how are you using your storage exactly? What are you putting on what drives?

 

[MattS2K]

Thanks for your reply.

My current laptop has 16gb of memory and I sometimes find myself running out - not frequently but often enough for it to be annoying and make me head for the laptop that lets me put as much in as possible! Perhaps 64gb is overkill though and 32gb may be enough especially if it means I can improve in other areas. I have noticed, when playing with the configurator, that faster memory is not always more expensive - for example going from 32gb 2133Mhz to 32gb 2666MHz actually lowers the price a little - I had assumed faster was better but am I missing anything to explain the price difference?

In terms of using the storage I had planned for the OS and most applications on the first drive with my most important applications (development environments etc) and games together with their data on the second faster drive. The reason for putting their data on a faster drive is that most of my important data is source files and there may be lots of these used in a single compile so the quicker they can be loaded and processed the better. If you have any suggestions for a better plan please let me know. I have noted your comments about the drives selected being relatively slow and will look into the M.2 NVMe options.

Is it possible to have 2 M.2 NVMe drives and nothing else - ie can I boot from them or is there any other reason that I need another drive?

 

[Oussebon]

I had assumed faster was better but am I missing anything to explain the price difference?

You're not missing anything. I think it just depends what price PCS were able to get the stuff from their suppliers. Sometimes faster/ better components are just cheaper. 32gb 2666MHz RAM sounds good.

For the storage, you will always want your OS on the fastest drive. And neither the SU650 or 860 QVO are particularly fast drives (QVO, not to be confused with the Evo)

You can have a pair of NVMe SSDs. That'd be pretty expensive though. You might consider a 500gb 970 Evo / WD Black (whichever the cheaper is, WD Black may be a little faster) M.2 NVMe SD, and a 1TB WD Blue for "mass" storage i.e. source files. The WD Blue seems to be a bit faster overall than the QVO, and way faster when doing large sequential writes: https://www.anandtech.com/show/13633/the-samsung-860-qvo-ssd-review/2

 

[MattS2K]

Thanks again. Just one last question (I think!) before I have another go at configuring my laptop. Bitlocker will be critical as I often have client data - I assume this is okay on all drive types including the NVMe's?

 

[Oussebon]

As far as I know it's fine.

Although this may be worth bearing in mind: https://www.howtogeek.com/fyi/you-cant-trust-bitlocker-to-encrypt-your-ssd-on-windows-10/ (hadn't heard of it before now)

 

[MattS2K]

Oussebon you are a star. Thanks for all your help - I shall bear your link above in mind when it comes to bitlocker.

This is my latest build (and now the thread title is wrong as its no longer an octane):

Chassis & Display
Recoil Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Get Just Cause 4, PUBG & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
Get Battlefield V -OR- Anthem with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
1TB WD Blue™ 3D NAND 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 760p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 3230MB/sR | 1625MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 3 in 1 Card Reader (SD / SDHC / SDXC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Battery
Recoil II Series 46WH Lithium Ion Battery
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
PER-KEY RGB BACKLIT UK QUIET MECHANICAL KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook 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)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Quantity
1

Price £2,005.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations//RyQfyKSs5n/

As an added bonus, it's cheaper than my original spec. Any final comments or ideas for improvement from anyone before I put in the order?

 

[Oussebon]

I'd go with the WD Black over the Intel 760p as it's a fair bit faster for not much more money.

Spec looks solid.

The configurator ate part of the link when it generated it for you so here's a fixed link for others: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/recoil-II-rtx-17/RyQfyKSs5n/