Vortex IX is the name of my new beast.

[petrujenac]

Good afternoon all!
This is first post on here. My old acer v7 (i5 4410u) was showing me a black 4cm strip across the middle of the screen since Christmas, so it wasn't that much fun to play world of tanks or to surf the web on it. it was a couple of months ago when I said enough is enough and begun to look for a new laptop.
A laptop that will not include something that I don't want to have or use, like optical drive, HDD or slow SSD. On the "must have" side was metal chassis, good processor, a good videocard, decent screen (my acer has/had a good IPS touchscreen). The price was something to consider as well. Loads of reviews I've seen, loads of models from different brands. Some of them were pretty decent, but would not fit my requirements 100 %. I came to the conclusion that a custom laptop could be the solution. Half an hour later I found what I needed but I wanted to make sure it's the best value for money. And that was the thing that brought me on pcspecialist's site!
Just before my birthday I've placed my order hoping I won't be disappointed. Here's my spec:
Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)

Get Total War: Three Kingdoms & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0GB 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)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Battery
Vortex IX Series 6 Cell 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® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
MULTI COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
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 Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo

11 days of worries until THAT MONDAY. It took me about 1 hour to have everything set up and running. Few hours later i was finally playing my only beloved game at ultra settings. Very impressed I was with the performance it delivers and I still am. It's so fast, powerful and light! And it doesn't get too hot, wich was one of the main concerns. A bit noisy as the fans start to run but I'd believe it's a common thing amongst rtx wild animals. Totally worth the money and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a laptop for everything and anything.
Thank you PC Specialist for this beauty that makes me happy every single day since I have it!

P.S. Only one question: if I set it to sleep when close the lid it still remains warm and I noticed fans are running very slow and quiet, making me think that it's not "sleeping", so is there a way to make it to sleep well?

 

[Oussebon]

Many happy returns

Is it definitely that it doesn't go to sleep at all, or that it does but something immediately makes it wake up?

 

[WAV94]

Thanks for the review!
Does the chassis/keyboard get hot under workload? And are the fans noisy when you are just using it normally (websurfing, watching movies, etc.)?

 

[petrujenac]

Many happy returns

Is it definitely that it doesn't go to sleep at all, or that it does but something immediately makes it wake up?

As a temporary solution I've set it up to shut down on lid close. Will definitely look into it these days.

 

[petrujenac]

Thanks for the review!
Does the chassis/keyboard get hot under workload? And are the fans noisy when you are just using it normally (websurfing, watching movies, etc.)?

Neither of mentioned above is getting hot and it's silent when using normally. Even when gaming the temps are acceptable. Regarding the noise while gaming: it's not the kind of noise that you usually hear from fans spinning. It's more of a blowing wind. They've definitely done a good job on cooling reaching a balance between noise and temps.

 

[WAV94]

Neither of mentioned above is getting hot and it's silent when using normally. Even when gaming the temps are acceptable. Regarding the noise while gaming: it's not the kind of noise that you usually hear from fans spinning. It's more of a blowing wind. They've definitely done a good job on cooling reaching a balance between noise and temps.

Thanks for you answer! Just ordered one myself!

 

[petrujenac]

Thanks for you answer! Just ordered one myself!

You won't regret it. What's your spec?

 

[WAV94]

You won't regret it. What's your spec?

I pretty much went all out on this one except for the display:

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 660p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 1800MB/sR | 1800MB/sW)

 

[Oussebon]

I pretty much went all out on this one except for the display:

Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)

What's it being used for, other than gaming?

 

[WAV94]

What's it being used for, other than gaming?

Its going to be used for 3D applications, mainly Blender.

 

[barlew]

Alright mate. I am about to buy pretty much the same spec. Have you had any dramas with the vortex?
When gaming have you had any issues with over heating?

 

[petrujenac]

Alright mate. I am about to buy pretty much the same spec. Have you had any dramas with the vortex?
When gaming have you had any issues with over heating?

As stated above: no dramas, no overheating. Would definitely recommend it.

 

[WAV94]

I received mine this week, and I can also recommend it.
Except one thing though: the battery life.
I can get mine to last 70 minutes at the highest with battery saving mode on, lights at 25%, no draining background processes and only 1-2 tabs open in firefox doing 'normal' internet surfing.
Are your experiences roughly the same? And is this normal/acceptable for a machine in this price category?

 

[SpyderTracks]

I received mine this week, and I can also recommend it.
Except one thing though: the battery life.
I can get mine to last 70 minutes at the highest with battery saving mode on, lights at 25%, no draining background processes and only 1-2 tabs open in firefox doing 'normal' internet surfing.
Are your experiences roughly the same? And is this normal/acceptable for a machine in this price category?

Worth installing hwmonitor, that has a battery wear level indicator which should tell you if the battery is in new condition and not faulty.

That sounds a little on the low side to me even on such a powerful chassis.

 

[WAV94]

Worth installing hwmonitor, that has a battery wear level indicator which should tell you if the battery is in new condition and not faulty.

That sounds a little on the low side to me even on such a powerful chassis.

I have HWmonitor and it shows a wear level of just 6% on the battery, so it should be alright.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I have HWmonitor and it shows a wear level of just 6% on the battery, so it should be alright.

That should be ok then. Let’s wait for the OP to respond on his findings.

 

[petrujenac]

That should be ok then. Let’s wait for the OP to respond on his findings.

Generally speaking, battery life is not that important for me, as I rarely use it unplugged, but I've just installed HWmonitor and checked the battery status. It shows 0% wear level. Last time I used it unplugged was about 2 weeks ago and it definitely lasted over 2hrs being used for browsing + music, 100% brightness and bluetooth ON (I finally can use my jabra earphones!).

 

[WAV94]

Generally speaking, battery life is not that important for me, as I rarely use it unplugged, but I've just installed HWmonitor and checked the battery status. It shows 0% wear level. Last time I used it unplugged was about 2 weeks ago and it definitely lasted over 2hrs being used for browsing + music, 100% brightness and bluetooth ON (I finally can use my jabra earphones!).

Thanks for the reply. I have contacted PCspecialist about the low battery life. I don't think that roughly one hour is acceptable for a laptop in 2019, and especially not in this price category. But hopefully it is an issue that can be solved since you are experiencing longer battery life.