Yet another laptop spec - advice greatly appreciated!

A

Adare

Member
Howdy,

I would be most grateful if one of the tech-savvy folk on this forum would offer their opinion on the laptop spec below? I have a budget of 2k (ish) and would like to own a rig capable of running 3D modelling software, as well as the latest games in all their glory.

EDIT: Scratch the 3D modelling requirements, I've decided i'll be doing that on my desktop and i'll just install a viewer on the laptop. How does the spec below stack up purely as a gaming rig?

As I’m hardware illiterate, I also have a few other questions regarding this spec:-

1) Am I better with off the 16Gb of 1333Mhz ram, or 8Gb of 1600Mhz ram? Is it possible to install more of the faster ram in the future as there is currently no option for it in the configurator?
2) I’ve had bad experiences in the past with a certain branded laptop overheating *cough – dell – cough*, causing the GPU to fry and leaving me with an expensive doorstop. Are there any additional precautions I should be taking with the rig below to prevent this from happening?
3) Is it better to have the faster solid state drive as the boot drive? I imagine the operating system is installed on the first drive so is it better to use this as the fastest of the two?
4) The GTX 580m is a helluva lot more expensive than the Radeon HD 6990m – is there really that much difference in performance?

Thanks in advance to anybody kind enough to lend some valuable advice.

Vortex II: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2860QM (2.50GHz) 8MB
16GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (4 x 4GB)
2GB AMD® Radeon® HD 6990M - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)
120GB INTEL® 510 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 450MB/sR | 210MB/sW)
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
SONY BD-5730S 6x BLURAY WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
ARCTIC COOLING MX-3 HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3,800 mAh)
1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
 
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D

Dealmaster13

Gold Level Poster
I'd stick with 1333MHz. You have 4 RAM slots to work with, so 16GB is the thoretical maximum. Bear in mind that it's best to use matching sticks of RAM to prevent hardware issues.
Also bear in mind that cheap aftermarket RAM is an option: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMS...1_6?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1313062029&sr=1-6
The Samsung memory that PCS offers is incredibly pricey, but it does of course offer peace of mind (I settled with PCS's Samsung in the end when I could have saved £10-20 by purchasing online.
If you want to fully shell out your cash, then sure, 1600MHz is an option; you just won't see a significant performance boost.

Purchase a notebook cooler. I recommend this.

Your SSD should be your boot drive.

The 580M and 6990M match each other in overall performance, whilst one might be better than the under in certain circumstances. For example, NVIDIA's reknowned experience in the physics and 3D departments could suit you very well. Whether it's worth the extra expenditure and whether you will actually benefit is debatable.

I'd upgrade the wireless card to the 6230 or 6300 and downgrade the CPU to the 2760QM. Depending on your usage, I'd downgrade to 8GB of 1333MHz RAM.
 
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mantadog

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
4Gb of ram will do for gaming as it stands now, 8Gb is more than enough for the foreseeable future.

I don't think .1 Ghz can ever be worth over £100 so drop that to the 2760m as dealmaster suggests.

The 6990 is probably the better value card.

To prevent overheating, try to keep the vents free from dust, sit it on a hard surface so it wont sink down and block the vents(e.g. on a bed ). Something like the link above can help if you ar using it at a desk for something intensive, can sometimes be a pain to carry out and about.
 
A

Adare

Member
Thanks Dealmaster and Mantadog for taking the time to help - your advice is just what I was looking for and is gratefully received. Based on your posts I will certainly go for the 2760m processor, 8Gb of 1333Mhz ram, the 6990 graphics card and 6300 wireless.

I like the look of the notebook cooler too and was pleasantly surprised that it's not too pricey.

I'm finally feeling brave enough to click the order button now, and the excitement is building already - thanks a million for all the help! +1's all round!
 
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