15.6" VORTEX IX for gaming? (Specs added at top of page 2)

[theVenerable]

Hi
I was considering splurging on a beast laptop.
I see the Defiance is nice and slim, but 'only' has a 2080 maxq instead of standard. Does that make much of a difference in terms of performance hit?
Plus it has no i9 processor option, but offers a high spec i7.
Apart from that, no Gsync, But I dont much care about gsync on laptop screen, only on external screen, and none my of external screen are gsync capable anyway!
So.. Will I miss much if I go for the Defiance instead?
Any other factors I am overlooking?
Thanks

 

[SpyderTracks]

I would personally say neither and go for the vortex.

At 1080p, the 2080 isn't required and the full fat 2070 is a perfect fit.

The 2080 maxq isn't that much more powerful than the 2070 and a lot more expensive.

GSync is an absolute must imho as will extend the lifetime of the laptop by a long way once framerates drop below 60. And generally just offers a much much better experience.

Also I wouldn't bother with the i9 in a laptop, it WILL thermal throttle without an undervolt, and even if you do undervolt, it's silicon lottery as to how much you'll be able to. With thermal throttling, you'll get about the same performance or less than the i7 anyway. Without thermal throttling, the benefit over the i7 is so slight anyway it's just not worth the extra money.

The Octane isn't really designed as a gaming centered device, it's more as a desktop replacement workstation and has desktop processors. Yes it's more powerful, but for gaming you won't notice that extra power anyway. Plus it's very big and very heavy, and has next to zero battery life.

You'd get a much better experience with the Vortex.

 

[theVenerable]

Well, that's interesting thanks.
Yes, If I don't go too near 4k It's fine.
I was considering VR racing though..(Project Cars 2 etc.)
But then again, maybe even 2080 isn't enough for clear 1080p in VR I guess. At least not on high settings.

I suppose I could wait a generation or so until laptop GPU's are powerful enough for clearer VR (Desktop 2080ti must be getting there I guess), or just dive in with something very usable in the meantime.. That being The Vortex you recommended.

 

[SpyderTracks]

2070 in a laptop is plenty for VR.

What headset are you talking about?

4k gaming on a laptop isn't possible yet without drastically lowering settings.

 

[theVenerable]

I'm not sure which VR headset yet.
I think VR needs to create two images, and run them at at least 90fps.
I think even a 2080ti might struggle with high settings and a good resolution in VR, I don't know.
It depends on what quality you settle for I suppose.
Ideally I'd like a capable VR headset and a capable GPU. I don't even think that combination exists yet to get it to run with out jaggies and with lots and anti aliasing etc.

Perhaps a 2070 card and a decent VR headset would give me something akin to a '720p' VR experience.
A 2080ti might give a '1080p' one. The resolutions themselves may be higher than that, but since the eyes are so close to the screens on VR, I think you would notice jaggies more.
I could be wrong though, about all of the above lol.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I'm not sure which VR headset yet.
I think VR needs to create two images, and run them at at least 90fps.
I think even a 2080ti might struggle with high settings and a good resolution in VR, I don't know.
It depends on what quality you settle for I suppose.
Ideally I'd like a capable VR headset and a capable GPU. I don't even think that combination exists yet to get it to run with out jaggies and with lots and anti aliasing etc.

Perhaps a 2070 card and a decent VR headset would give me something akin to a '720p' VR experience.
A 2080ti might give a '1080p' one. The resolutions themselves may be higher than that, but since the eyes are so close to the screens on VR, I think you would notice jaggies more.
I could be wrong though, about all of the above lol.

2070 is perfectly adequate for VR, it's only a max of 1440p x 2 @ 90Hz (on the highest end mainstream set) which the 2070 manages perfectly fine.

I'm running a headset on a 1080 without any issue at all.

Bear in mind, VR games or experiences are nothing like normal AAA titles, so the power required is far far less.

For instance the Valve Index which is the most powerful headset so far is as follows:

Steam Support :: VALVE Index System Requirements

support.steampowered.com

The lesser Vive Pro:

What are the system requirements?

To use VIVE Pro, your computer must meet the following system requirements.

www.vive.com

But yes, you're very wrong But in the best way.

 

[theVenerable]

Thanks

It doesn't surprise me all that I'm wrong


How about, I could get about 20% more GPU power with the 2080 if I go for the Octane, but choose a lower spec CPU to stop the throttling?
Or am I still throwing money away in your opinion? I'm guessing the extra GPU power would at least allow me to get higher anti aliasing settings while in VR.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks

It doesn't surprise me all that I'm wrong


How about, I could get about 20% more GPU power with the 2080 if I go for the Octane, but choose a lower spec CPU to stop the throttling?
Or am I still throwing money away in your opinion? I'm guessing the extra GPU power would at least allow me to get higher anti aliasing settings while in VR.

You won't get any higher settings in VR with a 2080 because anything over about a 1060 would max out all settings.

 

[theVenerable]

You won't get any higher settings in VR with a 2080 because anything over about a 1060 would max out all settings.

Hmm
I watch racing vloggers on youtube and they mess around with the Anti aliasing settings on Project Cars etc while in VR.
Yes, I wont get higher FPS, but may get FPS dips if I have the shadow/smaa etc. settings on too high while in VR though?
I thought the extra power of the 2080 might give me a bit more to play with.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hmm
I watch racing vloggers on youtube and they mess around with the Anti aliasing settings on Project Cars etc while in VR.
Yes, I wont get higher FPS, but may get FPS dips if I have the shadow/smaa etc. settings on too high while in VR though?
I thought the extra power of the 2080 might give me a bit more to play with.

The only time you would need those settings would be on the first gen oculus or rift. Current headsets don’t require AA tweaks cos they’re super smooth anyway with the higher resolution and better display tech.

 

[theVenerable]

Well that sounds good, I always wondered why they didn't make the VR headsets themselves do some of the legwork, then they can run on more machines and sell more.

I'm tempted to go with the Vortex then.
32GB ram I guess? So many rams to choose from. Best to get two 16GB sticks, the highest spec ones?

I noticed you can only have on SSD in that machine though. Shame as I have a spare 1TB SSD here at home.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Well that sounds good, I always wondered why they didn't make the VR headsets themselves do some of the legwork, then they can run on more machines and sell more.

I'm tempted to go with the Vortex then.
32GB ram I guess? So many rams to choose from. Best to get two 16GB sticks, the highest spec ones?

I noticed you can only have on SSD in that machine though. Shame as I have a spare 1TB SSD here at home.

If it’s just for gaming anything over 16Gb just won’t ever be used.

And best to get 2 sticks as they run in pairs.

 

[theVenerable]

I guess you are right.
I did hear that higher ram can reduce stutter though?

 

[SpyderTracks]

I guess you are right.
I did hear that higher ram can reduce stutter though?

No, that’s vRAM, totally different thing. It’s part of the GPU and all modern GPU’s have more than enough.

 

[theVenerable]

Sounds good.
Is there any way to get my Spare 2'5 inch SSD in there also?
Or only room for one in this model?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Sounds good.
Is there any way to get my Spare 2'5 inch SSD in there also?
Or only room for one in this model?

You can only have 1 2.5" but you can have 2 M2 drives so 3 in total.

 

[theVenerable]

Thanks for your time.
I think I agree with you.

I might have to buy this laptop!

Do you think the Cooler master gel compound for an extra 9 pounds is enough? Probably is unless I throttle it like crazy I suppose.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks for your time.
I think I agree with you.

I might have to buy this laptop!

Do you think the Cooler master gel compound for an extra 9 pounds is enough? Probably is unless I throttle it like crazy I suppose.

Yeah, it’s best to get the better paste in any laptop the way intel chips run (not very well). Give it 2 years and all laptops will be AMD and actually run the way they’re supposed advertised, sayonara Intel!

Post up your final spec when you’re ready to get some feedback, some other dudes should be on here at some point.

 

[theVenerable]

Thanks
Should I post it in here or open a new thread?

p.s
I don't like the sound of having to add thermal paste myself later :/

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks
Should I post it in here or open a new thread?

p.s
I don't like the sound of having to add thermal paste myself later :/

You can post it here..... adding thermal paste you will need to do once every year or 2 as general maintenance. When you need to do it yourself, it's not that hard, don't be scared off. There are lots of guides on youtube and we can always help on here also.

If adding your own paste, I'd highly recommend Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut which is about the best normal paste there is without going down liquid metal route (which is a bit riskier).