Can someone check this laptop spec please?

[Steven88]

Hello I am considering buying a laptop from PC specialist, I do a lot of gaming but it tends to be games like Football Manager, Planet Coaster, Tropico, Cities Skylines, and The Sims rather than the latest big name titles. I also have a PS4 so i'm also looking to be able to play a few Xbox one games that I missed out on in this generation like Forza Horizon.
I currently have a 6 years old Toshiba that is probably on it's last legs but still manages to play games to a certain extent, i'm in no immediate hurry to buy while this still works.

This is the specification that I have chosen can you please give any suggestions you may have about areas I may wish to change. I was unsure wether to choose the i7 processor or the Ryzen 4800H and was not sure if I need a 2nd M.2 SSD Drive.

17.3" Optimus Pro XI

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 10750H (2.6GHz, 5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 3 in 1 Card Reader (Full Size SD / SDHC / SDXC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Optimus Series Integrated 46WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
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 3.1 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
OPTIMUS SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on DVD
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Keyboard & 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)
Home Installation
NONE
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Chassis
TongFang GK7MR0R (6GB RTX-2060, i7-10750H, 144Hz, Blank KB)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Price: £1,413.00 including VAT and Delivery

Thanks in advance for any help.

Also how noisy is this kind of system likely to be? My current laptop is pretty quiet so I wouldn't want to buy something that sounds like a vacuum cleaner. I will mostly use it in the living room and usually with the TV on in the background and I don't often use headphones.

 

[Steven88]

Anyone?

 

[Steven88]

Thanks for your advice, I did wonder if 32GB was overkill and i'll maybe go for the 16GB instead. I'll definitely go for the silver warranty, I must have missed it when I went through the list.
Any advice on the AMD vs i7?

 

[Steven88]

I'm not the person to ask about AMD Vs Intel when it comes to laptops. If it was a desktop, then it would be AMD all day every day...however, it's different with laptops due to inability to upgrade components etc. @SpyderTracks is much more knowledgeable than me.

Ok thanks.

 

[lauwai]

I would recommend the AMD over the Intel at the moment. What applies for AMD on desktops currently mostly applies to the mobile versions. Depends if the 11th gen Skylake Intel chips do anything different but they haven't been released yet. Early previews seems to indicate Intel beating AMD on onboard graphics but in your case that doesn't matter as you're going with a discrete GPU. AMD is also cheaper.

As for RAM and storage. They can be added at a later date. With a laptop, spend the money on items are not user upgradeable. Therefore best screen, CPU, GPU, etc you can afford.

 

[SpyderTracks]

If anything AMD are even more compelling on laptops as their single threaded actually beats intel in a lot of area's and games.

Plus they use SIGNIFICANTLY less power leading to better thermals and better battery. Find a chassis like the 15.6" Optimus Pro and configure one with Intel and the other with AMD and you'll see just how much more energy intel use, it's rediculous.

 

[Steven88]

Thanks for your help everyone. It looks like I may have to order sooner than I thought, my current laptop has started to have problems with charging and losing power if the cable is moved. I bought a new plug from Amazon and it's still doing the same thing so it seems to be the actual laptop that is at fault.

 

[Steven88]

I posted a couple of weeks ago about buying a Optimus XI Pro but i'm now thinking of spending a little more on the Defiance VII, the main downside seems to be that only the i7 is available on this model but the battery life seems better. The Optimus also seems to have parts out of stock at the minute.

17.3" Defiance VII​

Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor 10875H (2.3GHz, 5.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0GB 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)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Defiance Series Integrated 3 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (73WH)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x THUNDERBOLT 3 PORT + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
17" DEFIANCE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on DVD
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Keyboard & 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)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Chassis
Clevo PC70DD2 (6GB RTX-2060, i7-10875H, 144Hz N7, Blank KB)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days


Price: £1,568.00 including VAT and Delivery

I know you advised that 32GB RAM was overkill last time but for £50 extra it seems worth it.

 

[Steven88]

I was just about to order the original spec machine I posted in this thread but the RTX 2060 is out of stock while November 1st.
It is also now flagging up that the storage drive is incompatible with this machine, so I assume i'll need just the m.2 drive (or maybe two) instead?

 

[Steven88]

Yeah, for some reason some laptops have the 2.5" options even though the laptop won't take them. If you change the QVO SSD for one of the PCS M2 drives, it actually saves you £12

It's strange because when I was going to order a few weeks ago it never flagged up when I pressed proceed.

 

[Steven88]

The RTX2600 now says 10th November for new stock changed from 1st November. If I change the graphics card to the Intel I could order now, I would still prefer the Ryzen though.

 

[Steven88]

My old laptop is on the verge of being dead and i'm not sure if I can wait until the 10th November for the 2060 to be available with the Ryzen processor. How much worse would it be if I went for the i7 instead? It now seems to be quite a bit cheaper than the Ryzen as well.

This is the latest spec i'm looking at:

Optimus Pro XI 17"

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor 10875H (2.3GHz, 5.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0GB 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)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 3 in 1 Card Reader (Full Size SD / SDHC / SDXC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Optimus Series Integrated 46WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
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 3.1 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
OPTIMUS SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on DVD
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Keyboard & 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)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Chassis
TongFang GK7MR0R (6GB RTX-2060, i7-10875H, 144Hz, Blank KB)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Price: £1,389.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/optimusXI-pro-17/XwRPu0AZjm/

 

[Steven88]

I've gone for a different brand because I need it sooner and want the AMD Ryzen, not as high spec but quite a bit cheaper as I decided I probably don't need the 32gb of RAM. The main sacrifice is the SSD size but that isn't too much of a problem.

Thanks anyway for all the help in this thread.