Can you improve this Vortex II 15" spec?

IKEAboy_2006

Active member
Hey guys,

Looking for input regarding my selected spec below. I have limited myself to a budget of £1500, so can't go over that price. I need a gaming laptop because I travel every week with my job and therefore has to be a mobile gaming rig so that I can get some action in my hotel room in the evenings. My main area of uncertainty is the graphics card. I'm not sure whether I should drop the rest of the spec a bit and opt for the GTX 580M over the AMD 6990M.

Your thoughts and opinions would be most welcome.


Chassis & Display
Vortex II: 15.6" Matte 95% Gamut LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD® Radeon® HD 6990M - DirectX® 11 (15.6" Vortex II)
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 3 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC COOLING MX-3 HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3,800 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£12)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,476.00 including VAT
 

InfernalBadger

Bronze Level Poster
I would change the 500gb seagate drive for a proper SSD just a 60gb one would be enough for windows and some apps/games.

Also, I would upgrade the wireless network card as if you're gonna be using hotel wireless you want the best range you can get.

I don't think the 6990m will be a problem, there doesn't seem to be nearly enough difference between that and the 580GTX (almost none from what I've seen) to justify the £200 extra. I've just ordered a Vortex II for just over £2000 and still gone for the 6990m.
 
I completely agree with Badger having changed from a HDD to an SSD myself I'd definitely reccommend either choosing one of their optional SSD's, or if you are still wary of your budget, buying your own for a little less and sending it to them.

And I toyed with the GTX 580M myself knowing that notebook graphics are never going to be as good as old fashioned desktop GPU's that I'm used to but for the extra cash it simply wasn't justifiable. The games play great on my current spec (even in 3D though the fps rate suffers a little) and I'd far rather have my SSD than spend three times the price on the top graphics card. I can always upgrade in the future if necessary.

Hope that helps, it's never easy making your final choice (I took about 2 months!)
 
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