Enigma III 520 (Budget-ish)

A

alerus

Member
Chassis & Display
Enigma III 520: 15.6" Glossy HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1366x768)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i3 Dual Core Mobile Processor i3-2310M (2.10GHz) 3MB Cache

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 2GB)

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 520M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
250GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD2500BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Integrated 3 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS)

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD (STANDARD)

USB Options
1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Battery
Enigma III Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,100/5,200 mAh)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W 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 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

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

Total: £556.00
Click to expand...


Hello all!

I'm looking to buy the Enigma spec'd above. I know in terms of a gaming machine it's pretty lightweight but it's main uses will be word processing, photoshop and PC exclusive games that are generally less demanding (succumbed to buying a console for shooters and the like).

Just wondering how well you guys think it'll handle Total War games (Shogun 2?), Starcraft II, Diablo III (eventually), Football Manager, EVE Online and possibly WoW? Wide spectrum I know but any ideas would be much appreciated! Thanks,

Alex
 
JSG10

JSG10

Expert
Should handle them all ok on low-medium settings. Obviously you won't be able to get max or ultra on any of them but it should run them no problem.
 
A

alerus

Member
Cheers for the reply.

Would the main performance bottleneck be the processor and what would the best upgrade be to squeeze out some extra details?
 
A

alerus

Member
Hello again :) I'm thinking of extending my budget to just over £600, in which case which of these upgrades would give me a bigger increase in gaming performance?

Enigma III 520 - CPU upgraded to i5-2520m

or the Enigma III 540 - GPU upgraded to GT540m and otherwise same as original quote (i3, 4gb RAM...) ?


EDIT: All the benchmarks I've found comparing the GT520 and 540 use Core i5 and i7 machines so it's hard to gauge the difference it would make settling for an i3.
 
Last edited:
JSG10

JSG10

Expert
If you're using it for gaming I'd step up the GPU. If you can afford it, improve both of course ;)
 
A

alerus

Member
After much deliberation I'm considering upgrading further to the Optimus II as it seems the GT555M is one of the best mid-range cards out there.

I've heard there are quite a few versions of the GT555M around though and wondering if anyone from PCS can confirm which model is in the Optimus II? From the details given it looks like the DDR3 version but does it have a 128-bit or 192-bit bus?

Thanks!
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
The 15.6" Optimus II with the GT 555M has the following specifications:

- nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M
- 2GB DDR3 Video RAM
- Support PCIe x16
- Microsoft® DirectX® 11 compatible
- HDMI 1.4
- nVIDIA® PhysX™
- GeForce® CUDA™ technology

Unfortunately we do not have any details of the bus.
 
A

alerus

Member
PCS said:
The 15.6" Optimus II with the GT 555M has the following specifications:

- nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M
- 2GB DDR3 Video RAM
- Support PCIe x16
- Microsoft® DirectX® 11 compatible
- HDMI 1.4
- nVIDIA® PhysX™
- GeForce® CUDA™ technology

Unfortunately we do not have any details of the bus.
Click to expand...


Is there any way you could find out?

As it is I'm deciding between the GT540M, i5-2410m and the GT555M, i3-2310m. Same overall price but if the GT555M is the 128-bit bus model then I may as well go with the GT540M and faster i5 processor. If you find it has the faster 192-bit bus though I'm tempted to go with the GT555M and maybe spend a bit more upgrading to the i5 too.
 
W

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
for the sake of £2.50 or whatever it is, I recommend getting 1x4GB RAM rather than 2x2GB RAM, allowing for some more to be added later if necessary
 
A

alerus

Member
Wozza365 said:
for the sake of £2.50 or whatever it is, I recommend getting 1x4GB RAM rather than 2x2GB RAM, allowing for some more to be added later if necessary
Click to expand...

Yeah I've remedied that! Although if I get some more info on the GT555M and end up going with the Optimus II I'll be buying the 2x 2GB sticks of the faster Kingston 1600Mhz memory.

EDIT: Scratch that, just found 1600MHz memory will only work with i7 processors!
 
Last edited:
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
After some research I can confirm that the exact model is 144 core/128 bit DDR3 version.
 
A

alerus

Member
Thanks for finding out!

It looks like the 128-bit version is pretty much on a par with the GT550M, just with a few more shaders, so still an upgrade on the 540... I've read the GT555M runs pretty cool too with room for a slight overclock :D

Cheers PCS, I'll be placing an order in the very near future.
 
A

alerus

Member
Hi PCS back with one more question before placing my order, most likely early next week.

Does the 15.6" Optimus II use the same glossy screen as the 15.6" Vortex II? I ask because I got a hands on with the Vortex and was very impressed with the quality and viewing angles. If they're different, how does the Optimus screen compare?

Cheers!
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
As far as I am aware the screens are identcial - the model should be AUO B156HW01 V.3 :)
 
A

alerus

Member
Brilliant! Going to place my order tomorrow so it's ready and waiting for you on Monday :D The final build...

Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-2520M (2.50GHz) 3MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
250GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD2500BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
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
Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery - 48.85WH
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W Adaptor (GT 540M) / 120W Adaptor (GT 555M)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
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: £768.00 including VAT and delivery.
Click to expand...


Thanks all for the advice and responses!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top