Gaming laptop £1200-1300 - Need opinions

[claval]

Hey there, first post here.
I've played with some configurations and here is what I'm going for (removed uninteresting bits), questions are following the specs:
--------------------------------
Chassis & Display
Recoil Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)

FREE Red Dead Redemption 2 & More! w/ select Intel i7 & i9 CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660 Ti - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ WIRELESS-AC 1550 M.2 GAMING 802.11AC + BLUETOOTH 5.0
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Chassis
TongFang GK7CP6S (6GB GTX-1660 Ti, i7-9750H, 144Hz)

Price: £1,319.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/recoil-III-17/2mNQ6PnBMj/
--------------------------------

My first question is about the Graphic Card:
Is the GTX 1660 Ti a good choice for a laptop that I'd like to support my gaming for the next 3+ years? I don't play highly demanding games except some titles that will comes out (CDPR Cyberpunk for example) but for those I'm willing to compromise with a medium/high settings instead of the ultra quality.
To be honest I'm perfectly fine playing with medium/high settings for pretty much everything as I'm not really that fixated on the pixel perfection.

Nvidia is doing a damn good job at making it confusing for the consumer in understanding which card gives what results. I heard that the Max-q were the best to aim for, but I can't find any GTX1660 Max-q anyway... So I'm trying to understand if the price difference between a GTX1660 and a GTX 1660Ti are worth it.

Also, just so I know, how far behind I would fall compared to a system with an RTX 2060? Would it be worth to try and stretch my budget a little more? Would I regret having an RTX2060 and not an RTX2060 Max-Q at that point?

Second question is about the Cooling System and general building quality:
Basically, I've never bought from PC-Specialist and I've also moved in UK from another country so it's pretty much a jump in the dark for me. Can someone chime in and tells me if the Recoil is the best choice I can go with in terms of thermal managements and durability? I could also downgrade to a 15" and save a 100 here, would it be a cause of any concern in terms of cooling system?

Edit: Seems like part of the good cooling of the TongFang chassis is that the air can flow through the keys. Wouldn't that risk of getting the keyboard area warm or, even worse, hot?

This laptop will be staying at home, used from a desk or bed (with laptop support) so there is no risk of it being bumped around. i just want to have some reassurance that I won't find myself with this laptop breaking apart in a couple of years as I'll probably pass this to one of my sons after I upgrade to the next one.

Thank you so much to anyone who will take the time to read and reply.

 

[claval]

bump...? Anyone here?

 

[polycrac]

I'm thinking about a similar kind of option and would love to know myself. It would be my first ever gaming laptop so I'm not the best person to answer your questions - I have no idea how much performance shrinks when you move from a desktop version to a laptop version of the same name gpu.

I know that since the gpu is fixed, most folk go for the best they can but with a 1080p screen, its hard to justify a massive gpu. Especially since they seem to thermal throttle quite a bit (going on other posts here) if you go for the biggest you can.

I do know that I've been scoping laptop specs on a bunch of sites and I can't find anything close to PCS' price for these specs, some are full £1k above - I'll be watching this thread, I hope you get a better response than mine!

 

[claval]

I ended up buying it last friday. I'm waiting for it and will set a reminder for myself to post a review in about 2-3 weeks when I'll be using it for some time and will have a better understanding of its pros and cons.

 

[polycrac]

Please do! For anyone else looking for the same info, I found this comparison: https://www.techspot.com/article/1849-desktop-vs-laptop-gaming-performance/

 

[markh]

I've read elsewhere that for gaming, the GTX 1660ti offers the best price to performance ratio. You'd see a real performance boost with say the RTX 2070, but that's a much more expensive card. As far as I can see benefits of the RTX series are more about machine learning, you're paying for tensor cores and mixed precision training, which accelerate ML applications considerably. There's the ray tracing thing with graphics too but apparently hardly any games are using it yet.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I've read elsewhere that for gaming, the GTX 1660ti offers the best price to performance ratio. You'd see a real performance boost with say the RTX 2070, but that's a much more expensive card. As far as I can see benefits of the RTX series are more about machine learning, you're paying for tensor cores and mixed precision training, which accelerate ML applications considerably. There's the ray tracing thing with graphics too but apparently hardly any games are using it yet.

It totally depends what screen resolution and refresh you have. If you have 1080p 60hz, then a 1660 would be suggested, if you have 1080p 144hz, a 2060 would be paired and so on.

As with all components, they address different usage scenarios.

 

[polycrac]

I've read elsewhere that for gaming, the GTX 1660ti offers the best price to performance ratio. You'd see a real performance boost with say the RTX 2070, but that's a much more expensive card. As far as I can see benefits of the RTX series are more about machine learning, you're paying for tensor cores and mixed precision training, which accelerate ML applications considerably. There's the ray tracing thing with graphics too but apparently hardly any games are using it yet.

Thanks - I think the issue here is more how the Laptop variants stack up against their desktop counterparts. e.g. whether the 2060 desktop gpu = the 2070 laptop gpu = 2080 maxq. The probelm is it isn't at all that simple and there are different results for different games!

 

[Oussebon]

Hey there, first post here.
I've played with some configurations and here is what I'm going for (removed uninteresting bits), questions are following the specs:
--------------------------------
Chassis & Display
Recoil Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)

FREE Red Dead Redemption 2 & More! w/ select Intel i7 & i9 CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660 Ti - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ WIRELESS-AC 1550 M.2 GAMING 802.11AC + BLUETOOTH 5.0
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Chassis
TongFang GK7CP6S (6GB GTX-1660 Ti, i7-9750H, 144Hz)

Price: £1,319.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/recoil-III-17/2mNQ6PnBMj/
--------------------------------

My first question is about the Graphic Card:
Is the GTX 1660 Ti a good choice for a laptop that I'd like to support my gaming for the next 3+ years? I don't play highly demanding games except some titles that will comes out (CDPR Cyberpunk for example) but for those I'm willing to compromise with a medium/high settings instead of the ultra quality.
To be honest I'm perfectly fine playing with medium/high settings for pretty much everything as I'm not really that fixated on the pixel perfection.

Nvidia is doing a damn good job at making it confusing for the consumer in understanding which card gives what results. I heard that the Max-q were the best to aim for, but I can't find any GTX1660 Max-q anyway... So I'm trying to understand if the price difference between a GTX1660 and a GTX 1660Ti are worth it.

Also, just so I know, how far behind I would fall compared to a system with an RTX 2060? Would it be worth to try and stretch my budget a little more? Would I regret having an RTX2060 and not an RTX2060 Max-Q at that point?

Second question is about the Cooling System and general building quality:
Basically, I've never bought from PC-Specialist and I've also moved in UK from another country so it's pretty much a jump in the dark for me. Can someone chime in and tells me if the Recoil is the best choice I can go with in terms of thermal managements and durability? I could also downgrade to a 15" and save a 100 here, would it be a cause of any concern in terms of cooling system?

Edit: Seems like part of the good cooling of the TongFang chassis is that the air can flow through the keys. Wouldn't that risk of getting the keyboard area warm or, even worse, hot?

This laptop will be staying at home, used from a desk or bed (with laptop support) so there is no risk of it being bumped around. i just want to have some reassurance that I won't find myself with this laptop breaking apart in a couple of years as I'll probably pass this to one of my sons after I upgrade to the next one.

Thank you so much to anyone who will take the time to read and reply.

A 1660 ti is aiming very low for £1300. Especially if 15.6" laptops are an option.

Also, the SSD choice may well be sub-optimal - for most people a single 1TB drive would be more efficient and convenient. Why 2 x 500gb SSDs?

You could easily get an Optimus with an RTX 2060 for £1250

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 120Hz 45% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)

FREE Red Dead Redemption 2 & More! w/ select Intel i7 & i9 CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2060 - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Optimus X Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
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 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
MULTI COLOUR 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 - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook 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)
Chassis
Clevo NH55RDQ (6GB RTX-2060, i7-9750H, 120Hz N4)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Price: £1,251.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/optimusX-15/Zc2ZnFsCsX/

 

[claval]

A 1660 ti is aiming very low for £1300. Especially if 15.6" laptops are an option.

Also, the SSD choice may well be sub-optimal - for most people a single 1TB drive would be more efficient and convenient. Why 2 x 500gb SSDs?

You could easily get an Optimus with an RTX 2060 for £1250

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/optimusX-15/Zc2ZnFsCsX/

At the time of purchase I took this decisions:

- I want maximum cooling possible as I've had bad experiences with commercial (asus mostly) laptop that degraded quicker than expected due to bad air circulation. That's why i went for a tongfang case that, as far as I know, are offered in the Recoil series.
- I want a big screen if possible as I don't have space to attach the laptop to a desktop screen. The laptop does not travel as well, so big screen is the best option for my needs. Also, bigger chassis therefore more space for air circulation (marginal).
- I had case in which the SSD failed and brought everything down with it. Therefore 2 SSD, one have Windows and basic utility software + documents (backed up on cloud anyway) and the other is high intensive "games" with intensive use due to the gaming nature of the software and more common install/uninstall as well. On top of that, if one SSD fails, I still go on while I wait for a new one to be delivered.

Due to my research (could be flawed) the RTX 2060 could have been overkill for my gaming habits and also contribute to the heating in a ratio that wasn't really justifying the better performance compared to an 1666Ti. Feel free to link articles/reviews that prove me wrong.

My topic is quite old at this point, they would have been welcome some time back but still, it's good to learn

 

[Oussebon]

I shan't link articles or review but if you look over these forums you'll see the overwhelming majority of concerns relate to CPU temps, not GPU ones, and the GPU tends to have little impact despite the often shared heatsinks. And that with the 9th Gen Intel CPUs, there was a huge spike in concerns being raised about the Recoils versus the various Clevo options. Ofc most people with most purchases of either an Optimus or a Recoil are completely fine with temps, but it's 6 of 1 or half a dozen of the other now between PCS's Tongfang and Clevo offerings.

What we really need ofc is some more efficient CPUs in laptops, from Intel or AMD!

Let us know how it goes