Gaming Laptop - good spec?

stress-shamwow

New member
Afternoon,

My 4 year old PCS laptop has given up completely so after hanging on for a Ryzen laptop I have configured the below:

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen™ 7 Eight Core Processor 4800H (2.9GHz, 4.2GHz 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 Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/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
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (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 - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2019 (1 Digital License)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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
TongFang GK7NR0R (6GB RTX-2060, R7-4800H, 144Hz, Blank KB)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Price: £1,769.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/optimusXI-pro-17/ccMZWktMw9/

I have upped the RAM to 32GB as I do a fair bit of multi tasking and play some flight sims. I will be using it for heavyish gaming (M&B2, Paradox games, Civ, IL2 etc.). For storage, I have the 500gb as my main OS drive and for my most used files and work projects, the 1tb for games, movies and such, and the 2tb HDD for bulk files and other stuff.

Is there anything I should be looking to change? Thanks in advance
 

maha

Silver Level Poster
Do you really need 32GB of RAM? no game uses such amount of RAM, unless you uses lot of VMs at the same time or graphical suites, it is not necessary.
Try to avoid mechanical parts in a laptop, replace HD with SSD.
 

maha

Silver Level Poster
Yes, mechanical part is the weakest link in a laptop, if it fells it is the first device that will be broken with the screen, the screen, you can replace it, the data on your drive, they are gone. You can choose the cheaper SSD and eventually later buy a Desktop USB HD such as Seagate Desktop or Seagate Archive Drive, they are cheap and very good.
 

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
For user data I would still opt for an HDD, and for a number of reasons.

1. The cost per MB of an HDD is much less than for an equivalent sized SSD.
2. Music and video gets absolutely no benefit at all from being on an SSD.
3. Most user data is in files of less than about 1MB, these will load faster from an SSD than an HDD, but the difference in load time is in miilseconds and you're unlikely to notice much.
4. When an SSD fails in any way the data on there is almost certainly unrecoverable.
5. When an HDD fails, as long as it still spins, the data can often be recovered.

I would only opt for an SSD for user data in the following circumstances.

1. My data was in large files that need fast loading; high-res images, large spreadsheets or databases.
2. I needed silent operation.
 

mrlip

Gold Level Poster
Thanks for the advice, I will be ordering it as configured above when I get paid later today!


I am also potentially considering a new laptop upgrade and primarily use it for Flight sims too. I am not sure what sim you are using but one thing I would consider with your proposed build is a stronger graphics card. The 32GB of RAM is a good shout as it covers you for the upcoming MSFS2020 as 32GB was there ideal spec recommendation, but I wouldn't go less than a 2070 for a flight sim as they can absolutely tax the graphics card especially if you are using 3rd party add-ons. Possibly even a 2070 super would be a better fit if you are looking at MSFS2020, XP11\12 or P3DV5.

P3DV5 uses DX12 and it hits VRAM hard, 8GB is pretty much a must

Just my thoughts, other than that looks great :)
 

stress-shamwow

New member
I am also potentially considering a new laptop upgrade and primarily use it for Flight sims too. I am not sure what sim you are using but one thing I would consider with your proposed build is a stronger graphics card. The 32GB of RAM is a good shout as it covers you for the upcoming MSFS2020 as 32GB was there ideal spec recommendation, but I wouldn't go less than a 2070 for a flight sim as they can absolutely tax the graphics card especially if you are using 3rd party add-ons. Possibly even a 2070 super would be a better fit if you are looking at MSFS2020, XP11\12 or P3DV5.

P3DV5 uses DX12 and it hits VRAM hard, 8GB is pretty much a must

Just my thoughts, other than that looks great :)

I must admit I was very tempted with a 2070 super in the Vyper however I think this one will suit my needs more for the day to day stuff I do. I would love to spend more time with flight sims but alas I cannot 😬
 
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