High end laptop for gaming/streaming/video editing

[St3rling]

Hey guys,

I'm planning to get this laptop as soon as I'll have the sufficient fundings but before that I'd like some thoughts on this spec, budget is £2.5k but i can stretch it to this spec's price max. Mainly will be used for gaming (maxed out graphics etc.) also streaming and video editing.


Here it goes:

Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1

Get Wolfenstein: Young Blood with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 330W AC Adaptor
Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING <----This was the only option for some reason
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
4 x USB 3.0 Ports + 2 x USB 3.1 Type C Ports
Keyboard Language
OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine 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 365 Personal (12 Month Subscription - Digital Key)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Firefox™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £2,611.00 including VAT and Delivery

All inputs will be highly appreciated

 

[debiruman665]

What's your reasoning against the 9900k and instead taking the 9700k if you want this to be a working computer.

Can you list the priorities in order

Gaming, Streaming, Editing

If its more on the editing side, you'd want more ram and more cheap storage

Streaming and Editing will benefit from more threads in the 9900k

It seems like its a solid gaming laptop in its current state.

 

[St3rling]

Hi debiruman665,

Thanks for getting back to me this quick. Well in a list it would be definately gaming, streaming then a bit of editing really. Also would I benefit from 9900k that much then just having a 9700k instead?

 

[St3rling]

Also shall I be concerened about the thermal paste?

 

[debiruman665]

Hi debiruman665,

Thanks for getting back to me this quickly. Well in a list it would be definitely gaming, streaming then a bit of editing really. Also would I benefit from 9900k that much then just having a 9700k instead?

I got a 9900k and it streams better using the CPU encoding than it does using the GPU encoding, which is saying something. AFAIK it uses the integrated graphics in the 9900k to do the streaming encoding so that your GPU is free to do its thing.

The octane is HOT and you'll defo want to get the good paste, but i've heard mixed reviews on here and if you are able to do yourself then you would probably do a better job.

The octane will also need some undervolting and overclock adjustments depending on the different tasks you want to do

For example: at stock settings, the 9900k CPU runs way hotter and faster than what is actually needed to game with and you'll see temps hitting 100C. You'll need to underclock it a bit for stable game performance. Then turn it back up again when rendering or whatever. A good analogy is the CPU wants to sprint in short bursts at max performance instead of pace itself and get a steady speed.

I'm happy to detail this out the specifics in an easily digestible manner if you decide to go down that route.

 

[St3rling]

Yea you are right on the streaming side of things, definately noted, thanks buddy.

Well the thing is I dont really want to open up the laptop, having to void warranty etc to do the pasting tbf I'm not that confident to do so in the first place but then again why am I to choose this option only during customization is still a question to me. Also if one paying this much on a laptop then expects it to be properly built (includes promptly done thermal pasting etc.) and tested really

Anyways I'd highly appreciate if you could go into details once I got the machine but for now is just tweaking and getting feedbacks from you guys which I do very much appreciate

 

[Stephen M]

Opening the laptop to re-paste will not void the warranty, PCS allow us to work on our machines.

 

[St3rling]

Now that's good to know however I just don't feel that confident to do so xD but thanks Stephen M

 

[Mustafo95]

Get one of those L2 Notepal laptop coolers as well. It's only like €28. The worst case scenario, even if it's turned off, it will lift up your laptop and give it some nice breathing room for airflow on the underside. Now I never owned one myself but most of the reviews for laptop coolers in general claim it doesn't really do anything significant but then some people claim it improves temps by 5-10 degrees celcius. You could always do your own research, watch some review videos on youtube. With undervolting, good thermal paste and laptop cooler, you should be able to improve the situation quite a bit.

 

[debiruman665]

Get one of those L2 Notepal laptop coolers as well. It's only like €28. The worst case scenario, even if it's turned off, it will lift up your laptop and give it some nice breathing room for airflow on the underside. Now I never owned one myself but most of the reviews for laptop coolers in general claim it doesn't really do anything significant but then some people claim it improves temps by 5-10 degrees celcius. You could always do your own research, watch some review videos on youtube. With undervolting, good thermal paste and laptop cooler, you should be able to improve the situation quite a bit.

Do they really help? I heard the bottom coolers just help the chassis and the extra power draw on the USB slots make your laptop draw more power and increase the heat so diminishing returns. Sadly there are not many AC powered laptop coolers, I've only seen home brew ones where people rigged pc case fans to laptop trays.

if it fits I highly recommend vacuum fans but they don't fit so well onto the octane.

 

[St3rling]

Thanks guys, it's worth looking into it but I just have bad experience with them, dust collection on another level, will fiddle with some undervolting with some help of course and keeping my fingers crossed for a proper thermal pasting

 

[Mustafo95]

Do they really help? I heard the bottom coolers just help the chassis and the extra power draw on the USB slots make your laptop draw more power and increase the heat so diminishing returns. Sadly there are not many AC powered laptop coolers, I've only seen home brew ones where people rigged pc case fans to laptop trays.

if it fits I highly recommend vacuum fans but they don't fit so well onto the octane.

In principle they should help right? I mean you have thermal hotspots, even if the fans just blow cold air at it and disperse the heat a bit, that's still a win in my book. Can't imagine blowing cold air at something would increase that objects' temperature.

 

[St3rling]

I'll look into it even though I'm still hoping for a good thermal paste and fiddling with undervolts with help, probably I sound like a broken record now but yes Mustafo95 I can't imagine that either, surely it cools down but then again I'm worried about blowing dust particles in the system overtime which means quicker dust build up as I've got carpet in my room etc.

 

[Mustafo95]

I'll look into it even though I'm still hoping for a good thermal paste and fiddling with undervolts with help, probably I sound like a broken record now but yes Mustafo95 I can't imagine that either, surely it cools down but then again I'm worried about blowing dust particles in the system overtime which means quicker dust build up as I've got carpet in my room etc.

Blow some compressed air into the vents, the fans will spit out the dust. That's how I do it. You get like 400ml of compressed air for two pounds. Saying stuff like that isn't a legit criticism of laptop coolers.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Blow some compressed air into the vents, the fans will spit out the dust. That's how I do it. You get like 400ml of compressed air for two pounds. Saying stuff like that isn't a legit criticism of laptop coolers.

Sorry, but have to say that’s exactly the wrong thing to do, that will clog up the heat sinks and cause thermal blowout eventually.

The only way to properly clean a laptop is to remove the cover, remove the fans if necessary and then clean out with compressed air.

There’s no way of avoiding dust buildup in a gaming laptop, they’re designed to be maintained periodically with a good clean out and repaste.

 

[St3rling]

Right guys, thank you for all your help, much appreciated, as for laptop coolers I won't be getting any, made up my mind, it's not going to do much imo and instead I will try to periodically clean my future laptop

 

[Flo]

From my experience, you get less dust in your laptop if using a decent cooler. Firstly because the laptop is raised from your desk where most of the dust builds up and secondly because you add an extra layer between the desk and the laptop fans so instead of all dust getting trapped in your laptop, some of it stays in the cooler. I have been using a laptop cooler since PCS order was delivered and had no spikes in temperature for the first 2 years of usage. Once I noticed the temps were a bit higher than usual, I opened up the device and did the usual clean and repaste. Surprisingly, there wasn't much dust on the heatsinks, definitely not like in previous laptops where no cooler was being used. I repasted, undervolted and the CPU is comfortably running just below 80 for more than a year now.

 

[St3rling]

That’s good to know Flo, I’m glad you have more positive experience with it

 

[SpyderTracks]

I must say, my laptop cooler brought temps down by an average of five degrees and I still use it 5 years later and it still works to the same effect.

 

[Oussebon]

Just to add to the above, I too got a laptop cooler to go with the last high end laptop I bought; it reduced temps by 5-7 degrees and made the difference between the fans ramping up relatively often to them being very quiet at low workloads.