High performance laptop for HD movies/gaming (<£1000)

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dartar

New member
Hi guys,

Just discovered this site! looks good value. Could anyone suggest a build for around £1k 1.2 MAX but would prefer not to. I will be using it for movies and gaming, and mainly want something very fast! also the bigger screen the better, I use my laptop as a desktop replacement.

Thanks in advance.
 
D

Dexterous

Active member
dartar said:
Hi guys,

Just discovered this site! looks good value. Could anyone suggest a build for around £1k 1.2 MAX but would prefer not to. I will be using it for movies and gaming, and mainly want something very fast! also the bigger screen the better, I use my laptop as a desktop replacement.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...


Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
90GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BD-5750H 6x BLURAY WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£79)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

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

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1102 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N NETWORK CARD

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

Battery
Upgrade to 62.16WH 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (£39)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor

Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED

Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

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)

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
 
A

Adli

Enthusiast
Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" AUO Matte Full HD Widescreen (1920x1080) (£85)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£49)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

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

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

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

Battery
Optimus/Voyager Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

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)

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

£971 inc VAT and Delivery.
 
D

Dexterous

Active member
Higer end of the scale that will destroy everything and if possible spend £1 extra to add 1 year dead pixel insurance

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
AMD® Radeon® HD 7970M - 2GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£49)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

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

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1102 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N NETWORK CARD

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

Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT

Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor

Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED

Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

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)

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

Total Price:£1182
 
D

dartar

New member
Thanks for these suggestions. I heard the ssd is good for speed etc, will I have to change any settings to make use of it?

Also I've never had radeon before, how does it do vs the nvidia?

Thanks again!
 
dangro474

dangro474

Bright Spark
Hi mate,

I've harked on this many times before, but if you're after maximum performance and are considering a budget between £1k and £1.2k, you should put a lot of tohught into extending it slightly in order to afford a current gen flagship GPU, as this will always be the bottleneck of a gaming laptop.

I would recommend the spec below, making adjustments where necessary:

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
AMD® Radeon® HD 7970M - 2GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£49)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

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

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

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

Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT

Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

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)

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

Quantity
1

Price: £1,194.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/VortexIII-15/gGOh9WYT5A/
Click to expand...


The 7970M is the most powerful mobile GPU alongside the Geforce 680M. Although the Geforce 650M GT card is certainly impressive as an MXM 3.0A card, it is dwarfed by the 7970m, which on average outperforms it by up to 200% and is arguably faster on average than a desktop 570...

650vs7970.jpg

Click the above image for a benchmark comparisson.

Good luck with your decision.

Edit: A similarly specced Vortex III 17" would set you back an additional £60 ish.
 
Last edited:
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
dartar said:
Thanks for these suggestions. I heard the ssd is good for speed etc, will I have to change any settings to make use of it?

Also I've never had radeon before, how does it do vs the nvidia?

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

There are some guidelines for SSD management:
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?14728-SSD-Management
If you order the SSD from PCS it would be ready to use.
I'd consider dangro474's spec and add the SSD later on not to compromise on the graphics card.
 
dangro474

dangro474

Bright Spark
I must stress that although SSD's are lovely for decreasing load times, they do not improve gaming performance whatsoever with the exception of games with terrible LOD optimisation.

If you intend to include an SSD in your system while working with a budget, ensure that you do not compromise on any components which contribute heavily to gaming performance.

For example, an optimus system with 650M and a 256GB intel SSD would cost roughly the same as a Vortex system with 7970M and a standard 7.2k RPM HDD. Games on the optimus system would load considerably faster but you would suffer a performance loss of up to 65% (1/3 of the performance of the vortex system with 7970M).
 
D

dartar

New member
dangro474 said:
I must stress that although SSD's are lovely for decreasing load times, they do not improve gaming performance whatsoever with the exception of games with terrible LOD optimisation.

If you intend to include an SSD in your system while working with a budget, ensure that you do not compromise on any components which contribute heavily to gaming performance.

For example, an optimus system with 650M and a 256GB intel SSD would cost roughly the same as a Vortex system with 7970M and a standard 7.2k RPM HDD. Games on the optimus system would load considerably faster but you would suffer a performance loss of up to 65% (1/3 of the performance of the vortex system with 7970M).
Click to expand...

Thanks for this and other suggestion think I'll go radeon with 17 screen and no ssd for now, howich ram etc is needed?

Thanks
 
D

dartar

New member
One last question, do I need the Network Lan gaming Killer Card thing ? or is the cheap option OK ?

Thanks
 
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