Latest look at the 17.3" Laptop options and some advice:

[Bhuna50]

Time for an updated look at the 17.3” laptops on offer here. The last one of these I produced was January for when the new range of 3xxx series GPUs came out. A wide range has currently been made available, not all of them housing 3xxx GPUs, but a quick look so it can give those on a budget what areas they can look at. (This does not include the Recoil, which is a Desktop Replacement laptop as it is unfair to compare that to these as it can house a desktop processor)

The price tables below are all based on having very similar specs, and the table only highlights the differences, other items are mentioned underneath the tables provided.

Unfortunately in the current climate, you would need a budget in excess of £1000 and ideally £1500+ for a gaming / high end laptop. But here are some broken down for you into budget bands:

Budget up to £1,400 (Intel processors only)

This currently sees four options across three different laptops: Optimus XI, Elimina and Elimina Pro, the earlier GPUs of the 1650, 1650 Ti and the new RTX 3050 / 3050 Ti machines popping into this range. All carrying a VideoRAM of 4GB:

Links for the first three columns are above – and the fourth is here: Elimina Pro (1650 Ti).

Budget Around £1,400 to £1,700 (Intel processors only)

This enables you to move up a stage in the nVidia RTX graphics to the RTX 3060 and gives you 3 different laptop options: Elimina, the Elimina Pro and the Ionico (click the name to be taken to each of these specs configurators).

 

[Bhuna50]

Budget £1,750+ (Intel processors)

Now we are moving up into the variations of the RTX 3070 and RTX 3080s in the laptops. Four different options across two different laptop chassis, the Defiance and the Ionico.

Links to the configurator specs:

Defiance (3070)

Ionico (3070)

Defiance (3080)

Ionico (3080)

Budget £1,750+ (AMD processors)

The AMD Ryzen currently has three options in 2 chassis (Ionico and the Valeon).

I can only link the two 3070’s though as currently the Valeon with the RTX 3080 is out of stock until November.

OK – some general comments about the specs of the machines I have based these prices on is in the next post down in this thread. (had to split across a few posts due to size).

 

[Bhuna50]

Chassis and Displays:

Listed above in the specs, but just a quick mention here that only TongFang currently do a 1440p display screen. This is available in the Ionico and the Valeon only with all other TongFangs and all Clevos offering a 1080p screen.

Processors:

Other than the Optimus XI, which has a 6-core processor, all the other laptops have 8. Only two ranges currently offer an AMD Ryzen 9 – 5900HX processor (Ionico and Valeon), so unless you have a high budget £1750+ then you will have to settle for an Intel Processor.

The processors are listed in the table above.

Operating System:

I have assumed a standard Windows 11 Home 64 bit licence is required. Pro will be approximately £20 more and without a licence would make the build approximately £100 less. You would then be required to provide your own licenced OS and be able to conduct a clean install yourself. I notice at the moment on the configurator that a Windows 10 Home is available at £5 less than the Windows 11 licence, however you would then likely spend quite a bit of time updating this yourself to Win11, so is it worth the £5 saving? Only you will know…

Memory:

The prices above include Corsair 16GB RAM (2 x 8GB) – however depending on each machine depends on the speed of that RAM, so the speed has been specified in the table.

RAM is best purchased in pairs and for the majority of gaming and usage out there at the moment, 16GB is sufficient. The only exception I am aware of here for gaming is if you like MS Flight Simulator and then the recommendation would be 32GB to get some great visuals.

Personally, I went for 64GB RAM in my current laptop (spec in signature) and whilst I don’t regret it, I have only used over 32GB RAM once and that was when ‘stitching’/combining several large photos together in Lightroom / Photoshop.

SSD drives:

I have based each spec on only having 2 SSD drives as follows:

• a 500GB Samsung 970 EVO Plus (3500MB/sR, 3200MB/sW) – for OS, applications and programs.
• a 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus (3500MB/sR, 3300MB/sW) – for games, personal file storage etc.

These are fast M2 SSDs for the laptops and are not that much more expensive than two other brands that I would recommend:

The PCS 512gb and 1TB drives, both have speeds of 2000MB/sR and 1100MBs/W) – if you substituted those into the builds instead you save approximately £90, depending on the laptop.

The Intel 670 – 512GB and 1TB drives with speeds of 3000/1600 and 3500/2500 respectively come in about £45 cheaper in total.

Due to a relatively small difference between prices, I personally would go for the Samsungs now.

Other drives are available, but these are the main three I usually switch in and out of builds when recommending depending on your budget.

Other storage availability:

Further storage, by way of a 2.5” SSD or HDD is available only in the Intel versions of the Optimus XI and Elimina. Therefore, all comparisons above exclude this.

BT / Wifi card:

These all assume the default AX200 card. However there is now an AX210 card out – approximately £5 more, presumably a slight improvement/update on the AX200, however I forgot to change this in on the first set of builds, so based them all now on the AX200 – both these cards include Bluetooth then as well.

There is also an AX1650 available for about £15 more, however I do not know much about the differences so cannot comment and you will find that most builds, even desktops, recommend the AX200 mainly.

Battery time:

This is always an estimate and you cannot buy a gaming laptop expecting the battery time to be fantastic. Most of the 17.3” laptops quote a battery time of 4 hours, with the Ionico and the Defiance quoting 5 hours.

If battery time is really important for you due to needing to use it all day at college, Uni etc then you may need to reconsider the usage and type of the laptop you are getting (ie not a gaming/editing one), especially where the battery is integrated.

The other alternative is the Elimina with the 1650 GPU, has a detachable battery, which you could therefore buy a spare and swap them in and out during the day.

For gaming and high usage though, then expect the machine to be plugged in the majority of the time. There will likely be some significant performance issues if you tried gaming whilst the laptop was unplugged.

Warranty:

The above specs include the Standard warranty (1 month collect and return, 1 Year parts and 3 years labour).

It is certainly recommended to pay the extra £5 to upgrade this to the Silver warranty, giving a 1 year collect and return.

Personally, when spending over £1500 on a laptop though, I would recommend that you seriously considered the £69 for the Gold Warranty – which gives you 2 years on parts. If not this warranty, then at least get online and look for extended warranty insurance.

The majority, if not all, these laptops will likely have either the CPU or the GPU or both soldered onto the chassis/motherboard and as such if something does go requiring a chassis replacement, it can make it quite expensive to replace if out of warranty.

Dead Pixel Guarantee

Currently excluded from the above specs as I know its personal choice, but you can add either one month guarantee (£12) or one year guarantee (£19). For just the cost of a large classic Roast Dinner pizza, the one year guarantee is what I would recommend – I certainly don’t recommend the pizza.

Build time

Personal choice if you add fast track building or not – the above do not include it. You may find that fast track is not available on some brands due to supply issues.

Laptop cooling stand

Highly recommended – but many to choose from to make any comments on any really – its personal choice which one, but definitely suggest you get one – these gaming laptops can get and do expectedly get very hot at times.

Disclaimer:

I am not an employee of PCS and this has taking me a few days to put together as a guide for anyone looking for a laptop – I have tried to be as accurate as possible, but accept not responsibility if prices change or I have missed something from one of the linked specs for you that means the price isn’t as expected. It is your responsibility to ensure that any configuration / configured laptop you are purchasing is as per your requirements and is correct. This is here for information only as at the start of October 2021. Any opinions or recommendations expressed are my own.

Feel free to ask questions though and to post your spec in the Check Your Spec thread, there are lot of people here on these forums willing to help.

 

[Tron1982]

Time for an updated look at the 17.3” laptops on offer here. The last one of these I produced was January for when the new range of 3xxx series GPUs came out. A wide range has currently been made available, not all of them housing 3xxx GPUs, but a quick look so it can give those on a budget what areas they can look at. (This does not include the Recoil, which is a Desktop Replacement laptop as it is unfair to compare that to these as it can house a desktop processor)

I have to admit that i'd like to see you spec a recoil, for two reasons :
- 1, because i'm curious of what you'd consider a good spec
- 2, knowing people are lazy (the "3 clicks rule" is the perfect exemple), i'm pretty sure they will not look at other post, and so, they will not really see what is the last possibility

Disclaimer :
i know that laptop and DTR are not really the same thing, but i think it worth to mention they exist (with the kind of use they can support)
and if you are agree (or not, in fact ^^) with this post, you can delete it to have the topic with only your posts

 

[Bhuna50]

I have to admit that i'd like to see you spec a recoil, for two reasons :
- 1, because i'm curious of what you'd consider a good spec
- 2, knowing people are lazy (the "3 clicks rule" is the perfect exemple), i'm pretty sure they will not look at other post, and so, they will not really see what is the last possibility

Disclaimer :
i know that laptop and DTR are not really the same thing, but i think it worth to mention they exist (with the kind of use they can support)
and if you are agree (or not, in fact ^^) with this post, you can delete it to have the topic with only your posts

Thanks for volunteering LOL

In all honesty, with 13 different CPU choices on the Recoil - all Intel and no AMD variants currently on that list, I wouldn't know where to start and this took me long enough to put together let alone a spreadsheet for the Desktop Replacements that can be found here:

PCSPECIALIST - Desktop Laptops, Desktop Replacement Laptops

Configure a high performance Desktop Laptop at PCSpecialist. Your perfect Desktop replacement Laptop is just a few simple steps away.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

and includes a Valeon and Ionico but not the Recoil (so I am now officially confused) - I've not looked in great detail as to whether it is the same Valeons and Ionicos as the ones I have looked at above.

My advice above is more in showing all the different variations and lining it up with peoples budgets and in line with my thoughts on RAM and hard drives, which wouldnt necessarily change with a DTR if it still only had room for 2 SSDs etc.

Personally looking at the AMD v Intel arguments still regarding Desktop CPUs then if I was going for a DTR laptop, I would look at the AMD processors but budget would kick in here for most.

 

[Tron1982]

Thanks for volunteering LOL

In all honesty, with 13 different CPU choices on the Recoil - all Intel and no AMD variants currently on that list, I wouldn't know where to start and this took me long enough to put together let alone a spreadsheet for the Desktop Replacements that can be found here:

PCSPECIALIST - Desktop Laptops, Desktop Replacement Laptops

Configure a high performance Desktop Laptop at PCSpecialist. Your perfect Desktop replacement Laptop is just a few simple steps away.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

and includes a Valeon and Ionico but not the Recoil (so I am now officially confused) - I've not looked in great detail as to whether it is the same Valeons and Ionicos as the ones I have looked at above.

My advice above is more in showing all the different variations and lining it up with peoples budgets and in line with my thoughts on RAM and hard drives, which wouldnt necessarily change with a DTR if it still only had room for 2 SSDs etc.

Personally looking at the AMD v Intel arguments still regarding Desktop CPUs then if I was going for a DTR laptop, I would look at the AMD processors but budget would kick in here for most.

Touché !
I'm not as knowledgeable as the vast majority of the regulars here and my english is not that good, but i'll try to do something with the same "basics" specs you used
I'll send it to you @Bhuna50, so you can add it to your initial post (or something) and maybe take a look at my grammar ^^"
Do this deal seem good to you ?

 

[RobertoDub]

Hi, thank you for the comprehensive roundup!
I read Intel (at least its 11th gen) offers extra features over AMD, such as faster PCIe storage and Thunderbolt 4.

My doubts:

• Is the faster storage available when buying a PCS machine?
• And is there a way to benefit from the higher speed of Thunderbolt 4 in the real world, currently?

Thanks.

 

[Tron1982]

Hello,
As far as i know, the Recoil is the only one that support pcie 4 (so, the samsung 980 pro)
for the second point, i don't know
Hoping that answer your questions


@Bhuna50 i sent you a PM, if you want to take a look

 

[Bhuna50]

Hi, thank you for the comprehensive roundup!
I read Intel (at least its 11th gen) offers extra features over AMD, such as faster PCIe storage and Thunderbolt 4.

My doubts:

• Is the faster storage available when buying a PCS machine?
• And is there a way to benefit from the higher speed of Thunderbolt 4 in the real world, currently?

Thanks.

The Recoil and the Defiance are advertised as having Thunderbolt 4.

The faster storage appears to only be available on the Recoil as @Tron1982 mentions.

I believe AMD and Thunderbolt 4 machines will be available sometime during 2022 (generally speaking here so hopefully PCS will have some in), but exactly when I havent seen yet.

Re your second question, not sure really as not read into TB4 yet

 

[Bhuna50]

Further to my posts above regarding the non Desktop Replacement 17.3" laptops, the following has been put together by @Tron1982 for anyone interested in the Recoil - a desktop replacement laptop.

It should be said that again this has been produced by a non- PCS employee and is our (Tron's and mine) own thoughts on the 17.3 laptops available at PCS. The Recoil is what is known as a desktop replacement and comes with 2 power bricks so therefore you would require a double plug, space for the power bricks. As such please do not expect the Recoil to be as portable as other laptops mentioned and also battery life would likely be quite abysmal - as you can see its reports at about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours.

Budget £2,000 to £3,000.

@Tron1982 says:

"To explain my building choice and differences :

I chose the cpu based on the tom's hardware review (look like it's a trusted website/review here)
The 3 cpu's are the best 11th gen cpu (and one of each kind i5/i7/i9)

I chose, as primary ssd, the 500 GB 980 pro samsung, because i think it will be a "waste" to not use it, but, as second, i choose the 1Tb 970 ssd

(@Bhuna50 says here, that putting in the Samsung 980 SSD only puts the price up by £30 compared to that of a 970 in this slot and as Tron says - would be a waste really if you don't spend that extra £30 and utilise the speed - please also note that only ONE slot can take the faster 980 and you are then limited to the slower M2 speeds of the 970 in the second M2 slot). Operating system should always be put on the fastest drive available.)

@Tron1982 continues with:

Otherwise, I tried to be as exhaustive as possible, I chose to show the three GPU available, because i prefer to allow choice

I'm not sure how to select the "best overall", but i'd choose the i7+3080 or the i7+3070

Anyway, here is the table regarding the Recoil:

(Thanks @Tron1982 for providing the information and that table).

@Tron1982 will shortly post a link to their review of the Recoil that they have ordered and received.

 

[Tron1982]

So, just to add some details to why i suggest those "best overall" (and with @Bhuna50 advise), i wrote some time ago, a review about my recoil that you can found here

17" Recoil with 3080 and i7-11700k review

Sooooo, after a pair of messages about my feeling about the 17” recoil (clevo chassis number X170KM-G) and a promise I made to myself to write a review, here I come … (I’ll join some picture when I can) First thing first, please, accept my apologies for my “mandatory” English mistakes ^^” (we...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

it should be noted that the screen pcs offer now is better that the one i have ^^


Edit : i hope these additional informations may help you

 

[barlew]

@bhudo you know what the TDP is for the 3080 in the 17 inch Ionico mate?

 

[Bhuna50]

@barlew - who's @bhudo LOL

Sorry - dont know the 3080 - the 3070 I believe was 125+15.

 

[barlew]

@barlew - who's @bhudo LOL

Sorry - dont know the 3080 - the 3070 I believe was 125+15.

Lmfao god damn phone keyboard! That's great so they are running them at the high end of the TDP. Very encouraging.

 

[AgentCooper]

Lmfao god damn phone keyboard! That's great so they are running them at the high end of the TDP. Very encouraging.

Don’t worry about bhudo, he’s got a lot on at work at the moment.

 

[Hercules Smith]

Hi. Can anyone help me out re the keyboards on these 17" laptops. The laptop will mostly be used for work with gaming as second so it has to meet my needs for work first. What I can't tell from the photos is what they keys are on the number pad side. I can see it is four columns across so it will have enter and + where I need them, but I also navigate around spreadsheets using the home/end and page up/down - some keyboards have some of these requiring the fn button to be pressed.

I'm looking at the Elima Pro Series backlit and the 17" Defiance Series. If someone could do a photo of the number pad area of the keyboards then that would be great.

Also, what is the benefit of the Recoil brand laptops? For roughly the same spec of an i7 and a 3060 it's about £900 more than a Defiance. I'm curious what you get for the extra £900?

Thanks

 

[Tron1982]

I'm looking at the Elima Pro Series backlit and the 17" Defiance Series. If someone could do a photo of the number pad area of the keyboards then that would be great.

If i'm not wrong, you have some pictures of the keyboard on the laptop page.

Also, what is the benefit of the Recoil brand laptops? For roughly the same spec of an i7 and a 3060 it's about £900 more than a Defiance. I'm curious what you get for the extra £900?

It's a completly different kind of laptop ^^
The recoil is a Desktop Replacement, with a full desktop CPU instead of a laptop cpu.
The motherboard is really different with more upgradability (more ram slot, ssd slot, and so on)
The chassis is bigger and have "better" quality component (like speakers)

So, you can't really compare the two kind of chassis ^^

I hope this answer your question ^^

 

[Hercules Smith]

Thanks for the answers.

The pictures on the website that show the keyboards do not show the number pad area of the keyboard clearly enough to make out what the buttons actually are at the top area of the number pad. That's why I'm asking .


Even if someone can just tell me what the buttons are - top two rows five buttons over at the right.

I'm hoping it goes something like:
delete, home, end, page up, page down
backspace, num lock / * -

Laptop keyboards seem to do these buttons differently each time. I don't want to have to press fn to access things like home and end.

 

[Tron1982]

From my memories, the clevo chassis have a "classical" keyboard (defiance or recoil) and the Tongfang chassis (elimina pro) have 3 vertical rows for the numbers and the + / - * on the top

But I may be wrong, you have to check closely ^^
(Sorry, I can't look at it clearly for now)

 

[Hercules Smith]

I think they both have the 4 columns with the enter and plus at the side, I'm pretty sure the keys at the top will be OK too, but really want to double check before spending one and a half grand.

Are there any staff from PC Specialist checking questions on here?