New Gaming Laptop

[Mulligan]

My PCS Vortex II is very much showing it's age so I'm going to replace it.

I'm looking for a 17" gaming laptop between £1700-1800. I've specced out the below but over budget, could any one recommend the best way to shave off £100 or £200 with the least compromise on performance?

Definitely want SSD as primary drive, and need at least 1tb secondary HD.

Thanks!

Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-7600 (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
FREE Halo Wars 2 with select INTEL® CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
1st Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK 2.5" WD10JPLX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 330W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 Ports + 2 x USB 3.1 Type C Ports
Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Keyboard Language
OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
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 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,901.00 including VAT and delivery

 

[keynes]

A defiance 17" will offer similar performance and it should be cheaper.

 

[Oussebon]

The above is good advice.

Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK 2.5" WD10JPLX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.1 Type A, 2 x USB 3.1 Type C AS STANDARD
Battery
Defiance Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (60WH)
Keyboard Language
DEFIANCE SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
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 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,625.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/defianceIII-17/GTsr8vbN6N/

 

[Scott]

I can only echo the above, defiance is definitely the way to go IMO. You can get a high end i7 for the same money. The Octane only really makes sense when you're going for the top end CPUs IMO.

 

[Mulligan]

Thanks for the advice.

Dropping from i5-7600 (3.5GHz) to 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo) seems like quite a drop, will it make a significant difference for gaming performance?

 

[Scott]

There will be a slight impact in CPU heavy games. it's all down to balance though, the GPU will be happily fed from the 6700HQ so there's no point going any higher really. You COULD opt for the 6820hk but that's a lot of money for not a HUGE amount of gain. I happily ran 4.2Ghz on my 6820hk though so that may be something to look at

 

[Scott]

Just checked and the 6820hk is off the table so that's a no-go. The 7820k is crazy money.

 

[Oussebon]

It isn't dropping down really. For one thing, most games will be limited by the GPU's performance most of the time, assuming you're using the higher settings.

The i7 6700HQ has lower single threaded performance, which might make a bit of a difference in a few games such as WoW. However, it's still plenty powerful, and may well perform better in games that thread more.
You can see the kinds of differences in synthetic benchmarks here: http://tinyurl.com/kqs2hyh bearing in mind that differences in gaming tend to be a lot slimmer.

If buying the Octane you may as well get the 7700k as there's not much point to getting the Octane without one in all honesty. A mobile i7 is, give or take, about as good as a desktop i5, so the main point of the Octane is to get the desktop i7. That said, the differences in many games may also be quite slim proportionate to the extra cost of getting an Octane with an i7 vs the Defiance.

One note to the spec I posted above - I put it with 2133MHz RAM but on reflection the 2400MHz RAM is only ~£9 more, so may be worth getting for the slight uplift it may give here and there.

 

[Scott]

If you're set on the Octane then I would suggest this sort of spec. The WD Black is a waste of money IMO but it's not a bank breaker so go for it if you fancy it.


Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-7700k (4.2GHz) 8MB Cache
FREE VR Game Bundle with select INTEL® CPUs!
FREE Halo Wars 2 with select INTEL® CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1, G-SYNC
1st Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 330W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 Ports + 2 x USB 3.1 Type C Ports
Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Keyboard Language
OCTANE SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price £2,066.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/octaneIII-17/Aq8gRJFjZX/


£400 is an awful lot of money for not an awful lot of relevant gain. This is coming from an Octane owner, this is a proper enthusiasts laptop..... it's not all about gaming. That said, the GTX1080 is the Octanes real trick. I genuinely believe it's pointless getting one without the need for a top spec i7 and the top spec GTX... anything less is just about covered in the defiance spec.

 

[Oussebon]

For desktops the WD Black is arguably not worth the premium. For laptops, the drive is significantly faster being 7200rpm than the regular 1TB HDDs, and has a smaller cost increase. It's no more a waste of cash than an SM961 is over an 850 Evo.

 

[Scott]

For desktops the WD Black is arguably not worth the premium. For laptops, the drive is significantly faster being 7200rpm than the regular 1TB HDDs, and has a smaller cost increase. It's no more a waste of cash than an SM961 is over an 850 Evo.

I would disagree as the SM961 would be the primary drive. It's much more relevant to have a vastly faster unit for the main drive/OS than it is to have a slightly faster storage drive.

I would always pocket the savings to put toward future storage when it comes to brand names (where reliability isn't compromised).

 

[Oussebon]

It's not about brand names it's about speed, and the difference isn't slight. Having recently repurposed a 5400rpm laptop drive for storage in my desktop, that's my experience anyway.

 

[SpyderTracks]

It's not about brand names it's about speed, and the difference isn't slight. Having recently repurposed a 5400rpm laptop drive for storage in my desktop, that's my experience anyway.

I would wholeheartedly agree, the difference between a 7200 and 5400 rpm drive is night and day even for storage needs

 

[Scott]

I get that there's a big performance difference, I've got a couple of Samsung Spinpoints (F1 & F3) that completely back that up. For me personally the speed difference between the 2 is irrelevant as it's the difference between transferring at 100MB/s or transferring at 130MB/s. The difference in figures is huge but in reality it makes little difference to me as I'm rarely doing mass transfers. Any backups are automatic so I don't notice anything. I'm generally transferring the odd MP3, image or document that's instant anyway.

It would be completely different if loading games from said drives though as if I had the choice (for that little outlay) I would definitely go with the faster drive.

 

[Mulligan]

Within my budget it sounds like the i7-7700k in the Octane is overkill. I'll probably go for the 6700HQ in the Defiance.
So is it not worth the extra £150~ for the next generation 7700HQ?

The SSD won't be big enough to store all games, so I'll likely stick with 7,200rpm HD for the slightly faster loading.

As much as I'd like to I got the Gtx 1080 for my desktop, don't think I can justify the expense again on the new laptop.

 

[Oussebon]

If it's not worth paying the premium for a 7700k for performance, it probably isn't worth £150 for the modest performance bump of the 7700HQ (200-300MHz). Since you're GPU bound in most games anyway it probably won't be a make or break difference for any given game, and in many cases may not even be a perceptible difference either. GPUs tend to go out of date for gaming a lot faster than CPUs as well.

Compared to what else you could do with £150 (bigger SSD for more games loading faster, buy more games, save up for your next laptop in 4-5 years time, non-computer things...)