Segwayrider
Silver Level Poster
About a week ago I received my new Nova laptop. I think I've had it enough to get a feel for what its like, so I though I would write here what I think about it.
Specs
Chassis & Display
Nova Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900 12 Core CPU (3.1GHz-4.3GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
2TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
2 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
2 x 1 Metre European Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
2 x Nova Series 62WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 M.2 GAMING + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.2 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
15" NOVA SERIES DANISH KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
Denmark/Danmark - Danish Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
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 1MP 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
3 DAY DELIVERY TO DENMARK
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - Denmark
Order time.
It only took 5 (work) days to get shipped, which I think is pretty good, especially during these time ( keep in mind that yours may not be as fast however). The proces was this ( ordered 1/6, build 4/6, tested 5/6, awaiting dispatch 6/6, sent 8/6 ( the days in between was a weekend), Arrived 10/6 (I live in Denmark). I honestly thought It would take longer, and I'm very happy about the timeframe.
The arrival and the first few days.
Since I live in another country I received it from a different company than DPD (Postnord for those who want to know). I came it, nice and secure without any damage, and I was happy to see how it was packed with care. It was pretty easy to set up, though I did have some problems with windows (see problems further down). After that all was fixed and I had downloaded all of my games, I began to have fun. The cpu temperate did go pretty high up in the beginning, even when idle it was like 80+, and at time 90+. This decreased as time move on and all of the background stuff a computer does in the beginning of its "life" was over. Just a note so you not gonna panic when you see a high cpu temperature in the first day or two.
Performance.
So far I haven't played that many games, just GTA 5 (manly online), Far cry 5, AC odyssey, and civ 6, all on highest settings. (I'll add fps scores of games as i get to them) The performance go as follows
GTA 5: 60-70 in online (about 140 sm, but I have only been in Michaels house to load into online from)
Far Cry 5: 110-120.
AC odyssey: around 60, 55 benchmark.
civ 6: 60, maybe one more or less from time to time.
Red Dead Redemption 2: benchmark: average of 44 fps (min 20, high 98)
Watch dogs 2: about 40 fps (min 30, high 55)
While under load the cpu is on about 80, and gpu about 60
Just browsing the cpu is about 60, and gpu about mid 40's
All temperatures are with a looptop cooler set on 3 (out 6) fan speed
It is worth noting that by tweaking the cpu max power drain to 99%, you can make it cooler (by about 10 Celsius), though you will see a slight decrease in performance as follows:
Far cry 5: 99-130
AC odyssey: about 3 frames on the benchmark, though I seem to be seeing more frames at times then without tweaking the power to cpu so idk.
It does seem like the fps is a bit more "erratic" with this trick.
The good.
The performance is amazing and I am really happy about it. The frame rate is nice and smooth. I was nicely surprised by the fact that it has 13 color option ((weak)2xorange, 2xpink, (weak)red, purple, dark and light blue, grey, yellow, green, +2 im not sure of), as the page doesn't mention. It is also really easy to take of the battery (just two screws!), and underbelly (5 screws). You then just slide it away from where the battery is, and you are in. I haven't moved further in as of yet, but it seems easy.
Some bad things.
The poor battery life is an obvious one (about 1 hour), but so far I hasn't impacted me, since I have kept it plugged in. The weight doesn't really seem like that much of a problem, though I haven't had it on my lap or carried it about for that long at a time. I would say the main bad part is the fan noise, when under heavy load (basically the level of your car when turning on the ac/heat, on a really hot/cold day). The fans do get quieter if you use the 99% power to the cpu. Keep in mind it would be difficult to get a proper gaming laptop, with these kind of specs, where the fans doesn't make a lot of noise.
The other bad thing I can see is that from about the 5rfc to the keypad and a bit below the space bar, it does get a bit hot when gaming, and there is even heat when just browsing (with the fans to automatic). Not bruning hot but noticeable. The area above the f-keys, are not a place you want to leave your hand for a longer period of time, when under load however, and the same for the power brick.
A minor detail is that I did send PC specialist some questions about the laptop over email on 28/5, and they haven't responded as of yet. But I want to empathies that it was to the Danish email address (with .dk not .uk ) and it was before I created a user here so... maybe they just didn't receive it 🤷♂️
The problems
So far I've had 2 problems with my nova. The first one was more of an example on why you should always clean install windows, and the other haven't happen again, though no one seems to be sure what caused it and was pretty major
The windows issue
So basically when I first booted up my new PC and was over all the setup portion, I discovered that I couldn't use the search function in path finder nor in the box "write here to search" thing next to the windows icon. It didn't work when I pushed the windows key either. I was that windows could be updated so of course I did. after the update was over I worked it. Great, right? Expect now my settings didn't want to open. It would open up to the settings icon surrender by blue, and then just shut itself down. Thankfully thanks to this awesome community ( I almost want to recommend PCSpecalist solely due to their awesome member and moderaters. You guys rock!) I got help to figure out of the revert the windows I had before, using commands. I then clean installed windows and lo and behold everything worked ( it was my first time, and tbh it wasn't that difficult as I feared).
The other issue.
For some reason after gaming for about 3 hours, my keyboard just... stopped working. not even the power bottom. My trackpad, and usb mouse worked but nothing else. So I gave PC Specialist a call and after some talk I took out the battery, turned it on again, and it worked fine. Haven't had any issue otherwise. I dont know what caused it no one else seems sure either. The guy wrote it down a note of the issue. I want to say that he was really helpful and it was defiantly good customer service.
Overall.
I know it seems like I wrote more about problems, but keep in mind that problems are more likely to be brought up than if everything worked perfectly ( and that can be summed up in fewer words too
). Tbh the great community infrastructure of awesome and helpful people, as well as their customer support makes them, in my opinion, superior place to get your pc. It does help it was the cheapest I could find with these kind of spec, where only a few came close to component/ vs price. As far as the Nova is concerned; the only reason I see not to buy the nova, is due to the poor battery life, heavyer weight, and maybe if your prefer a 17" (maybe if you prefer RGB lighting too, I guess?). This is the first time I bought from PC Specialist, and I can conformably say that I don't regret it!
Specs
Chassis & Display
Nova Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900 12 Core CPU (3.1GHz-4.3GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
2TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
2 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
2 x 1 Metre European Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
2 x Nova Series 62WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 M.2 GAMING + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.2 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
15" NOVA SERIES DANISH KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
Denmark/Danmark - Danish Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
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 1MP 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
3 DAY DELIVERY TO DENMARK
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - Denmark
Order time.
It only took 5 (work) days to get shipped, which I think is pretty good, especially during these time ( keep in mind that yours may not be as fast however). The proces was this ( ordered 1/6, build 4/6, tested 5/6, awaiting dispatch 6/6, sent 8/6 ( the days in between was a weekend), Arrived 10/6 (I live in Denmark). I honestly thought It would take longer, and I'm very happy about the timeframe.
The arrival and the first few days.
Since I live in another country I received it from a different company than DPD (Postnord for those who want to know). I came it, nice and secure without any damage, and I was happy to see how it was packed with care. It was pretty easy to set up, though I did have some problems with windows (see problems further down). After that all was fixed and I had downloaded all of my games, I began to have fun. The cpu temperate did go pretty high up in the beginning, even when idle it was like 80+, and at time 90+. This decreased as time move on and all of the background stuff a computer does in the beginning of its "life" was over. Just a note so you not gonna panic when you see a high cpu temperature in the first day or two.
Performance.
So far I haven't played that many games, just GTA 5 (manly online), Far cry 5, AC odyssey, and civ 6, all on highest settings. (I'll add fps scores of games as i get to them) The performance go as follows
GTA 5: 60-70 in online (about 140 sm, but I have only been in Michaels house to load into online from)
Far Cry 5: 110-120.
AC odyssey: around 60, 55 benchmark.
civ 6: 60, maybe one more or less from time to time.
Red Dead Redemption 2: benchmark: average of 44 fps (min 20, high 98)
Watch dogs 2: about 40 fps (min 30, high 55)
While under load the cpu is on about 80, and gpu about 60
Just browsing the cpu is about 60, and gpu about mid 40's
All temperatures are with a looptop cooler set on 3 (out 6) fan speed
It is worth noting that by tweaking the cpu max power drain to 99%, you can make it cooler (by about 10 Celsius), though you will see a slight decrease in performance as follows:
Far cry 5: 99-130
AC odyssey: about 3 frames on the benchmark, though I seem to be seeing more frames at times then without tweaking the power to cpu so idk.
It does seem like the fps is a bit more "erratic" with this trick.
The good.
The performance is amazing and I am really happy about it. The frame rate is nice and smooth. I was nicely surprised by the fact that it has 13 color option ((weak)2xorange, 2xpink, (weak)red, purple, dark and light blue, grey, yellow, green, +2 im not sure of), as the page doesn't mention. It is also really easy to take of the battery (just two screws!), and underbelly (5 screws). You then just slide it away from where the battery is, and you are in. I haven't moved further in as of yet, but it seems easy.
Some bad things.
The poor battery life is an obvious one (about 1 hour), but so far I hasn't impacted me, since I have kept it plugged in. The weight doesn't really seem like that much of a problem, though I haven't had it on my lap or carried it about for that long at a time. I would say the main bad part is the fan noise, when under heavy load (basically the level of your car when turning on the ac/heat, on a really hot/cold day). The fans do get quieter if you use the 99% power to the cpu. Keep in mind it would be difficult to get a proper gaming laptop, with these kind of specs, where the fans doesn't make a lot of noise.
The other bad thing I can see is that from about the 5rfc to the keypad and a bit below the space bar, it does get a bit hot when gaming, and there is even heat when just browsing (with the fans to automatic). Not bruning hot but noticeable. The area above the f-keys, are not a place you want to leave your hand for a longer period of time, when under load however, and the same for the power brick.
A minor detail is that I did send PC specialist some questions about the laptop over email on 28/5, and they haven't responded as of yet. But I want to empathies that it was to the Danish email address (with .dk not .uk ) and it was before I created a user here so... maybe they just didn't receive it 🤷♂️
The problems
So far I've had 2 problems with my nova. The first one was more of an example on why you should always clean install windows, and the other haven't happen again, though no one seems to be sure what caused it and was pretty major
The windows issue
So basically when I first booted up my new PC and was over all the setup portion, I discovered that I couldn't use the search function in path finder nor in the box "write here to search" thing next to the windows icon. It didn't work when I pushed the windows key either. I was that windows could be updated so of course I did. after the update was over I worked it. Great, right? Expect now my settings didn't want to open. It would open up to the settings icon surrender by blue, and then just shut itself down. Thankfully thanks to this awesome community ( I almost want to recommend PCSpecalist solely due to their awesome member and moderaters. You guys rock!) I got help to figure out of the revert the windows I had before, using commands. I then clean installed windows and lo and behold everything worked ( it was my first time, and tbh it wasn't that difficult as I feared).
The other issue.
For some reason after gaming for about 3 hours, my keyboard just... stopped working. not even the power bottom. My trackpad, and usb mouse worked but nothing else. So I gave PC Specialist a call and after some talk I took out the battery, turned it on again, and it worked fine. Haven't had any issue otherwise. I dont know what caused it no one else seems sure either. The guy wrote it down a note of the issue. I want to say that he was really helpful and it was defiantly good customer service.
Overall.
I know it seems like I wrote more about problems, but keep in mind that problems are more likely to be brought up than if everything worked perfectly ( and that can be summed up in fewer words too
). Tbh the great community infrastructure of awesome and helpful people, as well as their customer support makes them, in my opinion, superior place to get your pc. It does help it was the cheapest I could find with these kind of spec, where only a few came close to component/ vs price. As far as the Nova is concerned; the only reason I see not to buy the nova, is due to the poor battery life, heavyer weight, and maybe if your prefer a 17" (maybe if you prefer RGB lighting too, I guess?). This is the first time I bought from PC Specialist, and I can conformably say that I don't regret it!Attachments
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