Octane - Advice needed

[Fourteenth]

Hi all, I'm looking to get myself a new laptop primarily for gaming, I was considering a PC at first but I do a lot of travelling so decided I definitely want a laptop due to portability, but at the same time hoping this has minimum impact on gaming performance. I'm struggling to decide what specs will be best? My initial budget was going to be £1500 but the below comes to £1815 which I am happy to pay, and is probably my max budget unless anyone has suggestions which will be worth adding.

What are your thoughts on the below specs? Should anything be changed? I'd like a laptop which is going to perform without any lag on modern games, not overly fussed about max graphics. The Octane seemed to be looking the best, but if anyone thinks a different model would be better I'm open to any feedback or suggestions.

Thanks in advance, here are the specs:

Chassis & Display
Octane Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700k (3.7GHz) 12MB Cache
FREE Warhammer: Vermintide 2 & XMorph Defense w/ select Intel CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 OC 1480 MHz - 6.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Hard Disk
480GB KINGSTON UV400 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (550MB/R, 500MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Battery
Octane Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (82WH)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ WIRELESS-AC 1550 M.2 GAMING 802.11AC + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS, 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS, 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
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
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Google Chrome™
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 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,815.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations//FmTtYM6QPx/

 

[Oussebon]

The Octane has desktop CPUs. You're investing a huge amount of your budget into this, whereas the GPU will make much more of a difference to gaming performance.

One of the Defiance models would make more sense.

You're also wasting money with the RAM. 16gb is more than futureproof for gaming needs. There's very little difference between 8gb and 16gb as things stand for performance; there's no advantage at all to 32gb, it isn't a case of more = better there.

Do you have any uses for it outside of gaming?

 

[Fourteenth]

Thanks for the reply and advice, it's much appreciated, note taken on the RAM .

So would the graphics card always be favoured over CPU? I had this build for the defiance (see below) but wasn't sure if the extra CPUs would have gave better performance. Would this defiance build offer better gaming performance than the build I listed above?

and to answer your question, I'll also use it for programming, and watching things online etc - but not too bothered about them.

Defiance XS build:

Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 120Hz LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor 7700HQ (2.8GHz, 3.8GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 Max-Q - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Hard Disk
480GB KINGSTON UV400 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (550MB/R, 500MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ WIRELESS-AC 1550 M.2 GAMING 802.11AC + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.1 Type A, 2 x USB 3.1 Type C AS STANDARD
Keyboard Language
RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
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 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,532.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/defiancexs-15/G9!UTg2vjJ/

Many thanks again

 

[Fourteenth]

I posted a reply to this yesterday but not sure if it had to be approved first, I will re-post my reply soon if this aint the case thanks for the reply

 

[Fourteenth]

Hi, thanks for the advice, much appreciated. Note taken on the RAM I'll go for 16GB instead, I'm wondering however would the defiance XS offer better performance with the 2.8ghz quad core and improved graphics card compared to the octane specs posted above? I noticed theres also the XS II, which comes with six cores at 2.2ghz instead, would this be a better choice over the quad core?

Thanks again for your advice

 

[Oussebon]

I would avoid any the older Defiance models that have a 7700HQ, and stick to the newer ones with the 8th Gen 8750H, since this could help performance in some games and programming.

 

[Fourteenth]

Okay thanks again for the assistance I'll check out the 8th gen models

 

[khangf]

I had a Defiance XS I which I bought few days before Defiance XS II is released and I returned it to get the newer Defiance XS. I had my chance to experience the laptop for few days. Here is something might help your decision.

1. It's powerful with this thickness and without any throttling (Even better performance after undervolt)
2. The fans are really loud when they are in load, expect something like when a plane is starting and your in it. You won't noticed the fan when it's on idle.
3. RGB is three zone and not single key.
4. No thunderbolt.
5. Crappy control panel software

Just for your information, this is my spec for my Defiance XS II.
Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 Max-Q - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 2.5" SSHD - UP TO 5X FASTER THAN HDD!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3200MB/R, 1900MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND

I noticed that you got only single 480GB SATA SSD for your drive, I wouldn't recommend that, I might suggest your get a NVMe M.2 SSD + mechanical drive to get the storage space and the performance.

 

[Fourteenth]

Thank you for the points you made, I really appreciate it, I'm struggling to decide what to go for, but I am also considering the XS II now myself, From your experience are there any downsides to the XS II?

And thanks for the advice on the drive, I'll bare that in mind

 

[Oussebon]

Note that there is also a Defiance (not the XS) which has a 1440p gsync screen and GTX 1070 option. I haven't drawn up a spec but expect it will be in your budget range, and it's probably still a bit less bulky than the Octane.

 

[Fourteenth]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I've just ordered my laptop today, decided to go for the XS II, and took all the comments into consideration, will post up a review next month with my honest thoughts on the laptop, here is the spec I went with:

Chassis & Display
Defiance Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 8750H (2.2GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 Max-Q - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Hard Disk
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 2.5" SSHD - UP TO 5X FASTER THAN HDD!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 150W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + MIC/Headphone + SoundBlaster X-Fi MB3
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ WIRELESS-AC 1550 M.2 GAMING 802.11AC + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.1 Type A, 2 x USB 3.1 Type C AS STANDARD
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)