This is my first purchases from PC Specialist but have been looking to buy a custom gaming laptop since my old Medion laptop began to really struggle to play newer more demanding games. After searching online to find a reputable company that specialize in custom gaming laptops i was torn between PC Specialist, Cyberpower and Alienware. Cyberpower appeared to be a lot more pricey, where Alienware you didn't really get that much of a choice of what went into your build and considering my budget PC Specialist seemed to be the best bet. I must say I'm very pleased with my choice and will defiantly be buying from this company again and I am planning on buying a gaming desktop from here (once i have the money that is 
). So here is my review bare in mind I'm novice when it comes to computers, I basically know how to turn a computer on and off, run basic software and obviously playing computer games.
My Spec
Display: 15.6"
CPU: i7-4720HQ 2.60GHz
RAM: 8GB KINGSTON 1600MHz
Graphics Card: 3GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M
Hard Drive: 1TB WD SLIM BLUE (5400 rpm)
Thermal Paste: ARCTIC MX-4
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium
Anti-Virus: NORTON SECURITY 2.0
Office Software: Microsoft Home & Student 2013
Warranty: 3 Year Standard
Budget: £1,100
Price: £1,091.40
Customer Service, Packaging & Delivery
I was very pleased with the customer service, as soon as the payment cleared I received an email and through the entire process they kept me informed on my order but will warn buyers that the pre-production period may take several days before it goes through building especially if they have a lot of orders. Even when i sent an email inquiring about my order, I got an email the same day about my order status (If I'm honest I was simply impatient and was like a kid on Christmas morning waiting for my new toy). They did run into a small problem with my order which was my choice of Wireless card which wouldn't fit into the Chassis but got in touch me and offered another card and refunded me the money from my previous choice of card. I received my laptop 11 days after I initially ordered it and was shocked at the size of the box as it was huge but It was securely packed to prevent any damage and I received the laptop within 24 hours of receiving an email informing me that my package had been posted.
Rating
10/10
Chassis & Display
If I'm honest it was the look of the Chassis that first drew me into buying the Proteus II (My flat mate affectionately calls it "The Bat Mobile") It has a nice matte finish which i prefer as my last laptop had a gloss finish and would constantly needed wiping as it picked up the slightest finger print. I love how the whole thing lights up making it pretty looking, I was a bit confused in how to turn on the keyboard lights so if anyone has the same problem you need to press SPACE and FN together to switch the lights on. The 15.6" display is perfect size and despite the display being the same size as my previous laptop it actually appears to be larger. After inspection I couldn't find any dead pixels and though I would of preferred an 17.3" display it is a good screen.
Rating
9/10
Sound
The sound is pretty basic despite having an sub-woofer I cannot tell if their is any real difference but as I manly used a gaming headset (To spare my flat mate having to listen to me gaming) it doesn't really matter to me and the sound is crystal clear when I insert my headphones into the Jack.
Rating
8/10
Heat, Cooling & Fan Noise
The cooling is great, if your just surfing the web or running basic software such as word it stays incredible cool and makes hardly any noise whats so ever. Gaming you will see a peak in the heat and fan noise depending on how demanding the game is, when I was playing my older games such as Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect the laptop stayed pretty cool and I only saw a slight rise in heat but the fans are loud (Much to my flat mates annoyance) Playing newer and more demanding games such as Dragon Age: Inquisition and Witcher 3: Wild Hunt then the laptop will get hotter, after testing with these games my CPU could go up to 80°C and my GPU generally stayed around 60°C. I will advise in downloading an temperature monitoring software, their are many free ones but I use MSIAfterburner.
Rating
9/10
Gaming & Graphics
The choice of an 3GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M was probably the main reason why I choose this laptop. After a bit of research on the Nvidia GTX cards I knew I needed an 970M or above to be able to play newer and more demanding games on high or ultra settings and to future proof my new laptop at least for a couple of years so I will give you an idea in what kind of settings and FPS I get with the more demanding games I play.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Settings: High/Tweaked Ultra
FPS: 40-50
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Settings: High/Tweaked Ultra
FPS: 30-40
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Settings: High/Tweaked Ultra
FPS: 40-50
Rating
10/10
* I do you use Geforce Experience to optimize my games to their best settings for my system and could probably tweak the settings higher but didn't wont to lose the decent FPS I'm getting now.
Hardware
The hardware is great and has been able to handle anything I have thrown at it whether it be gaming or using 3d modeling software such as Blender and the photo-editing software GIMP. I have been told that an i7 disparate more heat than that of an i5 and as my last laptop was an i5 I haven't noticed any real difference. The whole system boots up pretty quickly and the i7-4720HQ can boost up to 3.60GHz which the system does automatically when needed (which is good for gaming). The system will automatically use the correct graphics card needed GTX for gaming and the Intel HD Graphics 4600 for watching videos. I would of liked to have a more RAM and an SDD alongside an HDD but with my budget couldn't afford it but will probably add that at a later date and I choose Windows 7 OS simply because its what I'm familliar with but will probably upgrade at some point. The power lead and adapter can be a bit delicate if knocked or moved and many times has the lead unattached itself from the adapter don't know if other buyers have experienced this or just me?.
Rating
9/10
PROS
The price and the option of having an 3GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M graphics card.
CONS
No option to have an internal DVD drive an external one must be bought.
Overall
The best gaming laptop I have invested in and very happy with my purchase.
Images
* Sorry for the Image quality
). So here is my review bare in mind I'm novice when it comes to computers, I basically know how to turn a computer on and off, run basic software and obviously playing computer games.My Spec
Display: 15.6"
CPU: i7-4720HQ 2.60GHz
RAM: 8GB KINGSTON 1600MHz
Graphics Card: 3GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M
Hard Drive: 1TB WD SLIM BLUE (5400 rpm)
Thermal Paste: ARCTIC MX-4
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium
Anti-Virus: NORTON SECURITY 2.0
Office Software: Microsoft Home & Student 2013
Warranty: 3 Year Standard
Budget: £1,100
Price: £1,091.40
Customer Service, Packaging & Delivery
I was very pleased with the customer service, as soon as the payment cleared I received an email and through the entire process they kept me informed on my order but will warn buyers that the pre-production period may take several days before it goes through building especially if they have a lot of orders. Even when i sent an email inquiring about my order, I got an email the same day about my order status (If I'm honest I was simply impatient and was like a kid on Christmas morning waiting for my new toy
). They did run into a small problem with my order which was my choice of Wireless card which wouldn't fit into the Chassis but got in touch me and offered another card and refunded me the money from my previous choice of card. I received my laptop 11 days after I initially ordered it and was shocked at the size of the box as it was huge but It was securely packed to prevent any damage and I received the laptop within 24 hours of receiving an email informing me that my package had been posted. Rating
10/10
Chassis & Display
If I'm honest it was the look of the Chassis that first drew me into buying the Proteus II (My flat mate affectionately calls it "The Bat Mobile"
) It has a nice matte finish which i prefer as my last laptop had a gloss finish and would constantly needed wiping as it picked up the slightest finger print. I love how the whole thing lights up making it pretty looking, I was a bit confused in how to turn on the keyboard lights so if anyone has the same problem you need to press SPACE and FN together to switch the lights on. The 15.6" display is perfect size and despite the display being the same size as my previous laptop it actually appears to be larger. After inspection I couldn't find any dead pixels and though I would of preferred an 17.3" display it is a good screen.Rating
9/10
Sound
The sound is pretty basic despite having an sub-woofer I cannot tell if their is any real difference but as I manly used a gaming headset (To spare my flat mate having to listen to me gaming
) it doesn't really matter to me and the sound is crystal clear when I insert my headphones into the Jack.Rating
8/10
Heat, Cooling & Fan Noise
The cooling is great, if your just surfing the web or running basic software such as word it stays incredible cool and makes hardly any noise whats so ever. Gaming you will see a peak in the heat and fan noise depending on how demanding the game is, when I was playing my older games such as Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect the laptop stayed pretty cool and I only saw a slight rise in heat but the fans are loud (Much to my flat mates annoyance
) Playing newer and more demanding games such as Dragon Age: Inquisition and Witcher 3: Wild Hunt then the laptop will get hotter, after testing with these games my CPU could go up to 80°C and my GPU generally stayed around 60°C. I will advise in downloading an temperature monitoring software, their are many free ones but I use MSIAfterburner. Rating
9/10
Gaming & Graphics
The choice of an 3GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M was probably the main reason why I choose this laptop. After a bit of research on the Nvidia GTX cards I knew I needed an 970M or above to be able to play newer and more demanding games on high or ultra settings and to future proof my new laptop at least for a couple of years so I will give you an idea in what kind of settings and FPS I get with the more demanding games I play.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Settings: High/Tweaked Ultra
FPS: 40-50
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Settings: High/Tweaked Ultra
FPS: 30-40
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Settings: High/Tweaked Ultra
FPS: 40-50
Rating
10/10
* I do you use Geforce Experience to optimize my games to their best settings for my system and could probably tweak the settings higher but didn't wont to lose the decent FPS I'm getting now.
Hardware
The hardware is great and has been able to handle anything I have thrown at it whether it be gaming or using 3d modeling software such as Blender and the photo-editing software GIMP. I have been told that an i7 disparate more heat than that of an i5 and as my last laptop was an i5 I haven't noticed any real difference. The whole system boots up pretty quickly and the i7-4720HQ can boost up to 3.60GHz which the system does automatically when needed (which is good for gaming). The system will automatically use the correct graphics card needed GTX for gaming and the Intel HD Graphics 4600 for watching videos. I would of liked to have a more RAM and an SDD alongside an HDD but with my budget couldn't afford it but will probably add that at a later date and I choose Windows 7 OS simply because its what I'm familliar with but will probably upgrade at some point. The power lead and adapter can be a bit delicate if knocked or moved and many times has the lead unattached itself from the adapter don't know if other buyers have experienced this or just me?.
Rating
9/10
PROS
The price and the option of having an 3GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M graphics card.
CONS
No option to have an internal DVD drive an external one must be bought.
Overall
The best gaming laptop I have invested in and very happy with my purchase.
Images
* Sorry for the Image quality
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