Vortex Gaming Laptop

[Presariofu]

Hello fellow posters.

I have been contemplating a gaming laptop for a while now and, having played around with a few combinations, I have now settled on the spec below. I wanted to be around the £1,200 mark but, ended up at just over £1,300 with the configuration below. I want the machine to handle decent settings in games with smooth frame rates.

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4700MQ (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 770M - 3.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
2nd/3rd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1202 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Intel Anti-Theft Technology
FREE 90 Day Intel Anti-Theft Trial - Prevent Data Access upon Theft
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

I cannot justify the jump up in to a GTX 780m 4gb graphics card. Prior to now, I have and, will also continue to be a console gamer. I have been a Mac user at home for some years but, as we all know, that don't like running games.

All comments are welcome, especially from PC gamers as to how long this gaming laptop will cut it at decent levels going forward before the need to replace or upgrade. Looking to get 3 years before I need to consider another machine.

 

[keynes]

For gaming 8gb RAM will be sufficient and you may want to consider getting at least silver warranty. In the review section there is a spec with the gtx 680m which seems to be stronger than the gtx 770m.
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/includes/review_order.php?id=109

 

[kruppsy]

For your budget I don't think you could do any better*. If you desperately wanted the 780m, dropping the SSD and lowering the RAM to 8GB(I would advise you do this anyway, 8GB is plenty for gaming) would help. SSDs are nice but not a necessity and won't help gaming per say, just load times. You could also wait for the AMDs upcoming 8970m, which, if their previous pricing is anything to go on, should be about the same price as 770m, maybe marginally more, but should offer greater performance.

I would say it'd last 3 years, just be aware that you will be lowering settings gradually throughout its lifespan as games advance. But for now, expect high/ultra depending on the game.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-770M.88995.0.html

*keynes suggestion is better for gaming if you are happy with it being 17" and Ivy Bridge

ps. didn't that review laptop used to be a 680m, it comes up as a 7970m now?

 

[Presariofu]

Thanks for your response Keynes.

I will tweak the warranty etc when I order. Its mainly the first section in the configuration that I have concentrated on thus far.

You have though confused me with the link as, it is showing a AMD Radeon HD 7970M. My knowledge is average on PC components so, your experienced comments are appreciated. Aside from the confusion on the GPU as above, does a 3rd gen Ivy Bridge i7 offer the same to me for gaming as the 4th gen Haswell. I was also under the impression you chuck in as much RAM as you can afford. I know it can be upgraded later but, the price difference is only £60 which, in the grand scheme of things adding more RAM further down the road, especially if I want to add to the existing, it is harder to access than the main two slots. Is one module Samsung 8gb better or worse than 2x 4gb. I have in the past always bought or had ram installed in two identical modules. Putting 8gb single in would make adding a further 8gb if required an easy task through the rear of the machine ala plug and play.

The jump in price from the 770m to 780m is an extra £233.00 (about £170.00 if I get the saving from dropping the RAM). Will that give me more longevity from the performance of the machine.

Again, thanks in advance for any guidance that is appreciated from someone that in the last 6 years has just purchased Macs off the shelf.

 

[keynes]

You have though confused me with the link as, it is showing a AMD Radeon HD 7970M

Sorry the description was with the gtx 680m, it seems it has been changed recently.

 

[Presariofu]

No problem, that's the thing with PC's, they move so quick LOL. Also thanks to Kruppsy. 8GB it is then, but, one 8GB or two 4GB's.

I don't really want to go 17" but, the machine only needs to be portable indoors so, is not really an issue aside from there would be less space on my desk for the mouse mat ;-) in its main location.

Many years ago I had a custom built desktop when SLi first came about and, I noticed that whilst it run everything great in the beginning, it went from high, to medium, to low over around 4 years and, then just ended up as an office computer for excel and outlook. I am eyes wide open that developers will always push their games to maximise the latest hardware.

Will this revised spec offer more or less than my original??


Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3840QM (2.80GHz) 8MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
AMD® Radeon® HD 7970M - 2GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1202 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Gaming Mouse Pad
SteelSeries 4HD Gaming Mouse Pad (£15)
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Intel Anti-Theft Technology
FREE 90 Day Intel Anti-Theft Trial - Prevent Data Access upon Theft
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

 

[SlimCini]

Yeah that review used to have the 680m in it... I should know, I ordered it with some tweaks... so a bit cheeky... especially given that the initial description of the laptop is... "So is the Vortex III 680 worth almost £1280? Absolutely, no question!"

 

[Presariofu]

If you go back to modify that quote to change windows from 8 back to 7, the price jumps to £1,494.00 before you even make the change via the modify button. Don't know if it will go through the order process at £1,279.00.

I don't do tiles LOL, and my use of Windows 8 when I set up a PC world laptop for my mother in law was not fun. Little feckers at Microsoft had hidden everything.

 

[kruppsy]

If you go back to modify that quote to change windows from 8 back to 7, the price jumps to £1,494.00 before you even make the change via the modify button. Don't know if it will go through the order process at £1,279.00.

I don't do tiles LOL, and my use of Windows 8 when I set up a PC world laptop for my mother in law was not fun. Little feckers at Microsoft had hidden everything.

I would love to comment but I would be walking a very fine line which may get me further slapped wrists...

 

[Presariofu]

Some tweaks to my original and, comes in nearer my original budget. Lost the SSD, Ram down to 8GB and, added Bluray drive and silver warranty and a mouse mat for my Logitech gaming mouse I already own.

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4700MQ (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 770M - 3.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
4x BLURAY ROM, 8x DVD ±R/±RW & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1202 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Gaming Mouse Pad
SteelSeries 4HD Gaming Mouse Pad (£15)
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Coming in at £1,263.00 including the dreaded VAT

 

[SlimCini]

If you go back to modify that quote to change windows from 8 back to 7, the price jumps to £1,494.00 before you even make the change via the modify button. Don't know if it will go through the order process at £1,279.00.

I don't do tiles LOL, and my use of Windows 8 when I set up a PC world laptop for my mother in law was not fun. Little feckers at Microsoft had hidden everything.

I'm sure if you rang PCS they may offer the review build with Windows 7 rather than Windows 8. PCS would would probably take into consideration changes to software and warranties... they just understandably won't alter actual hardware (unless you want to lose the discount).

I've also tried to word that to avoid having my wrists slapped...

 

[Presariofu]

As is the way with most budgets, whilst im still mulling this over, I think I am going to go with :-
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4700MQ (2.40GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM) 8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 780M - 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - 1st Hard Disk 120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk 750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 2nd/3rd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY

With everything else remaining as is. Sure it will give me a little while longer in the high and ultra settings on most games than sticking with the 770m from my original build. Pushes the budget a little but, I don't want to regret not going the whole way in the beginning.

Little more think time then probably order. I trust everyone here agrees its a good place to buy

Thanks for everyones input.

 

[keynes]

I trust everyone here agrees its a good place to buy

Indeed it is I bought a similar spec last week.

 

[Presariofu]

My order has this evening gone in. I have gone for :-
Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4700MQ (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 780M - 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1202 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 4.0
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
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) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH (£39)
Quantity
1

I am, very excited and looking forward to this gaming goddess

 

[Presariofu]

Time goes very slow when you finally place the order. I now cannot wait and, am thinking of nothing more than getting my hands on the machine.

Whilst waiting, I am browsing the steam sale and picking up a few titles here and there and, have ordered a new gaming mouse and new mouse mat all in anticipation of the delivery day. As a Mac owner for the last eight years, it is finally nice to browse steam and have all games available to you LOL.

Any FPS recommendations I should pick up to give the new gaming laptop a good push on its abilities. Its been years since I played any shooters with a keyboard and mouse (MOHAA)

 

[Presariofu]

I have now reached "Order dispatched" status.

I will be in the office tomorrow with one eye on the window to the service road past the office watching out for DPD delivery vans.

Excellent 4 working day turnaround from order to dispatch by PCS. They really have performed and, I will write a review etc etc in due course once I have my hands on the machine which, should be tomorrow.

 

[Rakk]

I will be in the office tomorrow with one eye on the window to the service road past the office watching out for DPD delivery vans.

Tomorrow is going to drag like you wouldn't believe, and then after your PC turns up the weekend will suddenly vanish - we all know it works like that

Make sure you enjoy your new toy

 

[Presariofu]

Cheers Rakk.

The machine will also probably arrive early so, that will make things worse. We normally get DPD deliveries into our offices/yard around 9 to 10am each day for various things for the company. I assume my laptop will be in with that delivery.

My office environment is thankfully low key and laid back so, I could set the laptop up on my desk but, the broadband here is pants so, to download anything decent to play on it will take longer than the working day itself. I feel an early Friday finish coming on tomorrow LOL.

I also find all weekends go too fast and, this one will be even quicker. I can already hear my good lady asking if I'm going to be on that computer all day LOL.

 

[Presariofu]

It is now in my possession. Pre 8am, the guy had to wait for his scanner to click onto 8am to scan the parcel. Nice being first on the delivery run.

Now, just need 5pm to get here.

 

[moosEh]

We have designed a machine that slows down your perception of time when you click order.