Vortex III 15.6" with SSD, HDD and Optical Drive

[Dotnetwizard]

Hello there.

This is my first post after stumbling onto this company while I was googling around looking for companies offering custom built laptops.

I am after a custom built 15.6" laptop for video editing, bit of Photoshop and Visual Studio 2010 & SQL Server 2008 R2 software development so I need an absolute beast of a spec.

As I will be using Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 for video editing I require a fast processor (Core i7-2760QM), 16GB RAM, 95% matte full HD screen and two hard drives (so I can put the video files onto the second hard drive). I will also be using the laptop for storing and watching DVD and Blu ray movies I will also require a built-in Blu ray reader and/or writer. I might as well get the Blu ray writer as its an extra £20 upgrade.

I was thinking of a 120GB SSD for the OS and to store programs, whilst using a 750GB Seagate Momentus XD Hybrid to store my video/movie files.

Since the configurator lets me select the following for a 15.6" chassis:

120GB Kingston HyperX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gbp/s
750GB Seagate Momentus XS Hybrid, SATA 6 Gbp/s 32MB Cache (7200 RPM)
Sony BD-5750H 6x Bluray Writer & Cyberlink software

What is the difference between the Kingston SSD and the Intel ones? The configurator won't let me proceed with an Intel SSD, but it will with the Kingston. Is the Kingston an mSATA?

Thanks in advance.

 

[vanthus]

Not sure how it's allowing that configuration as it states with any other configurations I've tried,
"Unfortunately this laptop can only support one of the following combinations of hard drives/DVD/Blu-ray drives"
a) 1 x hard drive and 1 x DVD/Blu-ray drive;
b) 2 x hard drives and 0 x DVD/Blu-ray drives.
Best check with PCS.

 

[PCS]

Welcome to our forums

The Kingston drive is the same size as the Intel drive - the configurator was letting you select this in error. We've now corrected this problem.

 

[Dotnetwizard]

Thanks for correcting the problem

Will the Vortex III allow for an mSata SSD to be added similar to the DELL line of Precision laptops? I am hoping to be able to fit two hard drives and an optical drive alleviating the need for an external hard drive.

 

[PCS]

The Vortex III do support mSATA however we have not yet added this option to our configurator. It will likely be added by the end of this week.

 

[Dotnetwizard]

Many thanks for your reply

I look forward to visiting the configurator once the change has been made. Hopefully I can configure a beast of a laptop with an SSS, HDD and Bluray reader/writer all under the hood :rockon:

 

[iain_m]

I would be interested in hearing more about this option too.

To install Windows onto the mSATA drive, will it be as simple as changing the boot order in the BIOS?

(I ask because the Dell Precision M6600s have a ridiculous flaw whereby the user has to physically remove the other hard drives in order to install to the mSATA, or to run any Windows restore/reinstall operations from a DVD - for the full story click here).

 

[Dotnetwizard]

I ask because the Dell Precision M6600s have a ridiculous flaw whereby the user has to physically remove the other hard drives in order to install to the mSATA, or to run any Windows restore/reinstall operations from a DVD - for the full story ...

After reading the information provided by the link I am hoping that by opting for an mSATA SSD to store the operating system I won't experience the same problems. I guess this is something I will have to research thoroughly, or I could just get two hard drives in a RAID 0 arrangement (or a small SSD and large HDD) and dispense with the mSATA SSD altogether?

 

[iain_m]

I certainly hope that the disaster that I experienced with the Dell isn't common to all laptops that boot from an mSATA! It would be all over the internet if it were a universal problem.

The issue seemed to be caused by the BIOS of the Precision M6600 rather than any inherent problem in installing to/booting from an mSATA. Dell should not have been supplying the M6600 with that configuration until the BIOS was updated.

So it would be great to hear from the PCS guys once they test installing Windows to an mSATA in their new chassis (and, ideally, booting to the Windows restore DVD too, since that was also screwed with the M6600).

Ideally using the mSATA drive as the boot drive should be no more complicated than installing to any other drive and checking the boot order in the BIOS.

 

[Dotnetwizard]

If the PCS guys successfully restore a DVD of Windows onto an mSATA in their new chassis with issues, then that would seal the deal for me in my purchase of a Vortex III 17.3" laptop.

One other thing I'd like to mention is that I came across a web site review indicating that mSATA SSDs are generally a LOT slower than their full-sized counterparts. If this is true, I would be interested to hear PC Specialist's view on this and what sort of speeds we can expect with these drives.

 

[csoren]

One other thing I'd like to mention is that I came across a web site review indicating that mSATA SSDs are generally a LOT slower than their full-sized counterparts. If this is true, I would be interested to hear PC Specialist's view on this and what sort of speeds we can expect with these drives.

The current mSATA slots are running at SATA II speeds, which means read speeds in the region of 250 MB/sec. The fullsized drives are now running on SATA III and get read speeds in the region of 550 MB/sec. So mSATA drives are slower, but still a lot faster than conventional drives. Particularly in regards to latency, which is really where they shine. I'm booting Windows 7 off a SATA II SSD, and I don't feel inclined to upgrade that particular SSD just yet. It's still very, very fast.

There are SATA III mSATA drives on the horizon.

 

[iain_m]

Indeed, running Windows from a SATA II speed mSATA still gives an amazing performance boost over an OS installed to an HDD.

In terms of day to day productivity putting your OS on an SSD of any speed is one of the best upgrades you can make.

Keep in mind that the heavy disk writing needed during video editing means you should set Premiere's temporary directory to somewhere on the HDD, though.

 

[Dotnetwizard]

The Vortex III do support mSATA however we have not yet added this option to our configurator. It will likely be added by the end of this week.

Any update to this yet?

 

[PCS]

Not yet, expect another week at least.

 

[Dotnetwizard]

Can anyone tell me if the eSATA port on the Vortex III (both 15.6 and 17.3 models) is a combined USB/eSATA port that is powered?

 

[PCS]

Can anyone tell me if the eSATA port on the Vortex III (both 15.6 and 17.3 models) is a combined USB/eSATA port that is powered?

It is a combined e-SATA/USD port but I cannot confirm if this port is powered or not. My best guess it that it is and in any case one of the other ports will definitely be powered. Perhaps one of our members will be able to confirm, although not many will have received their new Vortex III's yet. We can check on Monday if not.

 

[Dotnetwizard]

We can check on Monday if not

If you could check it for me I would appreciate it.

 

[PCS]

The e-SATA port is not powered, however as per the image below, the very first USB 3.0 port (on the left hand side) is powered:

 

[Finn]

The e-SATA port is not powered, however as per the image below, the very first USB 3.0 port (on the left hand side) is powered:

I'm not sure if there is some confusion here as to exactly what the OP meant by powered, the powered usb port you have mentioned simply means that it keeps its power when the laptop is switched off, e.g. you can use it to charge devices even with the laptop off. I'm not sure if the OP is talking about eSATAp which is rare to find on laptops

eSATAp
Main article: eSATAp

eSATAp stands for powered eSATA. It is also known as Power over eSATA, eSATA USB Hybrid Port (EUHP), or eSATA/USB Combo. An eSATAp port combines the 4 pins of the USB 2.0 (or earlier) port, the 7 pins of the eSATA port, and optionally two 12-volt power pins.[24] Both SATA traffic and device power are integrated in a single cable, as is the case with USB but not eSATA. Power at 5 volts is provided through two USB pins; power at 12 Volts may optionally be provided. Typically desktop, but not notebook, computers provide 12 volt power, so can power devices requiring this voltage, typically 3.5" disk and CD/DVD drives, in addition to 5 volt devices such as 2.5" drives.

Both USB and eSATA devices can be used with an eSATAp port, when plugged in with a USB or eSATA cable, respectively. An eSATA device cannot be powered via an eSATAp cable, but cables are available which make available both SATA or eSATA and power connectors from an eSATAp port.

An eSATAp connector can be built into a computer with internal SATA and USB, by fitting a bracket with connections for internal SATA, USB, and power connectors and an externally accessible eSATAp port.

Although eSATAp connectors have been built into several devices, manufacturers do not refer to an official standard.

 

[Dotnetwizard]

I was talking about eSATAp as I recently viewed a YouTube video showing someone connecting a notebook optical drive via an eSATAp port.

I was basically querying to see whether it was possible to connect an external hard drive via an eSATAp port, and I have no idea how common eSATAp is on laptops these days as I only heard about it recently.