Vortex III 17" Gaming laptop, advice much appreciated!

[1zikki]

Hi and thanks for reading! I had already made a post about a gaming laptop I was planning to buy but have come into more money since that occasion, so here is the new system I plan to order July 1st so it comes in time for my birthday (July 20th) Just a few things to bare in mind:
1. This is going to be something I will keep throughout university so I need it to last me long enough to play games 3 years into the distance such as RTS & MMORPG at high graphics settings (I'm a big C&C/Guild wars 2/Diablo 3/Starcraft fan)
2. My maximum budget is £1,600

Any advice is much appreciated!

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3720QM (2.60GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (4 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
AMD® Radeon® HD 7970M - 2GB DDR5 Video RAM (PRE-ORDER, NO ETA)
Memory - 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)
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
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1102 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N NETWORK CARD
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire & Video Editing
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
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
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) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
PCS EXTRA-CARE DIAMOND DELIVERY - MON-FRI, PRE-10AM (£16)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,581.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[dangro474]

Hi Izikki,

Unfortunately due to unpredictable technological advances (to a point) it is impossible to confirm whether or not any given spec will be sufficient to play games at high graphics settings for 3 years.

In terms of gaming performance your spec cannot be i mproved upon. I would however recommend dropping the 3720QM down to a 3610QM as the performance difference between the two is completely negligable even in CPU intensive games, and opting for a 240GB SSD instead. From experience 120GB for a primary drive isn't really adequate, especially when you want to make the most of its performance by having all of your titles installed on it.

 

[1zikki]

Hi Izikki,

Unfortunately due to unpredictable technological advances (to a point) it is impossible to confirm whether or not any given spec will be sufficient to play games at high graphics settings for 3 years.

In terms of gaming performance your spec cannot be i mproved upon. I would however recommend dropping the 3720QM down to a 3610QM as the performance difference between the two is completely negligable even in CPU intensive games, and opting for a 240GB SSD instead. From experience 120GB for a primary drive isn't really adequate, especially when you want to make the most of its performance by having all of your titles installed on it.

Hi, thanks for the reply! I understood that, I just want something that is going to last as long as possible without becoming completely obsolete within a year or two

But I will take that into consideration I never normally have more than three titles installed at any one time but I can see where it would come in handy with future titles having higher HD requirements

The feedback is much appreciated, Alex!

 

[1zikki]

Just a one more thing I thought of that I would appreciate someone answering:
I could wait another month and upgrade the processor on this system from i7-3720QM (2.60GHz) 6MB to i7-3820QM (2.70GHz) 8MB, is it worth it in the terms of longevity for the system?
Thanks!

 

[Craigsup]

From what I understand, the 3720Q is more than sufficient for gaming. Spending the extra money can be seen as a waste. I'd suggest looking at a OCZ Vertex 4 SSD as I think they are much better than the options available. Other then that, you have a very similar spec to my laptop I plan to order very soon!

You could opt for the Matt screen for an extra 79 quid if you dislike the glare / reflection with glossy screens

 

[1zikki]

From what I understand, the 3720Q is more than sufficient for gaming. Spending the extra money can be seen as a waste. I'd suggest looking at a OCZ Vertex 4 SSD as I think they are much better than the options available. Other then that, you have a very similar spec to my laptop I plan to order very soon!

You could opt for the Matt screen for an extra 79 quid if you dislike the glare / reflection with glossy screens

Hi, thanks for the reply
1. I won't be using the screen outside realistically, so £80 doesn't seem worth it for no visible improvement
2. I understand that I could save money and get the 3610QM but it's the longevity of the laptop that is most important as I won't really have the money to upgrade anything on it past this purchase, is the 3820QM worth the extra money against the 3610QM? It's not like i'm trying to save money, I just want the best performance & longevity for £1600-£1700
3. I will look into that SSD drive but I wouldn't be the wiser on how to install it into the laptop once I got it so that is a potential stumbling block

I really appreciate the feedback though, cheers!

 

[Craigsup]

Hi, thanks for the reply
1. I won't be using the screen outside realistically, so £80 doesn't seem worth it for no visible improvement
2. I understand that I could save money and get the 3610QM but it's the longevity of the laptop that is most important as I won't really have the money to upgrade anything on it past this purchase, is the 3820QM worth the extra money against the 3610QM? It's not like i'm trying to save money, I just want the best performance & longevity for £1600-£1700
3. I will look into that SSD drive but I wouldn't be the wiser on how to install it into the laptop once I got it so that is a potential stumbling block

I really appreciate the feedback though, cheers!

I currently have a thread going asking about providing my own parts and installation here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?16294-Ordering

So if you check that and once they reply, hopefully you can simply send in the Hard Drive you want and they will install it.

As for the processor; I am in the same situation as you. I'm purchasing a Vortex III for the next 3-4 years while i'm at university. So longevity is a huge factor for me as well. I'm going to chose the 3610QM as it will meet and surpass my needs and for gaming / general use it is more than powerful enough. I'm fairly certain it will last me the 4 years. However if you feel that you'll be playing the most CPU intensive games then maybe you should upgrade; however I would say that the 3610QM is sufficient.

 

[1zikki]

I currently have a thread going asking about providing my own parts and installation here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?16294-Ordering

So if you check that and once they reply, hopefully you can simply send in the Hard Drive you want and they will install it.

As for the processor; I am in the same situation as you. I'm purchasing a Vortex III for the next 3-4 years while i'm at university. So longevity is a huge factor for me as well. I'm going to chose the 3610QM as it will meet and surpass my needs and for gaming / general use it is more than powerful enough. I'm fairly certain it will last me the 4 years. However if you feel that you'll be playing the most CPU intensive games then maybe you should upgrade; however I would say that the 3610QM is sufficient.

I don't play shooters on the PC, more of a MMORPG/RTS fan so I guess the 3610QM is the best option to save money if it won't bottleneck my system after a few years, but thanks I will look at that thread once I get home from work!