New laptop suggestions £1800

[edwinfletcher7]

Ive build my last 4 PCs but now moving around a lot and have to move to a laptop.

I have a £1800 budget, play demanding games often, want to plug it into a large monitor that I already have and would like a docking station. Can anyone suggest a good one for me?

 

[keith12]

Something like these : https/www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/laptops-gaming/3xs-geforce-gtx-1070-gaming-laptops-high-end#filter=1

 

[edwinfletcher7]

Thanks Keith! looks like a good pick. I will elaborate and answer the questions suggested in lobby just to be sure

1. What is your budget?
£1800

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15-17 inch

3. What screen resolution do you want?
4k

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
laptop

5. How much battery life do you need?
not bothered


6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
high

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
basic office stuff

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
1tb plenty altogether

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
scan ebuyer etc

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
7 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
dvd rom

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
any will do

13. What country do you live in?
England

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
i think that covers it

 

[keith12]

No worries. They were really just to illustrate what you could get. For me if i was buying a gaming laptop i'd be Looking at an MSI/Acer Predator/Alienware lappie.

The more reputable brand will cost more. To keep within an 1800 budget for something like MSI (https/uk.msi.com/) you might have to drop the GPU down a level.

Here's what I'd be looking at : https/www.box.co.uk/gaming-laptops

 

[keith12]

Wouldn't mind this one at all : https/www.box.co.uk/9S7-16P112-044-MSI-GE63VR-7RF(Raider)-044UK_2166666.html

 

[edwinfletcher7]

Thanks again Keith. Looking at your comments Ive decided to up the budget to £2500 and get something that will last. I have to use it for work too so cant have all the lights and things you get with a brand like Alienware. The one I picked out from box was this one but they wont have any in stock for a month.

https/www.box.co.uk/AERO15X-v8-CF1-Gigabyte-AERO-15X-v8-CF1_2303343.html

Any further thoughts greatly appreciated!

 

[keith12]

It's a really nice laptop. It has the I7 8750h 6 core/12 thread CPU. It's the best mobile processor you can buy. It's matched with a 1070 Max Q GPU. The max Q's aren't quite desktop class. and do have slightly less performance than the standard desktop part. It will have lower base/boost clocks, and won't quite pump out the same FPS as its bigger sibling. You can see here the difference between the two GPU's : https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TWbCzArI6g

Apart from that it has a great UHD screen 144hz, so it will look great when playing games. Just keep in mind, at that resolution and with that GPU you will not be able to run most games at 144hz.

Overall, a really good gaming laptop, which will be good for productivity and anything else you throw at it too.

edit: Also, all the RGB fancy stuff can be switched off very easily on all of those laptops. The gigabyte also has RGB back lit keyboard.

 

[edwinfletcher7]

Thanks again, so i intend to plug into a big 4k monitor when playing games, sounds like it wont be upto that and i need maybe a 1070 or 1080 card? Also I need a laptop in 8 days for work so cant actually get that one. Not finding any others as yet.

I read that NVMe SSD are many times faster then M.2, is this actually a noticeable difference?

 

[keith12]

Even a 1070/1080 will struggle with more than 60fps at 4k. It depends too on in game settings, as they can be adjusted down to give higher FPS. Still, getting to 144hz on a 4k screen is not an option for GPU's right now, in most gaming scenarios.

There are of course some games that may do 144hz/FPS. CSGO, Fortnight etc. Things that aren't that demanding.

On the SSD's. Yes there are differences. But it really depends on the exact models. NVMe/M2 are almost the same (some NVMe drives are M.2 and others PCIe). The main difference is between NVMe/M.2 and Sata SSD's. Sata drives have read/write speeds about 500-600mbs. This is limited by the SATA bus. NVMe on the other hand can have read/write speeds in the 3000mbs range! So yes, defo faster.

 

[edwinfletcher7]

What do yo think of this custom build from pcspecialist?

Chassis & Display Octane Series: 15.6" Matte 4K IPS 60Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (3840x2160) (No G-Sync)

Processor (CPU)Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700k (3.7GHz) 12MB Cache

Memory (RAM)16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)

Graphics CardNVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 OC 1518 MHz - 8.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.11st

1st M.2 SSD Drive500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 2300MB/W)The Crew 2 FREE with select SAMSUNG NVMe SSDs!

External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW

Memory Card ReaderIntegrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)

AC Adaptor1 x 330W AC Adaptor

Battery2 x Octane Series Battery Pack, 82WH (One Spare)Power Cable1 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 Options3 x USB 3.0 PORTS, 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS, 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Webcam INTEGRATED 2.0 MP FULL HD WEBCAM

Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)DeliverySTANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)Build TimeStandard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days

£2100 inc VAT

 

[keith12]

Spec wise it's very similar, bit slightly more powerful. It has a desktop CPU and the full fledged 1070 GPU.

The only thing I would consider is the motherboard and what one it is. You have the 8700k which is pretty much the best gaming processor available today. It's also overclock-able. So I'd make sure the mobo is good enough to take advantage of that. (With that said OC with a laptop isn't always possible - too much heat)

Nice system, I'd have butterflies waiting on it to arrive. I'd be excited to test it!

 

[edwinfletcher7]

Awesome help again, thanks! My final question is would you take it over either of these?

https/www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/msi-ge63-raider-8rf-core-i7-8750h-8gb-1tb-512gb-ssd-geforce-gtx-1070-15.6-9s7-16p512-063/version.asp

https/www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/asus-rog-zephyrusintel-core-i7-7700hq-16gb-512gb-nvidia-gtx-1080-15.6-inch-gx501vi-gz021t/version.asp#/maindesc

 

[keith12]

Oh I like the look of the Asus. But it has a weaker CPU, better GPU.

The MSI has both the CPU/GPU you were looking at but, both it and the Asus only have a full HD 1920 x 1080p screens. They are possibly limited to 60hz, and if so, the GPU's are almost wasted. IF the screens are 60hz they cannot display more than 60fps, even if the GPU is pumping out much more FPS.

I'd prob go for the MSI in that case. If you are gonna hook it up to a larger TV/Monitor, then you will be able to stretch the legs of that GPU, with a great CPU to drive it.

 

[edwinfletcher7]

Thanks Keith, great help.. off to order!

 

[keith12]

No probs, you're welcome! Enjoy the new system. I'm well jel!