Three part laptop hardware optimization and cooling inquiry

[burstfyre20]

The laptop in-question is the Sager NP8157 (Clevo P650HS-G)
1. There are two cpu options, a i7-7700HQ and a i7-7820HK. Considering that the graphics option, a GTX 1070, is a fixed option, how big of a performance difference is there and is it worth $125?

2. The default ram option is 16GB (2x8 DDR4 @2400mhz). Is it worth maxing it out to 64GB, doubling it to 32GB or just leaving it at 16GB?

3. For storage, I planned on doing two raid0s. One with dual MyDigitalSSD BPX 240GBs and one with dual Seagate Firecuda 2TBs. Is it worth raiding M.2 SSDs, is it better to just get one larger one with better innate performance or would it be better to get a single 4xPCIe NVMe SSD as it does have support for a single one. [Probably answered, additional opinions or tips are fine]

I do plan on using this laptop as a replacement for my desktop and due to the fact that my laptop bit the dust last week (thank god that it was after my last school final rather than before since all my notes were on it.) I would have chose a laptop that has a GTX 1080 instead but those already exceed my maximum budget before any extra options. I do plan on using this laptop for virtual box and programming since both are part of my degree curriculum and my previous laptop struggled with virtual box and took lengthy time while compiling code. My desktop did have 16GB of ram and it seemed to do alright, though it still only had an i5 like my laptop but double the ram. As I said, it will replace my desktop as my home computing machine as well as my gaming platform while I contemplate building a new gaming computer.

As a side note, since I know gaming laptops do tend to get hotter than gaming desktop due to the lack of cooling. What sort of cooling pad would work the best to cool a gaming laptop or are vacuum fans a better way to go? What about a combination of both, would that yield better cooling than either alone? Xotic PC also offers copper cooling, does anyone know what exactly they add and if it really is worth the extra $59 they charge? I know that what type of thermal paste you use can make a big difference so I planned on getting some Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut but I know doing it myself would probably void the warranty and since the only thermal paste option they offer for this laptop (which I'm not sure why since for others they do offer TG Kryonaut) is IC Diamond. Does anyone know if its any good or should I just keep the stock thermal paste and then replace it after a year or two?

Note 2: I just noticed that Xotic PC states that the Geforce GTX 1070 that the Sager has is "upgrade-able but they offer no other option for it. Can someone confirm if that's correct or just an error on their part.

 

[USAFRet]

3. RAID 0 with those drives gives no performance benefit, except in some edge case uses.
For normal use, a single larger drive is just as fast. Sometimes even faster.

 

[burstfyre20]

3. RAID 0 with those drives gives no performance benefit, except in some edge case uses.
For normal use, a single larger drive is just as fast. Sometimes even faster.

Just for the SSDs or the hybrids as well? Just wanted to make that clear for myself. ^^;

 

[USAFRet]

3. RAID 0 with those drives gives no performance benefit, except in some edge case uses.
For normal use, a single larger drive is just as fast. Sometimes even faster.

Just for the SSDs or the hybrids as well? Just wanted to make that clear for myself. ^^;

I *know* for the SSD's, and would expect the same for the hybrids.

 

[burstfyre20]

3. RAID 0 with those drives gives no performance benefit, except in some edge case uses.
For normal use, a single larger drive is just as fast. Sometimes even faster.

Just for the SSDs or the hybrids as well? Just wanted to make that clear for myself. ^^;

I *know* for the SSD's, and would expect the same for the hybrids.

True enough but when it comes to 2.5" hybrid drives, I don't think I've seen any larger than 2TB so at the very least, they'd combine for a larger "single" storage unit instead of two individuals. If there's a performance gain, cool, if not its fine.

 

[USAFRet]

3. RAID 0 with those drives gives no performance benefit, except in some edge case uses.
For normal use, a single larger drive is just as fast. Sometimes even faster.

Just for the SSDs or the hybrids as well? Just wanted to make that clear for myself. ^^;

I *know* for the SSD's, and would expect the same for the hybrids.

True enough but when it comes to 2.5" hybrid drives, I don't think I've seen any larger than 2TB so at the very least, they'd combine for a larger "single" storage unit instead of two individuals. If there's a performance gain, cool, if not its fine.

Yes, a RAID 0 will combine for more space under a single drive letter. Drive type does not matter (as long as they're the same size and type).
A performance benefit? Maybe, maybe not.
NOT with SSD's or NVMe. Maybe with hybrids. I don't think I've ever seen a RAID 0 test with hybrids.
Unknown how the SSHD cache functionality would actually work in a RAID 0.

 

[burstfyre20]

3. RAID 0 with those drives gives no performance benefit, except in some edge case uses.
For normal use, a single larger drive is just as fast. Sometimes even faster.

Just for the SSDs or the hybrids as well? Just wanted to make that clear for myself. ^^;

I *know* for the SSD's, and would expect the same for the hybrids.

True enough but when it comes to 2.5" hybrid drives, I don't think I've seen any larger than 2TB so at the very least, they'd combine for a larger "single" storage unit instead of two individuals. If there's a performance gain, cool, if not its fine.

Yes, a RAID 0 will combine for more space under a single drive letter. Drive type does not matter (as long as they're the same size and type).
A performance benefit? Maybe, maybe not.
NOT with SSD's or NVMe. Maybe with hybrids. I don't think I've ever seen a RAID 0 test with hybrids.
Unknown how the SSHD cache functionality would actually work in a RAID 0.

Unsurprisingly, I haven't found anyone benchmarking or reviewing the performance of hybrid drives in raid configurations but people who have done it seem to say that performance gains are minimal at best or non-existent but you do gain a larger volume to use and the cache isn't affected, apparently. I know for laptops, the only other real large capacity drive options are 5400rpm mechanical drives, which if I'm not mistaken, don't perform as well as 7200rpm drives or hybrid drives and they don't really give much more in the way of capacity. The firecudas I'm planning on are $90 each for 2TB. The only larger drives currently available that aren't SSDs are 5400rpm barracudas at $130 for 3TB, $160 for 4TB and $190 for 5TB. Also, I think that 5400rpm drives in raid0 are still kinda sluggish compared to single 7200rpm drives if I recall correctly.

 

[USAFRet]

Another option is to offload some of that drive space to a NAS box connected to the router. Instead of trying to cram as much as possible inside the laptop.

 

[burstfyre20]

Another option is to offload some of that drive space to a NAS box connected to the router. Instead of trying to cram as much as possible inside the laptop.

I have a 10TB NAS but I've had problems accessing it when outside of my network and not just at school. That and I have a 2TB array on my desktop and its just about full so I do need more than 2TB of space and laptops lacking numerous drive bays means I have to pick the largest drives I can cram in there while keeping performance up. In a desktop, no problem, just chuck in some larger 7200rpm drives and add them to the raid. My file server, which is acting as a NAS, has 6 2TB barracudas in a raid 5 configuration. I mainly use it to store my backup images and for pxe booting multiple machines quickly. I also have all of my movies and digital tv recordings on it, otherwise I'd need more drives on my desktop xD plus some other random stuff that I keep there just to keep my desktop clean. Most of the space is actually taken up with vitrual machine hard drives (some I probably should delete cause I don't use them) and the rest are just games from steam and origin.