Advice for a PCS Virgin please

[michaelandmusic]

Halo!

As I'm completely new to this 'Configure a Laptop' malarkey and not all that knowledgeable about computers and components etc so I thought I would ask for a review on my decision before I went ahead.

Some criteria:
- I definitely don't want to spend much more than £800
- I'm going travelling in March and want to take it with me so I'm not looking for a massive heavy beast
- I want to play reasonably intensive games such as Guild Wars 2 and ACIII
- I love me some awesome graphics
- I use Blu Ray discs
- I'm hoping to make it last for 5 years although I understand how quickly technology moves on and that new games and such require more powerful parts year on year

So with this in mind I put this 15.6" Genesis together with my older brother who's SONY VAIO E series I've been playing around with (and thoroughly enjoying!). If anyone could please let me know what they think, if there's anything that could be improved, maybe if you think I don't need as high stats as I've put in some places (save me some money) or if you think there's an entirely different chassis that would suit me bettter;

I'm all ears!



Chassis & Display
Genesis IV: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED 16:9 Widescreen (1920x1080) (£35)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 8GB) <-- I decided to go for 1 x 8GB rather than 2 x 4GB so I (Or if I decided to sell it on to someone else, they) would be able to upgrade to 2 x 8GB if desired. Is this a good idea? Worth it?

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 635M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11 <-- Will this be good enough? Would it be possible to upgrade the graphics card if I wanted to in the future?

Memory - Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

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)

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD

Battery
Upgrade to 62.16WH 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (£39) <-- Is it worthwhile having the upgraded battery like this? It's a better battery and not an extra one and does not protrude from the casing right?

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 8 Standard Edition 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Dead Pixel Guarantee
30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£12) <-- Again, is this worthwhile throwing in just in case?



Feedback is much much appreciated! Even if it's just to say that it's perfect and that I should be admired for my choice (Thank you very much sir).

 

[ilike2burnthing]

1x8GB RAM costs you more, and really 8GB should be all you need. By the time you need more for gaming you'll be wanting a new laptop. I'd go for 2x4GB.

The 635M will give you these results (scroll down a little) - http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-645M.81417.0.html
If you're wanting to play modern games on ultra then you might want to look at the Enigma or Optimus.

While nice to have the SSD is bumping up your costs, so you may just be happy with a WD Scorpio Black. Or if you want a SSD then the Kingston 3K is a cheaper and decent option.

Bigger battery is always nice to have, especially if you're traveling. Nope, it doesn't stick out.

Windows 8? You sure?

Dead pixel, completely up to you, nice to have, always a gamble.

 

[michaelandmusic]

Thanks very much! I'm switching out the 1 x 8GB for 2 x 4GB.

A few questions, what is your opinion of Windows 8 then? I've been using it for a couple of weeks on a SONY VAIO and I'm getting on with it alright, It's obviously designed better for touch screen devices in terms of UI but what do you think of it compared to Windows 7 and why should I chose one over the other?

Good to know about the battery and I'll go for the dead pixel guarantee just in case.

I'm prepared to pay a bit extra for a SSD for better performance and a quieter laptop (from what I'm aware), is it worth going the whole hog and getting the Intel 520 over the Kingston?




So, the ultimate decision for me after that is between the Genesis IV, the Enigma and the Optimus. I've got the other two with the same specs and the price difference isn't too much, stretches my budget a little but the graphics cards are better and the weight would be fine for travelling for me. Which, personally, do you think you would go for?




Chassis & Display
Enigma IV: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED 16:9 Widescreen (1920x1080) (£35)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB

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

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 2.0GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
4x BLURAY ROM, 8x DVD ±R/±RW & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE

Battery
Upgrade to Enigma IV Series 9 Cell Battery (7,800 mAH) (£36)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 8 Standard Edition 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£12)

£824.00



Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB

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

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
4x BLURAY ROM, 8x DVD ±R/±RW & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Battery
Optimus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 8 Standard Edition 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Dead Pixel Guarantee
30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£12)

£859.00

 

[Toxophilix]

If gaming is important for you then I would go for the Optimus over the Enigma. For gaming, you really want the best GPU you can afford.

Regarding the SSD, it's true that the drive itself will be silent but it won't make the laptop silent when you are gaming. The things that really turn up the volume are the GPU and CPU fans and there's not much you can do about that. So if the main attraction of an SSD is silence then you might be disappointed. As far as the effect on performance is concerned, the SSD would make the laptop boot faster and programs will load faster. They won't (in most cases) actually run faster though.

Don't get me wrong - SSDs are nice things and a joy to use. But they are really luxuries and something you can cut if you are on a budget.

 

[ilike2burnthing]

Oh, if you have already used Windows 8 and find it ok then go nuts, just it's the default for many of the laptops and people tend not to change it without thinking. You will get the tiniest bit better performance out of a W8 machine than a W7.

As Toxophilix has explained, in a gaming laptop the noise you're hearing is not the HDD, so getting an SSD won't help you there. If you go for the smallest HDD you're doubling your disk space and saving over £30, getting you closer to your £800 target. It's completely up to you on how much you want to spend. An SSD is nice and is noticeably faster, but it costs more.

 

[michaelandmusic]

Thanks very much guys! I think I'm going to stretch for the Optimus for the superior GPU and an SSD to compliment it luxuriously. Noise doesn't bother me that much Thank you for bettering my understanding of it all.