Final check before purchasing next week!

[Dr_Jameo]

Hi guys, thanks again for the wonderful pre-sales forum support.

Here's the spec.

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3740QM (2.70GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
2 x NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680M - 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM (Special Offer)
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/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 & WIRELESS INTEL® ULTIMATE-N 6300 (450Mbps)
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Vortex Elite 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,800 mAh/89.21WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 300W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Laptop Cooling Stands
Zalman ZM-NC11 Ultra-Quiet Laptop Cooler, upto 17.3 inch (£25)
Carry Case
Wenger/Swissgear iBex 17" Backpack (£59)
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
CM Storm Xornet Gaming Mouse (£19)
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Headsets
LOGITECH® GAMING HEADSET G35 - 7.1 SURROUND SOUND (£98)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Intel Anti-Theft Technology
FREE 90 Day Intel Anti-Theft Trial - Prevent Data Access upon Theft
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,200.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/vortexIII-Elite/96frsXKIFn/



Few questions:

- Is the SSD raw capacity, or actual capacity?
- How large will the OS be, and so how much capacity will be remaining on the SSD?
- Should I get a larger SSD?
- I've heard lots of good reviews on the Logitech G35 headset. Any views to the contrary?
- Is there any real benefit to upgrading to the Killer network card?
- Is there any real benefit to upgrading to an Audiophile sound card?
- Please could the differences in screen types and displays be explained to me? :tt2:

As usual, your help us much appreciated. I will give a review when I have purchased it.

 

[steaky360]

- Is the SSD raw capacity, or actual capacity?
- How large will the OS be, and so how much capacity will be remaining on the SSD?
- Should I get a larger SSD?
- I've heard lots of good reviews on the Logitech G35 headset. Any views to the contrary?
- Is there any real benefit to upgrading to the Killer network card?
- Is there any real benefit to upgrading to an Audiophile sound card?

As usual, your help us much appreciated. I will give a review when I have purchased it.

• You should get around 111Gb useable space on the SSD (the manufacturers report sizes as 1Gb = 1000Mb when your PC will measure it as 1Gb = 1024Mb hence discrepancy).
• Windows 7 typically takes up around 5 to 7Gb storage space depending on settings (hibernation, page file etc.)
• 120Gb SSD is probably large enough depending on what else you wanted to put on it Your second harddrive should compensate you for space if required.
• I have the Logitech G35 and have not had any problems with it, its a good headset (but I suspect there are better ones out there )
• There might be some benefit in the killer's supposed bandwidth allocation for gaming or other programs but I've not used it myself so can't say.
• The Audiophile sound card will be an external device, I'm not sure if it has a USB on it so it wouldn't benefit the G35 headset but you would likely get better sound out of external speakers if using it.

Hope this helps

 

[Dr_Jameo]

Brilliant, thank you for the help.

I remembered a question and added it to the OP. Please could you explain the differences in the displays? AUO 90% and 72% specifically

 

[vanthus]

The space the OS takes up can vary,depending on how much RAM you have for example can alter the page file size.A very rough average for windows 7 64 bit would be something more like 15GB I would say.The space windows takes up will also increase over time with system restore points etc being created.
Windows will show a 120 GB at around 111.7 GB like steaky said,as windows uses a different counting method, binary as opposed to decimal. 1GB equals 1024MB where the manufacturer uses decimal,1000MB per 1GB.
There's a good sticky here by Buzz on SSD management.
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?14728-SSD-Management

 

[Dr_Jameo]

Thank you, an interesting read. Would anyone be able to enlighten me on AUO displays and their value compared to the matte option?

 

[moosEh]

Thank you, an interesting read. Would anyone be able to enlighten me on AUO displays and their value compared to the matte option?

The Gamut screens are better colour contrast for picture editing and things like that. The average user of a laptop would see little return for the screen.