Genesis IV or Optimus III? Please advise!

[SigmaCloud]

Got a bit of a dilemma here, and would really appreciate your help.

I have a budget of about £850, and am looking to get a pretty decent gaming/multimedia laptop.

Yesterday I was pretty sure I'd be getting an Optimus III, specced as follows:

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 3 Gb/s, (7200rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£49)
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 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus/Voyager Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W 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 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
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £847.00 including VAT and delivery.

reconfig link here .

BUT today I thought I might just check out the Genesis IV chassis. I'm aware that the screen is smaller, and that the GPU is a 640M not a 650M. That is a bit of a shame, but I managed to build the Genesis IV as follows:

Chassis & Display
Genesis IV: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED 16:9 Widescreen (1920x1080) (£35)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£49)
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® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Genesis Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W 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 UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 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
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £823.00 including VAT and delivery.

reconfig link here.

So obviously the Genesis IV is cheaper, but I'm wondering what difference I might notice (apart from the slower GPU) as a result of picking the Genesis over the Optimus. It looks like I'd lose one USB 3.0 port, but I can probably make do with 2. I would also lose the option to put better thermal paste in. This is something I'm not sure about: would it have a major effect on performance and lead to overheating? And obviously the screen would be smaller-- maybe awkward at full HD?

The plus side is that I would be able to upgrade to the newer and larger Seagate drive, and I'd still shave £24 off the total cost. But do you think the compromise will outweigh the savings? Are there build quality issues to consider with the Genesis?

Final question! Is it worth opting to upgrade the wifi card for pretty run-of-the-mill standard use?

 

[Adli]

what do you plan on using it for? for heavier gaming you should go for the Optimus because the GT650m is a lot better than the GT630m/GT640m.

there is no point in the better wifi cards if your internet cannot go fast enough to outpace them. the only way to get 150mpbs is via fiber optic (and the best BT Infinity fiber optic is only 100mbps) so its unlikely you'll need more than 150mbps.

for movies and casual/light gaming you should go for the Genesis IV as the GT640m will be enough for lighter games. however the Voyager has a larger screen for a similar spec and price as the Genesis IV:

Chassis & Display
Voyager: 17.3" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x 1080) (£35)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB 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
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING

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

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

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

Battery
Optimus/Voyager Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W 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 UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 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
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

£833 inc VAT and Delivery.

 

[SigmaCloud]

Hi Adli, you might remember me from yesterday! I was focusing on the Optimus then and you helped me out!

The problem with the Voyager is that when Blu Ray is included, the price is almost as high as the spec I provided for the Optimus. There's £13 difference between the Optimus build I specified and an equivalent Voyager build, so I'd rather go for the Optimus as the price difference is so small for a better GPU.

My ideal specs on the Voyager are (basically with the 750GB Seagate instead of the 500GB) here (£875), and on the Optimus here (£888).

And the equivalent (but slightly cheaper and less good) £823 Genesis build is here.

I might have to downgrade the Seagate, but that should give you a good idea of the price difference for the parts I'm looking at.

Like a surprising number of users I've seen on the PCS forum, I'm looking to play Guild Wars 2. Another point of reference might be medium-to-high settings on Skyrim. Sort of ultra on 1600x900 or high on 1920x1080 perhaps.

In this context, is the 640M a poor choice? I'm happy to take your advice and spend the extra £60 if you think that, when it comes to playing GW2, I'll be kicking myself for getting the Genesis .

And thanks so much for the wifi card advice. Good to know I don't have to upgrade!

 

[Adli]

Hi Adli, you might remember me from yesterday! I was focusing on the Optimus then and you helped me out!

The problem with the Voyager is that when Blu Ray is included, the price is almost as high as the spec I provided for the Optimus. There's £13 difference between the Optimus build I specified and an equivalent Voyager build, so I'd rather go for the Optimus as the price difference is so small for a better GPU.

My ideal specs on the Voyager are (basically with the 750GB Seagate instead of the 500GB) here (£875), and on the Optimus here (£888).

And the equivalent (but slightly cheaper and less good) £823 Genesis build is here.

I might have to downgrade the Seagate, but that should give you a good idea of the price difference for the parts I'm looking at.

Like a surprising number of users I've seen on the PCS forum, I'm looking to play Guild Wars 2. Another point of reference might be medium-to-high settings on Skyrim. Sort of ultra on 1600x900 or high on 1920x1080 perhaps.

In this context, is the 640M a poor choice? I'm happy to take your advice and spend the extra £60 if you think that, when it comes to playing GW2, I'll be kicking myself for getting the Genesis .

And thanks so much for the wifi card advice. Good to know I don't have to upgrade!

oh, derp. i totally forgot to add the BR Drive into the build, sorry. i remember you now

as for playing skyrim on high, get the Optimus. i'm playing on High @1366x768 with a few graphics mods (pure waters, lush trees, lush grass, more grass, alternate sun glare and terrain bump) with no issues at all. its a much better gaming machine than the Genesis.

 

[SigmaCloud]

Good advice, that's what I'll do then. Will still try to work out which HDD is best for me at that price, may go with the build I posted at the very top of this thread!

 

[Adli]

Good advice, that's what I'll do then. Will still try to work out which HDD is best for me at that price, may go with the build I posted at the very top of this thread!

there is space for a second HDD if you want to upgrade in the future, so you could add a 1TB or 2TB storage drive if space becomes an issue.

 

[SigmaCloud]

Hang on, I do have another question (sorry!)-- is it possible to use the Optimus for intel's smart response technology? i.e. using an SSD as a cache for a regular HDD and basically boosting performance quite a lot? Has anyone done this with an optimus, and is it very hard to do? I am just about tech-literate but if the gremlins come out I will run for the hills.

 

[Adli]

Hang on, I do have another question (sorry!)-- is it possible to use the Optimus for intel's smart response technology? i.e. using an SSD as a cache for a regular HDD and basically boosting performance quite a lot? Has anyone done this with an optimus, and is it very hard to do? I am just about tech-literate but if the gremlins come out I will run for the hills.

im not sure, there isn't an option in the configurator (like there is for the Vortex) so i guess not. best to ask PCS to be sure.