general questions about pc parts and accessories

Hello, i just had a few questions about pc parts and accessories.
So, the first part of my questions is related to pc parts. I'm tyring to buy a mouse, rgb keyboard, and a gaming laptop for around $1500. There is a really nice laptop (sager np8657-S: 250gb ssd, 1tb hdd, 16gb ram, nvidia gtx 970m) for $1450, but that doesn't leave me much for a rgb keyboard. So...
1. Is an ssd that important? There is cheaper version of the laptop (sager np8657) and it does not come with a ssd drive.
2. Is 8gb or ram good enough? I am applying to computer science and engineering, and i don't know what programs they use, so will 8gb of ram work fine? both the 16gb model and 8gb have high ram speeds, so it's not like lowering to 8gb means faster write speeds.
3. Is ic diamond compound worth it? Since the n8657-S comes with it while the np8657 does not.

Now, for the accessories
1. I'm thinking about getting a external keyboard, and i have two choices, a corsair k40 or a corsair k70? Is there a big difference to pay 50-100 bucks more for cherry mx red switches vs rubber domes? The k40, i found one for $65 use the rubber domes while the k70, around $150 uses the reds. Is the worth the upgrade? And is the k70 better overall? I know cherry switches last longer than rubber dome switches, but that's about it. Is there another nice rgb keyboard out there for under $150?

2. What do you think about the corsair m65 mouse? I've read and seen many positive reviews about it and i was able to find one for $50. What do you think?

Thanks for reading all this and for posting your suggestions.

 

I would strongly recommend trying out different keyboards first somewhere.

I have had blue cherry switches and currently use reds (with silencing rubber rings) as my gaming desktop keyboard but on everyday typing use I prefer rubber domes due smaller travel and flatter keys. Basically I type faster on rubber domes with less typos but I prefer mechanical feeling on games.

8GB is okay, especially if it still leaves possibility to upgrade cheaply to 16GB when you need more. SSD makes a big difference on boot times and how fast some games load. General feeling of windows is snappier. It can also be upgraded later but it is a bigger hassle than ram upgrade.

In my opinion if you take less ram and only hdd but gain faster CPU/GPU or significantly less price in exchange, then it is worth it and upgade them later when you can afford it. Personally I'd take the ssd from the beginning though.

 

Okay, does best buy have mechanical keyboards? I pretty sure the keyboards at my house are rubber domes, so you are right, I should test it out. I might actually get the ssd and drop everything else. Thank.

 

CS stuff doesn't require anything too intense. The most intensive program you'll probably use is an IDE, which is to say that almost anything can work hardware-wise.

SSDs are nice, but you can always skip them now and add them later when you have the money. Same with the RAM (and 8GB should be fine for gaming anyway).

 

I had the same dilemma when I was choosing my laptop (Sager NP8671 and NP8671-S). Eventually I went with the NP8671-S 16GB, IC Diamond, and 30 day no dead pixel policy but NO SSD. Wanted to buy a keyboard but later decided I didn't need one. And here is my thought after 3 months.

16 GB RAM is nice but I think the most RAM I've used is 7.8 GB when playing The Witcher 3.

IC Diamond seems to help with temp (not sure since I don't know which is GPU and CPU max temp with no IC Diamond). After 3 months, both CPU and GPU max temp seem to have risen (5 - 9 C). Note that it's max temp so probably also because I played more graphics demanding games. But imo and if you can, applying IC Diamond or whatever thermal paste of your choice is better (there might also be a chance that Sager does a poor job applying it).

30 day no dead pixel policy is useless. After 3 months, I see a stuck pixel but it doesn't really bother me.

HDD is enough. I don't know about other people but I can wait like 5 mins for my computer to start up. Maybe do something in between. But it's not like this laptop will take 5 mins to boot anyway. Although if you have to bring your laptop everywhere then yes, a HDD and an SSD will be different. Imo, 250GB is not quite enough in the long run so maybe you can save up and buy a 512GB later. And getting an SSD yourself is probably cheaper, too.

 

Okay, from what it looks like, it's $180 for a samsung evo 500gb ssd drive (from xotic). Just browsing around google shopping, it's about $180 for the same ssd, so i might just upgrade that. Either way, i don't plan on putting much on my ssd besides Microsoft office, and the os. I don't know. I don't mind waiting either, but quick boot times might be nice in time constrained days and what not. By the way, how hot does the laptop run and what's the average battery life you get just using it for browsing and what not (any non-gaming activity) I just want to make sure there enough juice for college. Thanks

 

max temp I've seen on my laptop is 89C for CPU but it's 1 core, the other 3 are like ~ 85. Average is probably 80 C. GPU max temp is 75 C, average ~ 65 - 70 C but mine is 17" model with a i7-4720HQ. If only browsing then max temp is ~ 55 C. I'm not sure about battery life, maybe you can last 2-3 hours on saving mode, I plug mine all the time and have only brought it to a 1h class once, probably lost like 20%.

1 thing worth mentioning is that the HDD runs pretty loud so yeah, SSD is a must if you don't wanna feel embarrassed in class and annoy other people . FYI, my OS drive has office and Photoshop on it and it's only 60 GB.

 

Really, didn't know that. Thanks for the heads up.