The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
If it's only for gaming, then the 6820HQ would suffice. These days all CPUs are fast enough that they don't pose a bottleneck to gaming performance.
If you are on the otherhand someone who wants to do a lot of video decoding/rendering or any CPU intensive task, then every bit of CPU performance is going to count so the 6700K is better.
The HK has a mostly free multiplier. It's good for getting the unrealistic CPU demands of more recent titles under control, assuming the laptop can cool it at high speeds under long gaming sessions, and that you have enough power in the power brick.
To be honest with you, I have a fairly hard time recommending a soldered chip over a socketed one. What laptops are you looking at? And what is your budget and what games are you looking at?
Mainly looking at the Dia 1715s and the Phobos 1715s from mythologic pc. I'm trying to keep it around 2000 or so. Id say nothing over 2400. I was thinking about the 970m after looking around more I don't think I'll need the 980m. I'm playing fallout 4, battlefield 4, dayz sa, skyrim, arma 3, dragon age inquisition, and witcher 3. I play other games to but those are probably the most recent ones.
I would suggest then the 6700K and indeed a 980M. Remember if you're in education (college/university or if you're a teacher) Eurocom might work out to be a bit cheaper, especially with the P770DM.
Witcher 3 and Dragon Age you'll benefit more from the 980M. DayZ and Arma 3 and to an extent Witcher 3 you'll benefit from the 6700K's base 4GHz (though I'd even suggest overclocking it some, maybe a 4.3GHz sweet spot as seems to be popular here).
You won't regret it, though I suppose it'd be more at the limit of your budget. Remember if you're purchasing Windows 10 with the machine, I heavily suggest that it be Win 10 pro.
If you really want to get the P670RG, at least the 6820HK and overclocking it should be a good idea. But I don't know how that machine handles thermals for the CPU at higher clockspeeds.
No I'm not a student. Whats the advantage of the pro over the home? I googled some of it but it doesn't look like it has anything I would use or could use really. Is there something I'm missing? Do you think it'd be worth it to go all out? With the specs I selected it's 2604.20. It'll take a few more months to get it though it's a little bit past what I would like to spend right now.
Mobile Chassis: MYTHLOGIC Phobos 1715S Chassis (Clevo P770DM-G)
Mobile Display: 17.3" Full HD (1920x1080) IPS Matte LCD (
nVIDIA G-Sync Tech 970/980M)
Monitor Calibration:Free MYTH Professional Monitor Color Calibration
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.20GHz, 8MB Cache, Quad Core Processor (91W) (Unlocked)
Thermal Compound:Free IC Diamond Thermal Compound
System Memory: 16GB (2 x 8GB) , PC4-19200, 2400MHz DDR4 SODIMM
Video Adapter: nVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB GDDR5
nV GPU Performance Scaling AC Adapter: 330W AC Adapter
Hard Drive: Samsung 500GB 850 EVO Series SATA III 6Gb/s Solid State Drive
Keyboard: Standard Backlit Keyboard - NON Chiclet
Network Card: Killer E2400 LAN + Intel 8260 Wireless-AC
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth 4.0
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Anti-Virus Software: Microsoft Security Essentials
MYTHLOGIC Assurance: MYTH Lifetime Assurance with Lifetime Labor + 1 Year Parts Warranty, 1 Yr 2-Way Shipping Cont US
Phoenix Upgrade Plan: Lifetime Phoenix Upgrade Plan
FREE MYTHLOGIC T-Shirt Pick a size: MYTHLOGIC T-Shirt - Large
MYTHLOGIC System Media + Mousepad: MYTH Mousepad and System Media
Why not get it from Sager? Same machine and it will be at least $200-300 cheaper.. Also get your own OS key and SSD.. Look around and you'll find them cheaper.. If you have a Windows 7-8 key from an old machine, download the iso, install and upgrade to 10...do a clean Windows 10 install after that and you are sorted as your computer should be recognised by your micorost account..
Also he gets screen calibration, good QA and other such benefits from mythlogic.
@Shadowtrail I would suggest that you actually get a bit longer of a warranty too, and a single 500GB drive might be an issue for storing your OS/programs/games. Of course if you have a spare drive of your own, that's fine too. But I'd suggest more storage. It really does look like it's quite a bit of $$ I guess.
If money really becomes an issue, you might really just better take it from Sager. Though I usually push for the Prema Partners more.
I agree with what Phoenix says here, 6820HQ would be fine for gaming, don't blow your budget by spending extra on a 6700K - it's not worth it for gaming. I have an old i7 Sandybridge at 2.6Ghz and it doesn't limit any of my gaming at 78fps (refresh rate of my screen) - my GPU is always maxed out, even when I turn down the details to get 78fps - basically all i7 CPUs since Sandybridge are fine for gaming in my experience, no need to be picky. (unless you have a 120Hz screen and are turning down the details to get 120fps, then get the fastest CPU - higher the framerate the higher the CPU demand)
The GPU is where you need to focus, so spend any extra money on that if anything.
(To give you an idea on my experience in relation to my advice, some of the more modern games I play: Titanfall, all the Batman games incl Arkham Knight, Dying Light, Shadow of Mordor, Wolfenstein New Order, Assassins Creed Unity. No CPU bottlenecks experienced for me.)
Thanks for the help so far everyone. After doing some more research, I think I will just wait and save more money and get the good stuff. If I overclock the 6700k would the 230psu or 330 psu be better because I'm really not sure on how much power everything takes.
True, I don't have those games! Although GTA V CPU benchmarks at this link (
http://www.techspot.com/review/991-gta-5-pc-benchmarks/page6.html) show that you only need 3.5Ghz on a 4770K to maximise your fps, so 6820HQ would be alright for that one I reckon. Yeah, my CPU 2630QM would probably limit fps a little in that title (assuming my GPU can push the frames at lower detail settings).
EDIT: although just checked and 6820HQ is 3.2GHz for 4 cores, so a bit short of the 3.5GHz optimum for GTA V - the chart shows that you'd probably only lose 2fps, dropping from 83 to 81fps - although IPC improvements of Skylake could well make up the difference & you could lose nothing. 6820HQ probably still fine for that game. (And if you're 60Hz gaming, then these are framerates well above the 60fps limit anyway.)
Well as an owner of a 3.5GHz haswell i7, I can say 60fps minimum in GTA V doesn't happen. There was a point where the game got really optimized but they broke it later with patches. Black Ops 3 got better at launch, but beyond 60fps it gets exceedingly heavy on the CPU, to the point where I sometimes CPU bottleneck at 80fps. I'm talking 95%+ on all 8 threads. I don't know if GTA is one of those games that is really reliant on RAM or what though, as I've heard wildly varying performances from people.
As far as I can see, anything other than the 6820HK (same specs as the 6820HQ, mind, except it's more heavily overclockable, minus vPro and TXT) or the 6920HQ (3.4GHz 4-core load base, can OC to 4GHz, holds its TDP under load, has vPro and TXT) shouldn't really be considered for mobile Skylake.
As far as gaming and guaranteed performance goes though, the 6700K is really the best choice. It's very undervolt-able (I've seen under 1.1v for stock 4GHz speeds) and the performance is there when you need it. It honestly costs less than the 6820HK, but the rest of the laptop costs more. Plus, you know, socketed. I will admit I hate the BGA chips quite a bit less now that this generation can actually perform some semblance of high-performance computing, but I'll still recommend the socketed chips if a user can handle it.
You have to remember for your case that you are pushing 1600x900.. The demand for CPU power + GPU power goes up on full HD and especially on 120Hz.... The 6820HQ will be fine for 1-2 years however the HK, which can be pushed to 4.1-4.2GHz and might give the extra 1-2 years which allows the laptop to maintain
Ah, in that case then for GTA V it's worth having the faster CPU then even at 60Hz, that game does seem to be an exception though, and with the introduction of DX12 then CPU requirements will go down unless devs correspondingly increase the detail to compensate. (And in your Black Ops 3 you're talking about bottlenecks around 80fps, so 60Hz gaming should be fine I guess.)
I didn't know that increasing resolution increases CPU demand at the same framerate, is that a fact, do you have a link I could see maybe? I'm sceptical about increased longevity on the CPU that you talk about - even if you do have a few more years life in the CPU then your GPU will become obsolete within that time unless you're comitted to buying a system that allows for future GPU upgrades (and you also commit to upgrading your GPU later).
CPU usage goes up VERY lightly with resolution. Under 5% between 1080p and 4K, generally. It's negligible in the grand scheme of things, but it DOES slightly increase.
As for the DX12 deal... sure. Games will likely kill much of the need for CPU usage due to it, however they could introduce new tech that makes use of the CPU more. We won't know. Or maybe some games will justttt be that unoptimized eh? =D. However for existing and closely upcoming games, DX12 is not happening I'm near certain. I doubt we'd see any existing game that's heavy on a CPU get a DX12 patch JUST because it came out. Especially if it's already a year or more old.
Yeah, I doubt that existing games will get a DX12 patch, I was talking about future games in development. I still think that the OP should spend the extra money on the GPU & perhaps other parts of the system rather than breaking his budget by getting the 'best' CPU - I'm still a firm believer that for gaming all modern i7's are not the bottleneck in 99% of games, and for the next 2-4 years I'd expect that to be the case too - especially as the GPU will start showing it's age by then as well.
Well indeed the GPU will start showing its age by then, and a 6820HK can be used if he/she wants, of course. I just think that the 6820HQ SPECIFICALLY is a bad idea. I don't know if it can hold its TDP or if it's overclockable at all. Considering the trend I've noticed from 2015, I would be willing to bet he/she might feel it in the next year or so. After DX12-enabled games start rolling out though, most likely feel it much less.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
