P150EM finally decided on spec

ive finally decided on the spec im going to get but thought id throw it open to see what other owners think.

main use will be the usual forum brousing,the odd gaming session but main reason is H.264AVC video editing and rendering.

15.6" (39.6 cm) Full-HD 1920x1080 Matte £0.00
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M 4096MB GDDR5 | TDP: 100W £216.67
Intel Core i7-3720QM Quad Core - 2.60 - 3.60GHz 6MB 45W "Ivy Bridge" £162.50
16GB (2x8192) SO-DIMM DDR3 RAM 1600MHz £93.33
256GB SATA-III SSD Samsung 830 Series (MZ-7PC0256D/EU) £113.33
mSATA Storage 128GB mSATA SSD Samsung 830 (MZMPC128HBFU) £121.67
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 (with Bluetooth) £6.67
Backlit Keyboard UK £0.00
windows 7 pro

normally i need roughly 300-320gb hard drive so the 256 ssd wont be enough for me. to make it up ive added a msata ssd but for half the size its dearer than the 256gb
i know nothing about msata drives so do you think this is a good idea or would it be better to get the drive caddy and have another ssd in there instead. i do use my drive quite a bit so it will need to be switchable with ease. reason i didnt chose this is when mobile its just another bit to carry and take up space.

also ram. im still running 32bit at the moment but for what i need would 8gb be enough or is it better to go 16gb now so its future proof.

over to you

 

The optical bay and the mSata port both run at saga II speeds so you are looking at same performance.

If I could suggest you get SSD and mssd from a different source. will save you some $$$

Also, if you are using SSD for storage you are using expensive storage drives. A 7200rpm HDD more than does the job

Personally I have 360gb SSD and 750gb HDD. I use the SSD for current files and Downloads, and for long term storage I back them up to HDD.

8gb is plenty if you just game and stuff. I doubt anything you Do will push to 16gb RAM anytime soon. However...if can afford aftermarket upgrade, ram isn't expensive these days and you have 4 slots to work with. Also, if you have 16gb you can experiment with using ramdisks. I have 16gb and for the longest time half of it was be used simply for cache purposes when my laptop was on for long periods of time, which is fine. But using ramdisk you can really put it to good use. My eclipse workspace, java jdk, and some other frequently used binaries are all on ramdisk.

But 8gb is enough

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

Hey DJ, taken you some time to come up with a final config. Who's it from?
The msata will run on sata2, so will be a bit slower, and obviously expensive as you noted. An hdd in the optical bay would be cheaper and bigger, but if you need the optical internal, there isn't much choice but to get a bigger ssd or add an msata as you have done.
Don't worry about the ram, get what you are getting, and add more later if you need. You've got 2 extra slots anyway. Staying on 32bit or going to 64bit? You can only address 4gb with 32.

 

thanks for the feedback tommy
a 360gb ssd would be perfect for me and then i would'nt need the others.
was told samsung were the fastest even over intel
might look into thinking about a wd scorpio black 7200 as theve always done me well so far.

 

Hi Tmets
you will find out tomorrow who im getting it from
oh im defo goin 64bit
its only my 4 year old m860tu came with 32bit and i just couldnt be assed to upgrade even though i had 4gb ram.
it renders the video ok but very slow and im using cyberlink power director 10 which is 64bit software so it should fly by when i get the lappy.

 

I was wondering where it was coming from.
On the ssd, you can get a crucial m4 512gb for a little over £300 which is awesome value. The performance difference is small and it is known as being pretty dependable.

 

Keep an eye out for a Crucial M4 512GB. Probably cost same as the two Samsung's you've got. And 8GB should suffice for now, but if you're doing lots of editing then more can't hurt and it's cheap. You can easily add 8GB more later if desired.

Otherwise nice config.

edit: wups, just noticed tmets posted same thing above me...

 

8GB isn't enough for Adobe premiere CS5 if you don't enable swap sapce (Called Virtual Memory in Windows), I can confirm that But if OP use other software then maybe it'll be enough. So I think his 16GB is a good buy. For mSata, it'll perform at the speed of SATA II and kinda expensive.

 

Rather than getting mSata SSD i'd get a regular SSD and stick it instead of optical drive. Optical drives are slow and are rarely used these days so it makes sense to take an external one and have 2 SSDs.

 

I was wondering if a fast 128 GB SSD for the OS and a standard HDD for games will provide similar (or close) loading speeds to an SSD, or do I actually need a 512 GB SSD to get this benefit?

I wish someone could test that.

 

What do you mean loading speeds? Games will load faster with an SSD but that's about the only benefit you get. And usually the difference is minimal. Only games with streaming textures will benefit somewhat from an SSD.

 

OK, I'll elaborate - I've noticed some forum members reporting insane loading speeds in games via SSD (I'm talking about 7-9 seconds as opposed to more than 50 seconds on regular HDD).

My question, basically, is whether I can get these results by going with a 128GB SSD + larger storage HDD and installing the games on the standard HDD, or do I have to buy a large SDD and install those games in this SSD in order to get these results?

 

If you install the games on HDD then loading speeds will be from HDD, so no benefit.

I have 360gb SSD with 80gb partition for windows, and 750gb hdd. I symlink my games to HDD except for a couple, which I keep on SSD. Loading is very much faster, but that's about if. When I'm done playing a game I move it to HDD and symlink it.

With 128gb SSD which you are looking at you'll be able to get a good 4-5 games. Just do what I do with the symlinks on games you aren't currently playing. If you're not rehearsed on cli you can download one of the free programs that does it for you. Steamtools and steammover come to mind.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

Thank you! An excellent reply +rep

That's exactly what I wanted to know. I also wanted a fix for Steam, so the steammover and steamtools might actually do the trick!

You might have saved me quite a lot of Euros, my friend, thanks again

 

ok thanks for all the advise guys.
didnt know the msata would be slower even though more expensive.
the 512 crucial m4 is £293 so i might just configure with that and scrap the msata.
im trying to keep it at round about £2000 and im just over at the moment. back to config page.
thanks once again. really appreciate it.

edit:
£2041 - 5% discount = £1956 ($3055) + shipping
thats with the 512 crucial m4 and no msata

sorted

 

Just curious

If you are going to work with delicious colours and such. How come you don't go with the Gamut screen?
(besides the obvious money problem)

Also why matte and not glossy? Glossy is more crisp.

good luck with your purchase MrDJ

 

Maybe he wants to use it outdoor too Since the reflection is annoying at bright places.

 

this is true.
ive always had glossy but was advised this screen would be much better. as its summer here (started today) i have a large window behind me so glossy does get very glary. the 95% is not on the config page but i will look into this.
other thing is im blind in one eye and have got so used to 1680x1050 for last 4 years so the jump to 1920x1080 might be a bit of a strain.
Hmmm, i might have to go and look now before i buy so i can see both side by side.
bugger, back to the drawing board

 

Hmm one qn, the optical bay is sata 2 instead of sata 3? Can anyone confirm this?

 

Don't look back. The Matte 95% is best screen I've used so far and I don't regeret it at all. Whenever I see a glossy screen, now I just think, what a fool

 

Isn't that a bit harsh? I'm loving my 95% matte screen but I certainly don't consider someone a fool if they choose otherwise. Lighten up, Francis.

 

Who you callin' Francis!? You call me Francis, and I kill you!

Spoiler

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I actually prefer Glossy over Matte. If I wanted to play outdoors I would get a matte. There was a forum member who posted that he ordered a matte and his friend got a glossy, he regretted getting the matte over the glossy once he saw both in person. i will post pics of my setup once it comes in. So I hope you dont consider me a fool, because I know how to use a curtain if a have sunshine right behind me, or I dont like playing outside at 95 degree weather outside.

 

Matte vs glossy is a personal preference. For me glossy is horrific in any condition. Reflection, reflection, reflection. Unless you have the sun backlighting that thing it just is horrible with reflection. But I can see for vivid and accurate color reproduction and improved contrast it would be useful, but only if you need really accurate colors.

 

decided im going to hold out and check the screens first.
i have always had glossy but bought 4 mattes for work but impossible to tell how good the matte was as its only used for black and white xrays and mri scans.

 

Agreed, horrific in any condition.

 

Sometimes I like to myself during a loading screen lol. Jk.

I agree about the reflection, but personal choice I prefer glossy. I owned Dell xps m1530 with matte screen for three years and by far the colors are way more virbrant on the glossy screen. Could be that Clevo screens are better or the 95% gamut have some effect also, but I do like the glossy more.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but are not Mac's known for having the best screens? Wonder what they use, glossy or matte? Once agin I feel glossy gives a more fluid picture thats my preference and thats what I ordered.

 

desktop screens maybe, and not quite.. but yeah

the laptops are not even near perfection, the HP workstations are, IPS

 

Maybe 10 years ago. The best screens are used by Dell, Lenovo, HP and now Clevo. The Retina Display has good viewing angles but color accuracy still seems to be off. Florescent.

Their standard, non retina is just a super bright glossy screen.

 

I would rather not have glossy. I can see my face, and it isn't a pretty sight. Even my mum would agree.

 

That is correct, the optical bay is SATA II. mSATA socket is also SATA II.

 

lol. you poor thing

im going to check them out side by side so will decide then.
was going on wednesday and then thought bugger weve got the olympic torch in wembley so on alert for hospital.

 

ok im even more confused now ARGHHHH!
defo going with matte screen now BUT up until last night i was set on the 15" but just to compare i decided to check out the 17" and now not sure if i should risk the 17" instead.

15.6" Pro Gaming Notebook
Display
1 x 15.6" (39.6 cm) Full-HD 1920x1080 Matte
Graphics Card
1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M 4096MB GDDR5 | TDP: 100W
Processor
1 x Intel Core i7-3720QM Quad Core - 2.60 - 3.60GHz 6MB 45W "Ivy Bridge"
Memory
1 x 16GB (2x8192) SO-DIMM DDR3 RAM 1600MHz
Hard Drive
1 x 512GB SATA-III SSD Crucial RealSSD M4 (CT512M4SSD2)
Optical Drive
1 x DVD-RW
WIFI
1 x Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 (with Bluetooth)
Keyboard
1 x Backlit Keyboard UK
Warranty
1 x Premium Warranty : 36 Month Collect & Return (inc parts, labour, support, shipping)
Operating System
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit

£2,041.01 -5% discount £1955 = £ 12 delivery total £1967

------ ------ ------

17.3" Pro Gaming Notebook
Display
1 x 17.3" (43.9cm) Full-HD 1920x1080 Matte
Graphics Card
1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M 4096MB GDDR5 | TDP: 100W
Processor
1 x Intel Core i7-3720QM Quad Core - 2.60 - 3.60GHz 6MB 45W "Ivy Bridge"
Memory
1 x 16GB (2x8192) SO-DIMM DDR3 RAM 1600MHz
Hard Drive
1 x 256GB SATA-III SSD Samsung 830 Series (MZ-7PC0256D/EU)
Hard Drive 2
1 x 128GB SATA-III SSD Samsung 830 Series (MZ-7PC0128D/EU)
Optical Drive
1 x DVD-RW
WIFI
1 x Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 (with Bluetooth)
Keyboard
1 x Backlit Keyboard UK
Warranty
1 x Premium Warranty : 36 Month Collect & Return (inc parts, labour, support, shipping)
Operating System
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit

£2,035.99 - 5% discount £1963 + £12 delivery total £1975

------ ------ ------

now the samsung ssd are the fastest with read/write speed
15" has a crucial 512ssd
17" has samsung 256ssd and a samsung 128ssd

and its only £8 dearer for the 17"

now i wanted a 15" with the samsung but i would have to have a msata second drive which is loosing some speed especially on the writing side of things.(still a lot faster than my m860tu)

now can i handle the extra size and weight of the 17"

my M860TU is: 3.2kg 364w 269d 29-41h

the new 15" is: 3.1kg 376w 256d 33-43h

the new 17" is: 3.9kg 412w 276d 41-45h

what should i do HELLLLLLP as im ordering this week

 

Depends on the files the game uses, if there are a lot of 4KB files, SSD will crash the hard drive by up to 10 times faster.

 

any size ssd will be faster load times for games and programs compared to a normal hard disc drive.
the bigger the drive the more you can put on it. dont forget operating system can be upto 20gb and average games now are roughly 10gb each so if you went for a 60gb ssd then half has been used up with OS and 1 game.

 

I would go for the 17" without the second SSD, wait a while and purchase a even bigger SSD when you want.

Or keep yourself the P150EM and remove the CD drive and place a SATA II SSD inside of it.

I don't know man you are confusing everyone haha, but yeah if you really can hold the weight of the 17" go with the 17", it'll be cooler too.

 

Why don't you just opt to install the ssd as an aftermarket upgrade?

 

after much searching and confusion over hard drives, screen and size ive finally ordered my new toy.

Ordered: XMG P502 - mySN UK - i7 3720QM / 680GTX / 16GB Ram / 512GB Crucial SSD = The Dogz King Sized Dangley Bits

i wonder if its ready yet

thanks once again one and all for the great advice above, mucho appreciated.