Suggestions Picking a Laptop?

[IAmBecomeLinus]

Hello all, I'm currently in the process of doing research to buy a new laptop this holiday season. My budget is $1,940 USD (It's actually $2,000, but I have plans for $60 of it). I'd like to make sure that, at the very least, whatever I get has the following specs:

 

GPU: GTX 1070 (8GB)

CPU: Intel 6700HQ (I'm very flexible on this) 

RAM: 16GB (Preferably a 2x8GB config with extra sodimm slots for future expansion)

Storage: 256GB SSD + 2TB HDD

Display: 17.3 inch | G-Sync | 1080p

Weight: This isn't too large of a factor for me, but I  would like to avoid lugging around something like a MSI Dominator.

 

I've found 2 possible candidates that meet my budget and specs requirements so far

 

**I am not eligible for the cash discounts available as I have no intention of paying with anything other than PayPal**

 

My first find was the Sager NP8173-S (CLEVO P670RS). Price $1870 - $1954

With the 2TB option selected, the price of this laptop is around 1870 USD, and with a 512GB SSD it's $1954.

 

My second is the Acer 17.3" G9-793-78CM. Price ~ $1849

It's a bit larger and under-speced in comparison to the Sager, but I have had excellent experiences with RMA's with Acer, so I have some bias towards them.

 

Anyway, I'd love any input from you guys, and I'm not deadset on either of these two laptops, so please do comment. 

Thanks!

 

 

 

[bgibbz]

Any particular reason you need a 17 inch display? As someone who carrried around a 17 inch monitor for a while, let me suggest that you get a smaller display (I personally like 13 inch) and then get a monitor for use at home. 

[UMxMarky94]

What Bgibbz said, what is this for and how portable you want it ? because the newest alienware 13 or something similar could fit your needs

[ProjectBox153]

What is the 17 inch display for? I hate small displays, but manage to get along fine with a 15 inch, 1366x768 panel all the time, including what I'm typing on now. If we knew how the extra screen real estate would be used/needed we could get a better idea for what the other components should be.

[natey_g]

My choice

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-15-laptop/dkcwf03hgsync

just add an sdd

[IAmBecomeLinus]

2 hours ago, bgibbz said:

Any particular reason you need a 17 inch display? As someone who carrried around a 17 inch monitor for a while, let me suggest that you get a smaller display (I personally like 13 inch) and then get a monitor for use at home. 

 

2 hours ago, UMxMarky94 said:

What Bgibbz said, what is this for and how portable you want it ? because the newest alienware 13 or something similar could fit your needs

 

2 hours ago, Jamiec1130 said:

What is the 17 inch display for? I hate small displays, but manage to get along fine with a 15 inch, 1366x768 panel all the time, including what I'm typing on now. If we knew how the extra screen real estate would be used/needed we could get a better idea for what the other components should be.

The smallest screen I'd be comfortable with is 15.6 inches. I've had a 13 inch laptop before, and it just didn't suit me. I'm usually away from home watching movies and such, so I was thinking 17.3 might be good for media consumption, but I've never owned a laptop that big, so I'm not sure how I'd feel about it.

[UMxMarky94]

5 minutes ago, IAmBecomeLinus said:

 

 

The smallest screen I'd be comfortable with is 15.6 inches. I've had a 13 inch laptop before, and it just didn't suit me. I'm usually away from home watching movies and such, so I was thinking 17.3 might be good for media consumption, but I've never owned a laptop that big, so I'm not sure how I'd feel about it.

If you can, go a store and have a look at some large 17 laptops and some 15 ( 2 birds 1 stone ) and see if it's worth the extra weight.

also i take it your doing some gaming or something intensive on it ?  

[IAmBecomeLinus]

1 minute ago, UMxMarky94 said:

If you can, go a store and have a look at some large 17 laptops and some 15 ( 2 birds 1 stone ) and see if it's worth the extra weight.

also i take it your doing some gaming or something intensive on it ?  

 

Alot of gaming.

[IAmBecomeLinus]

Also, I've seen 17.3 laptops, my girlfriend is a MSI GS60 GHOST PRO, so I'm around hers quite a bit, but I'm not sure how I'd feel having one all the time.

[UMxMarky94]

well here a possible Alienware 17 http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-17-laptop/dkcwg03hcombo

 

and a 15, you know food for thought http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-15-laptop/dkcwf03hgsync

[Pendragon]

2 hours ago, UMxMarky94 said:

well here a possible Alienware 17 http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-17-laptop/dkcwg03hcombo

For 2k, it aint getting you much on the Alienware. 

 

2 hours ago, IAmBecomeLinus said:

snip

Take the P670RS. Dont buy it from Xotic or Sager. Buy it form LPC for the Prema Bios. https://lpc-digital.com/product/sager-np8173-special-clevo-p670rs/

Also, grab a 6820HK. 3.1ghz quad core bottlenecks a 1070. Storage and drives are up to you, but I'd say if you can find drives externally (amazon, microcenter) and it's cheaper than getting it on the configurator, call in and ask for a custom quote with stuff. 

 

eg. i always call in to ask for no ram cause i have a pair of DDR4 sodimm 3000mhz CL16 for myself. Often times you can find the M2 and 2TB storage drives cheaper on newegg or amazon. 

[Guest lilbman]

5 hours ago, UMxMarky94 said:

What Bgibbz said, what is this for and how portable you want it ? because the newest alienware 13 or something similar could fit your needs

The new Alienware 13 doesn't have a 1070, but a 1060 in that package is very tempting.

[Guest lilbman]

2 hours ago, UMxMarky94 said:

well here a possible Alienware 17 http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-17-laptop/dkcwg03hcombo

 

and a 15, you know food for thought http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-15-laptop/dkcwf03hgsync

 

I got a 15. I love it.

[Guest lilbman]

3 hours ago, IAmBecomeLinus said:

 

 

The smallest screen I'd be comfortable with is 15.6 inches. I've had a 13 inch laptop before, and it just didn't suit me. I'm usually away from home watching movies and such, so I was thinking 17.3 might be good for media consumption, but I've never owned a laptop that big, so I'm not sure how I'd feel about it.

 

Alienware 15 R3 gets really good battery life with the upgraded battery.  I highly recommend it if you need the extra juice.

[Pendragon]

7 minutes ago, lilbman said:

Alienware 15 R3 gets really good battery life with the upgraded battery.

It's like 6 hours to the 5.5 hours of the P6x0Rx series. And also 2000 (retail) doesn't even get you a 1070 on Alienware. Also getting a 6700HQ is gimping yourself if you're getting a 1070. Only situation would that be reasonable is if it's that sick GT62VR sale on Microcenter. Then value kicks in hard. But otherwise you really shouldn't be pairing a 3.1ghz quad core with a 1070. 

 

edit: ohhh there's a sick sale on alienwares now. interesting. 

 

edit2: nope. alienware still insists on restricting the 6820HK on their 4k monitor series. wtf. sigh. 

[Guest lilbman]

1 hour ago, Pendragon said:

It's like 6 hours to the 5.5 hours of the P6x0Rx series. And also 2000 (retail) doesn't even get you a 1070 on Alienware. Also getting a 6700HQ is gimping yourself if you're getting a 1070. Only situation would that be reasonable is if it's that sick GT62VR sale on Microcenter. Then value kicks in hard. But otherwise you really shouldn't be pairing a 3.1ghz quad core with a 1070. 

 

edit: ohhh there's a sick sale on alienwares now. interesting. 

 

edit2: nope. alienware still insists on restricting the 6820HK on their 4k monitor series. wtf. sigh. 

 

Those are some hella good deals. I should've waited.

[jasonwj322a]

I know this is kinda rude but whats the $60 for? My curiosity is driving me crazy

 

[IAmBecomeLinus]

On 11/16/2016 at 7:28 PM, Pendragon said:

For 2k, it aint getting you much on the Alienware. 

 

Take the P670RS. Dont buy it from Xotic or Sager. Buy it form LPC for the Prema Bios. https://lpc-digital.com/product/sager-np8173-special-clevo-p670rs/

Also, grab a 6820HK. 3.1ghz quad core bottlenecks a 1070. Storage and drives are up to you, but I'd say if you can find drives externally (amazon, microcenter) and it's cheaper than getting it on the configurator, call in and ask for a custom quote with stuff. 

 

eg. i always call in to ask for no ram cause i have a pair of DDR4 sodimm 3000mhz CL16 for myself. Often times you can find the M2 and 2TB storage drives cheaper on newegg or amazon. 

 

On 11/16/2016 at 7:36 PM, Pendragon said:

It's like 6 hours to the 5.5 hours of the P6x0Rx series. And also 2000 (retail) doesn't even get you a 1070 on Alienware. Also getting a 6700HQ is gimping yourself if you're getting a 1070. Only situation would that be reasonable is if it's that sick GT62VR sale on Microcenter. Then value kicks in hard. But otherwise you really shouldn't be pairing a 3.1ghz quad core with a 1070. 

 

edit: ohhh there's a sick sale on alienwares now. interesting. 

 

edit2: nope. alienware still insists on restricting the 6820HK on their 4k monitor series. wtf. sigh. 

 

How much better is the 6820HK? It only boosts 100Mhz higher than the 6700HQ. Outside of that, the only advantage I really see is that It's unlocked, and I have no intentions of OC'ing whatever laptop I get.

[IAmBecomeLinus]

15 hours ago, jasonwj322a said:

I know this is kinda rude but whats the $60 for? My curiosity is driving me crazy

 

Just a Mouse and Gamepad.

[Pendragon]

29 minutes ago, IAmBecomeLinus said:

How much better is the 6820HK? It only boosts 100Mhz higher than the 6700HQ. Outside of that, the only advantage I really see is that It's unlocked, and I have no intentions of OC'ing whatever laptop I get.

...well then there's no point in getting an HK if you don't plan to OC it. There's a big difference between 3.1ghz and 4.1ghz on the CPU when paired up with a high end GPU. 

[IAmBecomeLinus]

3 hours ago, Pendragon said:

...well then there's no point in getting an HK if you don't plan to OC it. There's a big difference between 3.1ghz and 4.1ghz on the CPU when paired up with a high end GPU. 

Maybe I'm being a bit obtuse, I've just always been weary of OC'ing laptops. They're just so much hotter than desktops.

[Dackzy]

27 minutes ago, IAmBecomeLinus said:

Maybe I'm being a bit obtuse, I've just always been weary of OC'ing laptops. They're just so much hotter than desktops.

well clevo laptops has the thermal headroom for OCing.

[Pendragon]

51 minutes ago, IAmBecomeLinus said:

They're just so much hotter than desktops.

they are as hot as they are designed to be. Clevo's are reasonable. Alienware is reasonable (when not faulty), MSI is reasonable. Shit like Acer and Razer might as well make stoves. 

[UMxMarky94]

2 hours ago, Pendragon said:

Alienware is reasonable (when not faulty).

True that, First Alienware with a 6820HK  i fixed wouldn't overclock due to thermal limiting (bad Heatsink, heat pipes not working right)