Laptop recommendations for friend ($1400 max budget)

[Phentos]

I know threads have been posted on this many times, but I have a close friend who is currently in the market for a high end gaming laptop. There are also some concerns that I'd like to clear up as well.

 

A desktop is impractical, as my friend still lives in campus dorms and space is at a premium.

 

As the title says, his budget is $1400 + sales tax.

 

My friend has narrowed his search down to three brands, as indicated by the tags. He's set on XoticPC (more specifically the Clevo P650HP6), as the notion of a custom laptop is appealing to him. Alienware's 13 R3 with the OLED screen (out of budget, but... OLED) and the MSI GE62VR are alternative choices.

 

If possible, saving money by including no OS in the purchase would be beneficial. Student discounts and all that.

 

He has a 480 GB Sandisk Ultra II SSD in his current 4 year old laptop that he wants to transfer to the new laptop to replace the mechanical hard drive included. What are the warranty concerns from XoticPC, Dell, and MSI with replacing a drive?

[The Sloth]

i was going to suggest you the msi gt vr. avoid the Alienware, i heard so many bad things about it also first gen OLED screen might not be the best idea.

[Phentos]

4 minutes ago, nerdslayer1 said:

i was going to suggest you the msi gt vr. avoid the Alienware, i heard so many bad things about it also first gen OLED screen might not be the best idea.

I figured that with the OLED display.

 

Pretty colors and heavy saturation can be big factors behind someone's purchasing decisions though

[The Sloth]

30 minutes ago, Phentos said:

I figured that with the OLED display.

 

Pretty colors and heavy saturation can be big factors behind someone's purchasing decisions though

 

 

well the display is nice but the laptop heating issue, really bad battery life mixed in with thick and heavy body is a factor. i know how good OLED displays can be i have a nexus 6p awesome device. 

[Ryujin2003]

49 minutes ago, Phentos said:

I know threads have been posted on this many times, but I have a close friend who is currently in the market for a high end gaming laptop. There are also some concerns that I'd like to clear up as well.

 

A desktop is impractical, as my friend still lives in campus dorms and space is at a premium.

 

As the title says, his budget is $1400 + sales tax.

 

My friend has narrowed his search down to three brands, as indicated by the tags. He's set on XoticPC (more specifically the Clevo P650HP6), as the notion of a custom laptop is appealing to him. Alienware's 13 R3 with the OLED screen (out of budget, but... OLED) and the MSI GE62VR are alternative choices.

 

If possible, saving money by including no OS in the purchase would be beneficial. Student discounts and all that.

 

He has a 480 GB Sandisk Ultra II SSD in his current 4 year old laptop that he wants to transfer to the new laptop to replace the mechanical hard drive included. What are the warranty concerns from XoticPC, Dell, and MSI with replacing a drive?

I hear great things about the Clevo, but not sure personally as I've never owned one. I'd suggest MSI, though you can get the GS63VR for that price range. I think it's a bit more fancy than the GE.GTX 1060 8nstead of 970m. M.2 SSD, and stuff like that. iv I would also stay away from  Alienware. Super expensive when comparing parts purchased against competitors. Also, the first generation thing is iffy to me.

 

You will have an OS on it. The only laptops I've seen that come with no OS are built specifically for Linux builds. Newegg has some. But they won't have gaming performance hardware.

 

MSI won't void the warranty of you change out the HDD, but it wouldn't be worth it for a 480gb I think. Unless he's fine with that, but I find myself using quite a bit between games and school stuff. For a high end gaming laptop, I'd say splurge, and get a Samsung Evo. Because why not.

Plus, with increased age comes decreased reliability. Newer SSDs have different technology. Faster, more durable, and more reliable.

 

I've seen a couple Alienware R3s come through my shop, not for repair, but just passing through. They look really nice though.

[Phentos]

1 hour ago, Ryujin2003 said:

I hear great things about the Clevo, but not sure personally as I've never owned one. I'd suggest MSI, though you can get the GS63VR for that price range. I think it's a bit more fancy than the GE.GTX 1060 8nstead of 970m. M.2 SSD, and stuff like that. iv I would also stay away from  Alienware. Super expensive when comparing parts purchased against competitors. Also, the first generation thing is iffy to me.

 

You will have an OS on it. The only laptops I've seen that come with no OS are built specifically for Linux builds. Newegg has some. But they won't have gaming performance hardware.

 

MSI won't void the warranty of you change out the HDD, but it wouldn't be worth it for a 480gb I think. Unless he's fine with that, but I find myself using quite a bit between games and school stuff. For a high end gaming laptop, I'd say splurge, and get a Samsung Evo. Because why not.

Plus, with increased age comes decreased reliability. Newer SSDs have different technology. Faster, more durable, and more reliable.

 

I've seen a couple Alienware R3s come through my shop, not for repair, but just passing through. They look really nice though.

Yea, he's been leaning toward the Clevo because you can tailor the laptop to what you want. 

 

Another friend of mine is parting out his rig as he has to move out of the country to study abroad. He has a 500 GB 850 EVO that might be of use in the laptop. The goal with that is if the laptop does not have an actual mechanical drive in it, that my friend would save some money with that and put it toward something else.

 

Is G-sync worth the added cost? The Clevo laptop has it as an option for an extra $75 (120hz too). 

[Pendragon]

57 minutes ago, Phentos said:

snip

 

The Clevo your friend picked out is pretty much the best there is. Tell him to stick with it. He may also notice that buying storage and ram separately might be potentially cheaper than buying it all from the configurator. 

 

GSync...idk, its fine I guess. i don't really notice it. You can just make sure your framerates hover around 55 with settings on AAA games and it's completely fine. You only get screen tearing when you render too many frames and if you jack up everything to ultra +, few games can run at complete MAX settings with a 1060. Like everything max. AA 16x, DSR it if you have to. 

[Phentos]

1 hour ago, Pendragon said:

The Clevo your friend picked out is pretty much the best there is. Tell him to stick with it. He may also notice that buying storage and ram separately might be potentially cheaper than buying it all from the configurator. 

 

GSync...idk, its fine I guess. i don't really notice it. You can just make sure your framerates hover around 55 with settings on AAA games and it's completely fine. You only get screen tearing when you render too many frames and if you jack up everything to ultra +, few games can run at complete MAX settings with a 1060. Like everything max. AA 16x, DSR it if you have to. 

How's the build quality of the Clevo laptops?

[Pendragon]

19 minutes ago, Phentos said:

How's the build quality of the Clevo laptops?

It's great. I'd say only behind MSI GT series in build quality. 

[Phentos]

1 minute ago, Pendragon said:

It's great. I'd say only behind MSI GT series in build quality. 

For the storage options on the XoticPC configuration page, the choice that stands out, in terms of price/performance is the Intel 600p NVMe 256 GB SSD. Worth it, or just better to have an empty m.2 slot and install one later on?

[Pendragon]

10 minutes ago, Phentos said:

For the storage options on the XoticPC configuration page, the choice that stands out, in terms of price/performance is the Intel 600p NVMe 256 GB SSD. Worth it, or just better to have an empty m.2 slot and install one later on?

 

Well. No. LOL. Just get the 850 evo on cheap and get more storage. I run a 512gb 850 evo and 2 1tb 7200rpm 2.5 on P650RS. There is very little reason to run expensive NVME drives. If you have to ask whether you need it, you probably don't. Basically unless your friend is moving 100gbs every other minute, it's pretty pointless to get NVME. The only thing you should look for is whether it's MLC or TLC. It's for longevity and other benefits. 850 evo is TLC but is Samsung's custom 3-d vnand so it's comparable to MLC.

 

tl;dr 

sata3=nvme

mlc => 3d vnand tlc >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> tlc 

[Phentos]

1 minute ago, Pendragon said:

Well. No. LOL. Just get the 850 evo on cheap and get more storage. I run a 512gb 850 evo and 2 1tb 7200rpm 2.5 on P650RS. There is very little reason to run expensive NVME drives. If you have to ask whether you need it, you probably don't. Basically unless your friend is moving 100gbs every other minute, it's pretty pointless to get NVME. The only thing you should look for is whether it's MLC or TLC. It's for longevity and other benefits. 850 evo is TLC but is Samsung's custom 3-d vnand so it's comparable to MLC.

 

tl;dr 

sata3=nvme

mlc => 3d vnand tlc >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> tlc 

I figured that.

 

I currently have an 850 EVO myself, and its performance is quite good.

 

So no m.2 drive, but keep the slot? Or stick with the default Sandisk X400?

[Pendragon]

15 minutes ago, Phentos said:

So no m.2 drive, but keep the slot? Or stick with the default Sandisk X400?

Keep the slot? LOL. Ofc, it's part of the MB, its not like they can physically remove the slot. I'd say nothing, and just buy the 500gb 850evo off amazon. It's like 30 bucks cheaper. Save what you can right. Also never get Windows retail. just grab a oem key somewhere for like 30 bucks. 

[Phentos]

4 minutes ago, Pendragon said:

Keep the slot? LOL. Ofc, it's part of the MB, its not like they can physically remove the slot. I'd say nothing, and just buy the 500gb 850evo off amazon. It's like 30 bucks cheaper. Save what you can right. Also never get Windows retail. just grab a oem key somewhere for like 30 bucks. 

I can get W10 for less than 20 bucks, so I'll get my friend a copy of it.

 

And yes, they had an option to actually remove the m.2 slot, which is why I asked.

[Pendragon]

17 minutes ago, Phentos said:

And yes, they had an option to actually remove the m.2 slot, which is why I asked.

...it's misnamed. It's not remove. There is 0 way they can remove the m2 slot entirely. It's built into the MB. And Xotic doesn't mod every machine they import. So no. I'm 100% sure that means just having no m2 ssd in the slot. 

 

side note: nice dp. recognize mine?

[Phentos]

1 minute ago, Pendragon said:

...it's misnamed. It's not remove. There is 0 way they can remove the m2 slot entirely. It's built into the MB. And Xotic doesn't mod every machine they import. So no. I'm 100% sure that means just having no m2 ssd in the slot. 

Lol they should fix that wording then.

 

IC Diamond thermal compound and Killer networking LAN worth it?

 

He knows next to nothing about how to work on laptops, and I'm not sure if I have the patience to strip everything down to just repaste the CPU and GPU. Laptops and I don't mix. Just repasting my own laptop was infuriating enough, with all the plastic clips you have to pry apart after removing the 13 screws.

[Ryujin2003]

45 minutes ago, Phentos said:

I can get W10 for less than 20 bucks, so I'll get my friend a copy of it.

 

And yes, they had an option to actually remove the m.2 slot, which is why I asked.

All laptops and computers should come with W10. But, if the Clevo doesnt, then don't buy it yet. If he's a student, he can get a free key from Microsoft Education. He just has to verify through his school email. All you'd need to do then is build a 64bit USB from the W10 download tool. Free is better than everything else.

[Pendragon]

53 minutes ago, Phentos said:

IC Diamond thermal compound and Killer networking LAN worth it?

 

 

Uhhhhhhhh, I'd say repaste yourself with Gelid or CLU. Killer GOD NO. I swapped my Killer card OUT for a Intel one. IC Diamond is fine, but it's made to fill in gaps as a result of bad manufacturing process. You get the best result from any paste using IC Diamond on a bad heatsink. 

 

54 minutes ago, Phentos said:

Just repasting my own laptop was infuriating enough, with all the plastic clips you have to pry apart after removing the 13 screws.

Clevo's are so easy to take apart. No bullshit like all the Tier 1 manufacturers do it. You take off the bottom. And then you literally unscrew the heatsink and that's it. God I wish other laptops were like that. 

[Phentos]

6 hours ago, Pendragon said:

Uhhhhhhhh, I'd say repaste yourself with Gelid or CLU. Killer GOD NO. I swapped my Killer card OUT for a Intel one. IC Diamond is fine, but it's made to fill in gaps as a result of bad manufacturing process. You get the best result from any paste using IC Diamond on a bad heatsink. 

 

Clevo's are so easy to take apart. No bullshit like all the Tier 1 manufacturers do it. You take off the bottom. And then you literally unscrew the heatsink and that's it. God I wish other laptops were like that. 

Lol, makes me want to get a Clevo too  

 

Saving up for an X299 build though, so I can't.

 

So, to summarize. No m.2 drive, no SATA drive, no OS, Intel LAN, IC Diamond paste, G-Sync display, and 16 GB RAM. Extended warranty worth it or not?

[Pendragon]

16 minutes ago, Phentos said:

No m.2 drive, no SATA drive, no OS, Intel LAN, IC Diamond paste, G-Sync display, and 16 GB RAM. Extended warranty worth it or not?

 

Yes SATA drive. The included 1tb 7200rpm is not worth the price reduction when you take it off. You get like 50 bucks off but it retails for 80 bucks. So keep the 1tb hdd. And source your own boot drive ssd. 

 

Extended warranty depends on your risk tolerance. I generally prefer 2 years on mine mostly because if it fails after 2 I'm just getting a new one anyway. If this machine is suppose to last you for the next 5 years or something get at least 3 years. Honestly it's like life insurance and how much risk you're willing to take, how careful you normally are, and how often you will be moving around. 

[Phentos]

1 hour ago, Pendragon said:

Yes SATA drive. The included 1tb 7200rpm is not worth the price reduction when you take it off. You get like 50 bucks off but it retails for 80 bucks. So keep the 1tb hdd. And source your own boot drive ssd. 

 

Extended warranty depends on your risk tolerance. I generally prefer 2 years on mine mostly because if it fails after 2 I'm just getting a new one anyway. If this machine is suppose to last you for the next 5 years or something get at least 3 years. Honestly it's like life insurance and how much risk you're willing to take, how careful you normally are, and how often you will be moving around. 

Well my friend will buy a 500 GB 850 EVO locally, for about 100 bucks. Was thinking he would have that as the SATA drive instead of a regular hard drive.

 

And yes, my friend will be taking his laptop to class daily, along with LAN parties held bi-monthly in my area. So the two year extended warranty might be worth having.

[Galm]

9 hours ago, Phentos said:

I can get W10 for less than 20 bucks, so I'll get my friend a copy of it.

 

And yes, they had an option to actually remove the m.2 slot, which is why I asked.

No it does not say remove the m.2 slot lol.

 

Slot 1 has remove M.2 ssd because one is there by default.  Slot 2 says none because no ssd is there by default.

[Phentos]

2 hours ago, Galm said:

No it does not say remove the m.2 slot lol.

 

Slot 1 has remove M.2 ssd because one is there by default.  Slot 2 says none because no ssd is there by default.

Guess I misread it then.

[Phentos]

Double post, but whatever.

 

Anyway, would my friend be able to purchase the extended warranty after purchasing the laptop? My friend probably won't wait for that, but he's curious.

[Pendragon]

24 minutes ago, Phentos said:

Anyway, would my friend be able to purchase the extended warranty after purchasing the laptop? My friend probably won't wait for that, but he's curious.

 

 

Warranty extension is available normally until the end of your warranty period. How much it costs, idk. You'll want to confirm with Xotic. Also you'll want to ask Xotic for a remote bios and vbios flash as Xotic is becoming a Prema partner.