Looking for a powerful leightweight laptop.

Energize · 15 Dec 2013 at 22:02

I'm looking for a 13-14" Laptop for work, with at least 6GB of ram and a fast processor for both single and multi-threaded applications such at photo processing, video encoding, software compilation and database processing.

However I am finding myself confused by the absurd cpu naming conventions, there's 3rd gen, 4th gen, i3, i5, i7, some have 2 cores, some have 4, some have turbo boost some don't, apparently some can step up all cores to a higher clock speed, while some can only turbo boost one core.

What on earth Inte| were thinking by bringing out so many laptop cpu's with pointless distinctions I don't know. But it makes it very difficult to find a suitable laptop when the apparent clock speed is not as it seems.

I'll be fitting an SSD in whatever laptop I buy if it doesn't come with one, so the hard drive I don't care about either way, and I'm not gaming so the gpu doesn't matter either.

Schizophonic · 15 Dec 2013 at 22:33

Budget?

Energize · 15 Dec 2013 at 22:37

It's kind of open really, looking for options in the range of £500-£1000.

It's just a question of whether the higher end ones are actually decent value. Most manufacturers seem to charge hundreds more for a cpu only 200MHz faster, which is far more than the difference between a top and bottom end desktop cpu!

Obviously when I have a £150 4.8GHz quad core cpu in my desktop, I don't want to end up spending another £600 on a slightly faster laptop cpu that can barely run pong in comparison!

tereu5 · 16 Dec 2013 at 14:06

well in laptops half of the speed usually is considered fast

From the OCUK options you can get:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-028-OE&groupid=959&catid=1828

For tiny bit more you can get this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-011-GI&groupid=959&catid=1828
Which should be better quality. If not to bothered with i7 £200 less will give you i5

On the other hand within budget from MSI
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-099-MS&groupid=959&catid=1828

From those 3 OcUK has most powerfull GPU (slightly but always), could be customised as required. But I would go probably for either GB or MSI (GB has SSD+normal drive where MSI has only standard HDD)

Energize · 16 Dec 2013 at 22:22

The MS| certainly looks nice, I'd like to avoid own brands like Ocuk though, they are heavy and have poor build quality compared to the mainstream brands.

Stanith · 17 Dec 2013 at 01:30

Energize said:
The MS| certainly looks nice, I'd like to avoid own brands like Ocuk though, they are heavy and have poor build quality compared to the mainstream brands.

For what it's worth, I bought that Ocuk one this week... while it doesn't look like anything special (chassis looks a bit cheap) it weighs the same as the MSI, is more powerful and has a considerably better screen(1080p), for slightly less money too. I'd go with the Gigabyte (similar specs to Ocuk, but lighter) or the Ocuk one personally!

Energize · 17 Dec 2013 at 01:36

So looking at the Gig@byte one "Inte| Core i7-4700HQ, 2.4~3.4GHz", does that mean all cores go up to 3.4GHz or just one? I've been reading the Inte| website cpu specs and it seems to say that only 1 core uses turbo boost?

Confusing to say the least, on my desktop 3570k, I can choose to either have turbo boost disabled and put the standard clock speed @ 4800MHz, or use the stock clock speed of 3,400MHz and then set each cores turbo boost to 4,800MHz.

kefan77 · 17 Dec 2013 at 02:04

Energize said:
The MS| certainly looks nice, I'd like to avoid own brands like Ocuk though, they are heavy and have poor build quality compared to the mainstream brands.

sager/clevo usually have better chassis and cooling than most of the mainstream plastic junk you find in shops. that however comes with bit more weight, although there are 13-14" that are still considered lightweight.

Rroff · 17 Dec 2013 at 02:24

Energize said:
So looking at the Gig@byte one "Inte| Core i7-4700HQ, 2.4~3.4GHz", does that mean all cores go up to 3.4GHz or just one? I've been reading the Inte| website cpu specs and it seems to say that only 1 core uses turbo boost?

Confusing to say the least, on my desktop 3570k, I can choose to either have turbo boost disabled and put the standard clock speed @ 4800MHz, or use the stock clock speed of 3,400MHz and then set each cores turbo boost to 4,800MHz.

Probably when under load 1 core active = 3.4GHz, 2 cores = 3.1GHz, 3+ cores = 2.4 or something like that, its what my i7 laptop does.

Energize · 17 Dec 2013 at 02:52

Hmm that's not so bad then.

kevpuk · 17 Dec 2013 at 09:15

I just bought a Gigabyte P35K - the spangly version with all the trimmings, but the vanilla P35K is the same sort of money as the P34G linked above.
Great machine, very nice build IMHO and well worth a look. It has the advantage of an ODD, and slightly better gfx....

Energize · 3 Jan 2014 at 19:06

In the end I did go with the P34G, but it had a dodgy SSD, so had to be sent back, not exactly the kind of quality control I'm looking for lol.

The built in battery and no hard drive cover seemed to be taking a step backwards, this kind of problem indicates why hard drive access is so important, and no doubt there would be an enormous cost for battery replacement, normally I just replace the lithium cells in a laptop battery myself with new ones and it only costs a few quid.

Energize · 5 Jan 2014 at 21:54

Had a look at the macs, but the mac pro's glass screens seem to glare quite badly in some situations so the display isn't ideal, and their quad core models are larger and £600 more expensive than other manufacturers!