Gigabyte P34W V3 vs Gigabyte P34G V2

[LeviSJ]

Hey everyone, decided I want one of these gigabyte laptops as they seem ideal for me as a student who needs to take their laptop with them a lot whilst still giving me enough power to play games.

The biggest differences between the laptops for me is the GPUs and price.
In the K there is a 3GB 970m and in the G there is a 4GB 860m.

The K will set me back roughly £1175 and the G £900. Wondering if you guys think it's worth the extra money to go for the K spec? I know it will obviously give a much better graphics performance but it's a lot more money and I've read about a lot of issues.

I currently use a crappy acer with a DDR3 630m so whatever I upgrade to should be pretty noticeable.

Thanks

 

[Atom80]

Hey everyone, decided I want one of these gigabyte laptops as they seem ideal for me as a student who needs to take their laptop with them a lot whilst still giving me enough power to play games.

The biggest differences between the laptops for me is the GPUs and price.
In the K there is a 3GB 970m and in the G there is a 4GB 860m.

The K will set me back roughly £1175 and the G £900. Wondering if you guys think it's worth the extra money to go for the K spec? I know it will obviously give a much better graphics performance but it's a lot more money and I've read about a lot of issues.

I currently use a crappy acer with a DDR3 630m so whatever I upgrade to should be pretty noticeable.

Thanks

Hi LeviSJ,

Just to confirm:

P34G - last generation GTX860M 4GB

P34W - new generation with GTX970M 3GB

You said "k" in the post above, and although this product does exist, we haven't brought into UK market.

For true value for money, the P34G v2-CF4 that OcUK have on THIS WEEK ONLY @ £899 is a real bargain - although the offer is discounting the product donw from £949, it was actually selling at £1,149 as recently as late March.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-015-GI


This spec also comes with HDD and 1 x 128SSD, so plenty of storage. Obviously don't want to steer you away from the newer model with better GPU, but wanted to clarify that the discount on the P34G is more significant than it appears on the surface.

Whichever model you decide upon, you can upgrade the SSD, and also add ram to these systems very easily and without voiding our warranty.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team

 

[Blinkz]

I'm stuck trying to decide between Gigabyte models as well, it's tough trying to find information! There isn't any reviews out for the new models, and getting exact specifications on what they have seems impossible! (I.e what type of screen they have etc)

The few comments I've seen on forums seem to suggest the P35X and P35W have cooling issues and so run very hot, as well as loud to try and cool them. It's all hearsay tho!

 

[Curunen]

Atom, any eta on either:

1) A P34W "CF3" - with 16GB ram and at least a 256GB ssd standard?

2) The P34K with 965M?

Just asking because if it's a long time (ie many months) out then I'd settle for the P34W CF2 and buy a separate ssd, clone the OS across and add in a spare 8GB memory stick. On that note - what is the make/model of the memory installed?

If such configurations are due in the next few weeks however, I'd rather hold on a bit longer.

Cheers.

 

[Atom80]

Atom, any eta on either:

1) A P34W "CF3" - with 16GB ram and at least a 256GB ssd standard?

2) The P34K with 965M?

Just asking because if it's a long time (ie many months) out then I'd settle for the P34W CF2 and buy a separate ssd, clone the OS across and add in a spare 8GB memory stick. On that note - what is the make/model of the memory installed?

If such configurations are due in the next few weeks however, I'd rather hold on a bit longer.

Cheers.

Hi Curunen,

The two specifications of P34W are the only two that we bought into UK, and at the moment no plans for higher spec unit with this GPU.

P34K - we decided to not bring in the GTX965m model because we felt the space was too crowded.

I would suggest that the current idea you have to purchase and upgrade ram and ssd is a "safe" solution that isn't going to be super-ceded anytime soon.

The brand of ram used in these machines in UK is - Transcend.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team

 

[LeviSJ]

Sorry Atom, I did mean W model. My bad.

I know the discount is great but laptop GPU's tend to have short lifespans before they become outdated.

The only thing putting me off the P34W is the GPU and CPU temperatures, users seem to recording throttling and temps of 95+ whereas my current laptop doesn't go over 75

 

[Curunen]

Sorry Atom, I did mean W model. My bad.

I know the discount is great but laptop GPU's tend to have short lifespans before they become outdated.

The only thing putting me off the P34W is the GPU and CPU temperatures, users seem to recording throttling and temps of 95+ whereas my current laptop doesn't go over 75

I think with undervolting and repasting it should be fine based on all the people who have done it.

Seems mandatory to do these tweaks - I wouldn't use it straight out of the box without doing so, other than first testing it to make sure no defects.

I think I'm going to go for it, along with a crucial mx100 msata ssd or something. Been waiting far too long and making do with a mish mash of equipment over the last 9 months or so...

 

[LeviSJ]

I think with undervolting and repasting it should be fine based on all the people who have done it.

Seems mandatory to do these tweaks - I wouldn't use it straight out of the box without doing so, other than first testing it to make sure no defects.

I think I'm going to go for it, along with a crucial mx100 msata ssd or something. Been waiting far too long and making do with a mish mash of equipment over the last 9 months or so...

Ye I've been reading around and I definitely would repaste and have a go at undervolting (never undervolted before, don't really know what it is). Think I'm gonna go ahead and order it too

 

[Art]

P34K - we decided to not bring in the GTX965m model because we felt the space was too crowded.

Wait, what? When did you decide that? Last time I asked you about it you said it would arrive in Q2, and I've been sitting waiting for it. Dammit, Asus did the same thing with one of their machines I was thinking of getting.

*Bah!*

 

[Rroff]

^^ It happens a lot with laptops unfortunately I waited for months on another brand with them eventually not delivering before buying my previous laptop.

 

[Art]

^^ It happens a lot with laptops unfortunately I waited for months on another brand with them eventually not delivering before buying my previous laptop.

I know, but it just seems like such a crappy way to treat a would-be-customer.

Manufacturer: Hey guys, look at this neat thing we're going to bring out!
Would Be Customer: Great! Looks like just what I was looking for! I'll hang on for it.
(Time passes)
Would Be Customer: So, uh, when is this actually hitting the market?
Manufacturer: Hmm, what? Oh that thing? We cancelled it for business reasons.

Atom80: Just had another look at the lineup, am I right in saying that you're now not bringing a 14" machine to the UK with a GPU below the 970M? If so that's no fun.

 

[LeviSJ]

I know, but it just seems like such a crappy way to treat a would-be-customer.

Manufacturer: Hey guys, look at this neat thing we're going to bring out!
Would Be Customer: Great! Looks like just what I was looking for! I'll hang on for it.
(Time passes)
Would Be Customer: So, uh, when is this actually hitting the market?
Manufacturer: Hmm, what? Oh that thing? We cancelled it for business reasons.

Atom80: Just had another look at the lineup, am I right in saying that you're now not bringing a 14" machine to the UK with a GPU below the 970M? If so that's no fun.

I am in the exact same boat as you, it feels so ******. It seems they aren't but I'm pretty sure the sub 960m GPUs aren't fully released yet, maybe this summer we will see more ocmpanies throwing in 960m, 950m's etc into their machines.

 

[Atom80]

Wait, what? When did you decide that? Last time I asked you about it you said it would arrive in Q2, and I've been sitting waiting for it. Dammit, Asus did the same thing with one of their machines I was thinking of getting.

*Bah!*

Hi Art,

If we believe there is demand, then we would have course bring in the machine. Perhaps GTX965 does work in this screen size because there is less competition. We will speak with HQ and see if we can bring in small quantity...

Thanks for your feedback and sorry for mixed messages,,,

What sot of specification would be your ideal?

would be i7 processor +

HDD?
SSD?
RAM?


Look forward to hearing back from you,

Regards,

Gigabyte UK NB Team

 

[Art]

What sot of specification would be your ideal?

I'm looking for a machine which will be moved around a lot (which is why I'm not interested in the 15.6"+ machines) and which will mostly be used for media and work type stuff (so I like the non-flashy design) but also for some gaming, although I don't need a gaming monster.

An i7 CPU would be grand but I don't need a top-spec i7, I'd be looking for a 128GB SSD (I might go for a bigger one depending on price), 1TB HDD for work data/images/movies etc. and I don't think I'd need more than 8GB RAM.

So really a P34W V3-CF1 with a lower-tier GPU.

(Just noticed the P34W description on the OcUK site says it has 6 USB ports total and mini Display Port, that can't be right surely?)

 

[swinchester]

I have the P34G GTX860M 4GB model
Runs all the latest games on high/ultra settings 60-150fps depending on the game!

I can honestly say I am more than happy with it and I paid full price at £1150!
I can't recommend it enough.

I have also recently upgrade my ram from 8gb to 16gb although it is not needed at all, I just bought it for tech geek points (found another 8gb stick of ram for £36 yesterday!)


Not to mention I carry this laptop everywhere as it is so portable! (Gaming LANS have now become a option because of this wonderful device)

I would not get a 15.6inch laptop personally as it becomes too bulky for me to carry around and kinda ruins the point of buying a powerful laptop if it is not portable

 

[Blinkz]

I have the P34G GTX860M 4GB model
Runs all the latest games on high/ultra settings 60-150fps depending on the game!

I can honestly say I am more than happy with it and I paid full price at £1150!
I can't recommend it enough.

I have also recently upgrade my ram from 8gb to 16gb although it is not needed at all, I just bought it for tech geek points (found another 8gb stick of ram for £36 yesterday!)


Not to mention I carry this laptop everywhere as it is so portable! (Gaming LANS have now become a option because of this wonderful device)

I would not get a 15.6inch laptop personally as it becomes too bulky for me to carry around and kinda ruins the point of buying a powerful laptop if it is not portable

How noisy is it? Does it have any heat issues?

 

[LeviSJ]

Just bit the bullet and bought the P34K V3 and some liquid pro thermal paste. Should be here Monday

 

[Atom80]

I'm looking for a machine which will be moved around a lot (which is why I'm not interested in the 15.6"+ machines) and which will mostly be used for media and work type stuff (so I like the non-flashy design) but also for some gaming, although I don't need a gaming monster.

An i7 CPU would be grand but I don't need a top-spec i7, I'd be looking for a 128GB SSD (I might go for a bigger one depending on price), 1TB HDD for work data/images/movies etc. and I don't think I'd need more than 8GB RAM.

So really a P34W V3-CF1 with a lower-tier GPU.

(Just noticed the P34W description on the OcUK site says it has 6 USB ports total and mini Display Port, that can't be right surely?)

OK Art, thanks for the feedback.

Regarding USB ports, this is an error in specification - both models have 4 x USB 3 ports - we will get this changed.

Thanks again,

Regards,

Gigbayte UK NB Team

 

[Curunen]

Just bit the bullet and bought the P34K V3 and some liquid pro thermal paste. Should be here Monday

Wait, you mean the W, not K right?

I've been flat out with work this week so unfortunately missed the TWO deal - probably have time over the bank holiday to setup a new machine, but I'm just trying to make sure I have a solid list of things to do before pulling the trigger - like rigorously checking for defects and testing performance.

That's the one thing that's worrying me - build defects. Hope you manage to get a good unit at least.

 

[LeviSJ]

Wait, you mean the W, not K right?

I've been flat out with work this week so unfortunately missed the TWO deal - probably have time over the bank holiday to setup a new machine, but I'm just trying to make sure I have a solid list of things to do before pulling the trigger - like rigorously checking for defects and testing performance.

That's the one thing that's worrying me - build defects. Hope you manage to get a good unit at least.

Sorry yes the W, I seriously need to stop getting them confused! Ye I'm a little hesitant too but hopefully I get a working model.

I'll let you know what I think of it after playing around with a little if you want?