Question Choosing the best configuration options on a new custom laptop ?

[jorge_medion]

As new GPU Nvidia 4th RTX generation is coming to laptops I think is a good time for a new laptop. I´ve just seen a customizable laptop I am very interested in:

PC Specialist 17" RECOIL®

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/recoil-VII-17/overview/

I am interested in this laptop because I need and I want to focus on very strong CPU single core laptop, being the other hardware less important. I want it mainly for historical Total War and other strategy games in which CPU power matters more than any other hardware. This is the best option I found as price-quality and better in paper than previous ASUS/MSI options I found with GPU Nvidia 3th RTX generation and weaker CPU.

Here it seems I can change: RAM, GPU, Hard Drives and for that matter I need your help. The games I will play the most would be: Shogun 2 TW, Rome 2 TW, Attila TW, Three Kingdoms TW. Other games may include Mount and Blade Bannerlord, Victoria 3, Crusader Kings 3. Unfortunately some of these games needs a lot of free space.

Would you mind to give me proposals/setups lower than 3000 Euro? This is my top budget.

 

[Eximo]

Definitely want 2x16GB memory configuration.
How much space you need is really up to you to decide, but 1TB is where I would start. Since this is a premium laptop, I would go ahead with the Corsair MP600.

Well, when it comes to GPU, the faster you get it now, the longer it will last.

2560x1600 x 240hz is pretty optimistic even for a 4090 mobile (more like a power starved RTX 4080 desktop)

Even with all that it is 3258 Euro. So you could drop down to the 4080 and add in a 2TB drive and be under then it is 2823 Euro.

 

[jorge_medion]

Definitely want 2x16GB memory configuration.
How much space you need is really up to you to decide, but 1TB is where I would start. Since this is a premium laptop, I would go ahead with the Corsair MP600.

Well, when it comes to GPU, the faster you get it now, the longer it will last.

2560x1600 x 240hz is pretty optimistic even for a 4090 mobile (more like a power starved RTX 4080 desktop)

Even with all that it is 3258 Euro. So you could drop down to the 4080 and add in a 2TB drive and be under then it is 2823 Euro.

Thank you for the feedback. is it possible to play at resolution 1920x1080? Also what is the difference between 1x32GB and 2x16GB RAM? Also which hard drive is better in terms of speed/performance? Maybe it worths having a fast 1 TB instead of a less efficient 2 TB?

 

[Eximo]

Dual channel memory requires two memory channels to be populated. A single stick of memory won't accomplish that.

Now DDR5 is a little different in that it doubles the width on a single DIMM, so that a single DDR5 channel is almost the same as dual channel DDR4. However, you can double that by using two sticks. It will be a while before that increased bandwidth is taken advantage of, but it will be good to have regardless as some workloads will already take advantage of it.

Another options would be 2x32GB if you want to have a lot of memory now. But that isn't really needed for gaming.

1920 x 1200 would be the ratio you would want, but yes, you can run run at a lower resolution.

Corsair MP600 is one of the faster drives they have on offer. You could also opt for the Samsung 980 Pro 2TB for a little more. Or even the 990 Pro (Though that one did have a firmware issue, so I would avoid that unless you want to check and update the firmware yourself when you get it)

We are talking sub-10% differences between the drives at maximum throughput, which you are likely never going to see.

If you wanted to add storage, you can just opt for a second drive. If it is just game storage it doesn't need to be super fast either.

For instance a 980 Pro 1TB for the OS and your favorite games, and a 2TB 970 Evo Plus for whatever else. With the 4080 still fits under budget with 2x16GB of memory.

 

[jorge_medion]

I am thinking to play also Napoleon Total War, it seems there is an issue with Intel 12th and 13th generation CPUs. There is another option that looks good in pc specialist:

Valeon 17.3´´

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/valeon-ii-17/overview/

With this setup the price is 2333 eur

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX
RAM: 32 GB DDR5 (2x16GB)
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti Laptop
Hard Drive: 2 TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2, PCIe NVMe

I am interested in either Valeon or Recoil. What do you think is the best option?

Also why these computers are cheaper than brands such as MSI, Asus?

Edited: I already have a laptop MSI GE75 from 2020 and Napoleon Total War runs well in this computer. I can also consider the option to play some games in the MSI and others in Recoil.

 

[jorge_medion]

Update... I checked AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX vs Intel Core i9 13900HX and the difference is huge, at least in single core performance:

https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i9-13900HX-vs-AMD-Ryzen-9-6900HX/m2023039vsm1792755

The price gap does not compensate going for Valeon. It seems Recoil is the way to go.