PC Specialist Vortex III HD7S 17.3″ Laptop Review (i7/7970m)

The PC Specialist Vortex III HD7S has an almost identical specification to the Alienware M17X R4 which we reviewed in June. The Dell built machine is around £500 more expensive however.

There is no doubt that the Core i7 3610QM and AMD HD7970m is a stunning combination, capable of handling a myriad of tasks with ease, such as photo manipulation and video editing. It is also a gaming tour de force delivering performance results that we would expect from an enthusiast desktop system.

The Clevo chassis certainly won't win any style awards but it is well built and fully functional. While the full sized backlit keyboard is a pleasure to use, it falls a little short of the class leading ThinkPad X1 implementation. Onboard audio is impressive, and certainly useable in confined spaces.

The 17.3 inch LED screen is one of the primary selling points. It is bright and crystal clear with small text, delivering definitive colour rendition with only minor backlighting inconsistencies. Viewing angles are also reasonably wide and the glossy surface treatment makes it ideal for both gaming and high definition media viewing.

Playing devil's advocate I would prefer it to be slightly less glossy, as even moderate ambient environmental light can prove slightly distracting. PC Specialist do offer a matte screen for £79 extra, to suit a wider range of tastes. This is well worth considering.

The combination of 90GB Kingston Solid State drive and 750GB mechanical drive is an inspired choice. The system boots quickly and is always immediately responsive when multitasking under demanding conditions. We also appreciated the inclusion of high grade Kingston 1,600mhz DDR3 memory, complete with quality heatspreaders.

System performance is without reproach. The Intel Core i7 3610QM is perfectly usable for everyday, mediocre tasks, but capable of stepping up a level to deal with video encoding and 3D rendering when the need arises.

AMD's HD7970m is the most capable mobile graphics card currently available, with a level of performance previously unheard of in the mobile sector. This mind boggling frame rate prowess comes with a caveat however. It simply devours battery life and requires a cacophony of air flow to maintain stability.

Thankfully the Clevo chassis has a rear mounted cooling system which directs a sizable percentage of warm air outside to the rear of the chassis. Ideal for a gamer who uses the machine on their lap on a regular basis, although the sheer physical size of the chassis may prove unwieldy.

Technically this is an extremely noteworthy system, however it is not without fault.

Due to the high specification components, battery life is weak. The 76.96Mh battery struggles to maintain a 2 hour life time, unless the HD7970m is inactive. Alienware tried to counter this with a 90Mh battery, although system life was not significantly improved. It is a tradeoff that gamers will need to be willing to accept.

The noise emissions of the Vortex III HD7S range from almost silent to very loud. When handling general tasks such as surfing or office work, both fans spin very slowly. When hit with 100% CPU requirements, one of the fans spins up to compensate. This is clearly audible although acceptable.

While gaming, the secondary fan which cools the HD7970m also spins up and this is when the system produces the highest level of noise. In fairness this is par for the course when considering a desktop replacement fitted with a cutting edge mobile graphics solution.

PCSpecialist have managed to maintain a very competitive price point, with this machine retailing for £1,245.00 inc vat. We don't know any other system builder offering a similarly specified system at this price point. It is a MUST HAVE for a gamer who doesn't want to accept any compromises.

Pros:

• LED screen is fantastic.
• High grade Kingston SSD and DDR3 used.
• AMD HD7970m is a powerhouse.
• Intel Core i7 processor is very capable.
• Backlit keyboard.
• decent onboard audio.
• well built.
• competitively priced.
• rear mounted cooling system.

Cons:

• Can get very loud.
• weak battery life when AMD's HD7970m is called into action.
• appearance isn't the most exciting.
• not exactly portable.
• glossy screen is very reflective.

Kitguru says: The PC Specialist Vortex III HD7S is a gaming ‘tour de force' at a very competitive price point.

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