Test Methodology
Comparison Laptops - Part One |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Name | ||||
| Form Factor | 15.6in |
15.6in |
15.6in |
15.6in |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-7300HQ |
Intel Core i5-7200U |
Intel Core i7-7700HQ |
Intel Core i7-8750H |
| CPU Base Frequency | 2.5GHz |
2.5GHz |
2.8GHz |
2.2GHz |
| CPU Turbo Frequency | 3.5GHz |
3.1GHz |
3.8GHz |
4.1GHz |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 4 / 4 |
2 / 4 |
4 / 8 |
6 / 12 |
| CPU TDP | 45W |
15W |
45W |
45W |
| Memory | 8GB DDR4 (1x8GB) |
8GB DDR4 (1x8GB) |
8GB DDR4 (2x4GB) |
16GB DDR4 (1x16GB) |
| Memory Speed | 2,400MHz at 17-17-17-39-2T |
2,133MHz at 15-15-15-35-1T |
2,400MHz at 17-17-17-39-2T |
2,666MHz at 18-18-18-43-2T |
| Integrated GPU | Intel HD 630 |
Intel HD 620 |
Intel HD 630 |
Intel UHD 630 |
| Dedicated GPU(s) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 4GB |
Nvidia GeForce 940MX 2GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 4GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q 8GB |
| Display | 15.6in BOE06BA Full-HD TN (1,920x1,080) |
15.6in AUO21ED Full-HD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
15.6in CMN15E8 Full-HD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
15.6in LGD05C0 Full-HD (1,920x1,080) |
| Battery Capacity | 53Wh |
42Wh |
73Wh |
94Wh |
| Wireless | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 |
| Network | Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
- |
- |
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
| Primary Storage | 128GB SK Hynix SC308 M.2 SSD |
256GB Micron 1100 M.2 SSD |
512GB Micron 1100 M.2 SSD |
512GB Toshiba XG3 M.2 SSD |
| Secondary Storage | 1TB Toshiba MQ01ABD100 2.5in HDD |
- |
- |
- |
| Optical Drive | - |
- |
- |
- |
| Power Supply | 135W External |
65W External |
120W External |
200W External |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 |
Microsoft Windows 10 |
Microsoft Windows 10 |
Microsoft Windows 10 |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 389mm x 266mm x 28.9mm |
361mm x 244mm x 17.9 mm |
365mm x 251mm x 18.9mm |
356mm x 250 x 18.9mm |
| Weight | 2.5kg |
1.7kg |
1.8kg |
2.0kg |
| Standard Warranty | One year |
One year |
One year |
Two years |
| Date Reviewed | June 2017 |
February 2018 |
August 2017 |
April 2018 |
| Price When Reviewed | £800 |
£620 |
£1,600 |
£2,200 |
Comparison Laptops - Part Two |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Name | ||||
| Form Factor | 15.6in |
15.6in |
14.0in |
15.6in |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-7700HQ |
Intel Core i7-7700HQ |
Intel Core i7-7700HQ |
Intel Core i7-8750H |
| CPU Base Frequency | 2.8GHz |
2.8GHz |
2.8GHz |
2.2GHz |
| CPU Turbo Frequency | 3.8GHz |
3.8GHz |
3.8GHz |
4.1GHz |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
6 / 12 |
| CPU TDP | 45W |
45W |
45W |
45W |
| Memory | 8GB DDR4 (1x8GB) |
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
| Memory Speed | 2,400MHz at 17-17-17-39-2T |
2,400MHz at 16-16-16-39-2T |
2,400MHz at 17-17-17-39-2T |
2,400MHz at 16-16-16-39-2T |
| Integrated GPU | Intel HD 630 |
Intel HD 630
|
Intel HD 630 |
Intel UHD 630 |
| Dedicated GPU(s) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 4GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q 8GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB |
| Display | 15.6in AUO61ED Full-HD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
15.6in AUO52ED Full-HD TN (1,920x1,080) |
14.0in LGD046D Full-HD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
15.6in CMN15D7 Full-HD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
| Battery Capacity | 45Wh |
55Wh |
70Wh |
47Wh |
| Wireless | Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4A |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 |
Killer Wireless-AC 1535 |
Intel Wireless-AC 9560 |
| Network | Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
- |
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
| Primary Storage | 128GB Samsung PM951 M.2 SSD |
256GB Samsung PM961 M.2 SSD |
256GB Samsung PM951 M.2 SSD |
250GB Samsung 960 Evo M.2 SSD |
| Secondary Storage | 1TB Seagate Mobile 2.5in HDD |
1TB Seagate FireCuda 2.5in HDD |
- |
1TB Seagate BarraCuda 2.5in HDD |
| Optical Drive | - |
- |
- |
- |
| Power Supply | 135W External |
180W External |
165W External |
150W External |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 |
Microsoft Windows 10 |
Microsoft Windows 10 |
Microsoft Windows 10 |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 380mm x 265mm x 25.8mm |
380mm x 249mm x 18.6mm |
345mm x 235mm x 17.9mm |
359mm x 236mm x 19.9mm |
| Weight | 2.5kg |
1.9kg |
1.9kg |
2.0kg |
| Standard Warranty | One year |
Three years |
One year |
Two years |
| Date Reviewed | July 2017 |
January 2018 |
March 2017 |
May 2018 |
| Price When Reviewed | £1,000 |
£1,500 |
£1,800 |
£1,400 |
CPU Benchmarks |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HEXUS PiFast | Our number-crunching PiFast test is used to benchmark the computational power of each system's CPU. | |||||||||||
| Cinebench | Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible. | |||||||||||
| HandBrake | Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores. | |||||||||||
Memory and Storage Benchmarks |
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| AIDA64 | Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency. | |||||||||||
| CrystalDiskMark | Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge sequential performance and aggregated 4K QD32 speeds. | |||||||||||
System and Gaming Benchmarks |
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| 3DMark | DX12, Time Spy test. | |||||||||||
| Gaming | A selection of modern titles are tested at various resolutions. | |||||||||||
Miscellaneous Benchmarks |
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| Display | Datacolor's Spyder 4 Elite professional monitor analyser is used to return a quantitative assessment of display quality. | |||||||||||
| Power Consumption | Noted for system idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and for GPU playing F1 2017. | |||||||||||
| Temperature | Noted for CPU idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and for GPU playing F1 2017. | |||||||||||
| Battery Life | Measured while looping a high-definition movie clip with 50 per cent screen brightness and flight mode enabled. | |||||||||||