Test Methodology
Comparison Laptops - Part One |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Name | ||||
| Form Factor | 17.3in |
17.3in |
17.3in |
17.3in |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-6820HK |
Intel Core i7-6820HK |
Intel Core i7-6820HK |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ |
| CPU Base Frequency | 2.7GHz |
2.7GHz |
2.7GHz |
2.6GHz |
| CPU Turbo Frequency | 3.8GHz |
3.6GHz |
3.6GHz |
3.6GHz |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
| CPU TDP | 45W |
45W |
45W |
47W |
| Memory | 64GB DDR4 (4x16GB) |
32GB DDR4 (2x16GB) |
32GB DDR4 (2x16GB) |
16GB DDR3 (2x8GB) |
| Memory Speed | 2,400MHz at 17-17-17-39-2T |
2,666MHz at 18-18-18-43-2T |
2,666MHz at 18-18-18-43-2T |
1,600MHz at 11-11-11-28-1T |
| Integrated GPU | - |
- |
Intel HD 530 |
Intel HD 4600 |
| Dedicated GPU(s) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M 8GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M 8GB |
| Display | 17.3in LGD04E8 Full-HD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
17.3in SHP145E UHD IPS (3,840x2,160) |
17.3in SHP145E UHD IPS (3,840x2,160) |
17.3in LGD0469 Full-HD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
| Battery Capacity | 88Wh |
74Wh |
74Wh |
76Wh |
| Wireless | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 |
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 |
| Network | Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
Intel Gigabit Ethernet |
Intel Gigabit Ethernet |
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
| Primary Storage | 512GB Toshiba THNSN5512GPU7 NVMe M.2 SSD |
256GB Samsung MZVPV256 NVMe M.2 SSD |
256GB Samsung MZHPV256 NVMe M.2 SSD |
2 x 128GB LiteOn LMT-128L9M mSATA SSDs in RAID 0 |
| Secondary Storage | 1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD |
1TB Seagate Spinpoint 2.5in HDD |
1TB Seagate Spinpoint 2.5in HDD |
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD |
| Optical Drive | Blu-ray reader |
- |
- |
DVD writer |
| Power Supply | 230W External |
240W External |
240W External |
180W External |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 416mm x 322mm x 49mm |
408mm x 296mm x 26.6mm |
408mm x 296mm x 26.6mm |
417mm x 287mm x 22.5mm |
| Weight | 4.3kg |
4.1kg |
4.1kg |
2.8kg |
| Standard Warranty | TBC |
Two years |
Two years |
Two years |
| Date Reviewed | August 2016 |
November 2016 |
April 2016 |
March 2015 |
| Price When Reviewed | £2,300 |
£2,900 |
£2,400 |
£1,750 |
Comparison Laptops - Part Two |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Name | ||||
| Form Factor | 17.3in |
17.3in |
18.4in |
17.3in |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-6700HQ |
Intel Core i7-6820HK |
Intel Core i7-6920HQ |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ |
| CPU Base Frequency | 2.6GHz |
2.7GHz |
2.9GHz |
2.6GHz |
| CPU Turbo Frequency | 3.5GHz |
3.6GHz |
3.8GHz |
3.6GHz |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
4 / 8 |
| CPU TDP | 45W |
45W |
45W |
47W |
| Memory | 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
64GB DDR4 (4x16GB) |
16GB DDR3 (2x8GB) |
| Memory Speed | 2,133MHz at 15-15-15-36-2T |
2,133MHz at 15-15-15-36-1T |
2,133MHz at 15-15-15-36-2T |
1,600MHz at 9-9-9-27-1T |
| Integrated GPU | Intel HD 530 |
Intel HD 530 |
- |
Intel HD 4600 |
| Dedicated GPU(s) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M 3GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M 8GB |
2x Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 8GB |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M 4GB |
| Display | 17.3in LGD0469 Full-HD IPS (1,920x1,080) |
17.3in LGD0469 Full-HD IPS G-Sync (1,920x1,080) |
18.4in SDC4C48 Full-HD LCD (1,920x1,080) |
17.3in CMO1720 Full-HD LCD (1,920x1,080) |
| Battery Capacity | 76Wh |
83Wh |
75Wh |
60Wh |
| Wireless | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 |
Killer Wireless-AC 1535 |
Killer Wireless-AC 1535 |
Killer Wireless-AC 1525 |
| Network | Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet |
Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet |
Realtek Gigabit Ethernet |
| Primary Storage | 256GB LiteOn L8T-256L9G M.2 SSD |
128GB Toshiba THNSN5128GPU7 NVMe M.2 SSD |
2 x Toshiba THNSN5256GPU7 NVMe M.2 SSDs in RAID 0 |
240GB Kingston SM2280S3240G SSDNow M.2 SSD |
| Secondary Storage | 1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD |
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD |
1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5in HDD |
1TB WD Blue 2.5in HDD |
| Optical Drive | DVD writer |
Hitachi Blu-ray writer |
LG Blu-ray writer |
- |
| Power Supply | 180W External |
230W External |
330W External |
180W External |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit |
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 421mm x 290mm x 24.9mm |
428mm x 294mm x 48mm |
456mm x 330mm x 49mm |
417mm x 287mm x 29.98mm |
| Weight | 3.0kg |
3.8kg |
4.5kg |
3.3kg |
| Standard Warranty | Two years |
Two years |
Two years |
Three years |
| Date Reviewed | February 2016 |
October 2015 |
March 2016 |
February 2015 |
| Price When Reviewed | £1,350 |
£1,999 |
£3,990 |
£1,349 |
CPU Benchmarks |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
||||||||||||
| 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. | |||||||||||
Gaming Benchmarks |
||||||||||||
| 3DMark | DX11, default Fire Strike test. | |||||||||||
| Gaming | A selection of modern titles are tested at various resolutions. | |||||||||||
Miscellaneous Benchmarks |
||||||||||||
| 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 whilst playing Dirt Rally. | |||||||||||
| Temperature | Noted for CPU idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and whilst playing Dirt Rally. | |||||||||||
| Battery Life | Measured while looping a high-definition movie clip with 50 per cent screen brightness and flight mode enabled. | |||||||||||