Hello everyone. I want to buy a 17inch laptop for gaming & I have short-listed a few and am unable to decide between them. I was initially planning on spending $2500 for it (in November), but there was some expenses along the way & I had to abandon that idea. Also, I had posted here asking for help & you guys really opened my eyes & made me want to reconsider spending that much money on a laptop. Thanks for your help! Now, I am in the UK, & my budget is £1800. I was somehow managing with my ancient laptop, but it's throwing a lot of problems of late & I need a laptop reasonably soon (within a month) & I have to order online thanks to the COVID pandemic. I will be using the laptop for gaming mostly, & want to play all new AAA games on max settings (or as close to max) on 1080p resolution. The laptop should be sturdy & last for 4-5 years. My shortlisted models: Asus Strix G712L: https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/asu...fhd-120hz-geforce-r-g712lv-h7007t/version.asp Medion Erazer X1780: https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/med...256gb-ssd-17.3-inch-gefo-30026622/version.asp Tracer IV 17 Xtreme 400: https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Tracer-IV-17-Xtreme-400 MSI GS75 Stealth 10SF-034UK: https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/MSI-GS75-Stealth-10SF-034UK ASUS ROG Strix G17 G712LWS-EV003: https://uk.store.asus.com/laptops/g...ia-rtx-2070-8gb-graphics-windows-10-home.html MSI GE75 Raider 10SFS-050UK: https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/MSI-GE75-Raider-10SFS-050UK I have a few queries before I go on about my shortlisted models: Is it a good idea to go for a 10th gen CPU vs 9th gen? Meaning, can I compromise on other features to meet my budget, & get a 10th gen CPU, or is there not much difference between 9 & 10th gen? Because In some models above, I can either go for a 2070 GPU with 9th gen CPU, or a 2060 GPU with 10th gen CPU. Which would be a better option? I heard not to bother with RAM & storage when buying a laptop as they can be changed later. Can I easily install the RAM & SSD myself as I've never done that on a laptop. I don't want to buy an incompatible one & mess up the new laptop. If a laptop has an SSD, can I replace it with the newer NVMe 2.0 ones or is that a separate slot? And can an HDD be replaced with an SSD or does the laptop need to be able to support SSDs? How many HDD/SSD slots are there on a laptop usually? Can I add another one to the stock option or will I have to replace them, thus rendering my stock device useless? If I replace the stock HDD/SSD, how can I install the Windows 10 that comes along with my laptop? They don't provide a CD Key or CD or USB boot drive. How can I do that? I read online that there's not much difference between mobile GPUs, and 2060/2070/2070super/2080MaxQ are more or less the same (only minor FPS differences). Is this true? How important would it be to choose a 2070 over a 2060 for gaming? Because it will make it easier for me to choose as most laptops lack something I want (wish I could customise them completely from ground up!) Is there any brand you would suggest I avoid? Some say that MSI are very flimsy & has poor customer service. How are Medion Erazer & Tracer laptops? I haven't heard of them, so am a bit scared of buying something I haven't heard about. Hope you can shed some light on the above questions. Now I want to discuss the options I have shortlisted. Asus Strix G712L: This has the newer 10th Gen CPU (i7-10750H) but a 2060 6 GB GPU. Also has an SSD (don't think it's NVMe 2.0) Price: £1650, & ships within 2 weeks Medion Erazer X17805: 9th Gen i7-9750H, 256 GB SSD + 2TB HDD, has a 2070 8 GB. But not heard of the company. Price: £1750, but delivery expected in June end or July. Tracer IV 17 Xtreme 400: 10th Gen CPU (i7-10750H), 2060 GPU, M.2 SSD 1 TB Price: £1400, Ships in 1st week of June MSI GS75 Stealth 10SF-034UK: 10th Gen CPU (i7-10750H), 2070 8 GB MaxQ GPU, 1 TB M.2 NVMe SSD Price: £1800, ships in 2-3 weeks ASUS ROG Strix G17 G712LWS-EV003T: 10th Gen CPU (i7-10750H), 2070 8 GB, 1 TB PCIe SSD Price: £2000, but have to preorder it. Delivery may be on or after July 15th, & as its new I don't know how it will be. MSI GE75 Raider 10SFS-050UK: 10th Gen CPU (i7-10750H), 2070 super 8 GB, M.2 512 GB SSD + 1 TB SATA III 7200RPM Price: £2200, ships in 2-3 weeks (over my budget, but if it really is a good laptop & worth the extra money, I can consider it. Have heard that MSI laptops breakdown easily, however)
2. RAM usually yes (but there are models with soldered RAM). But SSD compartment can be hard to get to in modern models. If you will find service manual for the laptop then you can manage (by disassembling the laptop almost completely). 3. "SSD" is a term about the internals of the disk - solid state, while "NVMe" is a term about disk connected to PCI-E bus. And you are asking about external interfaces - SATA vs M.2. As for compatibility, disks with the same external interfaces are compatible. (Have never seen HDD with NVMe connection.) 4. Mostly one slot, but I guess there should be models with more than one. Especially M.2 - it is small. 5. Any cloning software. And sometimes SSDs come with some. My Samsung came with Acronis` one (in disguise).
And I mixed two things too: SATA vs PCI-E external interfaces; and legacy laptop disk form factor vs M.2 form factor. M.2 form factor disks can have both SATA and PCI-E external interfaces. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2
Does that mean all SSDs are plugged into the M.2 port & all HDDs are plugged into the SATA port? So this means SSD cannot be plugged into the SATA port, and if laptop has only M.2 or SATA port, only SSD or HDD can be installed respectively? Also, if M.2 is for SSD, what is NVMe? Is it something to do with the port, like USB 2 & 3 for pendrives? The link you shared seems to have multiple different types of connectors for M.2... Isn't is a universal standard (one can fit all)? Does that mean if we buy a M.2 SSD, it might not fit a M.2 supporting laptop. Where else can an SSD fit, if not an M.2 port?
Think of M.2 is a form factor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_disk_drive_form_factors The HDD and SSD disk of (legacy) 2.5 or 3.5 inch form factor can have different external interface - SATA, PATA, SCSI. *** SSD of M.2 form factor also can have different external interface - PCI Express, SATA, USB. So buying laptop with M.2 slots you have to consider two things. 1. The underlying interface of M.2 slot - PCI-E, SATA or USB. Your SSD should have the matching external interface. 2. So the socket - B key or M key - of M.2 slot in laptop should match the connector of M.2 SSD. And width and length of M.2 SSD should not exceed the width and length of M.2 slot in laptop ("2280", "2242"). I don`t know whether shorter M.2 SSD (say "2242") can be installed into longer M.2 slot in laptop (say "2288") - because it can be that shorter SSD will not be locked properly. So it is best to buy M.2 SSD of the size(s) and of connector(s) specified in laptop specification.
Look into the Sager laptops. I researched for a few weeks prior to deciding on one. Truly amazing and top notch. I've owned 2 MSI's and just ordered the SAGER NP7877DW (CLEVO NH77DDW) Intel® Core™ i7-10875H 8 core 16 thread 16mb cache NVIDIA® RTX™ 2060 17.3” FHD 144Hz 2TB WD Blue M.2 SSD RAM - 16GB Dual Channel DDR4 SDRAM at 2933MHz - 2 X 8GB all of this for $1559 U.S. I wanted to go with a 2070 or 2080 but the finances would not allow it.