Need a Mobile Workhorse. Please advise.

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   So I run the property Armed Gamer and right now I'm looking into getting into high-end PC usage with a more mobile twist. Right now at home I have a pretty dope desktop so that's not my concern. I also have an older Lenovo laptop that is a piece of crap and I am looking to upgrade to a MUCH better laptop. After a bit of research, I've landed at Digital Storm.

Usage:I need to be able to do video editing and rendering on this through Adobe Premiere and After Effects. I also may possibly use this for streaming in a pinch and definitely for gaming at LANs (I'll be going to Dreamhack Austin this year, and I do NOT want to bring my desktop on a plane from NJ to TX). I'm not terribly concerned about hard drive space as I can always stack external drives to store my movies, but having enough room for large installs on the machine is ideal.

In short, I want to be able to make this a mobile workstation for me for when I go to events and hotels where the internet isn't so great so I can shoot video and edit it as I go instead of waiting until I get back home. I also want this to be a mobile game station so I can go to large events and not carry my stupidly heavy desktop (as much as I love it). I also want something I can show off on Armed Gamer and do a product review of, so y'know... something snazzy looking would be cool but is not a necessity.

Budget: Right now budget isn't the biggest concern for me. I would like to keep it below 4K, but I'm going to be throwing this on the PayPal financing to pay this down so I'm okay with pretty expensive. That being said, I would prefer bang for the buck and if I don't have to spend egregious amounts of money for an amazing laptop, I'd prefer that. I want to be able to justify the components, and if I can find something cheaper elsewhere and install it myself I'd prefer to do that. I fix computers for a living so I'm not afraid to get into the bones of the laptop and install extra RAM or another hard drive if necessary.

Questions: I see that some models like the Banshee specifically mention being able to overclock the CPU. I'm not exactly a power user in that regards, but has anyone run into any issues with overclocking their DS laptops? Is it worth it, or should I go for a slightly cheaper CPU that's not really crazy on the overclocking? 

I see "Life-time labor free upgrades for component upgrades purchased directly from Digital Storm" listed as a feature. What does this cover? Is it JUST things like RAM and Hard Drives? Or is it fully comprehensive? Like would it cover a new motherboard if it fits in the casing? Would it cover a new graphics card? What's the limit? And how fairly priced are those components? Do I get to keep the older components after the upgrade, or are those surrendered to Digital Storm? If surrendered, do I get money back on it, or is it just considered a sacrifice to the manufacturer gods?

Has anyone upgraded their DS laptops themselves? How easy/hard is it? Is it possible? Does a laptop like the Banshee use a standard ATX or Micro ATS MoBo or something more proprietary?

I've kind of specced out a rough idea of what I think would work for me, and I'm looking for someone to tell me where I'm being dumb with my money and where I should be looking to maximize that bang/buck ratio.

My configuration number was 1359019.

Chassis Model: Digital Storm Banchee 17.3 Inch Laptop (Model: S:9870

Display: NVIDIA G-Sync - 17.3 Inch (Resolution: 1920 x 1080) (Anti-glare) LED-Backlit Display

Screen Calibration: 0 No Thanks

Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K 4.0GHz (Codename Skylake) (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core)

thermal Compound: Premium CPU and GPU thermal Compound (Reduces Thermal & Laptop Noide)

Memory: 32GB DDR4 2133MHz

mSATA SSD - No Thanks

Storage Drive 1: SSD - 500GB Samsung 850 EVO

Storage Drive 2: Hard Disk - 1TB 7200RPM (SATA 3Gb/s)

Optical Drive - No Thanks

Wireless Card: Killer Dual Band Wireless-AC 1525 + Bluetooth (M.2 Socket)

Grafics Card(s): 2x SLI (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB (Nvidia G-Sync + NVIDIA Battery Boost)

Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition)

Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)

Virus Protection: Free: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 value)

Office Suite: - No Thanks

Cooling Pad: No Thanks

Extra Charger - No Thanks

Extra Battery - No Thanks

Carry Bag: Targus Citygear Mesenger (Supports up to 17 inch models)

Audio - No Thanks

Mouse - No Thanks

T-shirt - No Thanks

Priority Build - No Thanks

Warranty Plan: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty )3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

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armedgamer Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 29 Jan 2016 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1	Quote Reply Topic: Need a Mobile Workhorse. Please advise. Posted: 29 Jan 2016 at 7:16am
	So I run the property Armed Gamer and right now I'm looking into getting into high-end PC usage with a more mobile twist. Right now at home I have a pretty dope desktop so that's not my concern. I also have an older Lenovo laptop that is a piece of crap and I am looking to upgrade to a MUCH better laptop. After a bit of research, I've landed at Digital Storm. Usage:I need to be able to do video editing and rendering on this through Adobe Premiere and After Effects. I also may possibly use this for streaming in a pinch and definitely for gaming at LANs (I'll be going to Dreamhack Austin this year, and I do NOT want to bring my desktop on a plane from NJ to TX). I'm not terribly concerned about hard drive space as I can always stack external drives to store my movies, but having enough room for large installs on the machine is ideal. In short, I want to be able to make this a mobile workstation for me for when I go to events and hotels where the internet isn't so great so I can shoot video and edit it as I go instead of waiting until I get back home. I also want this to be a mobile game station so I can go to large events and not carry my stupidly heavy desktop (as much as I love it). I also want something I can show off on Armed Gamer and do a product review of, so y'know... something snazzy looking would be cool but is not a necessity. Budget: Right now budget isn't the biggest concern for me. I would like to keep it below 4K, but I'm going to be throwing this on the PayPal financing to pay this down so I'm okay with pretty expensive. That being said, I would prefer bang for the buck and if I don't have to spend egregious amounts of money for an amazing laptop, I'd prefer that. I want to be able to justify the components, and if I can find something cheaper elsewhere and install it myself I'd prefer to do that. I fix computers for a living so I'm not afraid to get into the bones of the laptop and install extra RAM or another hard drive if necessary. Questions: I see that some models like the Banshee specifically mention being able to overclock the CPU. I'm not exactly a power user in that regards, but has anyone run into any issues with overclocking their DS laptops? Is it worth it, or should I go for a slightly cheaper CPU that's not really crazy on the overclocking? I see "Life-time labor free upgrades for component upgrades purchased directly from Digital Storm" listed as a feature. What does this cover? Is it JUST things like RAM and Hard Drives? Or is it fully comprehensive? Like would it cover a new motherboard if it fits in the casing? Would it cover a new graphics card? What's the limit? And how fairly priced are those components? Do I get to keep the older components after the upgrade, or are those surrendered to Digital Storm? If surrendered, do I get money back on it, or is it just considered a sacrifice to the manufacturer gods? Has anyone upgraded their DS laptops themselves? How easy/hard is it? Is it possible? Does a laptop like the Banshee use a standard ATX or Micro ATS MoBo or something more proprietary? I've kind of specced out a rough idea of what I think would work for me, and I'm looking for someone to tell me where I'm being dumb with my money and where I should be looking to maximize that bang/buck ratio. My configuration number was 1359019. Chassis Model: Digital Storm Banchee 17.3 Inch Laptop (Model: S:9870 Display: NVIDIA G-Sync - 17.3 Inch (Resolution: 1920 x 1080) (Anti-glare) LED-Backlit Display Screen Calibration: 0 No Thanks Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K 4.0GHz (Codename Skylake) (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core) thermal Compound: Premium CPU and GPU thermal Compound (Reduces Thermal & Laptop Noide) Memory: 32GB DDR4 2133MHz mSATA SSD - No Thanks Storage Drive 1: SSD - 500GB Samsung 850 EVO Storage Drive 2: Hard Disk - 1TB 7200RPM (SATA 3Gb/s) Optical Drive - No Thanks Wireless Card: Killer Dual Band Wireless-AC 1525 + Bluetooth (M.2 Socket) Grafics Card(s): 2x SLI (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB (Nvidia G-Sync + NVIDIA Battery Boost) Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition) Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD) Virus Protection: Free: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 value) Office Suite: - No Thanks Cooling Pad: No Thanks Extra Charger - No Thanks Extra Battery - No Thanks Carry Bag: Targus Citygear Mesenger (Supports up to 17 inch models) Audio - No Thanks Mouse - No Thanks T-shirt - No Thanks Priority Build - No Thanks Warranty Plan: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty )3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)
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Roykirk Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 26 Sep 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 951	Quote Reply Posted: 03 Feb 2016 at 10:51am
	I can't answer in much detail as I'm at work right now, but overclocking the laptop you've specced out might be really pushing the heat, always one of the biggest concerns with laptops. You've got SLI desktop-class 980s and a desktop Core i7, so you're already going to be pushing out some BTUs. I've never overclocked a laptop part, either CPU or GPU, as it's not recommended, so I can't speak from experience. The upgrades question will have to be answered by Alex or other DS employees. I've not upgraded my laptops in the past, though I've thought about it with my Krypton, but it's far more expensive and limited than upgrading a desktop, and also limited by the motherboard and chipset configurations which can be very custom to each chassis and generation of laptop. You likely won't be able to upgrade to newer parts that are more than a year or two newer than what you have, so I always recommend you get the best you can get now. For your Adobe Premiere and After Effects, you need the best CPU you can get, and you've certainly picked the best GPU setup available, so you're looking good there. Go for the M.2 primary drive. That leaves you with two slots for bigger hard drive and M.2 is going to be faster than an SSD primary. Go for the 512GB 950 if you can as that's been objectively proven in testing to be faster than the 256GB version. Personally, I never buy the Home versions of Windows. I like the extra features of Pro, especially as I work in IT, and if you want things like BitLocker, you'll need Pro. You're building the laptop I wish I could afford, so good luck to you. It sounds sweet.

Need a Mobile Workhorse. Please advise.

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