4 ms·

Typically they're throttled by poor thermals. I'd be interested to know if anyone has recommendations for rtx grade laptops with nice CPUs in 15-17 inch form fa

Typically they're throttled by poor thermals. I'd be interested to know if anyone has recommendations for rtx grade laptops with nice CPUs in 15-17 inch form factor that doesn't throttle but are still somewhat portable. I have not found any but I think I've been testing too thin ones (XPS and Blade).

3np 5y ago
Have you checked out Thinkpad P15/P17? I can't speak to as to if and how (probably to some extent unless in ideal climate) they throttle, but generally Thinkpad P series are holding up pretty well (obviously at the cost of slimness). Can be configured with up to Quadro RTX 5000 Max-Q 16GB. EDIT: Judging by notebookcheck, you should also check out HP ZBook Fury 15 G7, Thinkpad T15g, Dell Precision 7550, and MSI WS66. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-P15-Gen-1-laptop-review-Mobile-workstation-with-a-weak-spot-in-the-keyboard.526237.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-P15-Gen-1-lapt...
kitsunesoba 5y ago
There are a number of "balanced" gaming laptops that cut back GPU power a bit to accommodate a thinner, lighter build without throttling often or at all. One such machine is the ASUS Zephyrus G14/G15 and in the next month or two, M16 which weigh ~4.5lbs and come with Ryzen 5000 mobile CPUs (up to 5900HS) and 95W variant RTX 3000 GPUs (up to RTX 3080). I've been using the G15 for the past month and it's not bad, kind of a midway between a Macbook and traditional gaming laptop. Its looks are low profile enough that I wouldn't be embarrassed to bring it into an office. If you're willing to push the slider a bit further in the power direction, there's machines like the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro and Legion 7 16", which weigh about 1lb more than the Zephyrus machines (~5.5lbs) but come with significantly beefier cooling, a higher TDP CPU, and 130-150W variant RTX 3000 GPUs. They're a bit more of a desktop replacement but still fairly reasonable to lug around, nothing like the 8-10lb behemoth Alienwares of old.
- pastrami_panda 5y ago
  Ok great info, gonna check for one with a huge battery. I'd like to learn more about undervolting and such to see how much battery you can save. I want to work on it on battery for long stretches of time, activating the GPU periodically to crunch or render something and then turning it off to save on power.
mikepurvis 5y ago
Have XPS 9570, can confirm that it works gorgeously for a minute or two and then throttles down to nothing. This is both before and after opening it up to clean out the fans and redo the thermal paste.
- pastrami_panda 5y ago
  I've had some luck forcing it to use integrated graphics until explicitly told otherwise, but CPUs tend to run hot as well. I have not yet tried new Zen processors but due to power draw I suspect they perform good in these conditions

3np 5y ago

Have you checked out Thinkpad P15/P17? I can't speak to as to if and how (probably to some extent unless in ideal climate) they throttle, but generally Thinkpad P series are holding up pretty well (obviously at the cost of slimness). Can be configured with up to Quadro RTX 5000 Max-Q 16GB. EDIT: Judging by notebookcheck, you should also check out HP ZBook Fury 15 G7, Thinkpad T15g, Dell Precision 7550, and MSI WS66. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-P15-Gen-1-laptop-review-Mobile-workstation-with-a-weak-spot-in-the-keyboard.526237.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-P15-Gen-1-lapt...

kitsunesoba 5y ago

There are a number of "balanced" gaming laptops that cut back GPU power a bit to accommodate a thinner, lighter build without throttling often or at all. One such machine is the ASUS Zephyrus G14/G15 and in the next month or two, M16 which weigh ~4.5lbs and come with Ryzen 5000 mobile CPUs (up to 5900HS) and 95W variant RTX 3000 GPUs (up to RTX 3080). I've been using the G15 for the past month and it's not bad, kind of a midway between a Macbook and traditional gaming laptop. Its looks are low profile enough that I wouldn't be embarrassed to bring it into an office. If you're willing to push the slider a bit further in the power direction, there's machines like the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro and Legion 7 16", which weigh about 1lb more than the Zephyrus machines (~5.5lbs) but come with significantly beefier cooling, a higher TDP CPU, and 130-150W variant RTX 3000 GPUs. They're a bit more of a desktop replacement but still fairly reasonable to lug around, nothing like the 8-10lb behemoth Alienwares of old.

pastrami_panda 5y ago
Ok great info, gonna check for one with a huge battery. I'd like to learn more about undervolting and such to see how much battery you can save. I want to work on it on battery for long stretches of time, activating the GPU periodically to crunch or render something and then turning it off to save on power.

mikepurvis 5y ago

Have XPS 9570, can confirm that it works gorgeously for a minute or two and then throttles down to nothing. This is both before and after opening it up to clean out the fans and redo the thermal paste.

pastrami_panda 5y ago
I've had some luck forcing it to use integrated graphics until explicitly told otherwise, but CPUs tend to run hot as well. I have not yet tried new Zen processors but due to power draw I suspect they perform good in these conditions