3 ms·

Does it mean I can finally get a high end laptop without a discrete gpu?

by znpy 4y ago

brucethemoose2 4y ago
Not really. The 7040 series is good, but its not dGPU class like an M1/M2 Max. I think AMD has been scared to make one because OEMs won't want it.
- vladvasiliu 4y ago
  Not OP, but in my case, I'd love an HS part without a dGPU. I'm typing this on a 5650U and its integrated GPU is overkill for what I do. Hell, until a year ago, I used to daily drive an i5-6500 with an HD530 with a 4k display and I never felt limited by the GPU. But I do use the CPU from time to time, so a beefier part would be useful. I would rather not pay for a dGPU which I'd use maybe 1% of the time, and which would cost more and weigh more and possibly be a PITA to manage under Linux.
  - brucethemoose2 4y ago
    I dunno, as time goes on I am wanting to do more and more on the GPU. Last gen it was media processing and upscaling, now its running Stable Diffusion and other Generative AI. But what it sounds like you want is an E-core mad part from Intel. I always thought they should sell a 20-30 core laptop part with only one or two big cores as a compilation monster.
    - vladvasiliu 4y ago
      > But what it sounds like you want is an E-core mad part from Intel. I always thought they should sell a 20-30 core laptop part with only one or two big cores as a compilation monster. Indeed. I've been looking at the 12th gen laptops we're getting at work, but those were underwhelming. I don't remember which model CPU it was, but it only had 2 P cores (those are basically for "office work", so no one cares about performance). For compilation (Rust) it was in the same ballpark as my 11th gen i7 (so 4 "regular" cores + HT). For basic day-to-day work, they both felt the same. As you say, I'd expect a part with more P cores to be interesting for my use case, which is exactly the same as your sibling's [0] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=vladvasiliu#35280246 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=vladvasiliu#35280246
  - znpy 4y ago
    i don't play videogames and i don't do ai/ml, video editing or whatever. i spend most of my time in firefox and in terminals. i do use virtual machines quite a lot to test stuff around, so high cores count and high memory would be a plus for me. but an nvidia gpu is a deal breaker for me. I just don't want it. I don't need it, i don't use it, it just makes the whole thing less usable. and it draws a lot power that i'd prefer using otherwise. the intel integrated gpu is not only sufficient for me, i actually WANT it. it just works under gnu/linux and i don't have to mess with drivers. I cannot stress enough how much i hate having to deal with proprietary drivers. and last time i played a videogame, it was openarena, and it ran beautifully on the intel hd 600 my work laptop had (dell latitude 7390, great little machine). edit: regarding amd gpus... i'm not sure. i've been told they work with open source drivers, but still it's a power usage i would happily avoid.
    - brucethemoose2 4y ago
      I mean, in a laptop, you dont use the dGPU on battery unless its for compute, period. It should just be sitting there turned off (which indeed means you dont want it). But if its sucking any power, thats a bug. That being said, Firefox and Chromium use the integrated GPU more than you think, and they feel faster with a stronger IGP. Just try disabling some of the gpu acceleration and see how it feels.
      - deaddodo 4y ago
        That is not how GPU multiplexing works on Laptops. My dGPU most certainly works on battery, though I can directly disable it if I like (or use a power saving power plan).
        znpy 4y ago
        yes but then again... it's a landmine. For example, I could disable the nvidia card on my ThinkPad W530, but then i'd lose the use of the external video output (because it was wired to the nvidia card). and yes i know it depends on whether the laptop has a mux or not... it's not always easy to determine, not all reviews go explicitly over this detail... I just don't want a discrete graphics card. Not an nVidia one for sure.
- goosedragons 4y ago
  The Radeon 680M/780M compete pretty well with base M1/M2 GPUs. And there are going to be some 7040 series chips with them like the 7940HS. No, it's not a 16 core monster but I imagine Aya Neo will shove it in a handheld in like 5 months.
- suby 4y ago
  I'm curious, why wouldn't OEMs want that?
wmf 4y ago
Have you seen LG Gram?
- slaw 4y ago
  LG Gram is a multipurpose laptop. You can use it's screen also as a mirror and keyboard has so interesting design you can play twister game with your fingers whether you like it or not.
- znpy 4y ago
  it's not a high-end laptop really. it's more of an "all in" on being light.
nrp 4y ago
Yep! The Graphics Module is optional.
- znpy 4y ago
  thank you for giving a yes/no answer to a yes/no question. an i'm not being ironic, really thank you.

Does it mean I can finally get a high end laptop without a discrete gpu?

by znpy 4y ago

Does it mean I can finally get a high end laptop without a discrete gpu?

Not really. The 7040 series is good, but its not dGPU class like an M1/M2 Max. I think AMD has been scared to make one because OEMs won't want it.

vladvasiliu 4y ago
Not OP, but in my case, I'd love an HS part without a dGPU. I'm typing this on a 5650U and its integrated GPU is overkill for what I do. Hell, until a year ago, I used to daily drive an i5-6500 with an HD530 with a 4k display and I never felt limited by the GPU. But I do use the CPU from time to time, so a beefier part would be useful. I would rather not pay for a dGPU which I'd use maybe 1% of the time, and which would cost more and weigh more and possibly be a PITA to manage under Linux.
- brucethemoose2 4y ago
  I dunno, as time goes on I am wanting to do more and more on the GPU. Last gen it was media processing and upscaling, now its running Stable Diffusion and other Generative AI. But what it sounds like you want is an E-core mad part from Intel. I always thought they should sell a 20-30 core laptop part with only one or two big cores as a compilation monster.
  - vladvasiliu 4y ago
    > But what it sounds like you want is an E-core mad part from Intel. I always thought they should sell a 20-30 core laptop part with only one or two big cores as a compilation monster. Indeed. I've been looking at the 12th gen laptops we're getting at work, but those were underwhelming. I don't remember which model CPU it was, but it only had 2 P cores (those are basically for "office work", so no one cares about performance). For compilation (Rust) it was in the same ballpark as my 11th gen i7 (so 4 "regular" cores + HT). For basic day-to-day work, they both felt the same. As you say, I'd expect a part with more P cores to be interesting for my use case, which is exactly the same as your sibling's [0] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=vladvasiliu#35280246 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=vladvasiliu#35280246
- znpy 4y ago
  i don't play videogames and i don't do ai/ml, video editing or whatever. i spend most of my time in firefox and in terminals. i do use virtual machines quite a lot to test stuff around, so high cores count and high memory would be a plus for me. but an nvidia gpu is a deal breaker for me. I just don't want it. I don't need it, i don't use it, it just makes the whole thing less usable. and it draws a lot power that i'd prefer using otherwise. the intel integrated gpu is not only sufficient for me, i actually WANT it. it just works under gnu/linux and i don't have to mess with drivers. I cannot stress enough how much i hate having to deal with proprietary drivers. and last time i played a videogame, it was openarena, and it ran beautifully on the intel hd 600 my work laptop had (dell latitude 7390, great little machine). edit: regarding amd gpus... i'm not sure. i've been told they work with open source drivers, but still it's a power usage i would happily avoid.
  - brucethemoose2 4y ago
    I mean, in a laptop, you dont use the dGPU on battery unless its for compute, period. It should just be sitting there turned off (which indeed means you dont want it). But if its sucking any power, thats a bug. That being said, Firefox and Chromium use the integrated GPU more than you think, and they feel faster with a stronger IGP. Just try disabling some of the gpu acceleration and see how it feels.
    - deaddodo 4y ago
      That is not how GPU multiplexing works on Laptops. My dGPU most certainly works on battery, though I can directly disable it if I like (or use a power saving power plan).
      - znpy 4y ago
        yes but then again... it's a landmine. For example, I could disable the nvidia card on my ThinkPad W530, but then i'd lose the use of the external video output (because it was wired to the nvidia card). and yes i know it depends on whether the laptop has a mux or not... it's not always easy to determine, not all reviews go explicitly over this detail... I just don't want a discrete graphics card. Not an nVidia one for sure.
goosedragons 4y ago
The Radeon 680M/780M compete pretty well with base M1/M2 GPUs. And there are going to be some 7040 series chips with them like the 7940HS. No, it's not a 16 core monster but I imagine Aya Neo will shove it in a handheld in like 5 months.
suby 4y ago
I'm curious, why wouldn't OEMs want that?

wmf 4y ago

Have you seen LG Gram?

slaw 4y ago
LG Gram is a multipurpose laptop. You can use it's screen also as a mirror and keyboard has so interesting design you can play twister game with your fingers whether you like it or not.
znpy 4y ago
it's not a high-end laptop really. it's more of an "all in" on being light.

nrp 4y ago

Yep! The Graphics Module is optional.

znpy 4y ago
thank you for giving a yes/no answer to a yes/no question. an i'm not being ironic, really thank you.