Looking for a laptop, light, gaming <$2,500

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Mull

y do you like the intel better? its more money by a alot and rated the same (worse but within a rounding error)

For the price difference I would still go with AMD. I linked the new Intel to show what the best Intel would be at this time.

[Mull]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Ryzen just makes sense for laptops right now. The performance vs power consumption aspect of it is reason enough.

What does the chip do for my everyday experience? Like, the intel Intel Core i7-10870H @ 2.20GHz and Ryzen chips are both great chips, but the Ryzen is much better.

Will I notice that at all in life? Does it change FPS on a game? or?
Like graphics allow for better graphics, I think I get that. The gain per card is almost... quantitative in my mind.

I don't get how improving Ram and chip beyond like a certain minimum you 'feel' it in your experience.

[Mull]

Originally Posted by accord1999

For the price difference I would still go with AMD. I linked the new Intel to show what the best Intel would be at this time.

ahhh gotcha! misread.

[Mull]

I was reading an article that Nvidia was concerned laptop manufactures were underpowering their chips, so performance isn't equal...
how do you know if you manufacture motherboard set-up is doing this?

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Like I said, it's power consumption when not gaming that makes the main difference, which equals long battery life and lower temperatures, particularly if you limit power draw. You pretty much shouldn't be gaming on any machine that isn't plugged in (unless you're into really non-demanding games). The Ryzens are also more likely to charge via USB-C, although Intel has closed the gap on that now, I think. One downside is that Ryzen PCs do not have thunderbolt.

Intel's CPUs actually have better gaming performance according to the armies of YouTube testers, but not so much that you'd really notice and I suspect even less so in a laptop. Not worth the tradeoff, and Ryzen is cheaper too.

For reference, I have a Razer Blade 15 with an Intel CPU and an Asus machine with a Ryzen CPU so I can speak to the above.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Mull

I was reading an article that Nvidia was concerned laptop manufactures were underpowering their chips, so performance isn't equal...
how do you know if you manufacture motherboard set-up is doing this?

I guess using Afterburner? I defer to people who know more about this.

But generally speaking you can see the rated wattage for your GPU in the computer specs and it should hit that. Not every RTX 3060 is equal - lower wattage equals lower fps - but that might be a worthwhile tradeoff to draw less power and cause less heat. I have a hard time believing that manufacturers would arbitrarily limit the GPU in their systems when everything gets tested, benchmarked and reviewed these days.

[Muffins]

Originally Posted by Mull

I was reading an article that Nvidia was concerned laptop manufactures were underpowering their chips, so performance isn't equal...
how do you know if you manufacture motherboard set-up is doing this?

For laptops, the manufacturer will set a max wattage for what the GPU can pull. If it's not high enough then it's basically "starving" a higher end GPU.

For example, a 3070 with 200W max will mostly outperform a 3080 with a 150W max.

[Mull]

Originally Posted by Muffins

For laptops, the manufacturer will set a max wattage for what the GPU can pull. If it's not high enough then it's basically "starving" a higher end GPU.

For example, a 3070 with 200W max will mostly outperform a 3080 with a 150W max.

Thanks, so on this one, how do I know the W needed for the video card and what the laptop is supplying?

https://deals.dell.com/en-ca/productdetail/9rbj

Is max W for video card the max TDP here?
https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/c...42vs4083vs4085

[Mull]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I guess using Afterburner? I defer to people who know more about this.

But generally speaking you can see the rated wattage for your GPU in the computer specs and it should hit that. Not every RTX 3060 is equal - lower wattage equals lower fps - but that might be a worthwhile tradeoff to draw less power and cause less heat. I have a hard time believing that manufacturers would arbitrarily limit the GPU in their systems when everything gets tested, benchmarked and reviewed these days.

This was the article
Maybe I got confused
https://www.techspot.com/review/2193...x-3060-laptop/

The MaxQ naming issue (update)
Update (Feb 5): Shortly after publishing this review, Nvidia announced that they will now require all companies selling RTX laptops to be more transparent about their graphics subsystems. In other words, while Nvidia used to encourage manufacturers to state clocks and power consumption on their product pages, now it requires them to do so. The Max-Q branding can still be used, albeit for different reasons, such as indicating support for Dynamic Boost 2.0, Advanced Optimus, and Whisper Mode 2.0.

Many RTX 30-series laptop listings have yet to be updated to reflect differences in the clock speed and total power consumption. However, manufacturers like Asus, Acer, Razer, Origin, MSI, Alienware, and Gigabyte have already updated some product pages, so things are moving in the right direction for consumers.

The text below belongs to the original review, before Nvidia's change of heart with regards to RTX 30-series laptop GPU branding...

Clearly, the new RTX 3060 laptop GPU delivers on the performance front, that’s why it’s disappointing Nvidia has decided to confuse users with mixed naming schemes – in particular the removal of Max-Q branding. We’ve been banging on about this for years now, but the problem is bad enough that even mainstream media is catching on. Laptop makers usually only indicate what's the basic GPU name (e.g. "RTX 3060"), but different power configurations all differ in performance as we just saw in this review, sometimes significantly so.

Essentially, the problem is that the same GPU model is being used across several power configurations.

Nvidia used to mitigate this somewhat by branding the lower power (and slower) variants as “Max-Q” and higher-power laptops with "Max-P." And while there were still more sub-variants between the two extremes, this could at least give you some hint before you bought a new laptop. That’s no longer possible with 2021's laptops.

sing today's review as a basic example, we looked at two RTX 3060 laptop GPU configurations that used an 80W and 115W base power level. The performance difference was 10% on average. That’s significant enough in our opinion, but we didn’t test the even lower power 60W variant of the 3060 which could be 15-20% slower, which is basically an entirely different GPU class at that point.

Now, Nvidia has said that they are encouraging laptop makers to be clear about the power and clock speeds of the laptops they sell. But let’s be honest. What maker wants to admit their cooling solution is inadequate and that they're using a slower GPU variant?

The solution is simple, these GPUs should be given different names. The RTX 3060 at 115W could be the RTX 3060MX, the 80W model could be RTX 3060M and the 60W model could be RTX 3060Q. There, solved.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

That's what I was talking about... Basically you shouldn't buy a laptop without knowing the tpd of the GPU. They should put it in the detailed specs, but regardless any review of the laptop should specify which version of the GPU it has. If 115w is the highest power draw version that'll be the strongest performance, but also the most battery intensive to use and the hottest.

[Mull]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

That's what I was talking about... Basically you shouldn't buy a laptop without knowing the tpd of the GPU. They should put it in the detailed specs, but regardless any review of the laptop should specify which version of the GPU it has. If 115w is the highest power draw version that'll be the strongest performance, but also the most battery intensive to use and the hottest.

So am I blind or does this not say the W for the card on this one?
https://deals.dell.com/en-ca/productdetail/9rbj
If it doesn't what am I asking Dell customer support, GPU voltage?

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Mull

I was reading an article that Nvidia was concerned laptop manufactures were underpowering their chips, so performance isn't equal...
how do you know if you manufacture motherboard set-up is doing this?

Good point, looking at user comments and notebookcheck.net it appears that the R4 strangely has the most powerful 3070, with a base of 125W that can boost up to 140W. The R5 and R6 only have a 3070 that is 115W and boost to 125W. That might result in a frame rate difference of about 5-10%.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Sometimes you have to Google a review, but you can generally figure it out without too much pain...

https://www.ultrabookreview.com/4737...m15-r5-review/

115w +10w dynamic boost for the R5 model.

[Mull]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Sometimes you have to Google a review, but you can generally figure it out without too much pain...

https://www.ultrabookreview.com/4737...m15-r5-review/

115w +10w dynamic boost for the R5 model.

Well that is a terrfiying review. The reddit link included noted that Dell issued a hot fix, but the fact it can't handle the heat...

Funny, it recommended the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro....

Almost back to one of the first people who helped me here ha!

Originally Posted by CASe333

I think one of the most important things you should research when buying a gaming laptop is how good it's cooling system is. Why buy a laptop that you have to undervolt severely. When I was looking at laptops I found MSI didn't always get great reviews especially budget models. For example:

https://www.reddit.com/r/MSILaptops/...ust_cant_cool/

After lots of research I bought a Lenovo Legion and have been very happy. They run sales every month or two so don't ever pay full price. For example you can get Legion Slim 7 (5800H CPU, 3060 GPU, 1TB ssd, 165Hz display) on sale for $1980 now. If you use Rakuten you can save an extra 12% bringing it down to ~$1740. Pretty good deal all things considered.

Although Lenovo site says it is out of stock

[blankall]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

I was looking for a simple laptop for school.

I hate how many models there are now. And half have major drawbacks. Such a minefield just trying to pick out a machine to perform simple #### with ease, at a good speed, and without a bulky design, for a reasonable price.

If your not doing gaming/drafting/graphic or video editing, it's a bit simpler. Make sure you get a solid state hard drive. Make sure you get a decent screen and at least 8 gb of ram, with room for expansion on the ram. Then do a bit of research on the processor.

Every office laptop will come in different configurations, so I'd focus less on the model and more in the specs.

Also OP, $2500 is a massive budget for what you're looking for. You should be good at under $1500.

[Mull]

Originally Posted by blankall

Also OP, $2500 is a massive budget for what you're looking for. You should be good at under $1500.

Thanks. I got too much into the specs yesterday and missed out on a good dell deal

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Mull

Thanks. I got too much into the specs yesterday and missed out on a good dell deal

Games like Diablo aren't relatively super demanding on hardware. I would definitely shoot well above their minimum spec requirements though. Those may actually increase substantially by the time the game is actually released.

Mid level gaming laptops go on sale all the time. I'd keep checking redflagdeals.

[Mull]

Originally Posted by blankall

Games like Diablo aren't relatively super demanding on hardware. I would definitely shoot well above their minimum spec requirements though. Those may actually increase substantially by the time the game is actually released.

Mid level gaming laptops go on sale all the time. I'd keep checking redflagdeals.

Ya, I can't find a legit source for D4 specs, recommended or minimum.
Anyway, I am checking RFD!

[Mull]

Ok I am confused.
Looking at this laptop, and this price point is unheard of for the 3060 laptop version, which is great.. but Sept 15 delivery.
https://deals.dell.com/en-ca/productdetail/9vwb

or

https://www.dell.com/en-ca/shop/dell...155515_sb_s25e

First any thoughts?
Second any idea on the GPU Wattage?
The TDP of the laptop 3060 video card is 115W... but can't find a review that talks to this laptop setup? Dell chat says its 115W but they don't seem to know the difference between TDP and what the video card gets



https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/c...08vs4342vs4331

This review only speaks to the Alienware one
https://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/artic...ry-first-time/

Also, how do you know the heat generated by CPU's? This website shows the intel and ryzen ones all at the same TDP

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare...56vs4358vs4274

[shogged]

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00115399

Or they also have this one now

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00115529

Both with a 3070 and a 17 inch screen and both would destroy anything you wanna do for years to come. I’ve owned a couple of asus gaming laptops over the years and this gen was the biggest jump in performance by far, I love it.

As a side note, Asus also has the best warranty. you get 1 year of free damage replacement and I’m talking smashed screen level of damage.