Laptops for 4K video editing?

[chillz]

What's a good laptop for video editing and rendering? I can't build one so any suggestions would be extremely helpful!

Currently looking at the Asus TUF Asus TUF 17.3” RTX 3050 Ti Gaming Laptop with an i7-11800H, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and 1TB NVMe. Not looking to game at all.. this just had the best GPU I could find in a readily available laptop.

I create and render in 4K, but a 1080p screen adequate. Aside from that, I don't really have any other criteria. I just need a laptop that I can edit and render without overheating and/or dying on me. Cheers!

 

[stompah]

Amazon has several 3060/3070 brand name, 17.3" laptops in stock delivery dates from 5-10 days away. What is your budget?

 

[chillz]

Max CAD$2000, but under $1500 would be ideal. I know rendering is more CPU heavy, but I still would like a current or (at most) last Gen GPU for future-proofing.. something that will still be supported 3-4 years from now. I'd appreciate any suggestions you may have. Cheers!

 

[chillz]

My budget is CAD$2000 max, although under $1500 would be ideal. I know video editing and rendering are more CPU-bound so a multi-core CPU is essential. I just want a current or last gen GPU for future-proofing; meaning I want to make sure the GPU will still be supported 3-4 years down the road.

Again, the TUF i7-11800H looks like a good option, but it does seem a bit of an overkill. If there's a better and cheaper option, I'd like to know. I'm not familiar with laptops in general tbh so I'd like to defer to more knowledgeable people.

Any suggestions would be helpful. Cheers!

 

[rainless]

My budget is CAD$2000 max, although under $1500 would be ideal. I know video editing and rendering are more CPU-bound so a multi-core CPU is essential. I just want a current or last gen GPU for future-proofing; meaning I want to make sure the GPU will still be supported 3-4 years down the road.

Again, the TUF i7-11800H looks like a good option, but it does seem a bit of an overkill. If there's a better and cheaper option, I'd like to know. I'm not familiar with laptops in general tbh so I'd like to defer to more knowledgeable people.

Any suggestions would be helpful. Cheers!

No such thing as "future proofing" .

A lot depends on which NLE you're using. DaVinci Resolve (which I use) is EXTREMELY gpu-intensive (though it seems to run well on the latest Apple M1 processors). Premiere is more CPU intensive. Uses a bit of CUDA to speed things up... but is nowhere near a dependent on GPU power as Resolve is. I got by for YEARS with a GTX 960 with like 4GB of RAM in Premiere... That wouldn't quite cut it for Resolve.

I'm thinking that laptop with the 3050 GPU should be just fine for years to come if you're only editing 4K stuff.

But a lot depends on what the next gen software is like. Absolutely anything could happen. Premiere could become more GPU dependent and Resolve could become less resource hungry. Impossible to know.

 

[BugFreak]

I just picked up one of these at Newegg and like it so far. They also have 3070 and 3080 version but those get up $2000US and look pretty bulky and I wanted thin with some power. I did the 15" but there is a 17" option as well. It was sold by Newegg and shipped to me in 3 days.

 

[chillz]

Thanks for the responses!

@rainless -- That's a lot of useful info, thank you! It seems that the 3050 and 3050 Ti are only offered with 4GB, at least with all the ones I've looked at. the 3060 comes with 6GB so maybe that's a better baseline for me. Also, Intel's CPU naming and their many iterations confuses me. I'm sure there's some logic to it, but it'd be nice if they made it easier and somehow included the core count.

@BugFreak -- I was looking at some MSI models as well, but I couldn't find one readily available with 4K resolution. They do have some new ones coming out next week and I'm very interested in this one. And supposedly they're not the only ones announcing or launching new products over the next few weeks.

I think I'll hold back on making a purchase.. maybe until Black Friday -- but it's fkn hard! I literally almost bought this ZenBook Pro Duo just now lol!

Thanks again folks! I'll update as soon as I whittle down my options to 2 or 3 top picks and ask for your opinions on those. Cheers!

 

[BugFreak]

Holy cow that is expensive but nice! This is my first laptop other than Dells and so far I like it. Very light and slim compared to most others I've seen and used. The one you linked to seems like it is the same build with some slightly different hardware inside so it should be nice as well. Somethings I will caution you about is the metal exterior picks up finger prints really bad, not a deal breaker for me but something I didn't think about. They wipe off easy enough but something that drives me crazy at times. Also to do any upgrades like drives or ram the whole underside will have to be removed which involves removing the factory seal sticker. Not sure if that would impact the warranty. I assume it helps in keeping it slim but something else I've noticed so far.

 

[chillz]

So it's almost been a year and I've tried out a few laptops between then and now. After weighing the pros and cons of each, I decided on the Gigabyte Aorus 15P XD! Honestly the specs at this price was too good to pass up!

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The screen size and resolution are really my only compromise -- would've preferred a 17-inch screen with 1440p or 4K resolution. Regardless, this has everything else I was looking for: a multi-core CPU (i7-11800H), a solid 3070 GPU, 1TB SSD + a second M.2 slot, and of course a full-size SD card reader. All for $1,300 CAD + tax, which is a great price imho.

Now my only issue is the RGB Fusion -- it keeps reverting to this wave default every time I power on. And it won't come back on when it goes to sleep. So in both instances I'd have to manually change it to the settings I want. Anyone familiar with Gigabyte's Fusion and know a fix??

 

[rainless]

So it's almost been a year and I've tried out a few laptops between then and now. After weighing the pros and cons of each, I decided on the Gigabyte Aorus 15P XD! Honestly the specs at this price was too good to pass up!

Canada Computers | Best PC, Laptop, Gaming Gear, Printer, TV, Cables - Canada Computers & Electronics

The best deals on laptops, PC, game systems, components, small appliances, cables, and office supplies. Save more by shopping online or in-store!

www.canadacomputers.com

View attachment 359077

The screen size and resolution are really my only compromise -- would've preferred a 17-inch screen with 1440p or 4K resolution. Regardless, this has everything else I was looking for: a multi-core CPU (i7-11800H), a solid 3070 GPU, 1TB SSD + a second M.2 slot, and of course a full-size SD card reader. All for $1,300 CAD + tax, which is a great price imho.

Now my only issue is the RGB Fusion -- it keeps reverting to this wave default every time I power on. And it won't come back on when it goes to sleep. So in both instances I'd have to manually change it to the settings I want. Anyone familiar with Gigabyte's Fusion and know a fix??

I guess not! What the hell is "RGB Fusion"? (Hmm... I wonder if that'll get converted to "heck" with the 3rd grade "bad word" filters they use around here... hehehehe!)

Glad you were able to make a great choice! I honestly have been burned too-many times by cheap PC laptops. I can't imagine editing video on anything other than a MacBook or a desktop that I built myself where I know all the parts. I remember having this WONDERFUL i7 laptop from Asus years back. Power connector broke like just over a MONTH after I bought it. Had to send it to Asus... who promptly LOST the thing... then I had to wait SIX MONTHS for them to send me a new one. Then eventually the power connector on that one also failed.

That was the end for me and PC laptops (and anything Asus-related ever.) I upgrade my desktop every two or three years but I really don't use it for much anymore. I've got two MacBooks (a very old i7 and a new M1). The new one pretty much gets the job done for me and 4K raw video.

 

[EarthDog]

RGB Fusion is the name of ASRock's app to control RGB's.

As far as the swear filter, being a writer, surely you can choose words without using swear words a 3rd grader would use...

 

[rainless]

RGB Fusion is the name of ASRock's app to control RGB's.

As far as the swear filter, being a writer, surely you can choose words without using swear words a 3rd grader would use...

Well that's just it, old friend...

Being a writer... (and a post-1950s writer at that) I get to use ALL the words in a combination that elevates them to art. There would have been no Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, or Hunter S. Thompson, for that matter... if someone got to pick the words they could use.

 

[EarthDog]

I'm glad you understand there's a time and place for such things.