New Laptop this year

[Dravenspur]

I’m looking for a new laptop this year and I thought Black Friday would be a good time to get one. I already have a gaming desktop, but I’m looking into a gaming laptop as well. I already did some research and it seems Nvidia took a step back with laptop GPUs (sort of).

I’ve read the laptop 4080 is around desktop 4070 performance, 4070 is around the 4060. I was looking at a 4080 laptop. It may have always been like this. I’ve never looked at gaming laptops before now. I have four requirements. I’d like a backlit keyboard, a top end GPU (AMD or Nvidia), 1080p webcam and as quiet as possible fans. I realize the fans might be tough with a laptop, but I want to try. I could get an AMD laptop. I have an AMD desktop. I think Nvidia laptop GPUs are better though. I also have a question about laptop CPUs. I understand desktop CPUs. Intel K is unlocked, KF is unlocked with no integrated GPU, etc. I don’t know the difference between laptop H and HX processors. Will someone help me with the processors too?

What do you guys think? Nvidia or AMD for a laptop? Any recommendations?

 

[MisterEd]

Here is the difference with AMD CPUs. H, HS & HX has to do with 'Default TDP'. I have taken the data and regrouped it to better illustrate this. Note I have left out the U models which are not relevant to gaming CPUs.

BTW, my gaming laptop has an AMD Ryzen 7 6800H CPU.

 

[Dravenspur]

Thanks MisterEd. I have another question. It seems like all the laptops I’ve been looking at only have a 1 TB hard drive. Unless I get a 4090 GPU. Since I already have a gaming desktop, I don’t think I need a 4090. Does anyone else feel that 1 TB drive in a gaming laptop and that works for them? Since I’m not looking for a desktop replacement, would 1 TB be enough?

 

[EarthDog]

Can you add more storage (external or internal) or replace the drive with a higher capacity model?

Everyone is going to be different as far as storage needs... but 1TB isn't enough for me if I want to keep several games available. I also tend to play big AAA titles. Hell MS FS, is almost 400GB with all my DLC. It just depends. Look at your steam/epic/ea/Battlestar folders and see how big your installed games are. Asking us thus question won't help YOU too much.

 

[mackerel]

Unless you get a tiny laptop, and I'm guessing it is not going to be tiny if you want high end components and low noise, chances are it'll have space for a 2nd drive where you can put in a 2TB or bigger one.

1TB might be ok for occasional use if you only install like 2 or 3 big games on it at a time. My storage costs went down a lot when I decided I don't have to install every game all the time.

 

[MisterEd]

Worry more about the CPU and GPU. Buy a laptop that is easy to open and allows you to easily upgrades the RAM and storage. That way you can always upgrade the RAM and SSD if you need more.

My gaming laptop came with 2 NVME M.2 SSD slots. The 1st had a 512GB SSD while the 2nd was empty. I removed the included SSD and installed 2 x 1TB SSDs. The 1st SSD is for Windows and installed programs while the 2nd SSD is for data. My laptop came with 16GB RAM. At some point I may upgrade it to 32GB.

 

[Dravenspur]

These are great suggestions. Thank you. I think I’ve narrowed it down to two choices. The MSI Raider GE78HX https://www.newegg.com/dark-gray-msi-ge-series-raider-ge78-hx-13vh-080us-gaming/p/N82E16834156417 (the model I’m looking at isn’t exactly this one, but it’s close. I’m looking at one with a little less CPU, but the other specs are the same)

or the Lenovo Legion 9i https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/lapt...n-8-(16-inch-intel)/83agcto1wwus1#ports_slots

I have a couple more questions though. The MSI is a 4080 and the Legion can be a 4080 or 4090. My first question is, is there a point to putting a 4090 in a laptop? I know the laptop 4090 (and 4080) do not match the desktop cards. The 4080 is much better than the laptop 4070 however. I’m not sure the 4090 is worth it. Second, I read the MSI machine is one of the quieter gaming laptops this year. Then I saw some actual reviews from purchases that said it was pretty loud. I know gaming laptops can get loud, but I’d like to be as quiet as possible. Does anyone own an MSI machine that thinks it is loud? I know I can get around it with headphones, but I still don’t want a machine that sounds like a jet engine when gaming.

I watched a review of the Legion and the 4090 model looks pretty good. Relatively quiet and great performance. I just don’t know if I need a 4090 in a laptop. My desktop GPU is a 7900 XT from AMD. I like the idea of ray tracing, but I don’t know if 4090 is overkill for a laptop. The display for the Legion is 3.2k, not 4K, although I read that the laptop 4090 can’t do true 4K like the desktop card can, so I guess it doesn’t matter. What should I pick? The MSI or Legion? 4080 or 4090?

 

[EarthDog]

Get the best you can/want to afford.

A 4080 does ray tracing just fine.

3200x2000 is a weird resolution.

A laptop 4090 will do 4k/60/ultra too...

 

[Dravenspur]

Thanks for the help. I’ve changed my mind. I’m looking at ASUS SCAR 18 or the MSI GE78HX. I was looking at the Razer 18 after seeing some reviews, but I want a number pad and the Razer doesn’t have one. I also wanted a 1080p webcam, but I can buy one separately, so the SCAR would work.

My question is about memory. The SCAR has slower memory than the MSI. Have you guys noticed that memory speed is a big issue with gaming and productivity? The SCAR is DDR5-4800 and the GE78 is DDR5-5600.