programming 1070+, 32GB RAM, 512-1TB SSD for programming Unity and gaming

[reubenahmed]

Hi,

 

Looking for a laptop for programming in Unity and VR use.

• High battery life (6+ hours)
• Programming (fast CPU, capability to get 24GB+ RAM)
• 1070+ GPU
• 120hz+ display
• Good keyboard/touchpad
• I'm intrigued by eGPU but it seems to be weird to have a laptop with 1060/1070/1080 and eGPU, I don't think my unity programming would go too well with a weak internal GPU when using just the laptop.for coding.

It looks like MSI GS65 Stealth is probably the laptop but just looking for validation or competitors (Asus ROG Zephyrus? I saw some other brands have a mechanical keyboard incorporated into the laptop, but I'd dock it sometimes so that might not matter too much).

 

Thanks!

[genexis_x]

Location? Budget? Preferred max weight in kg/lbs?

 

1 hour ago, reubenahmed said:

GS65 Stealth

Not a full 1070, bad cooling and OKish build quality

1 hour ago, reubenahmed said:

Zephyrus

Which one? Regular, M or S? Anyway, all of them have bad battery life

1 hour ago, reubenahmed said:

I saw some other brands have a mechanical keyboard incorporated into the laptop

Most probably a TongFang barebone

[reubenahmed]

USA, <$2500, prefer <5 lbs.

[genexis_x]

8 hours ago, reubenahmed said:

USA, <$2500, prefer <5 lbs.

You won't be able to get a laptop with full 1070 that has 6+hrs battery life and under 5 lbs, best bet is 1070MQ with worse cooling

 

1. Alienware m15 with 90Wh battery (no HDD) - potential CPU thermal issue (due to thick thermal pads resulting in poor contact between IHS and heatsink)

2. Gigabyte Aero 15X - mediocre cooling, potential minor QC issues (doesn't mean others don't have)

3. MSI GS65 - mediocre cooling, OKish build quality, extremely difficult maintenance

 

Suggesting you to try out keyboard and touchpad by your own since it's personal preference/feel

[reubenahmed]

Thanks for the suggestions! Yeah, I probably don't need full 1070. I'd want it to work with VR just in case I do some VR coding. Not sure if the underclock would cause VR frames to skip or not, unknown.

[reubenahmed]

GeneXIS,

 

From research here and Notebook Review's forums, I'm finding most of this generation's 1070 MAX-Q hexa core intel laptops out there are having thermal issues. 

Do you think buying through HIDevolution who would redo the thermal paste/etc increase the chances (significantly?) that less throttling will occur?

HIDEvolution's prices are significantly more expensive for the same setup than just going through Dell.com.

Looks like if we undervolt we can achieve some better cooling and performance?

Thanks!
 

[genexis_x]

4 hours ago, reubenahmed said:

I'm finding most of this generation's 1070 MAX-Q hexa core intel laptops out there are having thermal issues. 

Most of them are thin and lights which don't have good cooling

4 hours ago, reubenahmed said:

Do you think buying through HIDevolution who would redo the thermal paste/etc increase the chances (significantly?) that less throttling will occur?

You can buy from HID if you want, although you can do the repaste by yourself. Avoid MX-4 and NT-H1

4 hours ago, reubenahmed said:

Looks like if we undervolt we can achieve some better cooling and performance?

Yes you can undervolt both CPU and GPU for lower temps and stabler clock speeds. Guides in my sig below