Student - good processing power (1.000 CAD)

[Luis_V]

Hi,

 

I am a PhD student living in Calgary(CA) and looking to buy a new laptop. I work in a lab that does a lot of proteomics analysis using software like MaxQuant and ProteomeDiscoverer. These software's depend on the processing power and writing speed to finish the analysis faster. Therefore, I wanted something until 1.000 CAD, i5 8th gen, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Nvme, portable and as upgradable as possible.

 

I know I might be nitpicking but I didn't want onboard (soldered) RAM and if possible Bluetooth 5.0 (not so sure about this last one).

 

What are your thoughts? So far I found the ThinkPad E590, but it is 15.6".

 

Thank you in advance!

[Spakes]

You might want to look towards something like Dell G5 15 5587, MSI GL63 8RC/9SC, or Lenovo Ideapad L340 with 8300H/9300H + GTX 1050 if you need raw processing power. And buy Optane SSD for better response times during analysis.

Another option is eBay/Amazon/Craigslist, aka buying used. There are some good deals to be found usually.

And it's not nitpicking, but sacrifices that must be made... Either this, or that. That comes with every purchase.

 

Good analogue to E590 would be MSI PS63 Modern 8M or Yoga 730, if you're into that sort of thing...

[TheBean]

1000cad but you want power? thats a little contradictory.

lenovo thinkpads are overpriced. they are more focused on build quality and not raw power. 

 

do a newegg power search. it helps to narrow it down fast

[genexis_x]

Need dGPU? Preferred max weight and min battery life?

[Luis_V]

On 8/23/2019 at 10:32 PM, Spakes said:

You might want to look towards something like Dell G5 15 5587, MSI GL63 8RC/9SC, or Lenovo Ideapad L340 with 8300H/9300H + GTX 1050 if you need raw processing power. And buy Optane SSD for better response times during analysis.

Another option is eBay/Amazon/Craigslist, aka buying used. There are some good deals to be found usually.

And it's not nitpicking, but sacrifices that must be made... Either this, or that. That comes with every purchase.

 

Good analogue to E590 would be MSI PS63 Modern 8M or Yoga 730, if you're into that sort of thing...

Thank you for your help. I was not looking for gaming computers but your suggestions about MSI computers was really useful.

 

On 8/24/2019 at 6:32 AM, GeneXiS_X said:

Need dGPU? Preferred max weight and min battery life?

I don't need dGPU. It would be good to have one but I don't know how much they can impact the battery life. Max weight I would say around 4.5 lbs (2 kg). It does need to last an entire day, but a good amount of battery would also be useful

 

Right now I am in between Acer Aspire5 A515 and the MSI GF63. I am not so sure if the Acer handles Nmve quite well and I heard the screen is not that good, but the keyboard has a numpad which is useful. On the other hand, I heard the MSI keyboard is kind of crappy.
Newegg prices:
Aspire5 A515-52G-57TT (refurbished) = $709

Aspire5 A515-54-53Z2 = $849

MSI GF63 = $969

What do you guys think?

[Spakes]

Acer has crappy quality, but nice price/perfomance ratio. Their cooling system also sucks a big one. Both Acer and MSI can live afound 4-5 hours on stock and it can be increased with undervolting and further tweaking of OS by 30-60 minutes.

I'd say, go MSI route (they also have refurbished laptops, you know), w/o an SSD ideally, buy Intel Optane SSD for those sweet random I/O R/W speeds and you're good to go.

For those "tweaks" you can go to this GDrive folder of mine: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZwVs9zrM493rjD42E2Pf0YcOkaW92ZUo

P. S. Unless you use something heavy like Blender (or connect an external display to any video output source except USB-C port, or you force OS to use dGPU), dGPU won't be active in any way, shape, or form, for web-browsing, Office programs and such iGPU is used, which means way less energy consumption aka better battery life.

I could squeeze 6 hours of light web-browsing in Chrome and some Word in Eco Mode, low brightness and no keyboard backlight from my MSI GS63VR 6RF Stealth Pro.

[genexis_x]

11 hours ago, Luiz.Almeida said:

It does need to last an entire day, but a good amount of battery would also be useful

Min how many hours? Also, preferred display size?

[Luis_V]

On 8/25/2019 at 11:51 AM, Spakes said:

Acer has crappy quality, but nice price/perfomance ratio. Their cooling system also sucks a big one. Both Acer and MSI can live afound 4-5 hours on stock and it can be increased with undervolting and further tweaking of OS by 30-60 minutes.

I'd say, go MSI route (they also have refurbished laptops, you know), w/o an SSD ideally, buy Intel Optane SSD for those sweet random I/O R/W speeds and you're good to go.

For those "tweaks" you can go to this GDrive folder of mine: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZwVs9zrM493rjD42E2Pf0YcOkaW92ZUo

P. S. Unless you use something heavy like Blender (or connect an external display to any video output source except USB-C port, or you force OS to use dGPU), dGPU won't be active in any way, shape, or form, for web-browsing, Office programs and such iGPU is used, which means way less energy consumption aka better battery life.

I could squeeze 6 hours of light web-browsing in Chrome and some Word in Eco Mode, low brightness and no keyboard backlight from my MSI GS63VR 6RF Stealth Pro.

Thank you. I will take that into consideration, but I am really worried about the keyboard. I know that for this price I will have to make little sacrifices...

 

21 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Min how many hours? Also, preferred display size?

It is hard to say because I've never used a laptop on the go, mine is always connected to the outlet, so I would guess 4-5 hours. I'd prefer 15.6 as long as it is light (4 to 5 lbs); otherwise, it is ok to be a 14".

[Luis_V]

Today I went to a Memory Express store and got my hands on both MSI gf63 and Lenovo E590. I have to say that now I am more inclined to buy the E590. The MSI has a plastic chassi and the keyboard is not that great. The Lenovo doesn’t have a dGPU and is a bit heavier, but seems stronger and have a numpad and (apparently) a better keyboard. What are your thoughts?

[genexis_x]

E590 is decent, but there are other decent options as well

 

GF63 is mediocre

[Luis_V]

51 minutes ago, GeneXiS_X said:

E590 is decent, but there are other decent options as well

 

GF63 is mediocre

I don’t have many options. I want something portable, no onboard Ram, capable of Nvme, Bluetooth 5.0 and up to 1000 CAD. Just the fact of not wanting onboard ram already cut my options to half.

 

Why would you say GF63 is mediocre?

 

 

[genexis_x]

9 minutes ago, Luiz.Almeida said:

Why would you say GF63 is mediocre?

Mainly build quality, also cooling, display (some have TN), input devices, battery life (OKish)