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Help with choosing a laptop/PC?

Techno_colour
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Hi all, I will be starting a Virtual effects (and film technology) course in university soon.

I'm planning to sell my current laptop (Macbook pro 2017, 8gb i5) since it definitely can't cope with editing on premiere pro and would obviously not live through working on 3d intensive programs. (Genuinely don't know why I decided to choose a macbook of all things... that was my downfall). I'm debating whether I should buy a pc or laptop for my studies which would be used in my university accommodation/ campus if I bought a laptop. The reason why I am thinking of a laptop is that it is more portable, meaning that it can be taken around campus with me- however this is not a must as I can easily use a campus pc that is equipped for my course. Does anyone have any suggestion of pc specs that would suit visual effects/video editing? Currently I have been looking at the Dell XPS as a portable option. However I have read reports of it failing to perform as advertised due to overheating and throttling so I'm a bit hesitant. I would say my price range would be around £900-£1200ish but depends on what I can sell my laptop for haha. 

Thanks!

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Avoid the XPS for any real work. Just like the MacBook, it's a glorified Facebook machine. Get a proper business workstation if you want reliability, perfoance and durability. Something like the i7 model of the ThinkPad X1 Extreme. (I9 laptops all have massive heat issues, avoid them like the plague)

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If you're university has strong internet you could just leave the desktop turned on in the dormitory and remote access it wherever you go, with say the Macbook. I assume it's the 8250U with iGPU model? It should still rock in paper work and you get the option for Mac OS alternatives if you want to.

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

 

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD (KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

 

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

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If you plan on keeping your laptop in your dorm or whatever I would keep your MacBook and buy an egpu. if you want to be able to carry It around, a Razer Blade Stealth might be a good option for you if you think you could switch to windows. if you need to stay on Mac, I would try to find a refurbished 2018 MacBook Pro or maybe even a fully speced MacBook Air. 

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39 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

If you're university has strong internet you could just leave the desktop turned on in the dormitory and remote access it wherever you go, with say the Macbook. I assume it's the 8250U with iGPU model? It should still rock in paper work and you get the option for Mac OS alternatives if you want to.

The problem is I was planning to use it more as a practice place where I could work on my video effects / 3D works whilst at home / in university accommodation so to speak :)If I had to do more paper workish type things to do I can get by, by using my ipad pro and a bluetooth keyboard if I have to do anything whilst im not in my dorm.

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28 minutes ago, Windows Vista said:

If you plan on keeping your laptop in your dorm or whatever I would keep your MacBook and buy an egpu. if you want to be able to carry It around, a Razer Blade Stealth might be a good option for you if you think you could switch to windows. if you need to stay on Mac, I would try to find a refurbished 2018 MacBook Pro or maybe even a fully speced MacBook Air. 

The issue is I have researched a little into eGPUs, and from what I've found, they don't seem to help much. They seem to only shave a fraction of the time needed to export a premiere pro video for instance, and that's just straight exporting and not queuing. I mean it took 15-30 mins for Adobe encoder to load on my mac.. whether that's because I've never used it on my mac or whether it had just updated I do not know :P

 

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