Looking for a work laptop for programming

[GoldDragon007]

Hello,

I'm looking for a new work laptop for programming/compiling. Probably what I looking is THE raw CPU power. More cores, higher boosts are better (so somewhere AMD 4700U/4800H+). Next to it around 16/32Gb of ram, SSD (+ HDD for optional docs and swap storage). For graphics it's fine a ten-years-old it's still a graphics card category (just for some hardware acceleration here and there, like Adobe PS (not colour critical) or browser). Screen size is minimum 15" ideal 17", resolution FHD, 16:9, programming on a smaller than 15" screen is way far from comfortable as of OK, optionally a touchscreen can be a good extra for fast scratches. Needs to be able to feed 3 FHD or 2 Ultrawide screens (~2K). Due the on the go, meetings, conferences, long battery life is not a too bad idea also. Due to the occasional usage of the keyboard and trackpad, it will be fine any, from the look, I don't care, just be useable. Budget around 1000€.

For the above specs what I've found a good fit minus the graphics is the Asus TUF A15/A17. Does anybody have a better idea?

[The Sloth]

1 minute ago, GoldDragon007 said:

Asus TUF

Over all it's a excellent device, go for it. 

 

 

2 minutes ago, GoldDragon007 said:

Needs to be able to feed 3 FHD or 2 Ultrawide screens (~2K)

a RTX 2060 should be able to handle that easily. 

 

 

 

 

XPS 17 2020 is a good device but it will be more then your budget, on sale it should be around their. 

[5x5]

5 minutes ago, The Sloth said:

Over all it's a excellent device, go for it. 

 

 

a RTX 2060 should be able to handle that easily. 

 

 

 

 

XPS 17 2020 is a good device but it will be more then your budget, on sale it should be around their. 

The A15 with a 2060 overheats extremely badly. Avoid it. The XPS 17 also overheats and discharges the battery under load due to a power delivery that cannot handle the components. Both are pretty terrible options for sustained load as neither can handle it.

 

11 minutes ago, GoldDragon007 said:

Hello,

I'm looking for a new work laptop for programming/compiling. Probably what I looking is THE raw CPU power. More cores, higher boosts are better (so somewhere AMD 4700U/4800H+). Next to it around 16/32Gb of ram, SSD (+ HDD for optional docs and swap storage). For graphics it's fine a ten-years-old it's still a graphics card category (just for some hardware acceleration here and there, like Adobe PS (not colour critical) or browser). Screen size is minimum 15" ideal 17", resolution FHD, 16:9, programming on a smaller than 15" screen is way far from comfortable as of OK, optionally a touchscreen can be a good extra for fast scratches. Needs to be able to feed 3 FHD or 2 Ultrawide screens (~2K). Due the on the go, meetings, conferences, long battery life is not a too bad idea also. Due to the occasional usage of the keyboard and trackpad, it will be fine any, from the look, I don't care, just be useable. Budget around 1000€.

For the above specs what I've found a good fit minus the graphics is the Asus TUF A15/A17. Does anybody have a better idea?

Look at the Lenovo Legion 5 and HP Omen 15. Both have Renoir configurations and have extremely good cooling so the 4800H will boost higher and run MUCH cooler/quieter

[manikyath]

get something with integrated graphics that'll hook up to a thunderbolt (or at least usb C) dock for driving the displays.

6 minutes ago, The Sloth said:

a RTX 2060 should be able to handle that easily. 

and be an absolute hog to battery life when on the go... if you dont need the GPU, it is actually just wasting power.

 

as for actual suggestions...

if you can still find them, because stock is draining faster than ever before... those AMD based HP envy x360's are a pretty nice pick actually... they'll do a usb c dock, and have some decent "oomph"

[The Sloth]

 

 

5 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

The A15 with a 2060 overheats extremely badly. Avoid it

According to this website, its not too bad. 

 

Quote

The FA506IV runs at 85+ for the CPU and 73+ for the GPU,

Remember, this can be improved with changing the thermal paste and OP won't go 100% 20/ 7 on this thing. 

 

 

Quote

https://www.ultrabookreview.com/36432-amd-tuf-gaming-fa506iu-review/#:~:text=The Ryzen 5 4600H processor settles for clock speeds of,fluctuates between 40 and 58W.

 

 

7 minutes ago, manikyath said:

those AMD based HP envy x360's are a pretty nice pick actually...

My sister owned one, returned it a week later. It throttles very badly, to the point where typing becomes uncomfortable. Build quality also sucks, it flexes a lot, battery is around 5 hours. Overall, i would avoid it. Drivers were also really bad, Hp has so many driver issue. 

[5x5]

3 minutes ago, The Sloth said:

 

 

According to this website, its not too bad. 

 

Remember, this can be improved with changing the thermal paste and OP won't go 100% 20/ 7 on this thing. 

 

 

 

 

My sister owned one, returned it a week later. It throttles very badly, to the point where typing becomes uncomfortable. Build quality also sucks, it flexes a lot, battery is around 5 hours. Overall, i would avoid it. Drivers were also really bad, Hp has so many driver issue. 

What? The Envy x360 is among the best models currently and it came out a month ago. Don't talk about new products based on old ones that have nothing in common.

 

As for the A15 - it goes to 95*C and throttles. Numerous outlets have reported it, including NoteBookCheck, HardwareUnboxed, Jarrod'sTech and etc.

[manikyath]

3 minutes ago, The Sloth said:

My sister owned one, returned it a week later. It throttles very badly, to the point where typing becomes uncomfortable. Build quality also sucks, it flexes a lot, battery is around 5 hours. Overall, i would avoid it. Drivers were also really bad, Hp has so many driver issue. 

pretty much the polar opposite to the experience i have with envy x360...

 

yes, they have hilareous audio driver issues, the fix is to not use HP's audio drivers.

[The Sloth]

Just now, 5x5 said:

The Envy x360 is among the best models currently

Yup, she bought one 2 weeks ago. returned it 2 days ago, she preordered it from bestbuy to get a discount( i recommended it), after the 3500u blew my exceptions on a thinkpad T495. 

 

 

5 minutes ago, manikyath said:

 

 

yes, they have hilareous audio driver issues, the fix is to not use HP's audio drivers.

 

Yup, for her, the audio driver had issues, GPU has issues so she had to DDU to get drivers from AMD website, if too many tabs were loaded, the laptop would get really hot and throttle( it would slow down with fewer tabs then a older 3500u t495), Apex was unplayable due to temperature fluctuation( GPU/ CPU would randomly drop clockspeed( not sure, if that's a HP or AMD issue ). 

 

 

not sure if it was a production issue with the first batch or normal HP QC issue, overall i am not happy with it. 

[GoldDragon007]

Envy x360 yeah... I feel how I've loosing my screen realstate .

 

By default I would go with 17" if there is, otherwise 15", so.. I feel kind of pointless to view 15" thermal if there is 17". Just like a little sidenote. Also, I won't have graphics intense thing, except if windows or... well... linux decides to crash.

 

27 minutes ago, The Sloth said:

a RTX 2060 should be able to handle that easily. 

I think even the lowest (1650?) can drive the OS to crazy, I don't need it for gaming, soo...

My biggest problem there the brand... I have now an Asus laptop aaand... I would ask them for a better quality and endurance check.

[5x5]

1 minute ago, The Sloth said:

Yup, she bought one 2 weeks ago. returned it 2 days ago, she preordered it from bestbuy to get a discount( i recommended it), after the 3500u blew my exceptions on a thinkpad T495. 

 

 

 

Yup, for her, the audio driver had issues, GPU has issues so she had to DDU to get drivers from AMD website, if too many tabs were loaded, the laptop would get really hot and throttle( it would slow down with fewer tabs then a older 3500u t495), Apex was unplayable due to temperature fluctuation( GPU/ CPU would randomly drop clockspeed( not sure, if that's a HP or AMD issue ). 

 

 

not sure if it was a production issue with the first batch or normal HP QC issue, overall i am not happy with it. 

Sounds like you got really unlucky and had a defective cooler (probably a broken pipe - it's rare but happens)

[5x5]

1 minute ago, GoldDragon007 said:

Envy x360 yeah... I feel how I've loosing my screen realstate .

 

By default I would go with 17" if there is, otherwise 15", so.. I feel kind of pointless to view 15" thermal if there is 17". Just like a little sidenote. Also, I won't have graphics intense thing, except if windows or... well... linux decides to crash.

 

I think even the lowest (1650?) can drive the OS to crazy, I don't need it for gaming, soo...

My biggest problem there the brand... I have now an Asus laptop aaand... I would ask them for a better quality and endurance check.

Try to avoid buying by brand. Every OEM has great and terrible products.

In your case, if you need a large screen and are okay with a 1650 Ti - get the Lenovo Legion 7. Comes with a 4800H and 1650 Ti currently.

[The Sloth]

Just now, GoldDragon007 said:

 

 

I think even the lowest (1650?) can drive the OS to crazy, I don't need it for gaming, soo...

My biggest problem there the brand... I have now an Asus laptop aaand... I would ask them for a better quality and endurance check.

Yeah, people are talking about issues with it it seems. ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot better, ROG is a highend brand for ASUS. Try it out and return it in 30 days, if you don't like it. 

 

 

Just now, 5x5 said:

Sounds like you got really unlucky and had a defective cooler (probably a broken pipe - it's rare but happens)

unfortunately, it was not. i opened it to re pasted it. I will give it another go in the future. 

[5x5]

Just now, The Sloth said:

Yeah, people are talking about issues with it it seems. ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot better, ROG is a highend brand for ASUS. Try it out and return it in 30 days, if you don't like it. 

 

 

unfortunately, it was not. i opened it to re pasted it. I will give it another go in the future. 

Like I said, you probably got a defective heatpipe. There's no visual cue to allow you to see it. The x360 runs extremely cool and quiet in my experience so something was certainly broken on yours.

 

Also, again, don't buy by brand. Fastest way to get a shit product.

[GoldDragon007]

3 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

Try to avoid buying by brand. Every OEM has great and terrible products.

Yes, I try, but after you have bad experience and they are the only one who has such a product that you need... You are screwed.

 

3 minutes ago, The Sloth said:

Try it out and return it in 30 days, if you don't like it. 

I have now a ROG, but the problems with electronics doesn't usually come up within 30 days at least the bigger ones... So...

[The Sloth]

Just now, GoldDragon007 said:

 

 

I have now a ROG, but the problems with electronics doesn't usually come up within 30 days at least the bigger ones... So...

Get a Thinkpad t495 with 5 years of warranty

[GoldDragon007]

As I've looked the AMD competition, because mostly I want those, all they have their problems, so I need to pick my poison, I guess.

11 hours ago, 5x5 said:

As for the A15 - it goes to 95*C and throttles. Numerous outlets have reported it, including NoteBookCheck, HardwareUnboxed, Jarrod'sTech and etc.

It doesn't throttles, but I guess just becuase the manufacturer underclocked it.

[5x5]

2 hours ago, GoldDragon007 said:

As I've looked the AMD competition, because mostly I want those, all they have their problems, so I need to pick my poison, I guess.

It doesn't throttles, but I guess just becuase the manufacturer underclocked it.

You don't have to pick any poson. The Legion 5 and Omen 15 both have excellent cooling and run in the low 80s or high 70s under load. Neither goes to 100 like the A15 2060 model.