University & Gaming setup

[Zer0LM]

So in September I'll start University (engineering for now) and I need to move to an other city, so I'll live my actual rig to my brother and go buying a new portable setup to help me with the study and for some casual gaming.

So far I've listed tre option, sorted by preference:

1. Dell XPS 13 with i5 or i7, 16GB + External GPU + Monitor

2. Asus Zephyrus G15 GA503 with 5800H, RTX 3060, 16GB (+ Monitor?)

3. Apple MacBook Air/Pro (idk yet) + Monitor + GeForce NOW

The first one I would have already bought it if not for the GPU shortage. About th second one I don't intend to bring a whole gaming laptop in class if I had the chance not to, plus this model is the only in my country and still not available. On the third one, I'm not an apple guy, but these last macs got me and may fall for them if other options don't come up (even if I'm still sceptical about cloud gaming).

The monitor I thought something like the 1440p 144Hz by LG or TUF. The main thinghs I need form the laptop are:

1. Battery life

2. Screen (mostly color accuracy)

3. CPU

Lastly while I would like to do some 3d works, along with graphics and video editing, I'd put first single-player games (Tomb Rider, Star Wars, Assassin's Creed) and mainly R6S and Valorant for the multiplayer side.

I would like to ask anyone for their opinion on these configurations and if any other ideas come up, I would really like consider them.

[Guest]

I'm not switching to day theme to read that lol. Can you default the text color please?

[ImAlsoRan]

17 minutes ago, Zer0LM said:

-snip-

I'd wait for WWDC at least, there's a chance M1X will be revealed at the event and if it is, it's gonna be nuts, especially if they let you get a dGPU with it. Apple has proven themselves to make great laptops screens and they've set a new standard with the new iPad Pro, and from my friend's experience the M1 can handle CAD and other design all day on a single charge without breaking a sweat.

 

As for the gaming laptop, it's a bit of a hard sell. It's good for gaming, but you kind of have to treat it more like a desktop in terms of mobility in my experience. Gaming laptops are heavier and thicker (although that didn't really stop me from taking it everywhere, it just made it harder to get in and out when I needed it), and the powerful GPU makes even casual work destroy the battery life. It's capable, but only if you want exclusively a gaming laptop. If you go the gaming laptop route, I do recommend purchasing an iPad Air or something like that for more simple and/or casual tasks, they help fill in the "ready when you need it" gap that these kinds of machines leave. The smoothness of the screens also compromise color accuracy from what I've seen, but I have been impressed by some of them before.

 

GeForce Now has come a long way since when I daily drove it back in it's beta phase but my verdict was that it was a adequate substitute but should usually be a last resort, nowhere near a replacement for local gaming. Perhaps it's changed, but last time I tried to use it I got caught up in the queue and not being able to use that GPU you already own for video editing, rendering, or Bitcoin mining (that last one's a bit controversial, but from my perspective, if you already own the GPU you're not causing anybody else harm by making some spare couch change with it).

 

Overall, I wouldn't worry about gaming-on-the-go. I got caught up in that idea but almost never played games anywhere but home. Unless you plan to spend multi-hour train rides or have a larger-than-average plane seat, 99% of the time you won't play games anywhere but where you live. That's why I think a eGPU is the way to go, I hope Apple makes the M1X have the I/O to interface with external GPUs, and hopefully devs can make it easier to translate DirectX calls into Metal 2 calls for pseudo-GPU passthrough in a W10 VM.

[Zer0LM]

11 hours ago, ShrimpBrime said:

I'm not switching to day theme to read that lol. Can you default the text color please?

Sorry, I'm kinda new to this forum.

Can you read it now?

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to Laptops and Pre-Built Systems