Coding/Development Laptop to run Linux (16 inch, 64 GB RAM)

[keg]

Budget (including currency): $2195.59-$2744.49 (R40 000 - R50 000)

Country: South Africa

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: general software development, docker, virtual machines, IDEs

Other details: I am looking to purchase a 16-inch laptop for software development. I want to run Linux (Ubuntu preferable but other distros like Fedora etc are fine). I will be travelling so I will not have access to a secondary monitor in many locations so a large screen is required. I have been looking at the ASUS Zephyrus G16 but I DO NOT necessarily need a built-in GPU. I would prefer to spend the money on other areas, such as RAM, storage etc.
 

Preferable specs
RAM: 64GB (32/48GB is the absolute lowest)
Storage: 4TB (2TB is fine with space for expansion)

CPU: AMD or Intel is fine. Core count is important for virtualisation needs

Dimensions: 16-inch screen

I/O: built-in ethernet and built-in HMDI are a plus. I want USB A and C ports.

 

[Likwid]

Ryzen 7945hx still sits at the top (https://www.cpubenchmark.net/laptop.html)

Lenovo legion or asus rog models go for about 2k$ at low end, it looks to be cheaper to upgrade ram and storage on your own.

Wokstation** laptops cost a lot more than gaming laptop with same specs and build quality is almost the same.

[keg]

2 hours ago, Likwid said:

Ryzen 7945hx still sits at the top (https://www.cpubenchmark.net/laptop.html)

Lenovo legion or asus rog models go for about 2k$ at low end, it looks to be cheaper to upgrade ram and storage on your own.

Wokstation** laptops cost a lot more than gaming laptop with same specs and build quality is almost the same.

Great, thanks. I was hoping there would be a laptop with a decent CPU and no dedicated GPU but that doesn’t seem to be the case form my research. Is that correct? I can get the G16 or G17 here in my budget and it meets my specs. I was just hoping to save a buck

[BiG StroOnZ]

51 minutes ago, keg said:

Great, thanks. I was hoping there would be a laptop with a decent CPU and no dedicated GPU but that doesn’t seem to be the case form my research. Is that correct?

 

The best right now is Meteor Lake with an Arc Xᵉ LPG or maybe Phoenix with a 780M. You can get either of these without a dGPU. 

[Likwid]

26 minutes ago, BiG StroOnZ said:

 

The best right now is Meteor Lake with an Arc Xᵉ LPG or maybe Phoenix with a 780M. You can get either of these without a dGPU. 

Only problem is that amd gets only half the cores with latest gen and intel also gets less cores than gaming parts.

[Likwid]

1 hour ago, keg said:

Great, thanks. I was hoping there would be a laptop with a decent CPU and no dedicated GPU but that doesn’t seem to be the case form my research. Is that correct? I can get the G16 or G17 here in my budget and it meets my specs. I was just hoping to save a buck

Just checked Lenovo workstation laptops and it costs 1.5-2x the price of gaming laptops.

 

There were some models with rtx 4060, but almost everything is sold out

[keg]

So I found something stocked locally in South Africa:

https://www.evetech.co.za/asus-rog-strix-g17-g713pv-rtx-4060-gaming-laptop-with-64gb-ram-&-2tb-ssd/laptops-for-sale/31341.aspx

 

essentially it’s a G17 (2023) with 64GB of RAM, 4TB of storage and a 4060. My only concern is that you can’t run ubuntu reliably on ASUS ROG laptops but you can use https://asus-linux.org drivers to run fedora. I haven’t used it before but it may be fine. 
 

We have limited supply of electronics especially higher end stuff that isn’t marked up like crazy so that’s why this may be the best option… it’s actually available. We have Amazon now but it’s very limited.

[BiG StroOnZ]

7 hours ago, Likwid said:

Only problem is that amd gets only half the cores with latest gen and intel also gets less cores than gaming parts.

 

Can you elaborate on what you mean here, I know the Meteor Lake iGPU only has 8 Xᵉ Arc Cores, while the 780M has 768 RDNA3 Cores. This puts both of them at about RX 470, R9 290, GTX 1650, RTX 2050 levels. For what he is doing, that should be strong enough, no?

 

4 hours ago, keg said:

So I found something stocked locally in South Africa:

https://www.evetech.co.za/asus-rog-strix-g17-g713pv-rtx-4060-gaming-laptop-with-64gb-ram-&-2tb-ssd/laptops-for-sale/31341.aspx

 

essentially it’s a G17 (2023) with 64GB of RAM, 4TB of storage and a 4060. My only concern is that you can’t run ubuntu reliably on ASUS ROG laptops but you can use https://asus-linux.org drivers to run fedora. I haven’t used it before but it may be fine. 
 

We have limited supply of electronics especially higher end stuff that isn’t marked up like crazy so that’s why this may be the best option… it’s actually available. We have Amazon now but it’s very limited.

 

This is a well-equipped device, but again with a dGPU. If that isn't a problem, then it will run great. Not sure about the Linux discrepancies, might be worth dual booting for stability and troubleshooting. 

[Likwid]

3 hours ago, BiG StroOnZ said:

 

Can you elaborate on what you mean here, I know the Meteor Lake iGPU only has 8 Xᵉ Arc Cores, while the 780M has 768 RDNA3 Cores. This puts both of them at about RX 470, R9 290, GTX 1650, RTX 2050 levels. For what he is doing, that should be strong enough, no?

 

 

This is a well-equipped device, but again with a dGPU. If that isn't a problem, then it will run great. Not sure about the Linux discrepancies, might be worth dual booting for stability and troubleshooting. 

Oh, I was talking about CPU cores -
7945hx 16c/32t vs 8945hs 8c/16t
14900HX 8pc/16ec/32t vs 165HL 6pc/8ec/22t vs 155UL 2pc/8ec/14t

For AMD now you only get half of the cores, for intel theres previous gen 14900HX and for business class models in best case you get half of the e cores and worst case one quarter of p cores.

[BiG StroOnZ]

19 hours ago, Likwid said:

Oh, I was talking about CPU cores -
7945hx 16c/32t vs 8945hs 8c/16t
14900HX 8pc/16ec/32t vs 165HL 6pc/8ec/22t vs 155UL 2pc/8ec/14t

For AMD now you only get half of the cores, for intel theres previous gen 14900HX and for business class models in best case you get half of the e cores and worst case one quarter of p cores.

 

This is true. You do lose power on the CPU side. However, both had wonderful efficiency gains and the iGPU is improved greatly on both.

 

I would probably say the CPU power is important for OP's needs, but if he can sacrifice some of that power for more mobility and no dGPU: then it's a welcomed compromise. With something like the i9 185H, it would be pretty balanced for his use case with Arc.

 

However, as you mentioned, you get better value out of gaming laptops from a performance standpoint. Only problem is battery life and mobility are usually sacrificed. If you don't have a problem being stationary and plugged in most of the time. Then absolutely you will get the better value out of a gaming class laptop. 

 

Nevertheless, it appears he will settle on a unit with a dGPU anyway.