RTX 30 Laptops

biggles

2[H]4U
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Wondering what folks here think about the upcoming laptops after CES 2021. Seems like a good time to upgrade as we get new CPU's and GPU's with some of the vendors like ASUS. Although some vendors like MSI are sticking with Intel for the CPU. It has been reported that 3060 laptops will start at $999, 3070 at $1299, and 3080 at $1999. Also, I read somewhere that the 3060 laptops should perform on par with the 2080 super mobile.
https://videocardz.com/press-releas...series-ryzen-9-5900-ryzen-7-5800-desktop-cpus
https://videocardz.com/press-releas...rus-and-aero-laptops-with-geforce-rtx-30-gpus

Also hearing about 1440p screens on some models, which seems like overkill.
 
i've been using a lowly 4600h + 1650 4gb laptop for the past few months and it has been excellent, the 3000 series laptops will only continue to bridge the divide between mobile and desktop gaming. laptops used to be second or third-class choices by comparison to a desktop, but nowadays that's not the case at all.
 
If those prices stick, that's not an unreasonable tier-for-tier upgrade, around 30% price/performance increase across the board. That said, nVidia is confusing their mobile GPU line further this gen by introducing different TDP configs, so we not only need to compare the a) chip configuration and b) laptop cooling characteristic, but also c) the GPU TDP config.
 
I was hoping to buy a few of these for my office on launch day, but the current lack of transparency in performance vs efficiency means I'm just going to wait until I see benchmarks. And beyond that, I now cannot buy a machine unless I've seen that specific model benchmarked. Way to shoot yourselves in the feet, OEMs.

I mean, I guess I could just trust the OEMs to know more about what I want to do than I do. lol.
 
If those prices stick, that's not an unreasonable tier-for-tier upgrade, around 30% price/performance increase across the board. That said, nVidia is confusing their mobile GPU line further this gen by introducing different TDP configs, so we not only need to compare the a) chip configuration and b) laptop cooling characteristic, but also c) the GPU TDP config.
Considering the OEMs may or may not disclose TDP's, I think it will be difficult for consumers to know what they are buying. You might have 3080s underperforming 3070s when the latter has a higher TDP, for example. Which would be an unhappy surprise! It seems that product reviews will more important than before.
 
Considering the OEMs may or may not disclose TDP's, I think it will be difficult for consumers to know what they are buying. You might have 3080s underperforming 3070s when the latter has a higher TDP, for example. Which would be an unhappy surprise! It seems that product reviews will more important than before.
Even with OEMs disclosing -- I understand nV is enforcing (we'll see...) -- the general consumer is still going to be confused as all heckfire. There will definitely be much more expensive, lower-TDP 3080s underperforming 3070s. I think the de facto way to tell which laptop will perform better will ultimately be the form factor (although there almost certainly will be exceptions): if the form factor is thin and light, it's low-TDP; if it's a thick DTR, it's high-TDP.
 
I saw an article about cryptocurrency miners snatching up 3000 series laptops for their mining operations. Kinda sucks, but one of the pictures was inspiring -- running the laptops in tent mode for better cooling. I gave it a shot with my own, and temperatures are actually several degrees lower, even though it already runs cool with a 4600H + 1650 4GB. Not bad for a cheap desktop replacement.
 
I saw an article about cryptocurrency miners snatching up 3000 series laptops for their mining operations. Kinda sucks, but one of the pictures was inspiring -- running the laptops in tent mode for better cooling. I gave it a shot with my own, and temperatures are actually several degrees lower, even though it already runs cool with a 4600H + 1650 4GB. Not bad for a cheap desktop replacement.
What is tent mode
 
I badly want to buy one of the 30 series laptops, however... like everything else relating to GPUs, buying one is next to impossible. Crazy that I'm begging someone to take my 2 grand, and nothing. The world truly is upside down.
 
I just got a MSI GS66 with a 3070. It’s significantly faster than the Eluktronics Mech15 with a 2070 it replaces and WAY cooler which also translates into way quieter. That damn thing could wake the dead browsing the damn web.
 
I just got a MSI GS66 with a 3070. It’s significantly faster than the Eluktronics Mech15 with a 2070 it replaces and WAY cooler which also translates into way quieter. That damn thing could wake the dead browsing the damn web.
How about some game benchmarks?
 
Didnt really get any time to game last night, but I did run a quick bench comparing the Mech15 to this:

bench.PNG
 
Got this guy (ROG Zephyrus GA503 15.6" / 1440p 165Hz / AMD 5900 HS / RTX 3070 MQ / 16GB) last night and played some games...it's amazing. My last two gaming laptops were MSI GS65s (I used to travel a lot so I'd buy new ones every year) and I'd travel with a MacBook Pro work laptop and that one (~100K airline miles per year). So slim & light is definitely important. The AMD CPU paired with the 3070 MQ is a game changer. The body style is MBP-like (but definitely not the same quality - but quite good for a gaming laptop and the $1800 price). Only ding is soldered 8GB RAM (so to have dual channel you need to stay with 16GB as configured from factory) - but otherwise I highly, highly recommend it.

3dmark_02182021.PNG


9,265 Time Spy
4,557 Time Spy Extreme

20,394 Fire Strike
11,295 Fire Strike Extreme
6,155 Fire Strike Ultra
 
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Got this guy (ROG Zephyrus GA503 15.6" / 1440p 165Hz / AMD 5900 HS / RTX 3070 MQ / 16GB) last night and played some games...it's amazing. My last two gaming laptops were MSI GS65s (I used to travel a lot so I'd buy new ones every year) and I'd travel with a MacBook Pro work laptop and that one (~100K airline miles per year). So slim & light is definitely important. The AMD CPU paired with the 3070 MQ is a game changer. The body style is MBP-like (but definitely not the same quality - but quite good for a gaming laptop and the $1800 price). Only ding is soldered 8GB RAM (so to have dual channel you need to stay with 16GB as configured from factory) - but otherwise I highly, highly recommend it.

View attachment 330796

9,265 Time Spy
4,557 Time Spy Extreme

20,394 Fire Strike
11,295 Fire Strike Extreme
6,155 Fire Strike Ultra
Looks like a great machine. My Razer Advanced with an i7 8750h and 2080mq only scores around 7,600 in Timespy, so that's definitely a step up in (synthetic/theoretical) performance. Seems like we're finally getting largely uncompromised performance in a slim package.

That 5900 HS looks killer. Intel is getting their butt handed to them in the mobile space.
 
Looks like a great machine. My Razer Advanced with an i7 8750h and 2080mq only scores around 7,600 in Timespy, so that's definitely a step up in (synthetic/theoretical) performance. Seems like we're finally getting largely uncompromised performance in a slim package.

That 5900 HS looks killer. Intel is getting their butt handed to them in the mobile space.
It truly is. What is more insane is there's a 3080 variant for only $200 more! I am still within my return window so I've been watching Best Buy for restocks.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-r...te-drive-eclipse-gray/6451629.p?skuId=6451629

Even better is ASUS uses Liquid Metal for the CPU (although strange they don't use it for GPU) - https://rog.asus.com/laptops/rog-zephyrus/2021-rog-zephyrus-g15-series/ :
Screen Shot 2021-03-03 at 9.46.29 AM.png
 
It truly is. What is more insane is there's a 3080 variant for only $200 more! I am still within my return window so I've been watching Best Buy for restocks.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-r...te-drive-eclipse-gray/6451629.p?skuId=6451629

Even better is ASUS uses Liquid Metal for the CPU (although strange they don't use it for GPU) - https://rog.asus.com/laptops/rog-zephyrus/2021-rog-zephyrus-g15-series/ :View attachment 335192
Fair enough on $200 for a 3080, but that Best Buy listing is EXACTLY what we were afraid resellers would do with the 3000-series' fast and loose power thresholds. There's no telling what the performance of that 3080 is on that laptop, it may very well be not much more thau, the 3070 on yours.

I knew resellers would pull this BS.
 
Fair enough on $200 for a 3080, but that Best Buy listing is EXACTLY what we were afraid resellers would do with the 3000-series' fast and loose power thresholds. There's no telling what the performance of that 3080 is on that laptop, it may very well be not much more thau, the 3070 on yours.
Good point. Coming from GS65s in the past, though - I'm used to it. :) I probably will stop worrying about it. For $200 and risking having some QA problems (mine is flawless) I'll stand pat.
 
Wow that Asus checks all the right boxes. If I had to nitpick, why not have a full SD card slot? I would totally get if I didn’t have an Acer Predator Triton 500 2080-MQ from two years ago that’s still going strong but definitely could use something higher than 1080p if the GPU can handle it. I also travel a lot for work (120 flights a year, for 4 years straight) so the thinness complements the work 13’’ MBP well.
 
Wow that Asus checks all the right boxes. If I had to nitpick, why not have a full SD card slot? I would totally get if I didn’t have an Acer Predator Triton 500 2080-MQ from two years ago that’s still going strong but definitely could use something higher than 1080p if the GPU can handle it. I also travel a lot for work (120 flights a year, for 4 years straight) so the thinness complements the work 13’’ MBP well.
2080 MQ is still a beast! That was my setup when I traveled - GS65 + MBP 13" - which is why the weight is so important. That combo is tolerable. :)
 
2080 MQ is still a beast! That was my setup when I traveled - GS65 + MBP 13" - which is why the weight is so important. That combo is tolerable. :)
It feel it's currently the best balance on a laptop of performance (max out everything at 1080p high refresh), good RT handling, decent power/heat, and price (you can find them for a relative steal now that Ampere laptops are available).

If I was using a higher-rez external monitor (I feel anything higher than 1080p on a laptop is a bit of a waste), I'd go with a 3080, but 2080 mq is still a lot of power for a laptop GPU.
 
Very good, comprehensive review of the ASUS G15 GA503 (same one that I have, the 5900 HS / 3070 MQ variant from Best Buy):

https://www.ultrabookreview.com/45159-asus-zephyrus-g15-ga503-review/

I agree with their points. I got lucky - my laptop doesn't have any issues so I'm really happy with it for $1800. Good to see the 3080 doesn't make such a huge difference because it's the low power version. You were right, harmattan!
 
I’m getting an Alienware m17 r4 with a full power (165w, or 150w+15w) 3080 delivered on April 9th. I’ll post some benches when it arrives. Now that I think of it I should get some benches of the current one (Alienware m15 r2 2070 max-q 90w) and post them both for comparison. Buddy is buying the old one so will have both for a bit.

Added the Timespy and Firestrike for the m15 for comparison. Will add them for the m17 when I get it.
 

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I’m getting an Alienware m17 r4 with a full power (165w, or 150w+15w) 3080 delivered on April 9th. I’ll post some benches when it arrives. Now that I think of it I should get some benches of the current one (Alienware m15 r2 2070 max-q 90w) and post them both for comparison. Buddy is buying the old one so will have both for a bit.
Which screen option did you select? I hear Optimus only works on the 144hz options.
 
The M17 R4 3080 arrived yesterday, here's the Time Spy. The benches for the M15 R2 2070 max-q are up in the previous post
M17 3080.PNG
 
damn you guys are making me jelly. Just ordered a Legion 5 4800H, 16GB Ram, FHD 144Hz IPS, 256GB SSD(I will change this out) and a Full 1660ti for 1000$. Would have loved a 3060 but I am just not willing to wait and 1K was max budget. Its crazy this how much power they can pack. Shit this thing is just as powerful as my desktop in the sig below. Gonna sell my HTPC and throw my 1070 on ebay. hoping to fetch 400-500$
 
Do note that not all RTX30xx laptop are create equal as there are different power version from 80W to 105W to 130W for the 3070 for example. I settled for the Gigabyte Aorus 15G XC with the 3070 at 105W. Didn't want the 3080 or the 130W version as I want a lower temp profile, less fan noise and lower weight chassis. At $1799, it's damn good for a 4.4lb laptop with i7-10870 w/32GB. only minus is probably the 512GB SSD but since there're 2 M.2 slot. I use the cost difference and dump a 2TB NVME into the 2nd slot.
 
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I just repasted my GS66 with kryonaut and k5 pro. The Timespy cpu temps dropped from 95C to 79C max. I swear they used baseball card bubble gum for the thermal pad paste and the cpu/gpu paste was half dry and on the “almost not enough” spectrum.

It’s night and day now.
 
I just repasted my GS66 with kryonaut and k5 pro. The Timespy cpu temps dropped from 95C to 79C max. I swear they used baseball card bubble gum for the thermal pad paste and the cpu/gpu paste was half dry and on the “almost not enough” spectrum.

It’s night and day now.
After the warranty I will crack my Legion 5 open and re-paste. But so far it runs pretty cool
 
Trying hard to find a configuration that ticks all of my boxes.

Ryzen 5900HX
RTX 3070 (115w or better)
17.3" QHD screen
2 ram slots (why are so many soldering ram these days??)


I'm uncertain if QHD is too much for the mobile 3070, or if it's just not a popular configuration. I've seen 4k, but not QHD unfortunately.

My backup option is the Asus Strixx G17, if it is ever in stock again.
 
Trying hard to find a configuration that ticks all of my boxes.

Ryzen 5900HX
RTX 3070 (115w or better)
17.3" QHD screen
2 ram slots (why are so many soldering ram these days??)


I'm uncertain if QHD is too much for the mobile 3070, or if it's just not a popular configuration. I've seen 4k, but not QHD unfortunately.

My backup option is the Asus Strixx G17, if it is ever in stock again.
I think the Strix is literally the only currently released (but not available) laptop that combines 5900HX with an RTX3070. And no Strix comes with a QHD display.

QHD was more popular a few years ago for "gaming" laptops, not anymore for some reason. I'm guessing panel makers opted to only produce 1080p and 4k. A shame since QHD is pretty much the perfect resolution for a 115w+ RTX3070m.

They are soldering the RAM this gen and next as it's one less point of failure, and it will encourage people to buy a new platform when DDR5 comes around.
 
I think the Strix is literally the only currently released (but not available) laptop that combines 5900HX with an RTX3070. And no Strix comes with a QHD display.

QHD was more popular a few years ago for "gaming" laptops, not anymore for some reason. I'm guessing panel makers opted to only produce 1080p and 4k. A shame since QHD is pretty much the perfect resolution for a 115w+ RTX3070m.

They are soldering the RAM this gen and next as it's one less point of failure, and it will encourage people to buy a new platform when DDR5 comes around.
Totally agree on the QHD/3070 combo. Seems like a match made in heaven, but /shrug
 
My low wattage 3070 is awesome in QHD 165Hz. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to 1080p laptops.
 
My low wattage 3070 is awesome in QHD 165Hz. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to 1080p laptops.

I'm sure it's great, but the thought of buying Max-Q/Low wattage feels like purposely choosing the hooker with only one boob. Sure, she'll work, but I won't feel good about using her, and I'd question if I'm getting my money's worth.
 
I'm sure it's great, but the thought of buying Max-Q/Low wattage feels like purposely choosing the hooker with only one boob. Sure, she'll work, but I won't feel good about using her, and I'd question if I'm getting my money's worth.
Depends on your use case. I want thin & light and a sub $2k price with AMD CPU/NVIDIA GPU. Not everyone wants the big laptops.
 
I've been eyeballing the ASUS ROG STRIX SCAR 17 G733QS-XS98Q pretty hard lately.

17.3" 1440 165hz, first 1440 laptop I feel like I've seen, really into it for that, bet it's awesome.
Ryzen 9 5900HX
3080

Bad mf but $2700. If I can get a decent price for my current laptop I'm all in. Everything says pre-order though, not sure when it'd be availabe.

Edit: damn now I see eluktronics has the Max 17 with the same specs, time to cough up $3k. Love the chassis and everything else about it.
 
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