Laptop for rendering i9, 32GB RAM, RTX2070?

[eriksand]

Hi!

 

This semester I´ll be working on my master-thesis, and would like a powerful laptop that is versatile, and can handle demanding tasks.

 

Would like it to be able to run vray, 3ds max, f storm, archicad, rhino, adobe ps,id,ill.

 

I´m considering this one with the following specs:

 

MSI P65 CREATOR 9SF-470NE:

(https://www.msi.com/Prestige/P65-Creator-9SX/Specification)

 

Intel Core i9 (9. gen) 9880H / 2.3 GHz

32GB RAM / (max 64GB RAM)

1TB SSD

15,6¨ 3840 x 2160 (Ultra HD 4K)

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q

 

 

Is this a good option?

 

Really appreciate all answers,

 

- Erik

[Scott Schroeder]

It is not a bad laptop, but you need to be aware of a few things. One is that while you have an RTX2070 max Q in there, it is no where close to being as powerful as the desktop version of the same card. To get the nice thin laptops, you have to sacrifice power in order to save on heat and power needs. As you can see, even the RTX 2080 Max Q is about the same as the desktop RTX 2060.

 

https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2019/01/msi_gs75_vs_desktop_port_royal-100786392-large.jpg

 

In my opinion, 4K in a laptop is just wasting money when you could be putting that towards a more powerful graphics card.

 

These laptops get hot quickly and they are not as mobile. To get anywhere decent performance, you can't be on battery power. So then what is the point of having a laptop if you have to be tied to wires?

 

I have been using MSI's at work for the last 2 years and among my 3 person team, we have had 3 laptops go bad on us. 2 were swollen batteries and 1 was a GPU fan failure. Even though the MSI's are gaming laptops, rendering work can push them beyond their limits. Especially if you work with the lid closed, that will overheat your system in no time. I am currently on the Stealth GS 65 variant, https://us.msi.com/Laptop/GS65-Stealth-9SX.

 

In all honesty, I'd trade that MSI in for a desktop any day of the week. Even Sunday. It is a good laptop, but it just has too many weak spots when compared to a similar desktop configuration.

[eriksand]

Thanks for replying!

 

Ok, i see the difference between a desktop and a laptop pc, dedicated to this work, I really do. If I had the opportunity I´d invest in a desktop, but for now, I really need the possibility to be able to work at different locations.

 

But as far as laptops can be used to rendering, is this some of the ¨best you can get?

I will not be rendering huge demanding scenes, most small-scale interiors (working with small housing/dwellings)

For the most I will be using it for adobe programs and archicad, but I would like to be able to do some decent rendering as well.

 

Is there a third option? Where I place a desktop at my home, and work remote with a laptop connected to the desktop? Is this something you have experience with?

 

- Erik

[Scott Schroeder]

You can do the remote desktop route, but it can get limiting depending on your connection. GPU intensive work can cause issues as well. The only time I remote into a desktop is for emergency use when I need to get a fix done at night or check/troubleshoot on a render node.

 

If you are going to be a mobile worker, then I would recommend either the MSI or I've seen good things about some of the Lenovo Gaming series laptops. Just keep in mind that you'll not really be able to work off of battery power for more than maybe 30 minutes to an hour if you are doing Max work and rendering. You will also need to make sure you try to keep your laptop as cool as possible in order to avoid any battery issues or burning out your fans.

 

If you don't mind lifting around a heavier laptop, I think you can still get a near desktop powered RTX card in there. But at some point, it will be so heavy that it doesn't become worth it to lug it around.

[James Vella]

The Gigabyte Aero now supports the 2080-q. Your going to need to get the best GPU possible if your planning on using fstorm, dont know if you can get a laptop with more than 8gb though. I have been using the Aero for 2 years now and never had a problem, I get about 9hours battery when not using GPU (like tv shows/documents etc), 4 hours on battery doing heavy duty 3d work (using gpu/cpu at max). Some days I render on a minimum 4 hours, sometimes up to 16hours straight, and sometimes a few days in a row rendering sequences of images, no over heating or failures so far (fingers crossed). I love the color calibrated monitor, the new one comes with killer wireless (which ill be upgrading mine too) and a max of 64gb ram (which mine was maxed at 32gb.. I really wish I had the 64gb for Corona).

 

Im in a similar situation, Im working all across Europe for the past 2 years, in a different country nearly every week lately so its been a life safer. Ill definately get a desktop when I settle in one spot but I have had a terrific experience so far so I give it a good personal review.

 

You could also go the route of getting a pretty decent laptop and get one of those thunderbolt GPU boxes if you are serious about GPU rendering, I havent tested it myself but keen to see the results. Would also solve the Win10 issue taking 2GB of your GPU ram and having a dedicated 11gb Ti card to burn through those fstorm scenes.

 

edit: I forgot to mention I did have one issue, my fans were causing a grinding noise and realized it was full of dust. Dont forget to give it a good blow out if you are working in dusty environments our regularly outdoors

 

https://www.gigabyte.com/Laptop/AERO-15--RTX-20-Series/sp#sp

Edited August 7, 2019 by redvella

[cristianmunteanu]

Hi Erik,

I'm in the same situation with the master thesis. I was looking for a notebook that could handle a decent amount of work in mobility because I'll have to work at home and in an office as well. I have an asus with an i7 4700hq that still do the job but with the new i7s with 6 cores the improve in rendering time is noticeable so I decided to change. I don't know about your budget but I was looking for the customizable notebooks (like clevo) and I saw that they are pretty good and with decent thermals as well for a notebook. You can check different sellers depending on your area.