Ampere Laptop GPUs

Hi,
I have been waiting ages to buy a new laptop as I try and buy one every 3 to 4 years. My XMG hairdryer behemoth is the last portable desktop I ever buy.

I am likely going to buy the best razer laptop with an ampere gpu.

As the desktop ampere cards will likely launch on 01 Sept when can we expect the laptop versions? Before Christmas?

Thank you

 

Historically, laptops will be shown at CES in January, with releases staggered from February through April depending on the manufacturer.

 

As @Kevin mentioned, new laptop designs are usually showcased at CES in January...
That said, OEM's on the other hand do have a tendency to integrate newest parts from both Intel and NV hw shortly after they launch... but its not the same for latest AMD parts I'm afraid.

Not sure what to expect for this year.
Will depend on when NV will have mobile parts ready, and how this pandemic affects things going forward.

I wouldn't necessarily go with Razer... they are more like Apple because you're essentially paying for the Brand, not necessarily quality (which is not guaranteed). Also, Razer doesn't have the best track record with cooling.

If you need a laptop right now, there are several options (with great cooling) on the market right now to choose from that are also quite affordable:
XMG Core 15 (4800H and RTX 2060)
Eluktronics Matrix RP-15 (4800H and RTX 2060

Out of these two offers, Eluktronics is cheaper I think (and same or better quality).

Not sure if waiting for Ampere is the best if you need a machine right now, seeing how new technology will be around the corner all the time (although, Ampere, Zen 3 and RDNA 2 are all basically new architectures so they could be worth the wait if you're not in a rush).

 

Thanks for the helpful response.

I am not in rush. I bought my last laptop (XMG with dual 1080s) in 2016 so waiting a little longer won't kill me.

My issues with the XMG were:
- sounded like a fighter jet in my room.
- weighed 2 tons excluding the 2 power bricks
- build quality of the case/chassis wasn't great

This time around I want:
- the next gen version of the 2080 or 2070
- medium/light weight
- high quality materials
- great cooling that is quiet or not too loud when in use
- a look that doesn't scream gamer

 

Pick two, you can't have the 3.

 

Your money, but I'd stay as far away from Razer as humanly possible.

 

Interesting comments

Next gen 2080 and slim high qualiry chassis

So what is regarded as the highest quality option with macbrook bro like styling and finish?

 

You’ll have to settle for Max-Q then.

 

Dual 1080's?
Ouch... no wonder the thing sounds like a fighter jet in your room.
A word of advice going forward: SLI/Crossfire laptops are not particularly useful as the feature is not well supported by either NV or AMD (however, historically speaking, CrossFire on AMD's side always scaled a lot better than SLI).
Dual GPU's don't really work out in laptops... you end up paying A LOT more money for relatively minor performance gain (and massive increase in heat being generated). Also, both SLI/CrossFire are being discontinued from support.

I'd suggest you try DISABLING one of the GTX 1080's. It would definitely cut down on the noise (and temperatures), and you'd still get great performance if you limit yourself to say 1080p or even 2k.

If you want a decent weight laptop with 'great cooling' (which isn't too loud when in use), you will need to wait for reviews of newest laptops and see what the cooling/noise is like (ideal would be up to 50dB or lower when fully stressed - trust me, even 50dB becomes tiresome).

As you already have a GTX 1080 (two of them), it won't kill you to skip existing generation of laptops and wait for Zen 3, RDNA 2 and Ampere (or possibly even Zen 4 and RDNA 3).
Since you mentioned 2080 or 2070, might I suggest looking out for AMD gpu's as an option (RDNA 2) assuming that OEM's actually use them since they are just as efficient and fast?

Plus, RDNA 2 will have 50% increase in performance per watt vs existing Navi solutions and will feature Raytracing as well (albeit implemented differently according to the patent that doesn't need specialized hw and not resulting in performance impacts like on existing NV gpu's).

Your GTX 1080 is actually an RTX 2070 in disguise performance-wise... minus Raytracing of course.

You wouldn't really benefit from getting a laptop right now with 2070 or 2080 (it would be mostly a side-grade)... also, anything above 2070 is (at this point) getting you diminishing returns (performance-wise) for the money you are being asked to pay.

I'd definitely wait for Zen 3, RDNA 2 and Ampere at least before you upgrade.
In the meantime, you could try disabling one of those 1080's.

Lets' see, an Ampere or RDNA 2 alternative to 2080 in slim/high quality chassis?
It will depend on power efficiency and performance the new uArchs hit.
AMD may actually have the higher ground this time, but best to wait and see until the desktop GPU's hit first and then we can gauge what the mobile performance will be.

On NV side, it will likely be something akin to GTX 3070 or 3060.
However, 'slim/high quality chassis' are terms which don't really mix as most OEM's tend to cut corners (and they don't usually pair high performance GPU's in thin chassis' due to thermal constraints - you might get away with Max-Q, but you'll be getting a really big performance reduction as a result).

Opinions vary on the subject matter.
Word of advice: just because it 'looks' nice (or expensive), it doesn't mean its particularly functional or beneficial to you.

Eluktronics thus far seems to have best track record in using modern hw and applying not just decent cooling, but also higher capacity batteries (for an affordable price no less).
Also, it seems to be using Aluminum and resin for the chassis material (and Apple seems to be using Aluminum for its chassis' as material of choice).

I'd just wait for the next gen to hit mobiles in 2021, see what's on offer and then check reviews on cooling, chassis quality, etc.

I'll repeat what @saturnotaku mentioned:
Stay away from Razer (as far as possible). You can do better than that.

 

MSI GS66

Also in future, please use the multi-quote button to reply to multiple people instead of creating individual posts.

 

I have all three.

 

Same I have a lowly GTX 1060 gs63vr and it gets 6 hours battery life...low temps and is under 0.7in thick..also is pretty powerful coupled with the i7 8750h 6 core CPU.....this isn't 2000 and Dorothy can go home

 

In terms of slim and sleek, LG Gram is very close to the trophy now. Lenovo's IdeaPad 5 follows with slight thickness and better CPU option from the Red side, dGPU with option only from Nvidia MX series.

 

I am ok with Max Q

What do you have?

 

A thin laptop with a eGPU.

 

So.... it's not light

 

For my intended use a next gen version of a 2070 (amd or nvidia) is the minimum that would work.

Something like the XMG Neo 15 is likely right for me, once an updated version is available with the new ampere gpus.

https://www.xmg.gg/en/xmg-neo-15

 

Not if you have to have the GPU inside the laptop. If you need to have the dGPU in the laptop I agree with the assessment that you are not going to get all three unless you never put it under load or use a GPU so weak that it would almost make anyone wonder why it's there in the first place.

The "quiet" part is the part that will never happen unless there's some massive breakthrough in heat transfer technology or GPU efficiency. And then, if they have the thermal headroom they're going to make a more powerful GPU to consume it.

Gaming class laptops are notoriously non-quiet, even the ones that are semi-quiet. The best they can do is add bigger fans and fan blade enhancements to try to reduce the high pitched whine of garbage class fans.

I like my compromise where I have a decent gaming setup and I also have a 3lb 17" "Portable" laptop. And I have both the laptop and eGPU within 2ft of my ears and you can't hear either one over normal ambient noise under even the most intense gaming load.

My wife sits about 4 feet from me and this was basically and iterative effort on my part to try to make the quietest gaming laptop setup I could build (not interested in having a desktop system). She would complain about every gaming laptop I had, even the larger ones that were a little quieter. They were still annoying under load. This setup... it's SILENT.

 

I thought about this but the truth is expect at least 1.5year wait until the real high wattage versions even come out. This is why I bought my new laptop last month. I'll jump over in another 3 years or so.

 

I'm just going to wait for Hopper (Nvidia 5nm). Games over the next 2 years will mostly be cross-gen developments, so my 9700K and 2080 will slide through this period smoothly.

 

If it ends up being compatible, I might pick up a 3080 in the spring. At 1600p I still have some upward mobility jumping from a 2070 that is being a tad bit handicapped over TB3, even with my meager 15W CPU. I think with a 3080 i'd be leaving a little on the table though, but at least I will no longer the GPU limited anymore, which actually happens right now in some cases. 2070 sometimes is a little south of enough to crank a bunch of stuff up at 1600p.

And I can pick up a better lightweight laptop with a better CPU later to close that gap a little. Though my options are going to be limited, after having this 1) 3lb 2)17" 3)16:10 miracle there's very little to.. no.. no I'm not i'm willing to budge on those three points.

 

Is there a way to not lose a huge amount of performance with an external gpu?

I like the new xps 15 but its graphics duties will need enhancement when I am at home.

Xps 15 and the xmg neo are on my shortlist. An external gpu that didn't lose huge amounts of performance would.make.this decision much easier.

 

You lose less performance by connecting a monitor directly to the video card in the eGPU, but there's still some overhead and it's only 4 PCIe lanes. I don't have that option though, but it's ok I don't mind.

As well, the higher you go in resolution, or in other words the more GPU limited you are, the lower the tb3 hit is because the card itself becomes the bottleneck.

It's never going to be as good as desktop performance for obvious reasons. Plan to lose up to 20% over normal desktop performance.

It can also change from game to game, some games use more PCIe bandwidth than others.