How will Ampere scale on laptops?

Exactly. A huge leaps above Turing Nvidia... Yoo failed!! And the OEMS is damn happy. This means it will be easier promoting next gen (Nvidia) gaming laptops.

 

Yeah what makes it worse that the laptop itself costs $2500 which the average cost of a RTX 3080 laptop and customers are getting ripped off because they thought they're buying the best but instead they're getting lesser performance at a higher cost. You would expect it to beat a RTX 2080 Super Max-Q but it doesnt come close to it even at 90W... I think OEMs are trying to get customers on QHD/Thin and light hype train.

 

That's the Apple mentality where buyers are more interested in how the computer looks rather than performs. The Apple formula also suggests that more expensive somehow implies better performance. Visit the Legion 5 thread where performance is balanced with cost without any Nvidia smoke and mirrors.

 

Is that what it is? I figured it was more of a social standing like how phones are these days.

 

Maybe amongst kids; in my age group a condo in Lahina, GT3, etc, that says money. A phone doesn't say anything at all. Then again in my age group phone complaints largely consist of them making them too thin to comfortably hold. I think I would have traded thinner for more battery ten years ago but they just kept getting even thinner. Sounds familiar, doesn't it...

 

thin and light is like 4 wheel drive....im not sure why you would not want that aside from cooling

 

Hmm.... not sure about that analogy.

https://www.buyacar.co.uk/cars/4x4-cars/407/four-wheel-drive-cars-explained

"The extra mechanical parts needed for a four-wheel drive car increases its weight, which means that you need a little more power - and fuel - when driving."

 

LOL yeah I'd say thin and light more like 2wd, you mostly don't need 4wd in normal usage but the higher abilities of 4wd is worth it depending on what your desired usage or needs are. City all weather driving with some light camping summer mostly flat road and hard dirt: 2wd fine.

 

you can go places....thats the analogy you can move it without a fork lift

 

I dont think anyone here is advocating otherwise....

...we are just complaining about the lack of tires.

 

Outside of a few outliers like the number of supermodels slept with before marriage you CAN have too much of a good thing. I'm not against thin, I like it, I own a Spectre, great laptop for what it does well. What it does not do well is gaming; in that respect form is hindering function. My grief with these offerings is not thin, thin is great if it gets you where you want to go. I want a 3080 pulling decent wattage, you can't get that in thin. I don't see it as being one of the other; there is room in my world for thin and thick. At least until the days come when you no longer need to sacrifice form for function.

I still think Asus blew it offering that eGPU with a 13" laptop; that's neither here nor there: Gamers will want more screen and people who don't game will wonder why anyone would want the eGPU. I would have dropped ching in a heartbeat if they upped the ante with a 17" offering. Seriously, heartbeat.

 

The DTR satisfies a different need than a laptop: it gives mobility to pc like performance. The starting point is performance, not mobility, light weight, silent operation etc (although it's of course nice to have those).

 

I think you end up circling back to the idea that the DTR may not be a big enough market segment to compete against a better ROI elsewhere. I'm wondering if this will change if the semiconductor shortage eases but I'm told by someone who probably knows that the shortage will continue for the foreseeable future. If true that means that 21 is going to be, by and large, a bad vintage.

 

Don't agree with the last bit - people who don't game would generally appreciate a good eGPU even more than gamers, the problem with this particular implementation is that it's not a proper eGPU at all, just an externalised mobile GPU - it brings almost nothing new to the table. The connector technology looks great on paper, and had they used it in more laptops and developed a proper encolsure for it, they would have had a winner.

 

Not following you on the first point; what group of people who are not gamers would go for an eGPU combined with a 13" screen in numbers high enough to make it a viable market? As to the central part of your post, that is not correct, it does bring something new to the table: A proper eGPU as you describe it is too big for check except by the most determined; not so with the Asus piece which could be thrown in a carry dependent on the trip and would easily fit in a check. People like me would love that option; particularly if done right. Even a thin laptop can cool a CPU and would be fine for most work applications. When you get back to your room you plug in and enjoy performance that would equal a fire breathing DTR. That would be a whole new thing that has never been available and still isn't. As to the latter part of your post that was exactly what I was saying, if they offered that sucker across 13, 15, and 17 inches they'd move some units, the 13 alone is going to die from a thousand paper cuts. It is the physical size that makes that unit unique, make it proper as you say and you've got nothing new, just another eGPU that helps road warriors not at all and provides nothing that does not already exist.

 

I didn't say combined with 13 inch screen. Professionals requiring GPU power, obviously a smaller number than gamers, but the viability would be there given the presence of very niche product lines for CAD/3D modelling people.
If someone is looking for a 13 incher, the Asus is great. Others will get more power in a net similar package from the likes of AW m15/m17, Asus Strix or MSI GE76. A proper eGPU would enable a huge leap in performance to the desktop GPU space.

In summary: the 8 lane eGPU connector is market-leading and awesome on paper, they just need to deploy it to other laptops and add a proper desktop eGPU option for those who may need it (gamers and professionals looking to leapfrog Ampere mobile).

 

I did say combined with the 13" screen. Many of my engineers carry two laptops, one being a small form factor on the plane laptop and one for real work. I haven't done a poll, I'm just basing that on what I see. Without question, when it's time to get to work they almost invariably throw a 17"er on the table which will usually be a gaming laptop. They think I don't know because I'm old and stupid. In any event about half of them are overtly gamers and being old I'd guess some of them are closet gamers. I'm told that going the gaming route is cheaper; you just need to know a few hacks to ditch the overpriced quadro. Because, you know; closet gamers. But maybe I'm wrong. Regardless of where the truth lies in that respect there is no substitute for screen real estate when you're trying to get something done. Small form factor laptops don't have that real estate. I know a lot of gamers and I know a lot of road warriors. None of them want a 13" laptop with an eGPU. Anecdotal, I admit it.

 

You are right about the screen real estate, but that is very easily solved with external monitors and docking stations... BTW eGPU synergises with this setup extremely well, since it's a docking station on steroids. Size doesn't matter that much because it stays on the desk.
I've never seen anyone carry more than one laptop unless they absolutely have to (e.g. one is forced on them for security reasons), you can use 15 or 17 inch laptops on the plane (business class+, nothing but a tablet really works in coach).

 

You may not be aware of the number carrying multiple devices, it will be a small percentage but they're there, they just aren't pulling both on the plane.

You're not wrong; if you're using an eGPU to go back and forth to the office or leaving the eGPU at home size is inconsequential. On the other hand for the vast majority of people they're too big for travel so of course they don't buy one for that use case. A Different story if you fly to work and are looking for ways to make things work on the road, then, size matters. That's where the Asus eGPU offering steps in: You could take it with you; it's small enough to make that viable and that would be something that's new. Going back to flying I don't sit in coach unless there is no other option but there are other reasons why having two laptops is a good thing when you're working remote sites: Get a 4k screen and you can set a small laptop on your chest at night and watch video if you have data available, often enough this will be your best possible viewing experience. Not so pleasant with a 17" laptop. There are times when you'll need to carry a PC out to the pointy end of the stick and it's a lot easier to deal with a small form factor out in the field. Break that small form factor and you only have a thousand or so invested compared to several times that in your gaming laptop; you shed fewer tears. Having two means you can set up a kind of dual monitor work station. Not the real deal like at home or the office but better than one screen. To go back to flying one more time; you sometimes have no other choice than to fly coach which means you can take your 2 in 1 out and fold it so that it can be seen even when the guy in front of you puts his seat down in your lap, you can't take out your 17 incher and do the same. At a guess this is probably something in general that's fueling 2 in 1 sales; you can almost always set it up in some way to make it viewable no matter your predicament: The plane, laying in bed, referencing a video while working on your car, following the steps on youtube for a massage you're giving your significant other, there is usually a way to make it work.

If you think about it from a road warrior viewpoint; the Asus offering would open up a new paradigm that hasn't previously existed. Except for some inexplicable reason they're only offering it on a 13" laptop...

edit... It would be interesting to learn how many would be interested in an eGPU for the purposes you describe. I gave it a quick look up but couldn't find anything I'd hang a hat on.

 

I've been happily road warrioring with my AW 15 and m15. Had AW not crippled these products, the Asus offering would be strictly inferior for me. A 2kg laptop is obviously portable enough, the form factor and screen size is perfect for FHD, the laptops fit many hotel safes, and the onboard GPUs tend to offer market-leading performance. Not need to externalize the mobile GPU into an add-on device that may or may not operate on battery, and certainly would be super-awkward to use in many scenarios on the go, certainly while in transit.

 

Doesnt really make sense to me personally, I've done plenty of travel (within the US) for work and bringing an eGPU kind of negates the point if in the the end you are still carrying it around with you. What makes more sense to me is to have an eGPU at home and at work so you can be lazy and use a single machine instead of having purpose built machines. Instead of carrying a laptop + brick you could just have a laptop with a MUX switch and accomplish the same thing with less cables.

 

Yeah..exactly

Mind you some are mighty small like lenovos 1050 thunder bolt dock which is just as small as a usb c hub. Then again the mx450 found inside ultrabooks is just as fast which defeats the purpose

 

Agreed, mostly, except with Ampere that single device dream is pretty much dead at the high end. Also not sure why eGPU users would be classed as lazy - if anything they go the extra mile to get the performance they need.

Asus have a potential killer product here. They already manufacture desktop graphics cards (available in theory and from scalpers), so could just offer them bundled with the eGPU enclosure, which is already kind of expensive for what it is, to avoid OEM's eGPU remorse ("why oh why are we selling $300 enclosures, when we could be selling Ampere GPUs and charge actual internal organs for them???")

 

150W RTX 3080 tested.

 

Your completely right and also entirely missed the point. What you describe is exactly what I have done; everyone I know who is a mobile gamer does something similar. I don't know many in the RL who use eGPUs but the few I do all have them set somewhere and their laptop gets plugged in there. That isn't without reason; while you can carry an eGPU they're bulky enough to be problematic over long travel and previously you could instead take the option of buying a DTR that could perform similarly with less hassle. That was yesterday on both fronts. There is currently no DTR available and it looks like there won't be until the Clevo hits which is stuck in the old rut of either 1080 or 4k, I don't want either. Now take a look at the Asus offering and I mean literally look at a picture of it next to that 13" laptop. It was built to be portable and is significantly smaller than other current products, portable enough that people like me can start considering whether it's an option because it isn't yesterdays eGPU. It's proprietary design is it's greatest limitation as it's not the modular eGPU a lot of people want but it's also what makes it unique in the market and something that can be realistically used for travel.

Think about it for a minute: It opens up the concept of having a thin, lightweight 17 or 15 for futzing about at work where you don't need the power and when you get back to your room you can plug in and have the power of an old school DTR for gaming. In some respects I see that as better than lugging around a heavy laptop just for gaming in the evening when I don't need the power at all for actual work in the day. Keep in mind that business travel takes two major forms; the first is the corporate travel most think of involving a short or overnight trip to a convention, meeting, seminar, etc. There are also the people who work at remote sites and there are more of them than you may think; you've got construction, engineering, repair, mining, oil, fishing, etc. I fit into both those categories and I can see a use case for the thin 17 with an eGPU in both settings. Asus was thinking outside of the box creating an eGPU that is truly mobile and IMO would move significantly more product if they spread it's availability out across a product line that had bigger screens.

 

Your point seems to be highly specifically niche which is why it took two paragraphs to illustrate it.

The problem with your latter scenario of just going back to your room for some "good old DTR gaming" is that no machine to date had demonstrated that or even attempted to do so. I would've been happy with a Alienware 13 R3 with no GPU or even a cut down GTX 1050 (to be period correct) if it came with the 7820hk or 7700k (again to be period correct), that notion was never even entertained. You would need to step up to the 15 and even with that possibility you are required to also purchase the 1070 at a minimum which renders the whole scenario moot in the first place. Add that smaller machines suffer from crappy fans and barely adequate cooling, little to no key travel and you wonder why you bothered in the first place.

As for construction, engineering, mining, oil, they use rugged machines in my state. Even in the hospitals. I supply there machines, heck they wanted rugged laptops for the vaccination locations which would have delayed deployment significantly since Dell is short on stock of those units and was able to have them use latitude 5400's and 5410's that they already purchased. I dont believe I am at liberty to grant names, so I am happy to have this labeled as anecdotal. The rare scenarios where they want 3d processing power they get a tower because they work in a domain setting so once the render work is complete they just log back into their own personal system if they were deemed needed to have one in the first place.

This isnt to say you are wrong, there just isnt any precedent yet. I do see your point but still seems specifically highly niche, since in the end you are still carrying that weight to your hotel and/or remote site and now require an additional outlet and cable that may or may not be available for reasons known or unknown.

Sorry I missed this while at work. You're reading lazy as derogatory which isnt the intent and probably why you are confused. Ultimately the discussion is chasing convenience while still satisfying your individual needs. Being lazy and not wanting to carry a larger machine is a victory in light of finding a route that allows you exactly that.

At present Asus' goal should be to convince you to buy 3 eGPU's (Home, Work, Travel bag) and certainly on the road to that end, though not being able to upgrade the GPU will be a slight hindrance here for many. Anyone that can afford 3x 3080's for such a scenario will simply replace it I would imagine but who knows...

 

watched the whole video and yes it looks like a worthy upgrade over the 200w 2080 benchmarks aside...4k 120hz is insane....also the 150w 3080 is faster at 4k than my 1060 at 1080p

 

I have no idea what you're talking about, I've carried DTRs for quite a long time and they have always been top of the line. The one I have now has a desktop 1080 and still works fairly well, although Cyberpunk finally forced me to step down from the native 2k to HD. In the early days gaming rigs were more a notion that a functional thing but that isn't the case anymore. That would be misspeaking though because the Aorus I have now isn't really a DTR, it's only 6 lbs and while not as thin as a lot, or even most, of what is coming out today it's certainly thinner than the 8 or more pounders I used to carry. It was becoming inconvenient on some flights overseas where they can limit you to 8 kilos on your carry which is almost impossible to make with a full sized DTR, power supply, paperwork, and random shrapnel. This new eGPU; if they had offered it with a better laptop I would have bought because it does check some boxes and I'm not too old to try something new and unlike you I can see a number of benefits. The part I'm not sure about is if they outweigh the negatives but that's hard to say without putting it to the test.

I really do not follow your entire train of thought; mobile gaming is not niche at all, people 40 and under grew up with a controller in their hands, it's very common. What is going to be niche is people willing and able to spend 3k on a 13" laptop with an eGPU. Gamers will, for the most part, want more screen, business types that don't game wont want the eGPU, business types that do game but only travel for a day or two still probably won't want the eGPU because the window they have to fill is too small to hassle with, people who actually work at remote sites like I do might want the eGPU but not with a 13" screen; that doesn't pass muster for work or play and the laptop needs to cover both. I'm really not sure what's so difficult to get about any of that. I'm not trying to be confrontational; it may be we simply need to agree to disagree?

 

I never said you didnt carry DTR's I have no idea what your history is anyways...Im not really sure what you are trying to address as it doesnt seem related to my comments as I am not saying eGPU's dont have a use or a market. So uhh I guess sure, we can just disagree and move on.

 

Krabman what you say makes sense if you game at only one fixed spot at home. I have a relatively light weight 15inch laptop for work, travel, and occasional gaming. Then I have a 17inch DTR to move around at home for work, gaming, and watching content.

 

Ok, I'm starting to think I'm the problem, I'm certainly doing a poor job of communicating what should be a simple concept. One reason is because I should clarify that you don't bring the big dog on an over-nighter. You bring it when you're going to be somewhere long enough to put it to use or because you absolutely have to have it. In my case I've been on this site since the 9th of January so it's certainly been worth the hassle. In general I only stay in hotels for a few days, gets much longer and I prefer to rent an apartment. Sometimes the people that contract me have housing but I seldom accept that. In any event when you work at a remote site you end up using your gaming laptop much as you would at home. You set it up here, maybe move it over there, etc. It is a little more variable because you never really know what you're going to have when you get there so you have to adapt as needed with your gaming laptop filling in the blanks. It is also my work machine though so when my apartment isn't my headquarters I take it in with me. On the other hand before I ever took the contract there were meetings; first with the honchos and later when things are a go they'll want you to talk to HR and those sorts if you're going to have some of their people assigned to you, there is always the paperwork, etc. These are traditional business trips and I dont' take my gaming laptop, just the 2 in 1. Everybody will do it differently but you get the idea; you bring what you need because you have to or want so long as the hassle doesn't exceed the want. To me the gaming laptop isn't worth dealing with when I may do no more the punch out a few emails or watch Netflix.

That's where this thing comes in: I can picture it a different way; instead of the 2 in 1 on those short trips I take a new fangled skinny 17" laptop designed to work with this eGPU. Don't use the eGPU no big deal, you do use it great. Meanwhile you can use the bigger screen for getting some work done. I don't see that as being bad, I really prefer a bigger screen at all times. This is what didn't exist before, this eGPU form factor was designed to be mobile whereas what's out there now really wasn't and they're just too bulky to meet the threshold of hassle versus want for most of us. Out on site the same thing can play out, if I am traveling to base or the site itself I can just leave the eGPU behind and take only the laptop which would be something along the lines of half or a little more of the weight and less bulky than what I would otherwise be packing. This isn't just me, that's how they're advertising it, as something you take with you, it was made to be mobile. It creates a new paradigm in how you can manage your tech loadout depending on where you are and what you're doing. I don't know if I would find this preferable to simply having the bigger laptop or not but it's promising enough to give it a try. Or I suppose not give it a try as for some inexplicable reason they are not offering it across a range of screen sizes.

I sincerely hope I did better this time because I've been failing miserably...

 

I've got to be honest, it's still not great, but your point is clear enough: you love the mobile eGPU idea, and would like the eGPU port to be added to larger laptops. I merely suggest they would do well to *ALSO* offer a proper eGPU to cover what I would argue is the base case scenario: access to the full desktop Ampere GPU performance on a laptop. This would justify the presence of this eGPU port on all Asus laptops.

 

I don't disagree, in fact that was what I said the first time when I brought it up many pages ago, it's a missed opportunity not spreading the port out and leveraging it with a number of offerings. As to the eGPU, I don't love it, it's just something new that may work and some here clearly had no idea that it was designed for portability which makes it different Trying to explain that and how it might play out in different scenarios was some serious fail though, obviously I still didn't get it right. *faceplam*

 

For me the case for this mobile eGPU is actually quite clear when paired with a super-light laptop, such as the Flow, but less obvious at 17 inch where you can basically get I guess 2.5-3kg laptops with embedded 150W 3080. Still, if Asus added a desktop eGPU, any laptop could potentially benefit (and even the mobile eGPU solution could provide an upgrade path in the future). All of this is a bit theoretical though given the current desktop GPU supply situation.

 

The XG Mobile 3080 is actually similar weight and volume to a typical 280-330W power brick, so it very well could be less travel weight if a 15 or 17 inch "flow" weighed around 1.5kg. Personally I think it would have been smarter if they offered a $500 3060 variant of the portable eGPU, dropped the built in 1050 for instead dual sodimm slots and dual full M.2 slots, 15 inch with FHD 300/QHD 165/UHD display options and 90W+ battery, then also have a modular larger eGPU for full support of a desktop 3090 and beyond. That would really be a decent setup balancing portability and expandability.

 

I think the new higher spec H CPUs with embedded TB4 controllers is probably going to be enough improvement for eGPU without the need for Asus' implementation. It's still not going to be the same as desktop obviously, but it's going to be a lot better than what we've been dealing with for a long time where the options were limited to using U series only to get efficient implementations. I think the biggest boon for Asus' implementation is you don't need an Intel CPU, but the product selection is.. well.. ONE thing vs what's going to be a nearly limitless selection of 11th gen stuff by later in the year.

 

Looks like the new TB3 is a great improvement, but apparently some performance gap remains, so there is still space for direct GPU connectors (ideally we'd have an industry standard for that!).. To mention the obvious, there won't be a TB for Ryzen CPUs in the foreseeable future.

 

Honestly for now TB4 offers a smoother hotplug experience than the Asus from what I am reading. A review on reddit basically said they hit the disconnect button, the software said it was ok to remove, they pulled the plug and it shutdown the laptop. On top of that every process running on the 1050 internal or 3080 external has to be killed before you can hotplug. If a business user experienced this they would probably just pack it up and ship it back. Maybe it can get better but in the end it would have been better if it just required a reboot for now until the hotplug issues are sorted.

 

Sounds like Asus should have spent some time looking at the Surface Book 3 for how to properly engineer the hardware and software necessary for smooth hot swapping between integrated and discrete GPUs.

 

Yeah TB has this down pat. I can plug and unplug mine endlessly, obviously games crash if unplugged while they are using it. There's still little problems that can happen even as good as it is. I just want to get out from under this 8th gen inefficient implementation and get a higher spec cpu out of it. Even the H35 is about 50% or more better than what I have, I just would rather not get 4c/8t yet again. Hopefully this is the year.

 

Ah, I was wondering why you had not picked up the LG Gram 17 inch that was refreshed this year. It seems like a decent improvement over the 8th gen version.

I guess there is always the Alienware m15/m17 R1! It is the only non-Apple 9th gen+ laptop that has TB3 wired directly to CPU PCIe. My wife has the m17 R1 and TB3 eGPU numbers are very close to the AGA (which my AGA cable is dead now so its not useable...)

 

There are several things you get out of moving to a portable eGPU with larger laptops. The first is less weight; there is no laptop pulling 150 that will be lighter than the theoretical 17 "flow" laptop. That weight matters if you travel overseas; with some airlines your carry limit is as low as 8 kilos and some of them will weigh, it's not just a placard on the wall. It isn't hard to get there and the weight saved on both the power supply and the lighter laptop is a precious few lbs right where you most need it. The eGPU itself can go in the check where you usually have weight to spare; you don't have to have it to get to work when you get there should your check be delayed, those delays are becoming more and more common with overseas travel. Then you've got cooling, you're splitting the heat load across two devices, so your laptop has a greatly reduced cooling requirement and can get there with less noise. Lastly at all times you're using a lighter, less bulky laptop which is a win since the eGPU is keeping you from giving up much to get there.

I fully agree that they should have a number of offerings to leverage the connector but it should be kept in mind that what you have now is designed to be portable, even the shape is rounded and it comes with a sleeve so as not to damage other goods in your bag or the bag itself. I'm not trying to sound like a broken record here but if you make it modular to work with any graphics card (of a size) it's going to get bigger and we know what bigger looks like because it's out there now. Most people are not going to take one of those with them which makes that a different product for a different use case. It's like comparing a car and a truck, either can take you to the store but they're not built for the same purpose. The Asus implementation is another eGPU but designed for a different use case; mobility. To my mind the way it should have gone is to put the port in across their line much as some brands used to do with docking ports. Then you offer both a modular enclosure for the reasons already mentioned in posts above along with the portable version. Certainly a bigger group of buyers that way. Down the road I would love to see it on a non-proprietary connector like TB4 assuming it works. I'd guess the Asus concept though is to try and lock people into their brand...

 

I would probably think twice about it if they released a 15-17 inch laptop with two proper m.2 and the port. It wasn't completely the eGPU itself I was questioning though the fan noise I would like to hear for myself.

Yeah Gram 17 is still 15W even though moving to 10th or 11th gen U series drastically improves the thunderbolt implementation itself. I get why they do it, they save a lot by using the same 15W design in the entire line even though the 17 has tons of room. I'm holding out to see what laptops will have the 45W parts, hopefully some without a dGPU.

 

This is where my experiences grant me a perspective that differs with your first paragraph as for about 6 years I traveled between the US, Canada, S. Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Macau. All of them had 8kg weight limitation (or specifically 20 pounds) and none of them cared if your bag was more dense then what appeared. Not a single time was I or those with me ever stopped for my bags weight for a carry on, nor were our carry-ons ever once weighed. What they do care about is the weight of your checked luggage. Which brings to the next point, generally speaking at least with my upbringing it is assumed that checked baggage is anything you can replace because its chances of it being never making it on your plane or being left at a connecting flight are obviously higher than what you are holding in your hands. Which then renders the exercise moot as you can easily get a 15.6" laptop that would satisfy nearly anyones desired thresholds.

Also to my knowledge there is no 17" flow in theory, it would be hypothetical.

 

The Dell Precision 7740 (and 7750) can be configured with an 8-core CPU (75W PL1) and no dedicated graphics. It is obviously much heavier than the LG Gram 17, but it does have plentiful RAM and SSD expansion along with TB3 connected via the PCH which worked fine with a Razer Core X + RTX 2070 / RX 5700XT. Not as good performance as the m17 R1 TB3 but if they do integrate on-die TB4 with the next model release it may be one to look out for.

Have any enclosures been released that lift the 22Gbps data limit? I think that would be a great help as well, especially if moving to a mid-range Ampere card like the 3060Ti-3080.

 

Ah, yeah, flying just keeps getting more fun. You used to be able to get one free check almost everywhere, not so much now where you can run into flights that don't even give you the first. Before that you used to be able to check 2 free on most airlines. Before that you used to be able to check 2 that were grossly overweight and no one would question it. You used to be able to smoke, all kinds of things. Weighing of carries is a newer thing that's popping up in the last few years. You're safe if you're flying business where the rules for such things are largely ignored just as they've always been. You can't always get business though which means now you're looking at the possibility of having both checks and carries weighed. It's not common but then it doesn't have to be in order to create a need to adjust to it. On my last trip over the pond I was weighed on Ural and on Fin. Fin not only weighed but they actually put every carry into the cage out at the gate as you were boarding. This because the airlines have caught on to a trick people use to sneak by the carry and check weights: If you're traveling with someone you give them some of your weight while you check in and then get it back from them and hold theirs while they check in. This isn't just for carry weight; you can take items out of your check before checking and then stuff them into your carry after checking While the US has been safe so far things are getting more stringent here too; no one used to pay any attention to carry size unless they were ridiculously out, sometimes even those would get on a plane. Now they're starting to cull those over bags and will force a gate check. They're of course also cracking down on using the gate check gambit as a way to avoid having to slow down to drop off a roller during check-in. Times are changing.

As to buying a suitable laptop on site, yeah, possible in some cases, not in others. Right now I'm 700 miles from the nearest store with a computer. There are no cell towers, data is satellite and very slow and very expensive. Replacing a laptop and its data would not be easy. You are usually going to be good in major cities, although you'll typically have less variety to work with that you would in the US. Get out of them and it can get a lot skinnier, both buying possibilities and data, although data availability is getting pretty good most places nowadays. No thanks, I'll keep mine safe with me and avoid some hours of hassle that didn't have to happen; you will of course do whatever you wish.

Lastly, no, a hypothesis is a tentative explanation or prediction, a theory on the other hand is substantially supported: I know within fairly small margins what I would get out of such a laptop based on well-supported data. So... For my part I think we're done.

 

I dont think I mentioned anything about buying laptops on site, maybe someone else made that comment but that wasnt me, along with availabilities of urban vs rural as well as data availability of urban vs rural. This is starting to become a trend...

Right, which would then require some kind of evidence of the theory. There is no 17" "Flow" at the moment, if there is then I would happily stand corrected.

 

It "works fine" just like my pch connected 8th gen U series, but its a huge performance hit. I'm not going to buy anything without direct to cpu embedded TB at this point. 28W U series with embedded TB controller can run circles around 45W 6 and 8 core parts with external to cpu controllers in eGPU gaming.

 

can you share an article hfm? also i have a yoga 920 and gs63vr wondering if they are the direct tb options

 

@Papusan

Well now the 150w 3080 in my GE76 beats that 200w overclocked 2080 super you linked earlier with 50w less power. It's still a little impressive. Broke 14k graphics score at 150w and a mobile CPU.