Desktop CPU (45 or 65W) + Integrated GPU + Thunderbolt 3 (eGPU support)

Hello,

My dream laptop would have the following features:

• Desktop/laptop CPU: i9-9980HK (45W) to i9 9900 (65W);
• Integrated GPU (e.g. Intel UHD 630); and
• Thunderbolt 3 that can reliably and effectively support eGPUs.

Does this magical unicon exist? I sure hope so.

Thank you,

Florent

Edit: clarified CPU choices

 

Btw the laptop cpu is the HK and the desktop cpu is the 9900k

you got plenty of those that have, but if you choose a Clevo P775TM1 the integrated GPU is disabled via hardware and there is no way to enable it
Why do you want a integrated GPU? read this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/nvidia-optimus-reduces-gaming-performance.828776/

So my advice would be going for a P775TM1-G and a 9900k and forget the integrated crap gpu

 

Well, as far as I am aware, the i9-9900K is a 95W desktop CPU without integrated graphics and the i9-9900 is a 65W desktop CPU with integrated graphics.

The reason I want integrated graphics is because I will only be gaming when the laptop is docked-in at home. I don't need a dedicated GPU for anything else really. An iGPU will reduce the price of the laptop significantly and boost battery life.

 

In that case forget the 9900k and get the crap BGA HK!

you'll end up needing to get a new laptop in a couple of years instead.

 

Hmm, maybe you are right. Do you have any SKUs for a 15.6" laptop with a i9-9900K?

 

The p750tm1 supports it but be ready for some heavy undervolt and limit the speed of the cpu since it will easily reach 90c on 5.0ghz
17'' have way better heatsinks and refrigeration

 

No, 9900K F is the version without integrated graphics. As mentioned, for P7/P8 series DTR Clevos, the iGPU is inaccessible in any case and there are no power phases for it on the mobo.

As for eGPU, keep in mind that TB3 bottlenecks even the fastest desktop GPU to 1660 Ti/2060 levels at worst, so it may not make much sense to go that route in the first place versus having a decent midrange dGPU in the laptop already, especially since nearly all laptops with an 8-core i9 already come with discrete graphics. If you insist on eGPU, I suggest using a high-resolution external monitor (1440p/UW or 4K depending on the GPU) connected directly to the card as the TB3 bottleneck will be less severe at lower frame rates.

 

Thank you for your advice @yrekabakery and @joluke; both of you have changed my mind. I will describe where I am coming from, and hopefully you can help me out with my computer purchase.

I am looking to buy the Samsung C49RG9 monitor that has a resolution of 5120*1440 (11% less pixels than 4K) and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. I have come to the conclusion that no current graphics card, not even the desktop RTX 2080 Ti, is capable of pushing this resolution at 120 Hz.

Therefore, I would like to forget gaming for the next couple of years and buy a laptop or desktop PC that has a very good processor for my primary usage cases: coding and music production. The reason I would get a laptop is that I spend most of the day at my university working on my PhD project, so it would be nice if I invested in a computer that can be used both at home and at the office. However, your comment that TB3 bottlenecks eGPUs significantly has left me wondering if buying a laptop with a very good CPU will only last me until GPUs come out that are capable of 4K gaming at 120 Hz; I will then need to build a desktop PC and my laptop will be obsolete.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

 

4K 120Hz (almost 1 gigapixel/s!) is an absolutely insane GPU (and CPU/RAM to a lesser extent) workload for AAA gaming. It would most definitely require the highest end next-gen GPU to even approach. So I see a couple different scenarios here:

1. Like you said, forget about gaming and get a non-gaming laptop for the here and now, then build a desktop in a year or two when the top-of-the-line next-gen GPU (x80 Ti) drops
2. Buy an Alienware laptop with an 8-core i9 and support for their Graphics Amplifier, which bottlenecks eGPUs a lot less than TB3 (performance is within single digit % of the same GPU in a desktop) and pop a next-gen x80 Ti GPU in there when the time comes

 

Do you think 4 lanes of PCIe 3.0 is enough for 4K 120Hz anyway?

 

If you look at the results here, the 2080 Ti at PCIe 3.0 x4 achieved 91% of x16 performance at 1080p on average, 92% at 1440p, and 94% at 4K. Since frame rates were closest to 120 at 1440p for the majority of the games, I would say 92% is a pretty solid showing, certainly much better than what TB3 can achieve. But it’s also possible that the next-gen x80 Ti, if it is able to achieve 120 FPS at 4K, would be more bottlenecked by x4 due to the higher resolution. So it’s hard to say at this point.

 

OK. Thank you for all the info. I have basically decided that I will build a desktop once a capable XX80 Ti GPU is available.

Now, for the laptop, what would you recommend for my needs, considering I probably want to save most of my investment for the desktop PC down the line? A desktop CPU would be nice but not necessary; however, having the ability to connect to the 5120*1440 display with no hiccups is primordial.

 

If you want to run that monitor at the full 120Hz you'd need a Pascal/Turing dGPU or Intel Ice Lake CPU with Gen11 graphics (e.g. i7-1065G7) which support DP 1.4. Otherwise you'd be limited to 60Hz over DP 1.2 or HDMI 2.0, or 30Hz over HDMI 1.4. I'm not sure if a USB-C/TB3 to DP 1.4 adapter would work for 120Hz, cursory research suggests it is also locked to 60Hz for that monitor.

 

A laptop that fits 2 of 3 of the requirements is the Clevo N950TF. Has a desktop CPU, has optimus (I believe) but lacks TB. JarodsTech and BOB have done reviews on them

 

Thanks for your suggestions @yrekabakery and @TheUberMedic. I don't really need Thunderbolt 3 anymore because I won't be gaming on it anyway. I've left that task to a future desktop build. A low-midrange GPU that supports DP 1.4, as @yrekabakery mentioned, is now my only requirement in the graphics department.

The N950TF is what led me down this path in the first place, but 17.3" is too big and heavy for my needs.

It would still be nice to have an upgradeable desktop CPU however.

Edit: Thunderbolt 3 would still be very nice, since I might buy a TB3 audio interface in the future.

 

Is there an up-to-date database of clevo notebooks that I can filter? Going through each model individually on https://www.clevo.com.tw/ is not bearing much fruit.

 

The NP915x/P750 series is designed to be the most compact higher performance series.

 

OK. Thank you for the info. I don't really need the 95W TDP CPU. Could you take a look at this thread @Meaker@Sager and help me out? I keep seeing your comments pop up in various threads, so I would love to get some feedback from you.

 

I've commented on the thread you have created. Try not to spread across multiple threads.

 

OK. Sorry. My needs weren't reflected in the title of this thread anymore, so I thought it would be a good idea to start a new thread for the sake of coherence.

 

You can ask the moderators if they can change thread title. It’s a report button on bottom left you can use for this.

 

OK. That's good to know. Thanks.

 

Hey @TheUberMedic. The N950TF is actually looking more and more tempting. Do you have a link to Jarodd'sTech review? I wasn't able to find it. Furthermore, do you know if the display ports on the N950TF are version 1.4? Thanks

Edit: I realized that the SKU is N970TF and not N950TF. All my questions remain however.

Edit #2: I just found out that the most recent DisplayPort on the machine is 1.3. Shoot.

 

If the laptop has a Pascal/Turing GPU with the DisplayPort connected directly to the dGPU, then it should be DP 1.4.