Been under a rock awhile, would like new laptop

General Questions

1) What is your budget?

i have 2k + 2k from work. can play with more

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

e. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen
I like em big, I am a bit larger so the extra real estate is nice. plus the extra cooling

3) Which country will you buying this notebook?

Canada, I'd like to stay in there to avoid the heinous tariffs getting slapped on everything.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
a. Like: msi, asus, clevo,
b. Dislike: HP, alienware
5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
sure, as long as there is some warranty.

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?

Gaming, light workload, I also used my laptop to run Dnd/PF games from.

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?

Both, my current set up is a docked KB/M set up with a large display plus on the go.

Would like stay on the luggable category, as i tend to move to the area and plant for awhile.

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? (If so, please state which games or types of games?)

Yea,
Stellaris
cyberpunk
need for speed
final fantasy (all of them)
Witcher 3
Horizon ZD
Gears
Resident evil
Plus a lot of other little ones, i could be here all day. Gaming is like...my #1 time waster.

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?

0-2hrs I dont tend to stray far from outlets, and if I do would like something that could take me up to 6-8 with it throttled down if possible.

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?

Bit of both, Been doing a lot of online purchasing lately so that flightyness is gone. if a lot of people are down for it I'm good to buy sight unseen.

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Chrome OS, etc.
Shackled to windows, interested in linux.
Screen Specifics

12) What screen resolution(s) would you prefer? (See further below for explanations.)

1080 to 1440 probably tap out at 120 htz anything above is gravy.

13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? (See further below for explanations.)

I like the matte screens. visually its pleasant and not having my eyes burned out by glare from an errant sun beam is nice.

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?

Not really, you could throw top end components in a idea pad from around 2010 and id be happy.

Not a fan of the rainbow barf though.

Notebook Components

15) How much hard drive space do you need?

a few TB.

Timing, Warranty and Longevity

16) When are you buying this laptop?

as soon as they start shipping

17) How long do you expect to use this laptop?

3-5 years.

18) How long could you afford to do without your laptop if it were to fail?

indefinitely, most of my work can be done on pen/paper or my phone.

19) Would you be willing to pay significantly extra for on-site warranty, or would it be acceptable to you to have to ship the laptop to the vendor for repair with perhaps a week or more outage?

If I could drop it off and pick it up i'd pay. I was leery about having people in my house before the pandemic. lol



Additional thoughts.

I was liking the looks of the a few brands

Clevo X170
MSI GE raiders
and the like

Would like to grab something with an AMD CPU but if the price is right and i can tune it i don't mind.

 

The new MSI GE series with the RTX 3000 cards looks like a good bet, but there is an NDA on reviews until the end of this month, and there's no guarantee when they will start shipping.
You might be able to get a discount on an older GE model with an RTX 2000 GPU, though with your budget, I think buying the latest tech is the way to go.

Charles

 

Thanks mate, I did a lot of research in between posting this and today. Talking to a few guys in my gaming discord I've basically narrowed it to the

Ge76 raider when rocket lake drops for it
Or
SCAR 17 2021 eddition.

I'm leaning to the GE76, but the scar has a lot of stuff that caught my eye.

Waiting for those reviews.

 

I'd go ASUS over MSI based on the new offerings both have.
I personally placed a preorder on a SCAR 17, but have been keeping my eye out for Clevo offering anything with a 3080, as if they do that'd be my goto.

MSI GE76:
$2,899:
i7-10875H
RTX 3080 Max-P
32 GB DDR4 @ 3200 mhz
1 TB NVME M.2 SSD
1920x1080P 300 hz

ASUS SCAR 17:
$2,699.99
Ryzen 9 5900HX
RTX 3080 Max-P
32 GB DDR4 @ 3200 mhz
1 TB NVME M.2 SSD
2560x1440P 165 hz

The ASUS is $200 cheaper, but more importantly, it has a better CPU, and IMO a better display. 300 hz is just marketing fluff. 1440P is a much more appreciable upgrade from 1080P than 300 hz is from 165 hz.

I currently own a Clevo, it's great.
It has:
i7-10875H
2070 Super Max-P
32 GB DDR4 @ 3200 mhz
1 TB NVME M.2 SSD
1920x1080 @ 144 hz

The only reason I wouldn't recommend a Clevo currently is because they haven't announced any new offerings yet.

That said, another good option to keep an eye on IMO is this:

https://www.eluktronics.com/Prometheus-XVII/

It can be specced with:
Ryzen 5800H
RTX 3080 Max-P
32 GB DDR4 @ 3200 mhz
1 TB NVME M.2 SSD
2560x1440 @ 165 hz

It's the same price as the ASUS, but has a weaker CPU. (Still should be better than the i7-10875H though.)

That might sound like a downside, but it also has a feature that gives the GPU more wattage than the MSI or the ASUS, so there's a decent chance that it may actually be the most powerful gaming machine of the three.

 

My only issue with the SCAR 17 is that it has a 115 w gpu with a 15w boost. Though it has been kept in my peripheral.

Also I am not sure we got the option for the QHD165htz Screen in canada yet. Which is a pain because we never seem to get goodies like that. lol

Cant seem to get any of the alternate screen options in Canada unless I import which is publishing right now. -.-

 

Do you have any confirmation or evidence that the MSI isn't also 115+15? I was under the impression that all 3080 Max-P's other than the Eluktronics laptops were that wattage.

 

Last gen and the gen before where both 150w, there was an off hand comment on a stream i was listening to that said the MSI seems to have a stronger GPU but the intel pairing was a joke with everyone going for the better AMD CPU. But thats all I got really.

For this gen I'm not so sure. I am waiting to see, haven't ordered anything yet.

Been looking into the Eluktronics one you mentioned. it looks good.

Someone just confirmed the MSI has a Double tripod heat sink. So that's definitely thrown it a bit further down from the competition.