High-end laptop recommendation

[gergelyv]

Hi All,

I'd like to have exactly one system, a laptop, for all my needs, including Doplhin and potentially other emulators. I definitely want to play Wii games, including the most demanding ones, ideally without compromises. Maybe also PCSX2. The laptop would be a console replacement when hooked to the TV at home, and a desktop replacement at work, occasionally also used as an actual laptop elsewhere. To solve all this, I'm currently looking at high-end laptops.


I'm in fact looking at a XMG u507 with i7 7700k and Nvidia 1060m. This is a Clevo barebone. I'm in the EU and I look at European Clevo OEMs.

https://mysn.co.uk/xmg-u507-gaming-laptop

I guess it would solve my Dolphin "problem", but is it a good idea overall? One thing I can imagine bothering me is system noise, and maybe heat when occasionally actually using the laptop in my lap (not for gaming but web browsing, light work etc).

Also, I wonder what real life drawbacks there could be with a laptop like this with desktop parts. No Optimus for example, but using the Nvidia GPU all the time, which produces heat + noise too. It could even be counterproductive, as with emulators I think the ideal combination would be the integrated GPU + as much CPU power as possible? (I mean the GPU power is superfluous, just adds heat which might eventually limit the CPU, and adds noise. Or... maybe I could throttle the GPU for Dolphin?)

Is my idea overkill, and is there a better tradeoff maybe, that still solves emulation very well, but is less of a monster, and maybe costs less?
If I go with this killer desktop replacement laptop, in practice will I be able to handle it with meaningful throttling when I don't need all that power?

Thanks.

Best regards,
Gergely

[Anti-Ultimate]

Get the P507 instead, it weighs less and is a little bit thinner.

[admin89]

i7 7700k run really hot on a laptop . In most case , it will overheat when you run a stress test , this could be solved if you delid the CPU , apply Liquid Ultra and undervolt the CPU while overclocking
Delid tool + Liquid Ultra will cost another 100 bucks though
i7 7820HK or i7 6820HK is a good alternative , it's still overclockable but half the power consumption of i7 7700k
i7 6700HQ and i7 7700HQ are also fine if you use Intel XTU , you can still be able overclock 200MHz
Edit :

Quote:Also, I wonder what real life drawbacks there could be with a laptop like this with desktop parts. No Optimus for example, but using the Nvidia GPU all the time, which produces heat + noise too. It could even be counterproductive, as with emulators I think the ideal combination would be the integrated GPU + as much CPU power as possible? (I mean the GPU power is superfluous, just adds heat which might eventually limit the CPU, and adds noise. Or... maybe I could throttle the GPU for Dolphin

2 is always better than 1 . Graphic card doesn't last long like other components ...If it happens to die , you still have integrated GPU Intel HD 630 which is not too bad for Dolphin
Laptop with Nvidia Optimus will have Nvidia GPU disabled all the time unless you run game . Thus, it will let you have longer battery life , longer GPU lifespan

Btw , laptop with Nvidia G-Sync Technology will not have Nvidia Optimus , your GPU will be turned on all the time .

[mstreurman]

(03-06-2017, 08:53 PM)gergelyv Wrote: Hi All,

I'd like to have exactly one system, a laptop, for all my needs, including Doplhin and potentially other emulators. I definitely want to play Wii games, including the most demanding ones, ideally without compromises. Maybe also PCSX2. The laptop would be a console replacement when hooked to the TV at home, and a desktop replacement at work, occasionally also used as an actual laptop elsewhere. To solve all this, I'm currently looking at high-end laptops.


I'm in fact looking at a XMG u507 with i7 7700k and Nvidia 1060m. This is a Clevo barebone. I'm in the EU and I look at European Clevo OEMs.

https://mysn.co.uk/xmg-u507-gaming-laptop

I guess it would solve my Dolphin "problem", but is it a good idea overall? One thing I can imagine bothering me is system noise, and maybe heat when occasionally actually using the laptop in my lap (not for gaming but web browsing, light work etc).

Also, I wonder what real life drawbacks there could be with a laptop like this with desktop parts. No Optimus for example, but using the Nvidia GPU all the time, which produces heat + noise too. It could even be counterproductive, as with emulators I think the ideal combination would be the integrated GPU + as much CPU power as possible? (I mean the GPU power is superfluous, just adds heat which might eventually limit the CPU, and adds noise. Or... maybe I could throttle the GPU for Dolphin?)

Is my idea overkill, and is there a better tradeoff maybe, that still solves emulation very well, but is less of a monster, and maybe costs less?
If I go with this killer desktop replacement laptop, in practice will I be able to handle it with meaningful throttling when I don't need all that power?

Thanks.

Best regards,
Gergely

I myself bought a Barebone Clevo laptop 2.5 years ago for gaming, work AND emulating. Just so you know the specs:

Intel Core i7 4800MQ, 3.7GHz turbo with high quality thermal compound
nVidia Geforce 870m 6GB with high quality thermal compound

both with their own (separate) full copper heatsinks

Temps on GPU while running Dolphin: 90 degrees celsius and it throttles down to half speed, still playable at 1080p 60fps/100%
Temps on CPU while running Dolphin: 45 degrees celsius

To counteract the throttling in PC games I bought an extra fanpad to put my laptop on.

It is too hot to keep on your lap.

[Helios]

As another option, this works too

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-15-6-Inch-Quad-Core-i5-6300HQ-Processor/dp/B015PYYDMQ

[admin89]

I don't know what kind of high quality thermal compound is that but 90 degree celcius is a big no no . Look like either your heatsink does not sit correctly or your thermal compound is dead
My GT 540M barely reaches 65C while running dolphin , same thing as my GTX 860M
I often replace thermal compound once a year (IC diamond 7)

[gergelyv]

Thanks everybody. I'm still tempted by the upgradable U507.

1. Is the 7820HK future proof enough? How about the most demanding Dolphin games, and more demanding emulators? PCSX2?
2. Some of you say that you can almost always overclock even the non-K CPUs etc. But a 7700k delivers better performance out of the box than what you probably get out of any of the other options overclocked.
3. XMG U507 vs P507. The U is indeed heavier and all, but that's also better for cooling. That's exactly the point. no? I'm not that very concerned with weight.
4. 7700 or 7600 (non K, non HQ) could be an option maybe? It's an option for the u507. They are 65W, so maybe not as hot as the 7700K / 7600k? I probably wouldn't overclock anyway. And they have somehwat better single-thread performance than 7820HK. And I could even upgrade later if I wanted to...
5. admin89 said that if you have a "traditional" laptop, then if your GPU breaks, then you still have the integrated one as a "backup". But a laptop like U507 has replaceable parts, so if your GPU or CPU breaks, or you decide you need a faster one, you can just replace it. That looks like a big plus. Right now I have a similar issue, I'm on the market because something is broken in my more traditional older gaming laptop, and it is probably not repairable. Nor upgradable.

[admin89]

Quote:1. Is the 7820HK future proof enough?

lol , it's overkill for Dolphin and it can probably run most Wii U games at full speed , even demanding title like Xenoblade X, Mario Kart 8
Even my OCed i7 4700MQ @ 3.4GHz can run most demanding Wii/GC games at full speed ...
4th Gen Haswell CPU is very fast for Dolphin , it can keep up with the latest top of the line AMD Ryzen or OCed 4.4GHz 3rd Gen Ivy Bridge/ 2nd Gen Sandy Bridge in our benchmark . Please take a look at Dolphin Benchmark , you will see a stock i7 4700MQ @ 2.4 (3.2GHz turbo) beats all OCed Ivy/Sandy Bridge desktop CPU
So anything that is better than Haswell should be considered as "overkill"

Quote:4. 7700 or 7600 (non K, non HQ) could be an option maybe? It's an option for the u507. They are 65W, so maybe not as hot as the 7700K / 7600k? I probably wouldn't overclock anyway. And they have somehwat better single-thread performance than 7820HK. And I could even upgrade later if I wanted to...

Yes , 65W i7 7700 is definitely better than that 91W i7 7700k , 300MHz difference in clock speed doesn't matter much

Quote:. admin89 said that if you have a "traditional" laptop, then if your GPU breaks, then you still have the integrated one as a "backup". But a laptop like U507 has replaceable parts, so if your GPU or CPU breaks, or you decide you need a faster one, you can just replace it. That looks like a big plus. Right now I have a similar issue, I'm on the market because something is broken in my more traditional older gaming laptop, and it is probably not repairable. Nor upgradable.

It's up to you to decide . None of my mobile GPUs are dead yet , even my 7 years old Nvidia GT 540M is still kicking . Most likely because i always keep the temperature under control (<70C) and Nvidia GPU is always disabled when I do other tasks
Mobile graphic card ussually costs 2->3x higher than a desktop GPU . If I wanted to upgrade or replace new GPU , I would rather buy a new laptop
The latest GTX 1070 MXM formfactor , for example costs 1300 bucks on ebay ... GTX 970M is outdated but it's also not cheap ($420) and it's only as fast as desktop GTX 960 ($150)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NVIDIA-GTX-1070-N17E-G2-8GB-DDR5-MXM-3-0-Module-150W-For-Clevo-P870DM-/112144267554?hash=item1a1c51b922:g:p9IAAOSw44BYePr-

[gergelyv]

Many thanks, you have very valid points there.

[mstreurman]

(03-07-2017, 10:08 AM)admin89 Wrote: I don't know what kind of high quality thermal compound is that but 90 degree celcius is a big no no . Look like either your heatsink does not sit correctly or your thermal compound is dead
My GT 540M barely reaches 65C while running dolphin , same thing as my GTX 860M
I often replace thermal compound once a year (IC diamond 7)

My laptop came with Collaboratory Liquid Ultra (CLU) thermal paste liquid on the CPU and the GPU, the 2 separate heatsinks are pure copper and get blazingly hot, so I guess that it is well connected. And putting it on the Cooling pad helps against throttling to 430MHz, and keeps it at a nice 850MHz (about 100MHz slower than it should be), I do clean the heatsinks on a bi-monthly base to keep as much dust out of them as possible.


Remember: The 870m is still based on the (older) Kepler architecture with a 100W TDP, whereas the 860m is based on the (newer) Maxwell architecture with a 45W TDP, it is a completely different ballpark (mine is a desktop 660TI with 6GB's vs yours, which is a desktop 750TI with 2GB, btw I'm not saying that yours isn't good though  )