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Hey, I haven't been following laptops for a couple years now, but I'm looking for what I think is probably an impossible laptop. I'd like to find a laptop thats capable of running VR, but also doing so while only on battery power, for at least 2 hours. I'd also like it to be something thats efficient enough to where I could charge it via a 12v cigarette lighter adapter (one of the things i love about my surface pro). Preferably, again in this imaginary world, it would be able to run off of 100w 5amp of power, or at least run for 2 hours on battery and charge up on said 100w/5amp supply of power. Price is no object here, I'm more concerned with finding anything that could fill that very specific and probably impossible, niche.
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Jun 21, 2018 02:44
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The XPS 9575 sounds like it gets pretty close, but I can't find anyone talking about the battery life while gaming in specific.
Eletriarnation fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Jun 21, 2018 |
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Jun 21, 2018 05:44
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https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-15-9575-i5-8305G-Vega-M-GL-FHD-Convertible-Review.296996.0.html According to this the XPS 9575 will last just over an hour on full load. If you're trying to do VR you will definitely be maxing it out. You could probably get a little longer if you lower the brightness.
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Jun 21, 2018 07:26
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What would be my best option if I want to use a <$800 laptop as an HTPC, assuming it'll have a multimedia/streaming focus with occasional gaming? Should I just wait for another Costco Inspiron 7577 deal? Best Buy has this at the moment, but I don't know if I want a 1050ti at this point, even if I don't really plan on gaming much on it. The Coffee Lake processor is better than the i5-7300HQ the 7577 has, though. Also, would I have a problem with a laptop generating too much heat while closed even if I disable the screen?
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Jun 21, 2018 19:44
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Quixzlizx posted:What would be my best option if I want to use a <$800 laptop as an HTPC, assuming it'll have a multimedia/streaming focus with occasional gaming? Should I just wait for another Costco Inspiron 7577 deal? That Nitro is the ~$700 gaming laptop (or rather a Coffee Lake upgrade of the original one) that I've recommended as a cheaper alternative to the ~$1k Helios 300. For the difference in price between the two (especially considering the former is even cheaper at BB now) it's worth it if you don't quite want to spend as much as the latter (although the value difference between the RAM, CPU and especially the GPU is probably worth $300 or so, particularly since you're not going to upgrade any of those components aside from the RAM on a laptop.) The 1050 Ti is quite fine for gaming, so that sounds sufficient for your needs, especially as primarily an HTPC and only admittedly occasional gamer. I wouldn't worry about the difference between the CPUs, as a Kaby Lake 4C4T is just fine for gaming; the only things I'd address would be the RAM (add another 8 GB and you're good permanently for any of the uses you mentioned,) and storage (add an internal HDD for games/media, and on top of that you can do whatever you'd like for external storage or NAS.) Simply disabling/turning off the screen like you mentioned won't matter in terms of heat generation (although I guess technically the system will be using less power to run the internal display;) with the lid closed however it may have a slightly more difficult time dissipating heat, although if you just put it on a decent cooling pad with fans it should be fine. Beyond that the only real qualifier here is the "gaming" designation; for a pure HTPC you're basically able to use anything, although many people like to use quiet SFF systems like a NUC, especially if it's physically located in the entertainment room. If you use software like Plex, however, you can even eliminate this requirement and use any PC, anywhere in the world, only needing something to bring the client software to the TV (Roku, Chromecast, or even built-in software on a "smart" TV.)
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Jun 21, 2018 22:24
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Friend is looking into getting a laptop and suggested this. I think that's about where their budget is. The one I bought for myself is this one, which I've been quite satisfied with. Not sure if it's worth suggesting that they up their budget a little bit, or if there's something better I could suggest.
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Jun 21, 2018 22:31
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Zamujasa posted:Friend is looking into getting a laptop and suggested this. I think that's about where their budget is. See what I wrote in literally the last post in the thread before yours. I mention that the laptop you bought is my top gaming laptop recommendation at $1k, and the Nitro being discussed is the preferred ~$700 alternative (better GPU than that "TUF" thing, comes with an SSD which is preferable as a system drive over that SSHD.) I will reiterate that unless your friend has a hard budget, the jump up to the Helios 300 is worth it because the hardware differences are probably worth that much alone and you're not going to upgrade the CPU & GPU yourself so you might as well spend a little more upfront to get a better, more longevous system. (I mean you technically might be able to upgrade the CPU and GPU if they're socketed and you can find upgrades, but they're generally scarce and expensive, especially in the case of MXM GPUs, and very few laptop owners actually do these kind of upgrades.)
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Jun 21, 2018 22:56
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I started my reply before you had posted, since I was still looking around at options. 
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Jun 21, 2018 23:11
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It's OK, I just hope there's enough information there to answer your/your friend's questions. For a ~$700 budget, I totally recommend that Nitro as a 1050 Ti 4 GB laptop unless you can find a used/refurb'd 1060 6 GB system for around the same price. I mean this is currently a better deal since it has a 1060, but it'll run closer to $800 with shipping and is used, albeit lightly, apparently. The only upgrade I'd make to it is to double the RAM.
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Jun 21, 2018 23:18
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In the end I think I managed to convince them to spend a little extra on the Helios 300, since I have one and it works great, and like you said, the gains in CPU speed/RAM/disk outweigh the cost -- their current laptop was a cheapo Woot refurb that was outdated before it even shipped. Only bad thing is that I got mine for $50 cheaper since I bought it back during Black Friday.
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Jun 21, 2018 23:24
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Yup, I recommended the Helios to my brother and he loves it. Technically it's been as low as $900 on BF, but even at the regular $1050 it's still a good deal if you specifically want a 1060 laptop and don't need an as-thin-as-possible Gigabyte Aero or something like that that puts the price up into the range of the cheapest 1070 systems (and in that case the performance advantage of the 1070 is significant enough to consider.) The only similarly-priced 1060 laptop competitor to the Helios is whatever the current Dell model is; this appears to be the one I'm thinking of, and at ~$880 after the discount code it's worth considering as a 1060 alternative. Performance should be similar (and ignoring any component differences in terms of display, cooling, and keyboard/trackpad,) at a slightly lower cost. Note that it has an i5 and half the RAM of the Helios, but the CPU is fine if you just need a competent gaming system; the RAM can be doubled and that should put it closer to $950, about $100 less than the Helios' current price. I'd still probably spend the extra money to go with the latter and its i7 especially if this was going to be a user's main system, for other non-gaming uses where slightly better multi-tasking performance would be appreciated. If you were able to find any other Dell discounts, stackable codes or whatever, that may put the price advantage more firmly towards that system, however.
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Jun 21, 2018 23:44
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Eletriarnation posted:The XPS 9575 sounds like it gets pretty close, but I can't find anyone talking about the battery life while gaming in specific. Mu Zeta posted:https://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-15-9575-i5-8305G-Vega-M-GL-FHD-Convertible-Review.296996.0.html Appreciate the suggestion, it looks like it doesn't quite work for VR as its not really giving direct feed to the GPU through a usb C and an adapter for HDMI. I suppose it probably was an impossible idea at this point, to do VR it will need power, and most laptops with GPU power to do that throttle while on batter power. Theres just no getting around the physics I suppose, but I was really hoping I could find something that would run, or at least be able to be charged off a basic small 12v solar system of 100w.
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Jun 22, 2018 00:41
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NewFatMike posted:took multiple days and a phone call to get my XPS 15 ordered, and nearly a week later it still hasn't shipped. I sure hope they can get some management in there that can change the sales process to "Underpromise Overdeliver" as opposed to the exact opposite. So... any recommendations in the 1000-1300 range that I can actually get for sure before July 7th that: -Portable (12-14" screen) -not a super short 16:9 screen with huge bezels (So.. I guess 3:2?) -not glued shut (I'd like to have the option of changing the ssd)
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Jun 22, 2018 01:53
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I don’t know if you can change the SSD in a surface but they are really good tablets. I posted earlier about it but I’ll ah again: the performance, keyboard, and pen are all great.
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Jun 22, 2018 02:11
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thesurlyspringKAA posted:I don’t know if you can change the SSD in a surface but they are really good tablets. I posted earlier about it but I’ll ah again: the performance, keyboard, and pen are all great. Yeah, you can change the SSD in a Surface.  I'm actually moving away from the Surface Pro for my next laptop, I'm not using the tablet functionality enough to justify the price premium. If you do use those features though they're great devices once you get a working unit (I had to return mine twice before the third unit worked properly out of box).
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Jun 22, 2018 02:18
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Maybe less sexy, but have any of you gotten your hands on an HP Pro x2? e:or elite x2 oh, they actually have an option to not pay $150 for windows. CopperHound fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Jun 22, 2018 |
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Jun 22, 2018 02:49
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I have an Elite X2 1012 at work. Low end model so only 4GB and some Y series processor. It's fine I guess and certainly much better built and more durable than my Surface Pro (which is the most disappointing bit of hardware I've ever purchased) but I still don't get the form factor at all - most of the time it just seems flat out worse than a normal laptop.
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Jun 22, 2018 04:10
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I guess I'm sold more on the screen ratio rather than the form factor. 16:9 is terrible on a 13" screen. I'll hold off for now then. Maybe there will be some more options this winter, or at the very least the early adopters of the Huawei Matebook X Pro will let me know if there are any issues with the laptop or support.
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Jun 22, 2018 04:32
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Happy with my Aspire E15. Feels kinda cheap case-wise and it's real big for something this mediocre in power, but a 1960 resolution on a decent sized screen makes it great for Netflix, etc. and with a 256GB SSD, it's running pretty quick on the things I need it to. Thanks for the recc, thread!
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Jun 23, 2018 02:53
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dissss posted:I have an Elite X2 1012 at work. Low end model so only 4GB and some Y series processor. I have an 8GB/m5(i5?) model for work and I really like it, but yeah, I never use it as a tablet, and wouldn’t pay for it with my own cash as a result.
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Jun 23, 2018 14:58
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Nobody in this thread responded to my question (should I get an Alienware 13 with the GTX1060 because they’re 400 dollars off?) so I did it anyway. Will let you know if it owns and how many FPS I get playing slow-paced strategy games and cruising the internet.
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Jun 23, 2018 18:23
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I've put together a handful of PCs for myself and friends over 15+ years, got A+ certified, worked in a PC shop for a couple years so I know my way around desktop hardware. But I've never done much with laptops beyond replacing a hard drive or RAM or swapping out a DVD-ROM for an extra hard drive, that sort of thing. That said.. I woke up this morning to find my old Dell laptop doing this:  ##techsupport says this is a bad LVDS board and/or cable. Can anyone confirm? What should I expect, and how can I go about learning to troubleshoot this and get necessary parts replaced? Edit: Not sure if the image is embedding properly, you should be able to see it here: http://upload.fopedush.com/malathion/laptopmonitor.jpg
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Jun 23, 2018 19:10
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celestial teapot posted:I've put together a handful of PCs for myself and friends over 15+ years, got A+ certified, worked in a PC shop for a couple years so I know my way around desktop hardware. But I've never done much with laptops beyond replacing a hard drive or RAM or swapping out a DVD-ROM for an extra hard drive, that sort of thing. If you want to give repairing it a shot find a disassembly guide. Ifixit and dell may both have disassembly/service guides that cover where all the screws and clips are: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Dell_Laptop The main thing to mention is that using a plastic spudger (plastic prying tool) to loosen the case clips and/or pry the thing apart will be less marring to the plastic of the case than a screwdriver so if you don't have a cell phone repair kit it may be worth getting one. They also come with guitar pick shaped wedges you can use to keep a side you just opened from closing up as you work around the case. Most of the cables that connect the components inside the laptop are flat flexible PCB style cables that have some kind of retention mechanism on the plug they connect to. There's a good chance in your laptop that one of those cables has come loose and is pulled out of its connector, it's a super common issue. It could also be the display board going bad and a replacement will probably be something to get on ebay. Youtube may also have repair videos for your model where you can watch someone take it apart. Sometimes these are done by shops selling replacement parts, sometimes just by people trying to be helpful.
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Jun 23, 2018 20:03
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Thanks. I was able to get the LCD out by following a youtube guide. I'm mainly hoping someone can confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis that replacing the LCD would either fix it or be a good first step toward fixing this issue, since I don't have money to replace this machine in a hurry and I need it working ASAP. Edit: lul I took the LCD out, unplugged the cable and plugged it back in and now it's working fine
celestial teapot fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Jun 23, 2018 |
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Jun 23, 2018 20:40
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I'm about to request a laptop refresh at work and I need some advice. Originally I was given an HP Elitebook 840 but later opted to get a 12 inch Lenovo x205 since I wanted to be more mobile, but my job role has changed significantly. I'm now creating a lot of training videos and coding. My system is slowing a crawl. Here's a rundown on what I do:
Some more facts:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've read and seen, there isn't any worthwhile GPU offload for After Effects/Premiere. Is there any other way I can dock into more power? Any suggestions or creative solutions?
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Jun 24, 2018 16:31
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I don’t have any specifics for you, but when I used premiere a couple years ago it definitely engaged my GPU
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Jun 24, 2018 18:16
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celestial teapot posted:Thanks. I was able to get the LCD out by following a youtube guide. I'm mainly hoping someone can confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis that replacing the LCD would either fix it or be a good first step toward fixing this issue, since I don't have money to replace this machine in a hurry and I need it working ASAP. There should be a little piece of tape that helps keep the connector on the back of the LCD from slipping out, you may want to replace the tape. That and a piece that holds the cable to the back of the LCD itself. CommieGIR fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Jun 25, 2018 |
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Jun 25, 2018 16:37
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Atomizer posted:See what I wrote in literally the last post in the thread before yours. I mention that the laptop you bought is my top gaming laptop recommendation at $1k, and the Nitro being discussed is the preferred ~$700 alternative (better GPU than that "TUF" thing, comes with an SSD which is preferable as a system drive over that SSHD.) I was originally hoping to spend around $600-$700 but am considering the jump. What I'm really nervous about is buying from eBay since I have little experience there and the best deals appear to be from normal people just looking to dump their laptop that they have since upgraded from. This means people who aren't power sellers and have limited to no seller feedback. This for example seems like a great deal but I don't want to light $925 on fire. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Acer-Preda...qUAAOSwWwtbL0vx
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Jun 25, 2018 17:20
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Boozie posted:I was originally hoping to spend around $600-$700 but am considering the jump. What I'm really nervous about is buying from eBay since I have little experience there and the best deals appear to be from normal people just looking to dump their laptop that they have since upgraded from. This means people who aren't power sellers and have limited to no seller feedback. This for example seems like a great deal but I don't want to light $925 on fire. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Acer-Preda...qUAAOSwWwtbL0vx Well if you really only want to spend ~$700, like I mentioned I wouldn't blame you at all for going with the Nitro or similar 1050 Ti laptop. That being said, just over $900 for the Helios 300 with the added HDD is a good price since a brand-new one would cost you a couple hundred more than that. eBay is very buyer-centric now; it has a money-back guarantee, so does PayPal, and generally major credit cards do as well. On top of that the laptop should have its original warranty, and you could do a 3rd-party warranty if you really wanted to. Keep in mind you could buy a laptop brand-new from a retailer and still have problems immediately, or down the line (but the fact that this guy is reselling a like-new, working one means it was fine out of the box.) You need to get out of the mindset that people have some ulterior motives when trying to sell their used stuff. Some people have things they don't need anymore! Some people need money and have to sell their stuff! Some people upgrade to new products and resell the old ones because they no longer need them! Others run businesses where they refurbish & resell things for profit! I've purchased at least a couple used laptops from eBay, including one less than two weeks ago for a friend (from a seller that appears to be in that last category, i.e. a tech refurbisher,) and although it was probably a model that's a couple years old (Skylake) it was in like-new condition! We couldn't have been happier with it, and if there was a problem, it would have been easy to return it for a refund! A while back I purchased a used tablet on eBay that had a problem and I was able to return it immediately with no hassle. If you find a product you like at a good price, and the proper protections are in place, go for it!
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Jun 25, 2018 19:07
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I'm debating between the new Razer Blade 15 or the new Dell XPS 15, but I'm leaning towards the Dell. The 1050Ti is plenty for me, since I won't be doing much heavy gaming, and really want the processor more than the GPU for my work. Plus it'll be a little bit cheaper than the Razer Blade 15, at the expense of that sweet sweet RGB lighting of course  Anyone have experience with the new XPS 15 running the Coffee Lake 8750H? Any issues that have popped up?
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Jun 25, 2018 19:24
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Chemical Shift posted:I'm debating between the new Razer Blade 15 or the new Dell XPS 15, but I'm leaning towards the Dell. The 1050Ti is plenty for me, since I won't be doing much heavy gaming, and really want the processor more than the GPU for my work. Plus it'll be a little bit cheaper than the Razer Blade 15, at the expense of that sweet sweet RGB lighting of course I have the Blade 15. It's an incredible gaming laptop, but if you only intend to do light gaming the Dell will be better for you as it will have better battery life. Maybe the Blade 15 with the Geforce 1060 is a good middle ground if you have any games that can use the extra GPU power.
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Jun 25, 2018 20:51
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Chemical Shift posted:I'm debating between the new Razer Blade 15 or the new Dell XPS 15, but I'm leaning towards the Dell. The 1050Ti is plenty for me, since I won't be doing much heavy gaming, and really want the processor more than the GPU for my work. Plus it'll be a little bit cheaper than the Razer Blade 15, at the expense of that sweet sweet RGB lighting of course I'm still waiting on mine to ship, but I'll definitely be providing a trip report when it comes in!
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Jun 25, 2018 21:02
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I got my RB 15 today. It runs hot and somewhat loud under load and when hooked up to my ultrawides. I’m going to be throwing some kryonaut in there along with a 32gb RAM upgrade and a 970 evo. Do also have a fair amount of backlight bleed along the bottom lip, which I must admit is irritating. Also don’t quite get the hype for the 144hz. I notice it, but idk, I can use my 60/100hz monitors just fine afterwards. There’s something about windows laptops that just feels off to me. My main pc is a windows desktop but I’ve used MacBooks for over a decade.
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Jun 25, 2018 21:47
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Ocrassus posted:I got my RB 15 today. It runs hot and somewhat loud under load and when hooked up to my ultrawides. I’m going to be throwing some kryonaut in there along with a 32gb RAM upgrade and a 970 evo. Let me know how the temperature decreases with Kryonaut. I have to decide whether repasting with a better paste, or using liquid metal, which I already have a tube of from my 8700k delid. I was just playing a game and HWInfo logged 100c on the CPU package and thermal throttling. The game played flawlessly without hiccups, but the fact that its getting so hot bothers me.
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Jun 25, 2018 23:16
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I finally did it, pulled the trigger after 6 years with my trusty Thinkpad X230. Over the years, replaced the battery, wifi card, ram, hard disk and it's seen something like 15 countries on 5 continents but it is time to retire it in favor of something with more modern graphics and usable battery life > 2.5 hours. Put in an order for an i7 16GB 15" XPS 15 with the 1050 Ti 4GB, 512GB pci-e ssd, 1080p display, guestimated battery life 8+ realworld hours  Should allow me to play some slightly more modern games like TABG, PUBG etc at medium resolution, play around with windows VR goggles etc (they're getting really cheap on ebay) - gently caress your throttling issues  Also put in order for lenovo thunderbolt 3 dock which should allow me to have a single cable to do power/video/data/usb dongles to the docking station ~4 ft away, also has thunderbolt 3 pass-through so if I want to add an eGPU or thunderbolt display, whatever, I can daisy-chain that on too. Also has a 1 gbps ethernet cable for..   Also put in order for synology 4 bay "diskstation" NAS with 2 x 1gbps ethernet ports on the back, and 2 x 6TB drives, will fill up the other two bays with old 4TB drives I have laying around, it has a synology raid option that supports this kind of setup 
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Jun 26, 2018 02:16
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congrats, that's a big ol' step up. only comments i'd make are WMR is a tad iffy on a 1050ti, it's technically below spec and steam reprojection is still being worked on by both valve and microsoft. you'll be able to do a bunch of stuff but don't expect skyrim to behave. also, I wouldn't count on stringing your egpu through that dock, it's peeling off a couple pci lanes for its built in devices. these are nitpicks though. edit: plan on repasting that poo poo immediately, fyi. run throttlestop. Dr. Fishopolis fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Jun 26, 2018 |
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Jun 26, 2018 02:29
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congrats! I love making an upgrade where literally every component is a massive leap from what I've been using. please come back with more impressions after using it for awhile.
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Jun 26, 2018 02:35
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also be careful because I started out with a similar synology box and now I have a 9-bay unraid machine hosting vms and doing home security poo poo not that i regret anything, just saying there's a rabbit hole there if you're a certain type of nerd.
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Jun 26, 2018 02:47
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Nice. I have one of the new xps15s on order as well, though the estimate from dell is still a couple of weeks. I even have have the kryonaut and fujipoly thermal pads ready, along with an intel 9260 wifi card. I went with the battery sucking 4k model though, as I use it connected to power the vast majority of the time. I also actually like touch capabilities on my screen, and have found myself using it more than I expected on my hp specter.
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Jun 26, 2018 02:56
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Yeah mine is on back order too. Looks like everyone is sold out of everything XPS 15 except the i9 4K models. Hopefully they are working through some manufacturing issue, possibly with the heatsinks. Undervolt is planned, and probably swap in the intel 9260 card (ugh why bother with that killer wifi bullshit?) as soon as I start running in to issues. A little nervous to pull the heatsink apart, it sounds like undervolting fixes 90% of the issues. Super psyched to have my work laptop, personal laptop and phone all charge off the same cable. Drastically reduces travel logistics. Dr. Fishopolis posted:also be careful because I started out with a similar synology box and now I have a 9-bay unraid machine hosting vms and doing home security poo poo I'm actually headed in the opposite direction; I have a i5 4U rackmount VM lab/8 bay home NAS-y looking thing and looking to downsize. Most everything I run these days is in a docker container, and if I do need a real VM, I spin it up in AWS. My old machine is ~5 years old at this point and 6TB disks are just crazy cheap. My data is about 4TB and grows at a pretty consistent rate - by the time I swap out the two old 4TB drives and two new 6TB drives it will be another 5 years and I'll be ready for whatever happens at that point
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Jun 26, 2018 03:37
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