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It's not really a brand thing. Toshiba back in the day had a bit of reputation for running hot but that was years upon years ago. Computers can run ridiculously hot just fine for years. I ran a Lenovo T51 with the fan set to turn on over 78C. Certainly too hot to use on your lap but the fan needed to be replaced and made a horrible noise. Probably 95% of the time it just ran without a fan for a good year until it ultimately died from spilled cranberry juice. Likewise in a move a dislodged the heatsink on my processor on a desktop. Ran for several weeks just fine unaware that the CPU was basically sitting there completely uncooled at all. I only noticed it once I tried to do something more intensive (Skyrim) which overheated and throttled. Since it was idling at around 70C, that probably meant I'd been running it up to 90C pretty regularly for two weeks. No issues. Took the heatsink off, cleaned off the old thermal compound and reseated the heatsink properly and ran that computer for another two years.
Certain things like the Surface Pro 3 had heat issues. Basically fairly powerful laptop inside a ridiculously small form factor = heat. Aside from throttling though, that's not really an issue. If you want the absolute smallest, thinnest laptop and want to set it on your lap... don't get something crazy powerful. Something like the Lenovo LaVie Z isn't going to have overheating issues per se (i7, sub 2 pounds), but it's not going to be comfortable on your lap. Go for something like a Macbook with a stupidly slow Core M processor if that's what you want. It can't generate enough heat for heat to be an issue. They're fast enough for light everyday use with only minor annoyance. I wouldn't get the LaVie Z for other reasons (crappy screen, crappy keyboard, poor battery life). Basically, too many things sacrificed in the name of thin and light. I like thin and light but there's a reason why most companies chasing thin and light use Core M.
Thanks for the info. I do not want thin and light if it means my computer is more likely to overheat . I like the idea of a lighter laptop and the thin ones look nice but it is just not worth it. Performance is more important . Not a trade off I feel willing to make
What video cards are you waiting for? AMD and Nvidia both released the 2016 latest and greatest.
Are you a gamer?
Only mildly . I also do graphic art as a hobby. I have been reading about the gtx1080 and gtx1070 from nvidia that are not yet in most laptops. Plus radeon has some great new ones of their own . I have read the reviews saying the difference in the new nvidia graphics cards is very strong and well worth buying compared to their older ones. I do not want to buy the graphics card separately I want a computer that already comes with it.
The 1070 and 1080 are for serious pros IMO. or serious gamers. They will never be in most laptops.
(This from a guy with a 1070).
They just game out and are hella pricey. You can get by with much less for Photoshop or whatever you're using.
That's why I asked if you were a gamer. Most people don't need the power of the latest AMD and Nvidia cards. They've both announced the new gen so I was curious what you were waiting for.
You will never find high end graphics processors, like the gtx1070, in laptops because of the power requirements. I suppose there might be a gamer laptop, one of those 17" 9lb monsters, that could take the card. High end cards like these have TDP > 150 watts, which means big power supply, big coolers etc. Not very compatible with laptops. I've not researched the GPU specs of gamer laptops, but I suspect something less, because they have no need to drive 4K screens and such. But not my area of expertise - gamer laptops.
The 1070 and 1080 are for serious pros IMO. or serious gamers. They will never be in most laptops.
(This from a guy with a 1070).
They just game out and are hella pricey. You can get by with much less for Photoshop or whatever you're using.
That's why I asked if you were a gamer. Most people don't need the power of the latest AMD and Nvidia cards. They've both announced the new gen so I was curious what you were waiting for.
Well I also read the requirements for the oculus rift and while I probably will not be buying one, I was using those specs as a guideline for buying a computer that will continue to stay relevant for years into the future.
You will never find high end graphics processors, like the gtx1070, in laptops because of the power requirements. I suppose there might be a gamer laptop, one of those 17" 9lb monsters, that could take the card. High end cards like these have TDP > 150 watts, which means big power supply, big coolers etc. Not very compatible with laptops. I've not researched the GPU specs of gamer laptops, but I suspect something less, because they have no need to drive 4K screens and such. But not my area of expertise - gamer laptops.
Do you think I would be better of with a desktop instead of a laptop? Or would it be better to just accept a laptop with a gtx970 nvidia graphic card with a strong discount rather than spend the money for the new gtx1070 gtx080? Would a laptop with the gtx970 be stressed as well? What about screen resolution? Is a 1070x1920 acceptable or undesirable?
You are right about the gaming laptop . The only laptop I know of so far from Asus that has the new nvidia graphics card is a monster machine. It is just more than what I wanted to spend. I was hoping for more choices by the end of the year.
The most serious gamers all use towers because they'll have dual graphics cards, multiple high resolution monitors, dynamite audio and the fastest cpu they can afford. They'll spend thousands on their rigs, and the rig will be a nice room heater.
You should either try before you buy or buy from a place that has a good return policy so you can see if your favorite games run well enough on a particular machine. No real way to predict this just from specs.
The most serious gamers all use towers because they'll have dual graphics cards, multiple high resolution monitors, dynamite audio and the fastest cpu they can afford. They'll spend thousands on their rigs, and the rig will be a nice room heater.
You should either try before you buy or buy from a place that has a good return policy so you can see if your favorite games run well enough on a particular machine. No real way to predict this just from specs.
I am much more focused on graphic art then games. The online game I play has very low requirements most computers will work with it,in fact you may not even consider it a real game at all it is called Second Life, I used to play the myst games a long time ago and I would go back to them again if I could ,but most computer games are too violent for my taste. I am more interested in graphic art, possibly learning to create mesh , and maybe learning video or animation in the future . I do wonder what resolution the screen should be for graphic art settings. I also noticed that Asus has great sound which might sound good for a voice over if I learn to do video work. These are dreams rather than reality but it would be nice to have something that would work. I had macs years ago but they are too expensive so I made the switch over to windows.
Last edited by vanguardisle; 09-28-2016 at 06:30 AM..
You are very confusing Vanguardisle. Your requirements on the one hand are very low. "Graphic art, not games". You could EASILY get by with a gtx 950m - 965m. Hell you could get by with much less then that. My 560M laptop can do Photoshop and Illustrator and not break a sweat. Seriously. Just about any graphic card with 2 MB of memory can graphic art.
But then you talk about VR. Well, are you going to get into that? If you plan to, plan your build around that. The 970/R9 290 is the minimum for that. And for VR I believe Occulus demands a desktop (or that Asus with the 1080).
Why don't you give us a ballpark figure of what you're willing to spend? We love shopping with others money.
P, this isn't confusing, except for the fact that there are many meanings to the terms gaming and gamer.
In this case, V could get along well with intel on chip graphics for now. If VR ever became something real, that's a different story. But the vast majority of folks that might want VR I suspect are using integrated graphics now (or worse, smart phone video) so the VR folks will need to deal with this.
Fact is heavy graphics design program users (and define it broadly, to include related commercial programs like CAD) typically use workstation video cards, not game video cards. However, for a home user, where every minute does not count, it makes little difference
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