Which one to choose from these 3 laptops offer?

[BrecMadak]

Hey folks,

I need a replacement for my laptop primarily for my work, as a medical illustrator. I work with very large Photoshop files (easily reach over +1,5 GB with +50 layers) and usually have +50 tabs open at any given time. Second only to gaming modern titles like ER.

There is a specific retailer where I have to redeem my credits, and I’d love to take your opinions as far as CPU performance is concerned. I am in between these three choices:

Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 — €2,799 — Ryzen 9 7945HX

MSI Raider GE78 — €3,071 (second chance) — i9 14900HX

MSI Vector GP78 — €3,399 — i9 13950HX

However, the build quality of Asus is mid whilst the MSIs have high-end build quality.

Now, to my understanding and of all the research I've done, PS mostly utilises processors with fewer cores but higher processor frequency. Such a case with Rhyzen having a higher base clock speed (2.5 GHz vs1.6 GHz vs 2.2 GHz) than its Intel competitors. Apart from that, Rhyzen beats Intel on most multi-core tests, however, it stays behind on single cores. And as far as I know, PS favours running on mostly single-core.

I appreciate comments helping me find a cost-efficient option that serves my needs as future-proof.

Thank you for your attention.

 

[AleXXX666]

Hello.
Build quality: ASUS is top, MSI is very bad. Have seen a lot of complaints. ASUS on Intel variants? None?
Also. If you want PROFESSIONAL use, and easily could afford EUR 3K - maybe look for some business-grade machines?
Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 1, Lenovo ThinkPad P16s Gen 2, Lenovo ThinkBook 16p G4 - found on markit (dot) eu
Fruit company, maybe? (Macbook Pro with Apple M-series processors) - great display, too.

 

[SL2]

What do you know about your GPU needs?

Edit: I saw this:

Although Adobe is constantly expanding GPU acceleration support to Photoshop, the current demand on the video card is actually relatively light.

 

[Hyderz]

I have a msi laptop unless you are in aus then the rma process is a breeze other country nope… I had a really bad run with the after service

 

[GerKNG]

i would stay away from MSI Laptops. never heard anything positive about them in my whole life.

 

[BrecMadak]

Build quality wasn't my comment, it is stated on the retailer's website. However, generally speaking, you guys seem to have a better experience with Asus for build quality.
The specs are 32GB, 2 TB, and RTX 4080 across the board.
Buying it from the Netherlands.

 

[faye]

For your use case you should be looking at HP EliteBooks and Dell Precision line machines, maybe Lenovo, not MSI or ASUS. Certainly not their "gaming" line, but at least the ProArt series. Color accuracy and reliability / quality and speed of after sales service are more important than anything else when it's your livelihood.

Which retailer is it? How much credit are we talking? Because an off lease but still under warranty EliteBook with better specs and build (again, for your purposes) can be had for less than what you're quoting - quite a bit less, at least here in the US. Not difficult to find a refurbished direct from Dell Precision workstation laptop for similar money, maybe a tiny bit more. Again, I'm assuming this is getting written off in full as a business expense.

You want something with Advanced RMA, so you just tell them there's a problem and the next day there's a new machine at your front door. You ship back the broken one (after getting your data off) with the prepaid label the new one came with, and never hear about it again. No down time, no arguing on the phone, because this is a corporate account. They don't care. They shipped out 1000 of these all over the world yesterday and they'll do it again tomorrow. If you've never experienced it, it really is an entirely different level of service than the nonsense we have to suffer through with consumer medicines. Corporate accounts don't wait. C-suite executives don't tell you how something broke. They just want it fixed. Yesterday.

Yes, it costs more up front, but the first time it saves you the difference is more than made up.

 

[BrecMadak]

Hello.
Build quality: ASUS is top, MSI is very bad. Have seen a lot of complaints. ASUS on Intel variants? None?
Also. If you want PROFESSIONAL use, and easily could afford EUR 3K - maybe look for some business-grade machines?
Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 1, Lenovo ThinkPad P16s Gen 2, Lenovo ThinkBook 16p G4 - found on markit (dot) eu
Fruit company, maybe? (Macbook Pro with Apple M-series processors) - great display, too.

Not many options from Lenovo; only Legion Pro 7 which is 16" and I am looking for at least 17"
I game from time to time but it's classics mostly and rarely do I buy new high-demanding games like ER.
Edit: Sorry guys, adding gaming to the OG.

 

[SL2]

I looked around for the Pugetbench Photoshop 0.93 and it seems like the difference between the two CPU's is very small. The benchmarks are also laptop model dependant so it's hard to get a conclusion. I'd say they're about the same.

As for GPU, I can't see a reason for getting the fastest purely by looking at this specific benchmark. This is desktop tho, so model numbers aren't the same, and neither is performance.

PugetBench List

Build your own computer, workstation, mini pc, or server at Puget Custom Computers.

benchmarks.pugetsystems.com

For your use case you should be looking at HP EliteBooks and Dell Precision line machines,

I was thinking the same, but then I saw the prices for pro models with similar kind of GPU..

 

[BrecMadak]

Thanks for the questions everyone, initially I'd avoided putting links to the retailer but they are added to the OG now. Also, the reason why other models/brands are not included is they're either not available or over my budget. Hence I limited my budget to 3 laptop models specifically.

 

[faye]

Thanks for the questions everyone, initially I'd avoided putting links to the retailer but they are added to the OG now. Also, the reason why other models/brands are not included is they're either not available or over my budget. Hence I limited my budget to 3 laptop models specifically.

Why this retailer, though? You could do better on eBay, even. With full warranty. And why obfuscate it originally? What's the story here?

 

[micropage7]

what about this one
https://www.newegg.com/royal-black-...gaming/p/N82E16834233571?Item=N82E16834233571

 

[P4-630]

Check the laptop prices at https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/

Coolblue is not the cheapest most of the time.

 

[faye]

Check the laptop prices at https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/

Coolblue is not the cheapest most of the time.

Apparently they have store credit.

 

[BrecMadak]

Why this retailer, though? You could do better on eBay, even. With full warranty. And why obfuscate it originally? What's the story here?

There is no story, as I mentioned I need to redeem my credits. They do 2 year warranty. Secondly, I didn't want people to be distracted by other specs where I exclusively asked for the CPU performance. Plus some platforms' spam filters are rather strict.
Now I appreciate it if we could discuss the mentioned 3 models.

 

[faye]

There is no story, as I mentioned I need to redeem my credits. They do 2 year warranty. Secondly, I didn't want people to be distracted by other specs where I exclusively asked for the CPU performance. Plus some platforms' spam filters are rather strict.
Now I appreciate it if we could discuss the mentioned 3 models.

Okay - they're all terrible choices given your stated use. Discussed.

 

[dgianstefani]

Look at top ten lists from notebookcheck.net

Laptops with the same internal hardware can vary dramatically in performance, depending on the cooling, power delivery and BIOS settings the manufacturer specced.

 

[Fourstaff]

Based on reviews, the performance of the CPUs should be largely similar (top of the list in Notebookcheck). In terms of clock speed they will normally turbo up over and above nominal speed, depending on thermal headroom. I do think you should pick the one with best warranty support, unless you have a backup machine in case of any problems. It might be possible for you to take a few days disruption to work schedule, but I don't think you will be able to get away with 1 week's worth of disruption. In terms of laptop size, consider getting external screen instead (2 if you need to work from home and office). Ergonomically much better.

 

[dgianstefani]

The Best Mobile Workstation Laptops

Top 10 Workstation laptops with professional graphics cards reviewed by Notebookcheck

www.notebookcheck.net

Since your budget is roughly €3000, you can afford to get a decent workstation.

E.g.

or

17" laptops are unusual these days.

16" is the new 15", and 18" is the new 17".

I would also suggest the Framework Laptop 16.

Adding your own OS, memory and storage would bring this to around £23-2500 depending on options you chose. This works out to around 2920 euros. Now the 7700S isn't as powerful as the RTX 4080 mobile, but it's an advantage having a modular laptop, and the build quality of Framework is superior to any of the three options you had chosen.

Choose Framework Laptop 16 DIY Edition (AMD Ryzen™ 7040 Series)

The Framework Laptop 16 is a high-performance laptop with an upgradeable and completely modular design that allows endless options for configuration, including a fully reconfigurable input deck and modular discrete graphics.

frame.work

The DIY option is superior because Framework charges a lot for memory, OS and storage, and doesn't even use the best available options for the premium.

In future you would be able to upgrade the CPU and graphics separately if needed.

Framework also includes a particularly efficient and good quality USB PD 3.1 180 W type C charger.

This is GaN for smaller size and greater transforming efficiency.

 

[AleXXX666]

Not many options from Lenovo; only Legion Pro 7 which is 16" and I am looking for at least 17"
I game from time to time but it's classics mostly and rarely do I buy new high-demanding games like ER.
Edit: Sorry guys, adding gaming to the OG.

I have daily ASUS TUF F15, low specced but bargain cheap, because it was bought "for studying", it's "standard" 15.6 1080p 144 Hz and it's great.
17 is "desktop replacement", as they called that big "laptops" back time ago, but, if you are ok with carrying heavy suitcase (even from building to car and back), your choice.

and 18" is the new 17".

OH my, please no...

 

[P4-630]

@BrecMadak did you buy one yet?

 

[BrecMadak]

@BrecMadak did you buy one yet?

I ordered Raider GE78 HX 14VHG.