Currently only the 7 actually shows availability for the RTX line of GPUs, but I figure it's only a matter of time before the 9 has it, or gets replaced by a new model that can take it.
In light of this week's All the RTX 2000 Series Max Q Laptops article, I am once again considering other makers like Dell/Alienware, Acer, HP, etc. The idea of possibly getting a 17" panel in a 15" laptop form-factor is rather intriguing, and would help greatly when it's time for me to travel or squeeze myself into a booth in a coffeeshop. But then again, if I saw an 18" panel in a 17" form factor, I'd probably still go with the larger one. Yeah, I'm a glutton like that.
But in the meantime, here's what I think I want:
- i9 9700 processor
- RTX 2080 GPU with as much GPU memory as I can get
- 32 GB RAM, upgradable to at least 64 GB
- Capacity for at least 3 SSDs and up to a total of 10+ TB (can be a combination of M.2 and 2.5" form factor drives)
- 17" display with 144 refresh rate and Gsync (regardless of the laptop's form factor, it really should have a 17" or larger panel in it)
- Battery should be removable for ease of replacement
- A fair number and diversity of ports, including HDMI, DP (if available), thunderbump (whatever it's called these days), USB 3-point-eighty-two-thousand Type C, D, E, and F (whatever), and so on.
- ...and this is kind of dumb-sounding, but I would like it to have a fully programmable RGB keyboard.
- Optional: I don't really care too much about the built-in sound, because I plan to use a USB audio + MIDI interface for anything really important. Also, touch screen and convertible mode (flip screen to tablet mode) are a "nice-to-have". Battery life should be competent, but mostly it will be plugged in.
I'd like to keep the cost somewhere around $3,000 to $3,500. The one exception is that I'm still prepared to spend up to $5K+ for a dual GPU laptop as long as I can disable SLI (that X9C does allow SLI to be disabled). But I don't feel all that strongly motivated to get 2 RTX cards right now.
Use Case:
The laptop will be used for graphic arts (including CUDA rendering), music production, gaming, and general office stuff. I'm willing to spend more money on components that will work well for the first three of those things.
Thoughts, ideas, recommendations?