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Is there a laptop or what is the best and most efficient laptop for 3D with low power consumption and as eco as possible.

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Animat

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Hi,

I am a 3D artist… and lately I have been asking myself the same question over and over again, because it is time to upgrade my old working laptop which is power hungry as hell and I would like to minimize on this aspect and to use a laptop that can be more eco-friendly and less power hungry to do my 3D animation work.

But I know… it really doesn’t make sense because anything that requires high-end graphics like 3D, be animation or modelling, etc. it requires higher power which translate at the end of the day to hungry power usage.

I know there might be really no way around this, but just dropping the question out here.

Is there a laptop or what is the best and most efficient laptop for 3D with low power consumption and as eco as possible.
Hopefully, some of you might have some ideas.

Thank you beforehand
 
If you are really concerned about ecology, you should get a PC instead of a laptop. Laptop batteries take a lot of energy to manufacture and they use a lot of hazardous materials which then end up in land fills.

Laptops have very limited upgrade and repair options. This means if you want to upgrade your laptop, or if a major component fails, it is common to have to replace the whole laptop. Where with a PC, just about every component can be upgraded or replaced. This also means a PC can "evolve" over many many years of upgrades to stay current with the latest technologies. Yet, for example, you can keep your same monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard. To stay current with a laptop, you typically have to replace the laptop - which also means replacing the monitor, keyboard and mouse/trackpad.

If you really must have a laptop, you need to provide more information. For example, what size screen do you need and most importantly, what is your budget?
 
We need to get a little more detail to provide meaningful advice. What is your current laptop model / configuration and what software do you use?
 
Last edited:
No.
 
thank you for your
Bill_Bright said:
If you are really concerned about ecology, you should get a PC instead of a laptop. Laptop batteries take a lot of energy to manufacture and they use a lot of hazardous materials which then end up in land fills.

Laptops have very limited upgrade and repair options. This means if you want to upgrade your laptop, or if a major component fails, it is common to have to replace the whole laptop. Where with a PC, just about every component can be upgraded or replaced. This also means a PC can "evolve" over many many years of upgrades to stay current with the latest technologies. Yet, for example, you can keep your same monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard. To stay current with a laptop, you typically have to replace the laptop - which also means replacing the monitor, keyboard and mouse/trackpad.

If you really must have a laptop, you need to provide more information. For example, what size screen do you need and most importantly, what is your budget?
Click to expand...


Hi guys,

Thank you for your reply, I do understand your point of view and your perspective… and I have been many times thinking about this, which should be the bests option.

Now, getting a PC for 3D it will be difficult to move and carry around, not to say if you are moving for work, few months in a country and another few months on another.

The simple thought of moving a big machine is simply not fixable, while I think it will arrive in good conditions wherever I move for work, might in the end costing more money along the way and in the end would not be fixable.

That is why, the laptop is easier on the move… but as you mention are double the impact and not very eco-friendly.
I have been looking at the HP Z2 G5 MINI WORKSTATION DESKTOP PC series as a solution, need to check what is the power consumption of the beast, sizes, weight, and how easy would be to move around in a backpack, but this means that will need to get a screen every time a move or simply packet and send it to wherever I am working. Which I don’t know how cost-effective will be this, in the end. Not to say if you need to talk to clients the whole set up will be a bit too much if every time you need to see a client you need to bring with you a screen.

A laptop seems the way to go, I have a 17” laptop at this moment, is an Alienware R2, it has been working great for the work I do… but it is time to replace the machine… it stops working, and the technician told me that have two short circuits on the motherboard but also have affected the graphics card, so he told me replace the machine or replace the motherboard, which is costly.

My budget is around €1.500 / 600 can’t through more money away at this time, software Maya, PS, unity.

I have seen the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 (16 in) AMD, but this machine is power hungry 300w. And also Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 is less power hungry 240W, but I would like to find something less power hungry if is there.

So this is where my head is at this moment, any good suggestions will be great.
 
Last edited:
Animat said:
thank you for your



Hi guys,

Thank you for your reply, I do understand your point of view and your perspective… and I have been many times thinking about this, which should be the bests option.

Now, getting a PC for 3D it will be difficult to move and carry around, not to say if you are moving for work, few months in a country and another few months on another.

The simple thought of moving a big machine is simply not fixable, while I think it will arrive in good conditions wherever I move for work, might in the end costing more money along the way and in the end would not be fixable.

That is why, the laptop is easier on the move… but as you mention are double the impact and not very eco-friendly.
I have been looking at the HP Z2 G5 MINI WORKSTATION DESKTOP PC series as a solution, need to check what is the power consumption of the beast, sizes, weight, and how easy would be to move around in a backpack, but this means that will need to get a screen every time a move or simply packet and send it to wherever I am working. Which I don’t know how cost-effective will be this, in the end. Not to say if you need to talk to clients the whole set up will be a bit too much if every time you need to see a client you need to bring with you a screen.

A laptop seems the way to go, I have a 17” laptop at this moment, is an Alienware R2, it has been working great for the work I do… but it is time to replace the machine… it stops working, and the technician told me that have two short circuits on the motherboard but also have affected the graphics card, so he told me replace the machine or replace the motherboard, which is costly.

My budget is around €1.500 / 600 can’t through more money away at this time, software Maya, PS, unity.

I have seen the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 (16 in) AMD, but this machine is power hungry 300w. And also Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 is less power hungry 240W, but I would like to find something less power hungry if is there.

So this is where my head is at this moment, any good suggestions will be great.
Click to expand...
note that gaming machines are fuckin bricks
and without a power input from an outlet they are slow, and the battery sucks anyway

anyway it would be useful to know what programs are you gonna use, even though they are mostly cpu based

the apple with m1, might work, but you need to see their support list; or you can get a cheapo laptop, and then rd to a desktop or export all the heavy work to cloud services such as gcolab or sheepit for rendering
 
Would certainly opt for Workstation class laptops before consumer. The overall quality of the build is just a bit better, tougher, less frills.

At 1500 you might be able to snag a good model (as in, near top-end) from one or two generations back. I'd not take anything refurbished above the age of 3 years for a laptop - but a second hand that was taken good care of can easily last you another 4-6 years.
 
Would be nice to know what laptop are you using right now, and whether you are happy with it's current performance (not concerning power draw).
And which software do you use.
 
You did not specify your current laptop configuration, but based on the software you use I'd strongly recommend going with a mobile Ryzen 9 59xx HX series CPU. It is more energy-efficient and also a bit faster in Photoshop than its Intel counterpart. I imagine you already have 16 GB of memory, therefore I'd suggest 32 GB of RAM.

Arnold, the rendering engine in Maya, requires Nvidia graphics for GPU-based rendering. If this is your preferred method, I'd advise an Ampere mobile GPU. I wouldn't go lower than the RTX3070 Max-Q.
 
Last edited:
Animat said:
Hi,

I am a 3D artist… and lately I have been asking myself the same question over and over again, because it is time to upgrade my old working laptop which is power hungry as hell and I would like to minimize on this aspect and to use a laptop that can be more eco-friendly and less power hungry to do my 3D animation work.

But I know… it really doesn’t make sense because anything that requires high-end graphics like 3D, be animation or modelling, etc. it requires higher power which translate at the end of the day to hungry power usage.

I know there might be really no way around this, but just dropping the question out here.

Is there a laptop or what is the best and most efficient laptop for 3D with low power consumption and as eco as possible.
Hopefully, some of you might have some ideas.

Thank you beforehand
Click to expand...

Animat said:
thank you for your



Hi guys,

Thank you for your reply, I do understand your point of view and your perspective… and I have been many times thinking about this, which should be the bests option.

Now, getting a PC for 3D it will be difficult to move and carry around, not to say if you are moving for work, few months in a country and another few months on another.

The simple thought of moving a big machine is simply not fixable, while I think it will arrive in good conditions wherever I move for work, might in the end costing more money along the way and in the end would not be fixable.

That is why, the laptop is easier on the move… but as you mention are double the impact and not very eco-friendly.
I have been looking at the HP Z2 G5 MINI WORKSTATION DESKTOP PC series as a solution, need to check what is the power consumption of the beast, sizes, weight, and how easy would be to move around in a backpack, but this means that will need to get a screen every time a move or simply packet and send it to wherever I am working. Which I don’t know how cost-effective will be this, in the end. Not to say if you need to talk to clients the whole set up will be a bit too much if every time you need to see a client you need to bring with you a screen.

A laptop seems the way to go, I have a 17” laptop at this moment, is an Alienware R2, it has been working great for the work I do… but it is time to replace the machine… it stops working, and the technician told me that have two short circuits on the motherboard but also have affected the graphics card, so he told me replace the machine or replace the motherboard, which is costly.

My budget is around €1.500 / 600 can’t through more money away at this time, software Maya, PS, unity.

I have seen the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 (16 in) AMD, but this machine is power hungry 300w. And also Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 is less power hungry 240W, but I would like to find something less power hungry if is there.

So this is where my head is at this moment, any good suggestions will be great.
Click to expand...

glsn said:
note that gaming machines are fuckin bricks
and without a power input from an outlet they are slow, and the battery sucks anyway

anyway it would be useful to know what programs are you gonna use, even though they are mostly cpu based

the apple with m1, might work, but you need to see their support list; or you can get a cheapo laptop, and then rd to a desktop or export all the heavy work to cloud services such as gcolab or sheepit for rendering
Click to expand...

Vayra86 said:
Would certainly opt for Workstation class laptops before consumer. The overall quality of the build is just a bit better, tougher, less frills.

At 1500 you might be able to snag a good model (as in, near top-end) from one or two generations back. I'd not take anything refurbished above the age of 3 years for a laptop - but a second hand that was taken good care of can easily last you another 4-6 years.
Click to expand...

QuietBob said:
You did not specify your current laptop configuration, but based on the software you use I'd strongly recommend going with a mobile Ryzen 9 HX series CPU. It is more energy-efficient and also a bit faster in Photoshop than its Intel counterpart. I imagine you already have 16 GB of memory, therefore I'd suggest 32 GB of RAM.

Arnold, the rendering engine in Maya, requires Nvidia graphics for GPU-based rendering. If this is your preferred method, I'd advise an Ampere mobile GPU. I wouldn't go lower than the RTX3070 Max-Q.
Click to expand...

These are serious Laptops

Explore Eurocom's Full Lineup of High-Performance Laptops

AI development laptops, military-grade laptops, rugged laptops, NVIDIA RTX laptops, Intel Core laptops, AMD Ryzen laptops, high-speed storage, NVMe
eurocom.com eurocom.com
 
P4-630 said:
Maya, PS, unity he said.
Click to expand...
then yeah mostly cpu based
there are few functions on maya that do use the gpu, but are rare and not intensive

except for arnold render but gpu integration still sucks, so he will going to using the cpu

then one of those overpriced "professional" laptops might work aswell;
though I don't think that he is in the right forum to ask, he should go to forum like polycount (it's not spam right?)
 
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Unfortunately lower power consumption and high performance are yet to be achieved, though compared to earlier generations, these new dense chipsets have come a long way , so getting the latest generation is the most efficient way , ryzen is definitely better though not by a huge margin ...
 
Ferd said:
Unfortunately lower power consumption and high performance are yet to be achieved, though compared to earlier generations, these new dense chipsets have come a long way , so getting the latest generation is the most efficient way , ryzen is definitely better though not by a huge margin ...
Click to expand...
Have you looked at the power draw of intel processors. AMD wins by big margins.
 
yotano211 said:
Have you looked at the power draw of intel processors. AMD wins by big margins.
Click to expand...
I did mention that amd is the way to go I know it’s slightly more efficient in multithreaded tasks, but not by a big margin, in fact intels are more efficient in moderate tasks despite amd using 7nm , and I guess that’s why most ppl think it’s more efficient.
Here is an electro-technical comparison of two cpus
www.capframex.com

CapFrameX - Efficiency comparison between Intel and AMD - Blog

Are CPUs from AMD significantly more efficient due to the 7nm process node or can Intel still keep up?
www.capframex.com www.capframex.com

Op is asking about a laptop so this whole comparison maybe invalid as it’s done on desktop platforms , but it is using the latest both companies offer so it’s still relevant , as laptops use totally different throttling methods to control temps and power delivery, you can see many powerful cpus on mobile platforms being throttled to 70% of their nominal tdp, and that’s not efficient that’s simply slowing down a chip to claim lower consumption and temps ....
I am sorry if this out off topic and not helpful to OP but it still falls under efficiency concerns .
I don’t disagree with you actually, it’s just a discussion that’s not going to answer questions asked by Op .
 
Ferd said:
I did mention that amd is the way to go I know it’s slightly more efficient in multithreaded tasks, but not by a big margin, in fact intels are more efficient in moderate tasks despite amd using 7nm , and I guess that’s why most ppl think it’s more efficient.
Here is an electro-technical comparison of two cpus
www.capframex.com

CapFrameX - Efficiency comparison between Intel and AMD - Blog

Are CPUs from AMD significantly more efficient due to the 7nm process node or can Intel still keep up?
www.capframex.com www.capframex.com

Op is asking about a laptop so this whole comparison maybe invalid as it’s done on desktop platforms , but it is using the latest both companies offer so it’s still relevant , as laptops use totally different throttling methods to control temps and power delivery, you can see many powerful cpus on mobile platforms being throttled to 70% of their nominal tdp, and that’s not efficient that’s simply slowing down a chip to claim lower consumption and temps ....
I am sorry if this out off topic and not helpful to OP but it still falls under efficiency concerns .
I don’t disagree with you actually, it’s just a discussion that’s not going to answer questions asked by Op .
Click to expand...
For laptop, I saw a internet page somewhere that AMD is more power efficient to around 65-70watts, even better than intel 11th 10nm generation.
 
Regarding comparisons like that Intel and AMD efficiency comparison, IMO, such comparisons are total nonsense!

Why? First and foremost, both AMD and Intel make dozens of different processors. Without specifying specific models, comparing Intel to AMD is like comparing apples to oranges.

What orange? There are many varieties. A sweet Valencia? Or a bitter Seville orange?

What apple? A sweet Fuji? Or a tart Granny Smith?

Second, the CPU is just one component in a computer. GPUs and the display screen are also power hogs. And a 17" screen consumes more power than a 14". DDR3 is a hog compared to DDR4. Is there a power hungry hard drive, or efficient SSD?

Therefore, IMO, the efficiency of the computer, or specifically a laptop, as a whole is more important. And for that matter, when dealing with laptops, does the user really need to be concerned with "efficiency specs"? NO! The more important question is, "what is the battery runtime?"

Third - battery runtime is greatly dependent on how the user uses the computer - which programs they run, for example, and how that program taxes the laptops resources.

An inefficient CPU running at 20% load for example, is still using less power (and generating less heat) than an efficient CPU running at 80%.
 
Hi guys,

Thank you for all the replies... and by the way, I am not a Spam...

I see that there are a lot of discussion in relation to AMD Ryzen and Intel performances... now I understand a bit better this subject, as I was a bit lost on this, so thanks, Bill and guys for clearing that big cloud.

I think the best option is to go mid- range and keep performance

Yotano211
The ASUS - ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition 15.6" FHD Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 9-5900HX - 16GB Memory - Radeon RX 6800M - 512GB SSD. Looks really good... I am going to do some digging where I am in the EU to see if I could get it here.

EUROCOM Laptops are beast, it is petty that there are only in the US and Canada, do you know if you can get this guys in the EU?

Thank you guys
 
Animat said:
Hi guys,

Thank you for all the replies... and by the way, I am not a Spam...

I see that there are a lot of discussion in relation to AMD Ryzen and Intel performances... now I understand a bit better this subject, as I was a bit lost on this, so thanks, Bill and guys for clearing that big cloud.

I think the best option is to go mid- range and keep performance

Yotano211
The ASUS - ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition 15.6" FHD Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 9-5900HX - 16GB Memory - Radeon RX 6800M - 512GB SSD. Looks really good... I am going to do some digging where I am in the EU to see if I could get it here.

EUROCOM Laptops are beast, it is petty that there are only in the US and Canada, do you know if you can get this guys in the EU?

Thank you guys
Click to expand...
EUROCOM laptops use clevo cases. EUROCOM is just a reseller. There is many clevo resellers in Europe.
 
Animat said:
The ASUS - ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition 15.6" FHD Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 9-5900HX - 16GB Memory - Radeon RX 6800M - 512GB SSD. Looks really good...
Click to expand...
This is an excellent choice for your intended workloads, and one of the fastest laptops in general. It's also very light for the performance it offers.
There are laptops that use desktop components, like the Clevo, and they're even faster. But these are much bulkier and incredibly power hungry.

One thing though, definitely get 32 GB of RAM. When you have all your software open while working on a project, importing and exporting between the apps, and running some background programs, those 16 GB will run out in no time.
 
So guys... after looking around I have put my eyes on these two laptops, one is the gaming.

OMEN 15-en1003ns Gaming Laptop with NVIDIA® GeForce RTX ™ 3070 Graphics

Windows 10 Home 64

AMD Ryzen ™ 7 5800H (up to 4.4 GHz maximum clock boost, 16 MB L3 cache, 8 cores, 16 threads)

RAM DDR4-3200 MHz 16 GB (2 x 8 GB)

1 TB M.2 PCIe® NVMe ™ TLC SSD

15.6 "(39.6 cm) diagonal FHD, 144 Hz, 7 ms response time, IPS, micro-edge bezel, anti-glare, 300 nits, 72% NTSC (1920 x 1080)

NVIDIA® GeForce RTX ™ 3070 Notebook GPU (8 GB GDDR6 Dedicated)

And the other is the HP ZBook Power G7 Mobile Workstation

Windows 10 Pro 64

Intel® Core ™ i7-10750H (2.6 GHz base frequency, up to 5.0 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 12 MB L3 cache, 6 cores)

RAM DDR4-3200 MHz 8 GB (1 x 8 GB)

256 GB PCIe® SSD

15.6 "(39.6 cm) diagonal FHD, IPS, anti-glare, 250 nits, 45% NTSC (1920 x 1080)

NVIDIA® Quadro® P620 (4 GB GDDR5 dedicated)

I know this might not make much of a sense... but... I like both machine, but there are few things that I am trying to avoid at this moment, my old computer had the following and that is the stuff I will try to avoided in the new machine.

- I will try to avoid a machine that is constantly on a full blast fan noise.

- I also will try to avoid intensive heat as much as I can (I know this can deteriorate the life of the machine)

- Power consumption is another thing, I can see that the Omen takes about 200W and the HP ZBook Power G7 takes about 150W AC is which lower.

My head is heading to get the HP ZBook Power G7, because the reviews that I have read most of then are saying that it is a quiet but powerful machine, it has an NVIDIA® Quadro® P620, but I know NVIDIA Quadro’s are getting out the door and the model with this machine is a basic one, but still an NVIDIA® Quadro® P620. I will upgrade the RAM to 32 GB if I finally choose this unit, I also like the aspect that not many people had reported many problems with the machine, and it seems a well put machine.

The thing that I am not really clear about is the Intel® Core ™ i7-10750H (2.6 GHz base frequency, up to 5.0 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 12 MB L3 cache, 6 cores) as the work I do is 3D animation, that means PCU will be important. The Omen has an AMD Ryzen ™ 7 5800H (up to 4.4 GHz maximum clock boost, 16 MB L3 cache, 8 cores, 16 threads) which it seems better than the Intel Core i7-10750H, but I could be quite wrong on this.

So is the Intel® Core ™ i7-10750H good for 3D animation with Autodesk MAYA or will be better the AMD Ryzen ™ 7 5800H?

What will be your thoughts on this?
 
I don't know if they still have a contract but pcspecialist in the UK used to use clevo chassis might be something to look into if your still in the research stage of purchasing
 
I have check MGX 17 while the machine look good it is the heat and fan noise, that put me off… I am not base in the UK, the one I have in my country is call mountain, and are way too €€€. But thank you for your suggestion:)
 
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