Question Gaming Laptop Comparison

[KHF_1212]

Hi all,

looking to buy a gaming laptop and narrowed down to two that I like.

1. ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 240Hz IPS QHD Display, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, Intel Core i9 12900H, 16GB DDR5, 1TB SSD ($1,699)


2. MSI Sword 3070Ti Gaming Laptop, 15.6" FHD IPS 144Hz, 12th Gen Intel 10-Core i7-12650H, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, 32GB DDR4 RAM, 2TB PCIe SSD ($1,555)

I am looking for thoughts on performance here, less on the storage (I can live with 1 TB SSD so that is not the deciding factor)

Questions:
- Is the I9- 12900H going to make a noticeable difference over the i7-12650H?

- How big of a difference will the 32gb of DDR4 vs 16 of DDR5?

- Which one is the better buy here?

 

[Lafong]

3 or 4 percent single thread benchmark performance advantage for the 12900H.

That could easily not be noticeable.

About 19 percent advantage on multi-thread benchmark. Might be noticable in heavily threaded tasks, but not so much in gaming.

Heat may be a factor in a laptop.

I'd worry about display and keyboard, but you may not be able to test them before purchase.

 

[geofelt]

To answer your questions:

The 12900H is marginally better in single thread performance.
That is what games need most.

No game, by itself really needs more than 16gb.
Extra storage on a laptop comes at a price premium.
Usually, you will do better by buying a minimum ram and storage configuration and upgrading yourself.

The difference in display resolution and quality may be the difference.
If you can, see each candidate yourself.

Do you really need portability?
For the price, you can likely build a better gamer.

Lastly,
I see many complaints about gaming laptops not performing well.
Usually gaming while plugged in.
One common cause is thermal throttling.
Laptop coolers must, of necessity be small and light.
The coolers are also relatively underpowered.
Look at the cooling capabilities of each.

 

[KHF_1212]

Thank you both very much for your responses!

 

[logainofhades]

I would choose the i7, with the 32gb ram. Those extra E cores will do nothing for you gaming wise. That 32gb ram will prove helpful, going forward.

 

[Rokinamerica]

Good chance the i7 will run cooler too.