Question How to analyze and choose a (almost "high end") laptop?

[Brunck]

I am "studying" to buy a new laptop. Long time I do not buy one, and things has changed (a lot) since last time. The goal is to buy a strong equipment, something near a good workstation. Of course, I do not want to spend money, but "invest" money. In other terms, I would like to buy wisely. Perhaps this post/question could end up into a "very good laptop buying guide" (just depends on the contribution of all - thank you all!). This been said, I would like some help on what to look for, what to consider, manufactures, brands, models, specification, and so on.

Usually the first question is: what is the goal for the equipment? What the laptop will be used for? Which software will run on it?

I am looking to something more generalist, where I will use: Excel, PowerPoint, so as video editing and OBS video recording (maybe I need to consider a good graphics/video card - GPU). Today, I have two 4K external monitors, which I will plug into the new laptop.

In terms of manufactures, I am considering Asus, Dell and ("very maybe") Lenovo and (perhaps) MSi.

About models:

Asus: ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 OLED (W7604), ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 3D OLED (H7604) and ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 OLED (H7604).

The three models have Intel i9-13980HX Processor. Does it make sense (value for the money)? Can I have a near close performance with the 12th generation i9?

Graphics:

ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 OLED (W7604) = nVidia RTX 3000 8GB GDDR6
ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 3D OLED (H7604) = nVidia GeForce RTX 4070 8GB GDDR6
ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 OLED (H7604) = nVidia GeForce RTX 4060 8GB GDDR6

From what I read until now, seems that the 4070 would have a better performance against RTX A3000. Is that right?

Memory:

All three models use DDR5, varying from 16GB to 64GB. The original idea is to get 1x32GB and add another 1x32GB (which brand? Corsair? Crucial?).

Which "maker"/brand should I buy as addition memory?

Dell: I looked for Precision series, models from the "7" line. 75 and 76... They look more expensive compared to Asus and not sure if it delivers more value for the money. The plan is a configuration/setup near the Asus ProArt.

Lenovo: seems to be the Thinkpad series but could not find a model that fits.

MSi: this is a new territory for me...

What I am looking for:

1. What to look for and consider on the analysis;
2. Diferences on manufacture and brands;
3. Opinion on the models I listed;
4. Sugestions and advices.

Of course, I am very opened to hear opinions, thoughts, advices and counceling. Like I said in the begining, maybe we could build a guide for buying a laptop.

 

[Aeacus]

The three models have Intel i9-13980HX Processor. Does it make sense (value for the money)? Can I have a near close performance with the 12th generation i9?

That 13th gen laptop CPU is equal to i9-12900K desktop CPU,
comparison: https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i9-13980HX-vs-Intel-Core-i9-12900K/m2030055vs4118

From what I read until now, seems that the 4070 would have a better performance against RTX A3000. Is that right?

GeForce RTX 40-series and Quadro RTX A3000 series are not comparable.

RTX 40-series is designed for gaming use and it does it the best. While for everything else (e.g 3D render), it lags behind Quadro.
Quadro GPUs are designed for workstation use and these will excel at it. But they do poorly in gaming (if even able).

So, not comparable to each other.

In similar sense; you could compare sports car with semi truck. Both will get you from point A to point B, but are fundamentally different. Sports car is fast, but semi truck can haul loads of cargo at once. So, how would you even compare these two against each other? Even in raw performance they are different. Sports car may have more horsepower but semi truck will have far more torque.

In the end: if you do mainly gaming, get RTX 40-series. If you do everything else except gaming, get Quadro.

All three models use DDR5, varying from 16GB to 64GB. The original idea is to get 1x32GB and add another 1x32GB (which brand? Corsair? Crucial?).

Which "maker"/brand should I buy as addition memory?

If you want to get 64GB in total, then go for it off the bat. Getting 32GB now and playing the RAM lottery afterwards is really bad idea. Since even when you buy the very same RAM as you already have (to minimize chances of both sticks not working together), chances are still 50:50.

Further reading, especially "mixed memory" chapter: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...y-ram-and-xmp-profile-configurations.3398926/

RAM brand wise, it matters little, since all brands have the "value/budget", mid tier and high-end RAMs to offer.
In that sense, Corsair Vengeance would be worse than G.Skill Trident (high-end RAM). Or on the flip side, G.Skill Ripjaws would be worse than Corsair Dominator (high-end RAM).

Better get low latency RAM. This gives the best performance.
Also, higher transfer speed isn't always the best, especially when you have high CAS Latency to go along with it. To know which transfer speed and CAS Latency combos are most beneficial, lets put the transfer speed and latency into nanoseconds, with a formula of:
(cas latency/ram transfer speed) x 2000 = latency in nanoseconds

Few examples:
(22/3200) x 2000 = 13.75 nanoseconds (DDR4)
(20/3000) x 2000 = 13.33 nanoseconds (DDR4)
(40/6400) x 2000 = 12.5 nanoseconds (DDR5)
(16/2667) x 2000 = 11.998 nanoseconds (DDR4)
(14/2400) x 2000 = 11.667 nanoseconds (DDR4)
(18/3200) x 2000 = 11.25 nanoseconds (DDR4)
(10/1866) x 2000 = 10.71 nanoseconds (DDR3) <- what i'm currently running in my Haswell build
(15/3000) x 2000 = 10 nanoseconds (DDR4) <- what i'm currently running in my Skylake build
(30/6000) x 2000 = 10 nanoseconds (DDR5)

With this, slower transfer speed (2400 MT/s) but also smaller CAS Latency (CL14) RAM, is overall quicker, than higher transfer speed (6400 MT/s) and bigger CAS Latency (CL40) RAM.

In terms of manufactures, I am considering Asus, Dell and ("very maybe") Lenovo and (perhaps) MSi.

Brand wise, Dell often comes with bloatware. And Dell being big name, affords to put some premium on their products as well, just because it has Dell name on it.
Asus is good. Lenovo not so much. Lenovo mostly focuses on business laptops. MSI is new in the game and mostly focuses on gaming laptops. But in the end, does it matter what name is on the laptop? Especially when the hardware in it is matching your needs.

So, brand wise, i have no suggestions. Heck, i even don't like laptops to begin with.
Yeah-yeah, i do have Asus laptop though. Eee PC 701 running Lubuntu distro.