14th Gen Desktop replacement Laptops?

[Snowleopard]

I currently have a 10th gen Desktop replacement laptop (Cleveo x170sm-g) and right now Clevo doesn't have any 13th or 14th gen laptops that take desktop processors.

 

I saw some reviews of the MSI Titan (Current model) but  am looking for something with an actual socketed desktop processor, 4 so dimm slots (256gb ram), a RTX4090 or ATI (AMD) equivalent GPU and minimum 4 nvme slots, 6 or 8 would be better and dual 300 watt power bricks or a single 780 w power brick like I have on my Clevo.

More USB-C gen 3.2 2x2 ports or (USB 4) would be nice also. 4k , 5k or 8k screen.

[serpro69]

I don't think there's even one machine that would satisfy your requirements (socketed CPUs in laptops are non-existent for latest generations, at least at this point). We shall see what happens next year, but I doubt there will be any changes in this regard.

[Aaron44126]

Agreed.  I don't even know of a 13th-gen system that meets this.  The DTR market as we used to know it seems to be dead.

 

You can find a small number of systems with 4 NVMe slots but I've never heard of one with more than that.  You might be able to squeeze in one more small one (not bootable) if you repurpose a WWAN slot with an adapter.  Four SODIMMs is also becoming uncommon as well (and right now that maxes out at 192 GB) and CAMM or soldered memory will probably take over as high DDR5 speeds start causing signaling issues on SODIMM slots.  And, 4K display (or the taller 16:10 variant of it) is the max resolution that I have heard of in a laptop display.

[Papusan]

On 11/16/2023 at 5:30 PM, Snowleopard said:

I currently have a 10th gen Desktop replacement laptop (Cleveo x170sm-g) and right now Clevo doesn't have any 13th or 14th gen laptops that take desktop processors.

 

I saw some reviews of the MSI Titan (Current model) but  am looking for something with an actual socketed desktop processor, 4 so dimm slots (256gb ram), a RTX4090 or ATI (AMD) equivalent GPU and minimum 4 nvme slots, 6 or 8 would be better and dual 300 watt power bricks or a single 780 w power brick like I have on my Clevo.

More USB-C gen 3.2 2x2 ports or (USB 4) would be nice also. 4k , 5k or 8k screen.

As already mentioned... You already own the last true laptop (DTR) worth to buy. New and more modern laptops with newest hardware is limited in all ways. Cpu and GPU soldered on the MB... Almost no storage slots. Mostly max 2x m.2 slots. And most of the new laptops have only two ram slots if not one or both of the memory are soldered to the MB. But they are damn thin, slim and cute, have the newest panels and come with small fancy shaped PSUs that can offer the 240W power mostly all laptops are capped with. DTR laptops is dead. Want DTR then you have to buy a desktop (prebuilt or build by yourself). None of the new and modern laptops can be branded as DTR. I would rather say they all are Apple copy-cats. So no thanks.

[Snowleopard]

15 hours ago, Papusan said:

As already mentioned... You already own the last true laptop (DTR) worth to buy. New and more modern laptops with newest hardware is limited in all ways. Cpu and GPU soldered on the MB... Almost no storage slots. Mostly max 2x m.2 slots. And most of the new laptops have only two ram slots if not one or both of the memory are soldered to the MB. But they are damn thin, slim and cute, have the newest panels and come with small fancy shaped PSUs that can offer the 240W power mostly all laptops are capped with. DTR laptops is dead. Want DTR then you have to buy a desktop (prebuilt or build by yourself). None of the new and modern laptops can be branded as DTR. I would rather say Apple copy-cats.

They are also thermal throttled to be that thin and choke under heavy loads......

[1610ftw]

 

On 11/16/2023 at 5:30 PM, Snowleopard said:

I currently have a 10th gen Desktop replacement laptop (Cleveo x170sm-g) and right now Clevo doesn't have any 13th or 14th gen laptops that take desktop processors.

 

I saw some reviews of the MSI Titan (Current model) but  am looking for something with an actual socketed desktop processor, 4 so dimm slots (256gb ram), a RTX4090 or ATI (AMD) equivalent GPU and minimum 4 nvme slots, 6 or 8 would be better and dual 300 watt power bricks or a single 780 w power brick like I have on my Clevo.

More USB-C gen 3.2 2x2 ports or (USB 4) would be nice also. 4k , 5k or 8k screen.

 

The last laptop that could take a socketed chip was the Clevo NH55 two gens ago, it was a quite pathetic effort with a 15.6" screen and only 2 SO-Dimms and NVME slots each. Obviously the socketed design should have been reserved for a successor of the X170 but I guess that Intel paid well in order to make them produce the laughable X270 instead...

 

The only laptop ever that could take 5 NVME SSDs (and an MXM GPU) was the MSI GT75 in its 8th (some models), 9th and 10th gen revisions which is even longer ago.

It was also the last laptop I know of that could take a total of 6 drives, since then we have seen 5 only in one HP model and all others have gone down to at most 4. 

 

The only laptop that can currently take 4 SO-Dimms and 4 2280 NVME SSDs is the Zbook Fury G10, it also has a proprietary socketed GPU that could be swapped but it has no fan control worth mentioning and only a 16" display plus its power limits are laughably low last I looked.

 

The currently most powerful laptops seem to be the all soldered Tongfang, Lenovo and Asus units with the RTX4090 and from what it looks like they can easily reach more than 300W CPU and GPU power when modded but only then. Not fun if something goes wrong there with a Mobo that has both a soldered high end CPU and a hideously expensive soldered RTX4090 on it! All of them only allow for 2 x 2280 form factor NVME and 2 SO-Dimms which is obviously pathetic especially for the 18" models. Personally I think that going forward it would be great to have the stacked NVME design that HP uses even if it proves to be reliable as it will also assure that those laptops will not be ultra slim which will also allow the heatsinks to be thicker. Having them put in an array could even allow for some sort of active cooling for them as I think it will be quite important to move them air over them.

 

With regard to power there will always be aftermarket solutions so I would not worry about it too much but of course the manufacturer acknowledging that more than 330W can be used would be a big vote of confidence that the chassis can also use more than 330W. Just do not do it in the stupidest way possible like Clevo did with the X170. As for 5K screens I do not think so but I am hopeful we will get a nicer selection of resolutions for 18". Currently we have 1920 x 1200 and 2560 x 1600 and hopefully they will add 3840 x 2400 for workstations that really need 4K.

 

Despite so much potental in certain aspects here and there we have to say that overall things are looking pretty bleak and I only have very little hope that we may see something socketed soon. But if we do then next gen AMD would be a good candidate as they now also allow for Thunderbolt support which was always a big issue for workstations and always the reason why almost all top models were Intel only. As for Intel next gen would also be interesting as that socket could in theory be supported for some time even though we know that since Skylake and its successors that has not happened any more.

 

 

 

[serpro69]

Might want to consider doing something like this if you don't want to do a tower-based build.

 

 

[1610ftw]

The Janktop is a fantastic idea if one is traveling by car but if I decided to jank something like that around I would want it to take a bigger screen than current 18" laptops. I found a 21.5" LG screen with 4096 by 2304 pixels that I think is pretty cool but it is only rated for 60Hz so gamers will not be pleased. Other than that it is slim pickings from 18" up to 21.5". Not surprising as those sizes are considered to be too small for a desktop monitor and too big for a laptop screen.