About to buy for DTR. Doubting between X170KM-G vs PD70PNT

[Titopte]

Hi, I am new here.

I am quite experienced with visualization, 3d and interactive software, but not so expert on the hardware side of things.

I was hoping to get some more seasoned opinions here, if you are kind enough.

 

I am replacing (but not really retiring) my Clevo P751DM, which is still in quite decent shape after the years.

But now I am  aiming for some high end RTX gpu to upgrade to Unreal 5, and also working heavily with Vray on 3dsMax and Nuke.

 

As the tile says, I was leaning first towards the X170KM-G initially with 64gb (upgrading to 128gb in the future $!), with an i9-11900K, and a RTX 3080 16gb at 165w. The thing is that this configuration, with the storage, is slightly out of my budget.

 

But then, checking some benchmarks, for instance:

https://benchmark.chaos.com/v5/vray/comparison?compare=17309&compare=24413&compare=24416&highlight

 

I found then the PD70PNT, with 64gb (but not extendable) with an i7-12700H, and a RTX 3080 Ti 16gb at 155w in the configuration.

The 3080 Ti is valuable advantage for Unreal and GPU rendering, but I am not so sure if the lesser wattage is making both cards performing similarly at the end. Also the higher number of cores of the i7 would be better in theory for Cpu rendering.

At the same time not being able to upgrade to 128gb is a downside. This configuration is slightly cheaper than the X170 and would fit more comfortable within my budget. There is even the PD50PNT, which is similar but 15'' and seven cheaper.

 

In the benchmarks, and also in vray specific benchmarks, both CPUs seems to rank very similarly. But here is the thing: I am not experienced enough across several laptops to be sure if there is something I am missing from this comparisons. I would have thought that the i9 desktop processor would be more convenient than the 17 next generation, but mobile architecture. I imagine also that the chipset is far more convenient on the x170.

 

And as this is an important purchase for me, that will remain for several years, I am freezed at the moment trying to make the best decision.

 

I would be grateful if you can help me shedding some light on this issue, or show me if I am making some wrong assumptions please.

 

Thank in advance and best regards,

T

 

 

[Blacky]

Very different machines. One is designed to be portable, the other one a behemoth powerhouse. The X170KM-G is more powerful and better for every task, but it's more of a mobile desktop than an actual laptop.

[FredSRichardson]

@Titopte - the X170KM-G has a socketed MXM GPU and socketed desktop CPU.  I think both are BGA on the PD70PNT (the CPU definitely is) which means there is no upgrade path.  You should check the thread on this forum for the X170KM-G - some folks are having issues with the usual types of problems (heat, throttling, etc).  If you go with a good reseller (I personally like HIDevolution) they can generally offer a lot of support to sort through these types of problems.

 

I personally would probably go with the X170KM-G or maybe the prior X170SM-G if I had to buy a laptop today.  I'm actually considering building my own travel friendly desktop for when the time comes - but that is another total can of worms!