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The Laptop Thread

The problem with thermal management is that all manufacturers are so obsessed with making laptops thinner and lighter that they are losing functionality. Yes, newer chips are more efficient and running cooler, but do you really need a 5mm thick laptop? If you want something that portable, get a tablet or mobile phone. I recently bought a new HP laptop and while I'll admit that the aluminium case is nice looking, stronger and does provide better heat dissipation than plastic, it is too thin to allow even a normal RJ45 port. That and the lack of an optical drive is a PITA. I just checked the age of my last "proper" laptop, a 2014 ThinkPad, this makes it 10 years old and I still use it constantly without any issues, plus I can easily swap out storage and other parts because most of it is easily accessible. When I first bought it, I immediately clean installed W7 Pro and got a spare fan just in case, but I have not needed to replace it. There are some current manufacturers that are attempting to bring back modular design such as Framework.
Several things:
Recent Intel CPU's except for the ultra low power series run hot. Non integrated graphics chips run hot. Mac's have ARM processors so they run a lot cooler. As noted above the new Windows Copilot AI PC's use Qualcomm processors which I believe are also ARM. This looks like the beginning of the end of Intel PC's to me. Intel's business plan is to become a foundry and make chips designed by their customers. The "Wintel" PC had a really long run, but sunset is coming.
 
Several things:
Recent Intel CPU's except for the ultra low power series run hot. Non integrated graphics chips run hot. Mac's have ARM processors so they run a lot cooler. As noted above the new Windows Copilot AI PC's use Qualcomm processors which I believe are also ARM. This looks like the beginning of the end of Intel PC's to me. Intel's business plan is to become a foundry and make chips designed by their customers. The "Wintel" PC had a really long run, but sunset is coming.
Not sure about that. Building chip foundries is no joke... pioneering the latest nano nodes is something entirely different. We shall see where 3nm and beyond is really produced... and whether the process tech can really be kept away from you know who.

PS I bought Intel stock. They will be back IMO. There's so much noise about "AI chips " and such the market seems distracted about inevitable basics.

PS2 you are totally right about Intel chips running hot. They under invested in CPUs and just clocked stuff higher while not really reaching down in nanometer geometry. They are correcting that.
 
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Don't trick yourself, Intel, AMD, & ARM all run hot. They are all questionable when it comes to temps and how they report them.
 
Don't trick yourself, Intel, AMD, & ARM all run hot. They are all questionable when it comes to temps and how they report them.
Of course they run hot, chips always have when you try to run up the performance envelope. If you want a CPU that doesn't, pick a "T" version chip from Intel (although they've changed their naming now). There's nothing bad or dangerous about a chip that runs hot if you implement it according to application notes. Sure it may run noisier, but you should know based on specs and pick accordingly. There are liquid cooling technologies if that's what you think you need (personally I would not).

My desktop servers always run T version chips that consume tops 35W because they are utterly silent and still crush everything I throw at them.
 
Bought a MSI 15,6" notebook to use 100% for gaming.
1080p 144Hz + Intel 12450h + 16gb ddr5 ram + 512gb nvme 3.0 + rtx4060 mobile
Performance is amazing and temperatures are OK but the noise is too much, so I basically turn off graphic settings and set 60fps limit from Rivatuner, making the 144Hz useless :facepalm:
 
I read this thread because my Lenovo Ideapad laptop is 5 years old - it has been excellent, no problems. I also use the battery conserving 60% mode, and the battery still scores perfectly!

Just been checking what's available to replace it in case it dies, and I would like a screen with a higher colour spec., and lighter. I have been disappointed with what's on offer. I want a budget model, no need for premium and I travel a lot, could easily damage it.

Won't touch Acer because of reliablility. Also, my son had problems with Dell drivers - he would fix using OEM drivers, then a Dell update would bring back the problems.

Seems like there has been little progress in five years; I am having trouble finding the following in a 15.6.
- 100% sRGB or better screen. IPS is fine, I don't need OLED and am concerned about its longevity. Most are 45% NTSC, which is sh*t for photos and videos.
- SD card reader - this is essential.
- 1.6 kg or less.
 
Why don't you wait a bit for more ARM Windows laptops to hit the market? The promise of faster speed, less heat, and longer battery life is enticing. The new Microsoft Surface has an ARM chip. It is still so new that I haven't seen benchmarks of it yet.

And FWIW my 4 year old Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme has an OLED. I use it for at least 5-6 hours every day. There is no burn in.
 
Since people are suggesting Windows on ARM, does anyone know whether the x86(_64) translation extends to drivers as well as applications?
 
Why don't you wait a bit for more ARM Windows laptops to hit the market? The promise of faster speed, less heat, and longer battery life is enticing. The new Microsoft Surface has an ARM chip. It is still so new that I haven't seen benchmarks of it yet.

And FWIW my 4 year old Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme has an OLED. I use it for at least 5-6 hours every day. There is no burn in.
ARM Windows is less than a month away. My initial reaction to the AI features is they are creepy.
 
ARM Windows is less than a month away. My initial reaction to the AI features is they are creepy.
Apart from creepy, it's been suggested the continuous screenshots make GDPR compliance difficult to impossible. That would make it a non-starter for UK and EU businesses.
 
Yeah, GDPR and just taking everything you can find don't really match.
 
Apart from creepy, it's been suggested the continuous screenshots make GDPR compliance difficult to impossible. That would make it a non-starter for UK and EU businesses.
GDPR is a potential issue. There are probably workarounds. Deliveries start June 18th. Microsoft has a 13.8" laptop for $999. An 87% improvement in performance is claimed, but that is probably with respect to ultra low power U series intel CPU's. Apple will be rolling out lots of AI features this fall. The M4 processor, already available in the iPad Pro has more neural processors than the M3. Still, I'm not sure what this does for the user. I can generally find what I want on the first try using even the semi crippled Duck Duck Go search engine.
 
Imo, that stuff is going to die a quick death like Windows 8.

Something I usually have to pound into new developers is that just because you think something is cool, doesn't mean end users will!
 
Imo, that stuff is going to die a quick death like Windows 8.

Something I usually have to pound into new developers is that just because you think something is cool, doesn't mean end users will!
This time you can't because it comes from very high up. I don't think it will be Win8 but an adjustment is coming for sure.
 
Since people are suggesting Windows on ARM, does anyone know whether the x86(_64) translation extends to drivers as well as applications?
Windows on ARM is designed to provide compatibility for many x86 and x64 applications, but the situation with drivers is more complex.

1. **Applications**: Windows on ARM includes a translation layer that allows it to run x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) applications. This means most standard desktop applications will work, though there may be some performance overhead due to the emulation.

2. **Drivers**: Drivers are a different story. The translation layer for x86 and x64 applications does not extend to drivers. This is because drivers operate at a low level within the operating system, interacting directly with the hardware. As a result:
- **ARM64 Drivers**: Only drivers specifically compiled for ARM64 will work natively.
- **x86/x64 Drivers**: These will not work on Windows on ARM. Devices that rely on specific x86/x64 drivers will need ARM64-compatible drivers to function properly.

**Implications**:
- **Hardware Compatibility**: If you have hardware components or peripherals that only have x86/x64 drivers, they may not function correctly on Windows on ARM unless the manufacturer provides ARM64-compatible drivers.
- **Peripheral Support**: Common peripherals (like keyboards, mice, and storage devices) generally work because they use standard USB drivers included with Windows. However, more specialized hardware (like some printers, scanners, or proprietary devices) may face issues without appropriate ARM64 drivers.

**Conclusion**: While Windows on ARM extends x86/x64 application compatibility through emulation, it does not do the same for drivers. Ensure any critical hardware has ARM64-compatible drivers before committing to Windows on ARM for those specific use cases.
 
This time you can't because it comes from very high up. I don't think it will be Win8 but an adjustment is coming for sure.

Windows ME maybe.

Ai is big techs buzzword right now, just like cloud was a little over a decade ago.
 
This time you can't because it comes from very high up. I don't think it will be Win8 but an adjustment is coming for sure.
The higher you go, the harder you fall...something like that, wasnt't it?
 
I checked out the Copilot+ promotional video and thought the opening looked exactly like something from Apple, if somewhat drier:
But big news isn't what's shown in the videos, but rather, the potential to do more stuff on-device.

But AFAIK, personal AI is still more concept than reality, and I'm in no rush to purchase neural-ized devices until those extra CPU cores actually do something meaningful.
 
Windows ME maybe.

Ai is big techs buzzword right now, just like cloud was a little over a decade ago.
That is how things work. Cloud was the buzzword that never seemed to deliver for like 5 years. OTOH, do you realize how much is on the cloud now. I think it actually makes Amazon more money than anything else. They are I think the biggest provider and many large and small companies have their computing done via an Amazon cloud setup. I think that is how AI will go. Seems like all hype and then somewhere a decade or 15 years from now it will have wormed its way into everything.

I also wonder what they'll do with hallucination. Right now I'll try it and think it is rather useful and then hit some made up "facts" that cause me to totally distrust it for anything important.
 
OTOH, do you realize how much is on the cloud now.

I'm aware, a large portion of my job involves dealing with cloud based systems. However, the claims that were made over a decade ago are not even close to what we have today.

I can remember reading articles about how consumers won't need computers anymore. All their data and applications will live in the cloud, and all their processing will be done in the cloud etc etc . Basically claiming the mainframe & dumb terminal methodology was the way forward for everyone and everything.

I remember laughing about how all the big tech top brass must think your average person doesn't give a crap about privacy!
 
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