Laptop for Audio Production - would it be hot and noisy?

[Reaper Carl]

Hi,

I'm just looking at something roughly in this range which I will use for audio processing (reaper, VSTs, both synths like Reaktor, KV331, Loom II as well as sample-based VSTs like East West's Composer Cloud [hence need for a 1TB of space, which I will fill immediately], and effects/processing like Tantra, iZotope Neutron, and so on...).

So my main questions are:

* how hot (and/or rather fan-noise loud) does it run?
* would an i5 make it quieter, and if so, at what cost in terms of performance?

Less important, but I'd like to know:

* is the colour display good? I can't relate the 72% NTSC to anything meaningful to me (my ignorance, I am sure)... how inky black is the black? Is it matt, shiny, etc...?

Open to any alternative suggestions around, or preferably below ;-), the £1K range. For price, I can compromise on some things today (e.g. RAM, type of storage) so long as I can upgrade tommorrow.

Regards,
Carl

Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD IPS 60Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)

Get Total War: Three Kingdoms & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 - 3.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
120GB ADATA SU650 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 320MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 660p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 1800MB/sR | 1800MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 120W AC Adaptor
Battery
Cosmos VIII Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
MULTI COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
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Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
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NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Chassis
Clevo NH70RHQ (3GB GTX-1050, i7-9750H, 60Hz FHD IPS N7)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Price: £1,046.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/cosmosVIII-17/wFRxEWDmXb/

 

[Reaper Carl]

Re-reading my own post - maybe I should make my concerns a little clearer:

My main concern is how loud the fans might be under load - or even when relatively idle.

I have heard that core I5 processors run cooler than I7 - and therefore utilise the fans less even under high load; but equally I have read people complain about their I5 laptops (from other suppliers) running hot. If an I5 is good enough, and in effect 'runs quiet', then I will make that compromise - otherwise I will want the power of an I7.

FYI - I am using https://www.cpubenchmark.net/laptop.html as a crude evaluation for performance, aiming for an I7 (or I5) above the 10,000 mark.

I guess the same question applies to the graphics card: would changing that affect how loud the fans are?

Again, any help is much appreciated.

 

[Oussebon]

Ultimately I can't speak as to fan noise as since the refreshed chassis is quite new, not many people here might be able to either yet.

Never, ever use userbenchmark. Or GPUboss, CPUboss, or any other website that looks like an automated comparison tool. The data is dodgy as best and if it's ever right it's only by coincidence.

Notebookcheck.net is a better source for info on laptop component performance. Although note that these things are affected by the specific chassis too, not just cooling design but power limits set by the chassis maker etc.

I5 vs i7 is a difficult subject because of how little i5 and i7 mean (or at least because the definitions are changing all the time). For instance a desktop i5 7600k (4 cores, 4 threads) might run cooler than an i7 7700k (4C/8T) due to the lack of hyperthreading.

However, a laptop i5 9300H (4C/8T) might not run much cooler than a 9750H (6C/12T). An i5 9300H is not far removed from an i7 7700HQ, which ran quite hot. And still does if you torture it:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-...-GeForce-GTX-1650-Laptop-Review.420481.0.html
Despite having fewer cores, it may not run much cooler.

Why did you pick the GTX 1050? What do you use that uses the graphics card?

 

[Reaper Carl]

Many thanks for your response - apologies for not responding earlier, I did not get the notification a response had come in. I stopped checking as I found a youtube reviewer who had taken the effort to record the noise levels when idle and under load for a similar pcspecialist laptop which answered my question (great machine; but yes the fans would be relatively loud). Whilst I understand the limits of relying on a youtube reviewer for this information; I can only work with the information I can find!

Re: graphics card - because I would like the option to be able to occasionally play games on it with some decent settings. However, this is an area I can compromise on.

I take your point re: the differences between the CPUs. Thank you for confirming that.

Do you have an opinion on i7-8559U? I had avoided looking at U series CPUs; but that one seems to have comparable performance to the i7-8750H, and it's single core performance seems very strong (single core often being more important for audio). With a TDP of about 25 it could be a decent audio production CPU, even if not so good a gaming or video editing one. That said, I made some risky assumptions there!

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Oussebon]

NB that the TDP of CPUs like the i7-8559U won't always be what's on the spec sheet. Some manufacturers configure a lower TDP - though that can also be true of -H series CPUs too.

It's a much weaker CPU for anything multithreaded. Of course for some tasks, single threaded performance is very important. Though bear in mind that even where a single thread is the most important factor, if other threads are under load that could still result in power throttling.

And it's also likely to be more expensive than a laptop with a 9300H

What "similar laptop" was it? since they are really rather different. Your best bet is to look up reviews of the specific Clevo chassis the Cosmos is built on: NH70RHQ So even if it's a laptop sold by Brand X, unless they've used a custom BIOS it should be the same as a PCS Cosmos 17".

Whatever laptop you buy, you will want RAM in dual channel.

Also, remind me, why the GTX 1050?