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Hardware advice for laptop editing with DaVinci...
  • FFrankFFrank

    Hi, I am a quiet reader of this great forum. My name is Fabian, I am from Germany. I work in the classical music business as my main job. More and more we use our audio productions to film something for later use. Up to now I edited in Lightworks. I got DaVinci now and like it quite a lot.

    Here a little explanation what I do: We film on a GH1 (Hacked), GH3 and GH5. The GH5 is used in 4k 10 bit. Output is HD. The shots of the GH5 are quite often used to mimic more cameras (crop in) and to mimic a slider.

    Up to now I use a Lenovo W541 (i7-4910MQ, 16GB RAM, Quadro K2100M) All data on internal SSD (Ultrabay) seperate from OS). It is really hard to work with this PC and the 4k material of the GH5.

    I am thinking of upgrading to an X1 Extreme (i7-8750H, 16GB RAM, GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB, M.2 SSD)

    I want to stick with Lenovo. We use quite special Multichannel Audio interfaces (RME Madiface XT). We had some problems with other brands. Since years we stick to Lenovo and never had problems. So this will not change. I am not interested to get a seperate Laptop just for video work.

    The question is if the update will speed up things considerable?

    Thanks for your input about this.

    Best. Fabian

  • 13 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @FFrank

    If you can you can be much better with desktop. Much much better.

    If you need ONLY laptop go for i9-8950HK or i7-8750H, with ability to install 32GB RAM.

    Do not go lower than GTX 1060 6GB mobile. 1070 and newer 2070 with 8GB are much better.

    And most important - cooling performance. Cooling actually define performance in all laptops.

    Laptop must have place for TWO NVMe SSDs and one 2.5" SSD.

    Again, if you ask me - get small desktop ITX case with handle, it'll be all around 2-3x cheaper and around 2x faster.

  • calmistcalmist

    Well said, Vitaliy.

  • OrkanOrkan

    are there any such builds with handle? It sounds good but not very applicable, but I am happy to change my mind

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

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  • FFrankFFrank

    Thanks for all your input. This all makes sense... but... there is always a but ;-)

    Sadly I have to use a laptop and it should not be bigger and heavier than what I have now (Lenovo W541 - more than 2,5 kg by its one + the huge power brick). I am travelling a lot for my professional audio work. I use the time in hotels to work on my projects. So it hase to be mobile. Would a eGPU solve the problem? like https://www.owcdigital.com/products/mercury-helios-fx-650 or https://www.owcdigital.com/products/mercury-helios-fx any other idea? Or is editing on a laptop still not really an option? For the mac guys this is easy. Just grab the most powerful macbook pro - there is nothing else to choose ;-)

    Thanks for your input.

    F.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @FFrank

    This will fit you

    https://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/19278/xiaomi-mi-gaming-laptop-made-for-video-editing#Item_5

  • FFrankFFrank

    @Vitaliy_Kiselev, can I buy this in Germany? What about the new RazorBlade: https://www.razer.com/de-de/gaming-laptops/razer-blade What do you think about eGPU? Thanks. Fabian

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @FFrank

    Most probably you can buy it in Germany, look around.

    What about the new RazorBlade

    May be good, may be not. Check reports of real usage. Especially check screen quality and cooling.

    Xiaomi has open back to work at maximum for long.

  • FFrankFFrank

    @Vitaly_Kiselev, thanks for the links to the small cases - I am thinking in this direction as well. What would you put in it? Motherboard - which? AMD or Intel? Which CPU? Which Graphic - kard? AMD/NVidia Thanks for the input.

    Maybe I will keep my trusty W541 and use more optimized media and build a small rig like you recommended.

    Lets see where I end. Best. F.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @FFrank

    It is all different questions :-)

    It add depends, on software on your funds, etc

    Try first with powerful note ala Xiaomi. As you travel a lot and small ITX case will rise lot of questions during checking in :-)

  • FFrankFFrank

    @Vitaly_Kiselev, you are right...sorry for mixing all questions... I think I will investigate a little more what I need and will make a decision than. I am around the Blackmagic forum as well. I am getting nice help there as well. I will tell you how it ended up. Thanks. Fabian

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @FFrank

    Blackmagic forum is simple - pay top dollar. And always note that this guys work mostly with raw and prores. With lot of grading.

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    ... and their fanboys have become as bad or worse than the Canon ones.

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