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May 29th, 2022 12:00
x17, what to do after the GPU burns?
Hello,
I am the owner of an old 2011 M17x R3 that has done his time and which I have been very satisfied with, mostly because all the components were easy to upgrade or switch when broken. In particular I use GPUs intensively and in 11 years I had to replace mine 5 times.
I am looking for a replacement laptop that I can use for Deep Learning prototyping (this is even more GPU-intensive than just gaming, so my GPU *WILL* die soon enough).
Naturally I would have bought a x17 but I see that these machines have GPUs soldered to the motherboard, which in normal circumstances would be a total deal breaker for me. However, after some research, I find only one competing alternative, which is the Clevo X170. But this alternative is more expensive (than Alienware, yes), less powerful and definitely uglier looking than the current x17 I can get in France (which is 12th gen Intel whereas Clevo is 11th).
Hence my question: say I buy an x17 bearing in mind that I will kill its GPU shortly after the guarantee ends, will it be possible to deactivate it from the BIOS afterward, use the integrated GPU instead, and use a thunderbolt 4 eGPU as a replacement?
Thank you for your help!
ejn63
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May 29th, 2022 13:00
There isn't an answer you want to this -- because there's no way to know what might happen to the GPU were it to fail. In the past (or with the Clevo 17" systems), the GPU was on a separate card along with its memory and its support chips. It no longer is, and no one can guarantee a useable system if the GPU fails -- it very well might cause enough collateral damage to render the system unbootable.
If you don't want to have to worry about a system with a soldered-on GPU, buy a desktop or one of the few (seemingly now the only) system designed without one. And it's just about certain you'll see a Clevo 17" system released that will support 12th generation Intel CPUs, likely sooner rather than later.
ejn63
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May 29th, 2022 13:00
If you're looking for long-term ability to swap parts that fail, the answer is a desktop system, not a notebook. Bear in mind that notebook computers are designed around a 3-year lifespan -- yes, you can get more than that, but you can't get more than four years of warranty coverage on a new system.
And you have no guarantee beyond that time that whatever failure you experience can be solved by disabling the discrete GPU. And if you'd just use an eGPU, why not just buy a desktop system in the first place?
The Clevo systems are middle ground, since they do (at this market position) have both replaceable GPUs and desktop (replaceable) CPUs.
tokapi
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May 29th, 2022 13:00
To me, the eGPU solution simply sounds like the only thing that can act as a replacement for a burnt GPU when it is soldered to the motherboard, hence my question. I don't really care what Dell guarantees past its guarantee horizon (which use to be 5 years for Alienware machines by the way), I am simply looking for a practical long-term solution to this soldered GPU issue to evaluate whether buying an X17 is worth my money or not.
tokapi
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May 29th, 2022 14:00
I see, thank you for the answer. I really hope plugable GPUs will become fashionable again in next generations then because honestly I don't see myself buying an expensive laptop that is bound to go to the trash in the coming years due to a soldered GPU =/