Balance between CPU, GPU, and thermal limits

[6BQ5]

I've been toying with the idea of upgrading from my old Dell E6430 laptop. Most current models under $1000 pair a GTX 1650 or GTX 1660 Ti with either an Intel i5-9300h or i7-9750h or with an AMD Ryzen R5 3550H or Ryzen 7 3750H. I usually see the more powerful 1660 Ti paired up with the weaker processors and the less powerful 1650 paired up with the more powerful processors. Yes, there are ultimate combinations that have the most powerful GPU with the most powerful CPU but those tend to be the most expensive too ... and, there aren't too many models like that.

How does one strike a balance between the CPU and GPU choices? Even if money is no object there is still a price to pay in terms of thermal performance. What good is a powerful laptop if it overheats and throttles the clock rate down? My E6430 does that all the time and it suffers more than it should.

Would love to hear your thoughts!

-=- Boris

 

[James]

the main problem with all laptops is they sit "flat" on a surface, and the decide to place their fans on the bottom as well. This causes them to easily heat up too much because of how hard it is for the fans to access fresh air. A simple vented tilted stand can make a huge difference in temps.

the $1100 dollar laptops when they go on sale are usually the sweet spot for performance and price when they dip below $1000 total price.

the xx60 gpus are pretty much the right choice for a laptop, but you have to be really careful with the cpus because laptop cpus do not correlate to their desktop counterparts. Intel's laptop versions of i5s/i7s are more often than not actually closer to i3s/i5s respectively, with even some i7s being only equivalent to desktop i3s on some models.

thankfully there are plenty of good dedicated websites that will specifically breakdown the specs of performance of these laptop parts so you can be a better informed shopper.