Lenovo X1 Extreme

[clangers23]

Quick question. Need a laptop for someone joining my research group that will also be used in the WFH setup. Cuda is a must, so MBP won't work. OS will be Arch Linux. While I'm familiar with the X1 Extreme Gen 2, the Gen 3 models are coming out in the next few weeks according to our supplier.

Any reason to go for a Gen 3 instead of a heavily discounted but new Gen 2 when specs are similar (6c/12t, 32GB, 1TB SSD, GTX1650)?

I picked up a ThinkPad P1 Gen 2 recently for a really good price on eBay after going through the pain of buying a new XPS 9700 (lots of QC issues and returned). It's been really good. The P1 is basically the same laptop as the X1E but with a Quadro equivalent T2000 GPU. Gen 3 is just a spec bump and the only difference between gen 2 and gen 3 is 10th gen Intel H series which is effectively the same processor stuck on the 14++++++++++++nm architecture. Mine has the i9 9980h 8 core (same as the 16" MBP) which has been little more than re-branded as the 10th gen i7-10875 in the gen 3. The only other significant difference I can see is that gen 3 now have 500 and 600 nit displays where as gen 2 are listed as 400 and 500 nit (depending upon the resolution and OLED/IPS). Mine came with a 500nit 4K IPS matte panel which is really great to work on.

Your model will have the 9750h 6 core and there really isn't any performance difference with the gen 3 10th gen 10750h CPU. Gen 3 will have the 1650ti Max Q so about 10-15% quicker overall, it's not something that's really noticeable.

Personally I'd pick up a gen 2 if it's a good deal, both the X1E and P1 are pricey brand new. My P1 sits alongside my MBP 16" very nicely. I don't have to bother with bootcamp now as I have to work in Windows and Mac OS.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

I picked up a ThinkPad P1 Gen 2 recently for a really good price on eBay after going through the pain of buying a new XPS 9700 (lots of QC issues and returned). It's been really good. The P1 is basically the same laptop as the X1E but with a Quadro equivalent T2000 GPU. Gen 3 is just a spec bump and the only difference between gen 2 and gen 3 is 10th gen Intel H series which is effectively the same processor stuck on the 14++++++++++++nm architecture. Mine has the i9 9980h 8 core (same as the 16" MBP) which has been little more than re-branded as the 10th gen i7-10875 in the gen 3. The only other significant difference I can see is that gen 3 now have 500 and 600 nit displays where as gen 2 are listed as 400 and 500 nit (depending upon the resolution and OLED/IPS). Mine came with a 500nit 4K IPS matte panel which is really great to work on.

Your model will have the 9750h 6 core and there really isn't any performance difference with the gen 3 10th gen 10750h CPU. Gen 3 will have the 1650ti Max Q so about 10-15% quicker overall, it's not something that's really noticeable.

Personally I'd pick up a gen 2 if it's a good deal, both the X1E and P1 are pricey brand new. My P1 sits alongside my MBP 16" very nicely. I don't have to bother with bootcamp now as I have to work in Windows and Mac OS.

Thank you for your feedback. Looks like I'll go for the Gen2, as Lenovo has no shipping date for the Gen3 yet. As far as the price, we're getting about 40% discount for anything from Lenovo (not quite as good as Dell, but I won't complain). I've added two of their 27" monitors and a TB3 dock.

 

[c0ppo]

Quick question. Need a laptop for someone joining my research group that will also be used in the WFH setup. Cuda is a must, so MBP won't work. OS will be Arch Linux. While I'm familiar with the X1 Extreme Gen 2, the Gen 3 models are coming out in the next few weeks according to our supplier.

Any reason to go for a Gen 3 instead of a heavily discounted but new Gen 2 when specs are similar (6c/12t, 32GB, 1TB SSD, GTX1650)?

It will probably be the same laptop, but with 'newer' CPU.
And that 'new' CPU can't be undervolted, so I would actually argue that Gen2 is a better choice atm.

nVidia still doesn't have new GPUs for laptops, so no great upgrade in that department as well. And with all that said, Gen2 is cheap at the moment, so I would go for Gen2.