Xeon/ECC/Discrete Graphics HP, Dell, Lenovo laptops: Noisy Even Under Light Loads?

ajant

Well-Known Member
Jan 14, 2017
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I realize this might not be quite the forum for this question but it’s one of many where I think I might get some answers from experienced users of business laptops with this kind of hardware.

I'm very badly overdue for a new laptop; embarrassed to say how old my Sony laptop is. But as I want to absolutely minimize bit errors, it’s sensible to choose ECC memory over non-ECC memory. But ECC RAM is only supported by motherboards supporting Xeon (and some AMD?) processors.

However, a noisy laptop is not acceptable, and I’ve read that Xeon based laptops can be noisy. But under all load conditions? I never play games and the most resource hungry tasks would probably be occasionally playing 1080p youtube videos. Most tasks would be downloading youtubes, MS Office, shopping and backing up to a multi drive NAS or server with ECC RAM; Synology or Qnap.

I'd like this laptop to last ten years so I don't too much mind paying ~ $2100. for a well built one with a 15" screen that stays very cool and quiet for all the above tasks.

Will Xeon/ECC HP G3 thru G7 Zbooks-or identically equipped Lenovo or Dell model laptops-be as quiet as most consumer laptops under these kinds of loads?

And will it tend to stay cooler/quieter with discrete graphics on motherboard rather than with Xeon processors with on-chip graphics and enabled?

Or does this kind of hardware usually mean a noisier laptop in any case-even when just idling, though hardly the kind of performance one would think those with normal hearing would pay > $2K for.
 

AMR / iFi audio

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Aug 21, 2019
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Most tasks would be downloading youtubes, MS Office,

MS Office won't need much computing power - Well, I would be careful with this assumption. I would say that it really depends, especially now, with more functions and updates being introduced on a regular basis. Although I wouldn't expect MS Word to eat all the RAM, MS Excel and PowerPoint can consume surprisingly well, Excel especially. Don't forget about the communication apps that you probably use as well - there will definitely be more and more updates coming.
 

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