@studio-4 At 1st, I would suggest you to try https://www.userbenchmark.com/, an excellent place for unbiased reviews of hardware performances. They also have a small program which you simply download & run from your computer, and it will give you the in-depth performance details of your computer and also give suggestions on how you can improve the performance. I highly recommend visiting this website before making any final decision. It will help you save you a lot of money.

Now speaking from my personal experience in the field of computers, no matter what, a laptop can never outperform a desktop assuming both are having a similar configuration.

The major reason is the form-factor. A laptop is nothing but a slimmed down version of the desktop, with everything tightly integrated on the motherboard.

Laptops and Desktops, both have their own pros and cons. For, e.g.:

- The components of a desktop are relatively cheaper than a laptop.

- A point will come when a laptop can no longer be upgraded due to the limitations of the motherboard, but that is not the case with the desktop.

- You can easily upgrade your desktop including the CPU & the motherboard, which is not the case in the laptop.

- If you compare a similar specification desktop & laptop CPU, the desktop CPU will always be faster. It is because of the form-factor.

- If you start running out of disk-space, you always have the option to add more internal storage devices but in case of laptops, you can only do so by hooking it with an external storage devices.

- A desktop has powerful cooling fans, and now we also have liquid cooling systems in place, whereas in laptops, the cooling fan(s) are as small as the laptop.

A CPU will begin to heat up quickly when it is undergoing tremendous processing, for e.g. when a large video is being rendered.

As a matter of fact, if the CPU begins to heat up, its performance will significantly decrease. But if the CPU starts over-heating, it will not only damage itself but the motherboard also.

Even though the CPU temperature is continuously monitored and in case of over-heating, the program will begin to suspend or kill the resource hungry processes to protect the CPU from getting damaged, but this will ultimately affect the performance.

Now coming down to the usage:

- Laptops are great for people who are often on the move, travel or have a mobile office.

- Desktops are great for people who spend most of their time in their studios, irrespective if it is located in their home or some commercial place.

So I assume you have already considered all the pros and cons.

Whatsoever, I liked the last part wherein you mentioned that you will be keeping the laptop to bare-minimal, which is a good thing. The lesser the unwanted stuff, the better the performance.

As regards to the browser, Edge is the best browser as of date, highly configurable, supports all the extensions from the chrome stores and is fast & secure. In fact, it has given a tough competition to Firefox. I used to be a huge fan of Firefox but in the last few months, I shifted to Edge mainly because I can style & configure it the way I want.

@studio-4 A personal observation, might be related to my Own Build builds😂 I have found, including with VP, that a laptop will give fewer stability issues, if any, than an OB. It makes sense as the manufacturer tests all of the HW bits together, better integration, thoroughly before releasing it.

I'll be looking for a new laptop in the future. Kind of messed up on my current one by minimizing my need for a higher performing GPU since I was mostly interested in audio but then my focus shifted of things I would like to do.

Gaming systems have always been a good path to pursue since all the increased performance offered to run games smoothly, fits well with video editing. So I will likely be looking for good value gaming laptop as you described.

My only concern with the system you outlined is with that AMD GPU. It's not that it isn't a high performance GPU, it's just a matter of fact that AMD supported development of programs are always behind Nvidia, just due to Nvidia having a bigger market share. It's the same way of AMD vs. Intel processors. I used to purchase AMD graphic cards and processors when building a system since they often offered the better bang for the buck, but after living through that experience of having to deal with problems just due to being 2nd fiddle in regards to program support, it just turned me away from continuing to use AMD products. Vegas is just one good example.

I've also been a big fan of Asus product offerings in regards to bang for buck but have been disappointed as of late. After doing quite a bit of comparative pricing vs performance, I ended up going with a Dell this time around. I ended up paying less for higher performance, and the build quality of the Dell laptop compared to similar Asus offerings just felt so much better to me. Another thing that enticed me to go with the Dell over the Asus was that the Dell offered a touch screen display at the same price point of the Asus I was considering. However, hindsight being 20/20 I kind of regret that decision. I hardly ever use my laptop's touch screen capability. At the time I had owned many Asus windows and android tablets and really thought I would use the touch screen more on the laptop, but after I tried it a few times of lugging the laptop around the house with its built-in keyboard, those use interests kind of dwindled and now just prefer to keep the finger prints off of my laptop screen.

So make sure you check out Dell's offerings and prices compared to the Asus you're considering would be my recommendation. Dell has a nice lineup of Alienware gaming laptops and often run great sales, especially around Black Friday.

I'll also add after have owned multiple Dell and Asus products over the years, Dell's support is much more responsive if you should ever need it.

Running Vegas Pro on a HP Omen laptop Ryzen4800H and 1660ti GPU. Handles 5k Red Raw footage pretty well. I did add a second NVME SSD to hold the footage, so I'd suggest making sure the ASUS can have a second SSD drive added

Hey, thanks for all the input! I was afraid this sounded like just a bragging thread ("Hey, look at me I'm buying a new PC!"), but I got some high quality replies here—all good points! Here's a couple cool things about the laptop:

1. User-upgradable DIMM-slots.
2. Space for two SSDs (one occupied, one empty).

@studio-4 Sounds like a really good buy. Just 2 points, neither of which take away from it being an excellent purchase.

32gb would be ideal. Asus sometimes have stickers indicating warranty issues if u open and add, upgrade yourself, assuming the memory is not soldered in.

Laptop GPU is not the same as a discrete GPU.

Example, assuming an allocation of 150+15 watt TDP in laptop, and not capped less, a Laptop RTX 3080 would be a tiny bit less than a discrete RTX 3070 Ti, and about equal to a discrete RTX 2080 Ti.

Yeah, I have no idea how they cram that giant video card into a laptop! There must be some shortcuts taken? Anywho, it's good to know the RAM is user-upgradeable and not soldered onto the motherboard. So if and when I get this, a 32GB upgrade will likely come at some point. Thanks for your comments!

A CPU will begin to heat up quickly when it is undergoing tremendous processing, for e.g. when a large video is being rendered.

As a matter of fact, if the CPU begins to heat up, its performance will significantly decrease. But if the CPU starts over-heating, it will not only damage itself but the motherboard also.

Even though the CPU temperature is continuously monitored and in case of over-heating, the program will begin to suspend or kill the resource hungry processes to protect the CPU from getting damaged, but this will ultimately affect the performance.

As regards to the browser, Edge is the best browser as of date, highly configurable, supports all the extensions from the chrome stores and is fast & secure. In fact, it has given a tough competition to Firefox. I used to be a huge fan of Firefox but in the last few months, I shifted to Edge mainly because I can style & configure it the way I want.

Thanks for all the advice! Yes, I was reading some user reviews on the one-tier lower model, and heat is definitely an issue. From his review, "The temps on the [ASUS GP15's] GPU and CPU skyrocket up in the 90-95C range . . . and that's when the fans kick on getting up to 4800+RPM and 51 decibels (according the the ASUS monitoring program) . . . "

Good to know about Edge! I'm using Edge for the same reasons I use Safari on my macOS machines—best compatibility, higher security, and (hopefully) greater overall system-stability. Thanks again for all the tips!

@studio-4 A personal observation, might be related to my Own Build builds😂 I have found, including with VP, that a laptop will give fewer stability issues, if any, than an OB. It makes sense as the manufacturer tests all of the HW bits together, better integration, thoroughly before releasing it.

Absolutely! One of the best arguments for buying branded-laptops. Total system-integration, completely tested as a system. Thanks for your thoughts!

. . . Gaming systems have always been a good path to pursue since all the increased performance offered to run games smoothly, fits well with video editing. So I will likely be looking for good value gaming laptop as you described.

My only concern with the system you outlined is with that AMD GPU. It's not that it isn't a high performance GPU, it's just a matter of fact that AMD supported development of programs are always behind Nvidia, just due to Nvidia having a bigger market share . . .

Yeah, the GPU has been a tough nut to crack. If I get AMD, I gain Vegas' AMD-exclusive hardware acceleration code; if I choose NVIDIA, I get BorisFX' hardware-acceleration. I mainly chose this system on three criteria:

1. AMD Ryzen CPU.
2. Pretty fancy GPU with 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM.
3. Sold by B+H where I don't have to pay sales tax.

My chief concern is with the compatibility of the GPU's driver with Vegas' specific code-base, since even Magix admits this can be hit-or-miss for optimal performance (even suggesting rolling-back certain drivers for improved performance). Again, my paramount concern is for overall system-stability and compatibility of all components, so hopefully this particular ASUS satisfies most of those requirements.

About build quality: I agree that HP and Dell have superior builds. My circa-2015 HP Z440 entry-level server that I bought used is built like a tank. I've never seen such a well-engineered case—everything looks so neat and well thought-out.

I used to hold ASUS motherboards in high regard from my experience building my own PCs back in the early 1990s, but their current laptop builds seem on the low-end of the spectrum. I know someone with a ASUS laptop and it literally fell apart after a couple years' use (e.g., trackpad just fell off, display-hinge broken, etc.). Thanks for your comments!

@studio-4 Sounds like a really good buy. Just 2 points, neither of which take away from it being an excellent purchase.

32gb would be ideal. Asus sometimes have stickers indicating warranty issues if u open and add, upgrade yourself, assuming the memory is not soldered in.

Laptop GPU is not the same as a discrete GPU.

Example, assuming an allocation of 150+15 watt TDP in laptop, and not capped less, a Laptop RTX 3080 would be a tiny bit less than a discrete RTX 3070 Ti, and about equal to a discrete RTX 2080 Ti.

Yeah, I have no idea how they cram that giant video card into a laptop! There must be some shortcuts taken? Anywho, it's good to know the RAM is user-upgradeable and not soldered onto the motherboard. So if and when I get this, a 32GB upgrade will likely come at some point. Thanks for your comments!

Most of the bulk of discrete graphics cards is heatsinks and fans. Mobile versions are clocked lower so they lower don't require the extreme cooling solutions. But yeah they do cram a lot into a small chassis!

32GB upgrade:

Good news! The ASUS G17's two DIMM-slots are easily accessible and looks like a two-minute upgrade! Two Crucial 16GB SODIMMs (DDR4 3200MHz) cost only $168 from B+H.

Hey, thanks for all the input! I was afraid this sounded like just a bragging thread ("Hey, look at me I'm buying a new PC!"), but I got some high quality replies here—all good points!

Studio-4

It does not appear like a brag. Requesting information is exactly what many do. The cost is different that is all. Looking back on some of the posts, it can be seen that some of the members systems are in the upper thousands. Look at the adverts by Vegas. Simple systems they are not.

The nice thing, and good thing, about these threads is the resulting informations from members. They don't care if it is a system that falls over all the time due to the low level, or the system that can handle all. The member asking the question is the important part.

Both of the forums have many of the same members. Questions are related to a specific one, but the answers transpose both. Makes interesting reading.

It seems the mantra is 'treat others as you wish to be treated'.

Works well.

Regards

Ross

Yeah, the GPU has been a tough nut to crack. If I get AMD, I gain Vegas' AMD-exclusive hardware acceleration code; if I choose NVIDIA, I get BorisFX' hardware-acceleration. I mainly chose this system on three criteria:

1. AMD Ryzen CPU.
2. Pretty fancy GPU with 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM.
3. Sold by B+H where I don't have to pay sales tax.

My chief concern is with the compatibility of the GPU's driver with Vegas' specific code-base, since even Magix admits this can be hit-or-miss for optimal performance (even suggesting rolling-back certain drivers for improved performance). Again, my paramount concern is for overall system-stability and compatibility of all components, so hopefully this particular ASUS satisfies most of those requirements.

About build quality: I agree that HP and Dell have superior builds. My circa-2015 HP Z440 entry-level server that I bought used is built like a tank. I've never seen such a well-engineered case—everything looks so neat and well thought-out.

I used to hold ASUS motherboards in high regard from my experience building my own PCs back in the early 1990s, but their current laptop builds seem on the low-end of the spectrum. I know someone with a ASUS laptop and it literally fell apart after a couple years' use (e.g., trackpad just fell off, display-hinge broken, etc.). Thanks for your comments!

You sound like we've been down very similar paths and have similar preferences. I also built my systems in the 90s using mainly Asus motherboards. I'm done building my own systems. The effort it takes isn't worth it to me any longer where I've jumped onto the laptop bandwagon. Just put my laptop on a dock and I'm good to go. Also takes up less space, and less cords running around which is more important to me although well aware a desktop will outperform a similar spec. laptop.

Also reread your original post and see I misunderstood it, misread and thought it came with AMD GPU, but does come with an Nvidia GPU. In regards to AMD vs Intel CPUs and AMD vs Nvidia GPUs. They're always going back and forth in regards to who has the higher performance. Who has the higher performance at the time of my purchase no longer matters to me. Essentially you just have to jump into the water, take the plunge and once you do, chances are within a few months whatever your choice was, you no longer have the higher performance component anyways. So compatibility is more important to me now, where Intel and Nvidia just have higher market shares and that what seems to matter most to software developers, so I try to stick with them.

I'm enjoying Vegas so much, I think I'm going to buy a new PC-laptop just so I can run Vegas Pro on the go! I've chosen the ASUS 17.3" G17 gaming laptop ("Eclipse Gray, 2021") for $1,799.

Normally a great gaming laptop, like the Asus G17 with its decent thermals, also makes a good editing laptop for the price... However, for others considering the G17, note that it only has (1) external monitor port (HDMI) - no Mini Display Ports, no SD card reader, and no webcam. If I were to replace my current laptop with the G17, I'd have to remember to always pack a USB-C multi-port / display adapter with SD card reader plus an external webcam (since so many meetings are online these days...) It also has only (2) M.2 bays and (0) SSD bays vs. some other 17" laptops that have (3) storage slots/bays...

I use my laptop (with a 9750H CPU & RTX 2060 GPU) for editing more & more every month I have it... For my paid editing work using mostly larger 4K intermediate files, I prefer to use my faster desktop workstations with their large RAID arrays... However, for the smaller promo / online videos I do for school, family & non-profits, that are mostly shot in 1080p on cellphones, I love the convenience of using a $999 Walmart Evoo 17 laptop I got about 18 months ago. The Evoo comes with (2) M.2 and (1) SSD slot so I have separate OS, source & target drives making OS backups & restores very convenient... My OS is on the 1TB storage that came with the Evoo, so I filled the 2nd M.2 slot with a $180 2TB M.2 & used a 2TB SSD I already had for the 3rd... If it only came with (2) storage slots, I'd likely have to get a pricier 4TB M.2 to handle the amount of editing I do...

With a laptop, I love that I can create the rough draft ASAP while collaborating with others vs. attempting to remember all of our great ideas hours later, back at the studio... Recently, I was able to change a video, last-minute, to include some people who were absent the day I recorded most of the content... The Evoo was fast-enough to render the 1080p at least 1:1 speed, so I literally rendered-out the final (updated) video & displayed it to a large groups just moments later... Pretty neat!

The Evoo comes with (1) HDMI port and (2) Mini Display Ports so when I return to the studio, I plug-in the extra leads from (3) 4K screens & edit like I am using my 3-screen desktops... So from here-forward I will probably always look for an editing laptop that has at least (3) external display ports & (3) internal storage slots along with other must-have features like a decent CPU, GPU & screen....

@Rednroll

Haha! Well I just bought an AMD GPU for my desktop machine. I "won" it on eBay a couple hours ago. I was just happy to get any card selling for about what it sold for new (not 4x the price!). So I bought an older 2016, Radeon Sapphire Nitro RX470 4GB PCIe card for $200 for my HP Z440 server. I saw that another Vegas user had this same card installed in a post dated 2018, so apparently, no issues with Vegas Pro 15 at least.

Currently, I can't use Vegas' slow-motion filter because Vegas says I don't have enough VRAM. I have a cheap AMD card in there now and I don't even know how much VRAM it has (probably 512MB). So I'm hoping 4GB is enough to do some 1/2-speed slo-mo on decent-length clips. I could've waited for some other RX470 8GB auctions to end, but they were still several days out, and I had I been patient, I may have been able to snag one for as little as the low $300s. But at least I have something now with multiple-outputs.

I chose this card because:

1. Someone on here owns one and runs it with Vegas Pro 15 (see link here).
2. I wanted an AMD specifically for the Vegas-acceleration (which supports AMD exclusively).
3. I wanted four HDMI/Display Ports (I got one HDMI, and three Display Ports).
4. I wanted 4GB minimum (8GB preferred).
5. I wasn't going to pay x4 original MAP.

I wanted a branded card for maximum compatibility and driver-support, but I settled for a not-so-well-known brand (but apparently well-respected) with the VisonTek AMD GPU I happened to get. Hopefully it'll be fine.

I'm enjoying Vegas so much, I think I'm going to buy a new PC-laptop just so I can run Vegas Pro on the go! I've chosen the ASUS 17.3" G17 gaming laptop ("Eclipse Gray, 2021") for $1,799.

Normally a great gaming laptop, like the Asus G17 with its decent thermals, also makes a good editing laptop for the price... However, for others considering the G17, note that it only has (1) external monitor port (HDMI) - no Mini Display Ports, no SD card reader, and no webcam. If I were to replace my current laptop with the G17, I'd have to remember to always pack a USB-C multi-port / display adapter with SD card reader plus an external webcam (since so many meetings are online these days...) It also has only (2) M.2 bays and (0) SSD bays vs. some other 17" laptops that have (3) storage slots/bays . . .

@TheRhino

Yeah . . . unfortunately, I'm aware of the G17's shortcomings and that's the one that stings the most: The lack of a media card-slot. I can do without a webcam, but the media slot would be particularly useful since most of my cameras shoot to SD cards, so I may have to rethink this purchase based just on that one omission—thanks for pointing that out. Though, I think I'll be fine with just the one extra drive-bay (I also plan to stick a 2TB M.2 SSD in mine) and will immediately upgrade it to 32GBs if I get this. Thanks again for your comments!

HP Z440 (second PC):

Also, note that I do have a pretty decent desktop also (e.g., so multiple display-ports on a laptop is less important). I'm actually really happy with this retired HP Z440 server I got for $499:

• Xeon v3 3.5GHz quad-core CPU.
• 32GB ECC RAM.
• 1TB SSD.
• 500W-700W PSU (came in two configurations).

The case is 100% tool-less, and what a pleasure that is. And inside, everything is just so clean and nicely designed. Aside from the limited GPU-memory, this PC seems to run Vegas quite nicely and the system overall is quite stable. Below is a shot of the backplane with my Blackmagic Intensity Pro 4K HDMI capture-card, IEEE-1394 FireWire interface, and the cheap AMD card I'll be soon replacing with the Radeon RX 470 4GB I just bought:

Well, I've been checking out the similarly equipped Intel laptops, and I gotta say, that Ryzen Asus machine offers a lot of bang for the buck. I am not going to spend $3,000 on a laptop! Really looking forward to see how this machine performs with Vegas-renders, previews, and third-party plug-ins. Should be quite a ride!

Also excited to see any Vegas-assisted hardware-acceleration with my new (used) AMD Radeon RX470 4GB that I ordered for my desktop PC. I mean, Magix does in fact claim AMD-exclusive hardware-acceleration in the app, correct? Similarly, BorisFX claims NVIDIA-exclusive hardware acceleration for their wares. Kinda cool to have both!

...Ryzen Asus machine offers a lot of bang for the buck...Really looking forward to see how this machine performs....

I think you'll be SO happy with the performance of the 8-core AMD 9 5900HX CPU & Nvidia RTX 3070 that you will prefer using your laptop for editing vs. your older 4-core Xeon desktop with AMD RX 470... Even my laptop's 6-core Intel 9750H & RTX 2060 out-perform my 6-core 4 ghz desktop Xeon with AMD RX 570, so I just use that desktop for importing from tape, etc. where speed does not matter...

Also excited to see any Vegas-assisted hardware-acceleration with my new (used) AMD Radeon RX470 4GB that I ordered for my desktop PC...

Ya, it's the worst time in history to buy a decent GPU... A while back I got a NEW RX 570 for $130, an open box (Newegg) VEGA 64 liquid-cooled for $350, and more recently, just before the crypto mining explosion, a used (eBay) VEGA 56 for $200. These are the GPUs I am using with my (3) desktop workstations. I am sticking with AMD partly because I want the MP4 (VCE) files I send clients to be consistent vs. having some rendered with Nvidia... Obviously the VEGAs are faster than the RX 570, but it does contribute & has been totally stable with V15 - V18...

For those looking for a new GPU, you can try watching the Best Buy website around noon ET... Recently I got a Nvidia 3060 Ti for $450... Unlike other greedy retailers, BB has maintained retail pricing vs. gouging and they have a 2-step verification system to prevent bots from placing orders faster than humans. There was only about a 5 minute window to place my order when the GPUs became available, but I got one, and last time I checked I'm still human!

@TheRhino

Yeah . . . unfortunately, I'm aware of the G17's shortcomings and that's the one that stings the most: The lack of a media card-slot. I can do without a webcam, but the media slot would be particularly useful since most of my cameras shoot to SD cards, so I may have to rethink this purchase based just on that one omission—thanks for pointing that out. Though, I think I'll be fine with just the one extra drive-bay (I also plan to stick a 2TB M.2 SSD in mine) and will immediately upgrade it to 32GBs if I get this. Thanks again for your comments!

Personally, I wouldn't be too concerned with a lack of onboard I/O connectivity on the laptop. Remember MacBook Pros only have a single micro USB-C port. My current Dell laptop has a built-in SD card slot. What I learned after the fact is that it's like USB v1.2 and is ridiculously slow as heck to transfer files from SD cards. I got one of these Atzebe 10-in-1 USB-C hubs for like $40 about 3 years ago. It's a great value hub, works really well with a solid build quality. I use the card reader on the hub instead of the one built into my laptop because the hub is a USB 3.0 reader and transfers are much faster.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MF1WN5T/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

In regards to additional monitors. I'm currently running 3 monitors. My built-in display, and then one monitor plugged into the HDMI port on my laptop and the other plugged into my HDMI port on the Atzebe hub. They make USB-C hubs which have more than one HDMI port. I wish my hub had 2 HDMI ports for both of my external monitors because the thing I really like about the usb-c hub is not having a lot of cables plugged into the laptop. To go mobile with my laptop, I only need to unplug the USB-C connection from the hub and the HDMI cable of my 2nd monitor. If I had an additional HDMI port on the hub, then I would only need to unplug the single micro USB-C connection of the hub. My power supply is connected to the hub via a supported PD USB-C power supply adapter.

USB-C hubs are the way to go for external connectivity I/O for laptops. It works just like a docking station but cost much less where you have multiple options to choose from depending on how much I/O port connectivity you need.

I also connect an Anker 8-port USB 3.1 hub to one of the USB ports on Atzebe hub. It all works great giving me plenty of USB port connectivity.

If you need a card reader for when going mobile with the laptop, these anker USB card readers work great. Again....it works faster for transfers than my laptop's built-in card reader.

https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Portable-Reader-RS-MMC-Micro/dp/B006T9B6R2/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Anker+usb+card+reader&qid=1623900817&s=electronics&sr=1-3

In my experience working with laptops. As long as you have a micro USB-C 3.1 and at least 1 USB standard 3.1 port on the laptop, you're good to go. Over and above that is just a bonus of what you actually need.

For those looking for a new GPU, you can try watching the Best Buy website around noon ET... Recently I got a Nvidia 3060 Ti for $450... Unlike other greedy retailers, BB has maintained retail pricing vs. gouging and they have a 2-step verification system to prevent bots from placing orders faster than humans. There was only about a 5 minute window to place my order when the GPUs became available, but I got one, and last time I checked I'm still human!

@TheRhino

Wow! Great tip—thanks! I'm actually quite pleased with the circa-2015 Xeon build I have (maybe I won't be if I get the Asus!). The only thing I can't do now is use Vegas' slow-motion effect (it says I don't have enough VRAM), so that's why I was kind of desperate to find a GPU sooner than later.

Though, I really can't do much at work if we actually have a shoot, but there are some long periods of downtime at times. But it's kind of a challenge to justify buying a fancy new laptop just to have fun on the off-times at work (of course there's the, "I just want it!" factor). Anyway, thanks for your helpful comments!

@Rednroll

Awesome! Great tips—thanks!

Well, I've been checking out the similarly equipped Intel laptops, and I gotta say, that Ryzen Asus machine offers a lot of bang for the buck. I am not going to spend $3,000 on a laptop! Really looking forward to see how this machine performs with Vegas-renders, previews, and third-party plug-ins. Should be quite a ride!

Also excited to see any Vegas-assisted hardware-acceleration with my new (used) AMD Radeon RX470 4GB that I ordered for my desktop PC. I mean, Magix does in fact claim AMD-exclusive hardware-acceleration in the app, correct? Similarly, BorisFX claims NVIDIA-exclusive hardware acceleration for their wares. Kinda cool to have both!

Here are a couple similarly speced Dell's with Intel CPUs.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/alienware-m17-r4-gaming-laptop/spd/alienware-m17-r4-laptop/wnm17r410h

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/alienware-x17-gaming-laptop/spd/alienware-x17-r1-laptop/wnx17r1cto20s

Dell often has some good sales, so would expect you could find similar prices as the Asus, especially around Black Friday deals.

Personally, I'm not a fan of 17in+ screens on a laptop. Had one in the past and it just felt too bulky. I now prefer the 15in monitors much more. Not too small, while not being too bulky for mobility use.