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Razer Blade - Returned, A Poem


Ed_David
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Really feel like my 2012 MBPR is reaching upper age of its life as it gets VERY hot since I've owned it and is very prone to graphics card glitches when editing simple 1080p .mov files. I read somewhere that Apple basically admitted this particular line has a faulty motherboard but I don't have applecare or funds to get a new laptop. Hopefully this thing will keep chugging for another year or so as most of the time it performs great for what I needed to. Would elevating it on a stand help reduce the heat factor? I've read so much bad press on the new line of apple laptops that for the price I think I would just wait another year and see what things look like then. Premiere Pro editor here.

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12 minutes ago, Dustin said:

t gets VERY hot since I've owned it

Most laptops need repasting after few years, so I suggest you do that. Here you can find instructions on how to get there: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Retina+Display+Mid+2012+Heat+Sink+Replacement/10293

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and is very prone to graphics card glitches when editing simple 1080p .mov files.

Even though it is still TB1 it can use an eGPU I believe, which can make a tremendous difference for premiere. Try this forum: https://egpu.io/forums/mac-setup/

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I read somewhere that Apple basically admitted this particular line has a faulty motherboard but I don't have applecare or funds to get a new laptop. 

I would still try to contact Apple, since you might be able to still repair it for free (or even replace it). 

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19 minutes ago, Don Kotlos said:

Most laptops need repasting after few years, so I suggest you do that. Here you can find instructions on how to get there: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Retina+Display+Mid+2012+Heat+Sink+Replacement/10293

Even though it is still TB1 it can use an eGPU I believe, which can make a tremendous difference for premiere. Try this forum: https://egpu.io/forums/mac-setup/

I would still try to contact Apple, since you might be able to still repair it for free (or even replace it). 

eGPU huh...I use to be pretty active in a few audio recording forums and I recall some studio owners purchasing expensive boxes that added a few extra slots for their ProTools HD rig this looks like a similar concept...essentially adding an external GPU? I can't take the needed time to repair or even send it off as I use it for my day job. If that changed I would gladly send it off but honestly I think I'll just start saving up over 2017 to get a new laptop and keep taking good care of the one I have. I'm not uncomfortable taking apart computers so I might look into that heat sink replacement as well!

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21 minutes ago, Dustin said:

eGPU huh...I use to be pretty active in a few audio recording forums and I recall some studio owners purchasing expensive boxes that added a few extra slots for their ProTools HD rig this looks like a similar concept...essentially adding an external GPU?

Yep. If you know that you are moving to a new laptop soon then it might not be the wisest choice to spend a couple hundred dollars on a case that you will not use on the new computer. 

21 minutes ago, Dustin said:

I might look into that heat sink replacement as well!

Your heat sink should be fine, it is just that the instructions are the same if you need to replace the paste between the CPU and the heat sink. 

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55 minutes ago, Don Kotlos said:

Yep. If you know that you are moving to a new laptop soon then it might not be the wisest choice to spend a couple hundred dollars on a case that you will not use on the new computer. 

Your heat sink should be fine, it is just that the instructions are the same if you need to replace the paste between the CPU and the heat sink. 

Thanks man. I really need to just sit down and figure out what I actually want. I love the flexibility of a laptop and I really am USED to OS X. I'm aware it's not an end all be all but it's what I'm used to. I'm not editing a 2 hour movie anytime soon so for my needs laptop is probably just fine 

 

 

 

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28 minutes ago, Ed_David said:

 these guys have done extensive testing on it

We have ordered plenty of computers from Puget systems, and we are very satisfied with their service. Not only they do various tests to figure out the optimal configurations for different tasks/programs but also they do extensive testing on each build to make sure it is up to spec. I would as far as to say they can surpass the professional support from Dell/HP/Lenovo workstations and you end up with a system that is significantly cheaper but performs significantly better. 

40 minutes ago, Dustin said:

Thanks man. I really need to just sit down and figure out what I actually want. I love the flexibility of a laptop and I really am USED to OS X. I'm aware it's not an end all be all but it's what I'm used to. I'm not editing a 2 hour movie anytime soon so for my needs laptop is probably just fine 

I feel the same, so thats why I am looking into eGPUs. I am planning to combine a macbook pro 13" with an external GPU for the ultimate versatility:

Screen Shot 2017-03-26 at 10.22.06 PM.png

From http://barefeats.com/rmbpnode13in.html

The mantiz venus case offers ethernet, USB3,SATA3 and 60w charging. Even though it is not officially supported by Apple it looks to be working fine. Here is a review: https://egpu.io/mantiz-venus-review-thunderbolt-3-external-gpu-docking-station/ . At the moment there is an offer for the first 50 EGPU.IO forum members to have the case for $300 (instead of $379): https://egpu.io/forums/deals/us-eu-mantiz-venus-thunderbolt-3-egpu-enclosure-group-buy/

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5 hours ago, Dustin said:

Cool article! Wouldn't a 13" only get you a dual-core processor though? I never had any luck with dual core processors in the past in laptops.

FCPX can use hardware acceleration for encoding/decoding and GPU processing for quite a few effects (see above graph for blur). It definitely helps if you have a quad code but not as much as you think once the GPU is optimized. (by the way I am currently editing 4K on a macbook 12" with FCPX... Its main problem is overheating and throttling because of that so a 28W envelope will do wonders). 

Davinci resolve and Premiere similarly use GPU for all and most effects respectively. Exporting with these programs will most definitely take a hit with a dual core. Here is a quote from a BM product manager:

Screen Shot 2017-03-27 at 5.44.42 PM.png

So it is my belief that while a quad core can give better performance, a fast dual core with an external GPU will be enough for all my editing needs. But I can't tell you for sure until I test the 13" with a TITAN X in few weeks :) .

In any case, a quad core laptop with one or two eGPUs can easily replace quite a few desktops out there :tounge:

EDIT @Dustin: TB3 enclosures can be used on older TB1/2 macs with a $29 adapter.

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15 hours ago, Don Kotlos said:

FCPX can use hardware acceleration for encoding/decoding and GPU processing for quite a few effects (see above graph for blur). It definitely helps if you have a quad code but not as much as you think once the GPU is optimized. (by the way I am currently editing 4K on a macbook 12" with FCPX... Its main problem is overheating and throttling because of that so a 28W envelope will do wonders). 

Davinci resolve and Premiere similarly use GPU for all and most effects respectively. Exporting with these programs will most definitely take a hit with a dual core. Here is a quote from a BM product manager:

Screen Shot 2017-03-27 at 5.44.42 PM.png

So it is my belief that while a quad core can give better performance, a fast dual core with an external GPU will be enough for all my editing needs. But I can't tell you for sure until I test the 13" with a TITAN X in few weeks :) .

In any case, a quad core laptop with one or two eGPUs can easily replace quite a few desktops out there :tounge:

EDIT @Dustin: TB3 enclosures can be used on older TB1/2 macs with a $29 adapter.

Dude that sounds pretty cool! I still think I would go for a quad-core since I also do some audio production/recording and I don't think that uses the GPU much. But that's pretty cool!

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23 hours ago, Don Kotlos said:

We have ordered plenty of computers from Puget systems, and we are very satisfied with their service. Not only they do various tests to figure out the optimal configurations for different tasks/programs but also they do extensive testing on each build to make sure it is up to spec. I would as far as to say they can surpass the professional support from Dell/HP/Lenovo workstations and you end up with a system that is significantly cheaper but performs significantly better. 

I feel the same, so thats why I am looking into eGPUs. I am planning to combine a macbook pro 13" with an external GPU for the ultimate versatility:

Screen Shot 2017-03-26 at 10.22.06 PM.png

From http://barefeats.com/rmbpnode13in.html

The mantiz venus case offers ethernet, USB3,SATA3 and 60w charging. Even though it is not officially supported by Apple it looks to be working fine. Here is a review: https://egpu.io/mantiz-venus-review-thunderbolt-3-external-gpu-docking-station/ . At the moment there is an offer for the first 50 EGPU.IO forum members to have the case for $300 (instead of $379): https://egpu.io/forums/deals/us-eu-mantiz-venus-thunderbolt-3-egpu-enclosure-group-buy/

 

Thanks for this.

Do macbook pros now allow eGPUs?  I guess with using thunderbolt 3 in the latest models.  Are the newest MBPs good now?

Looks like they are:

https://9to5mac.com/2017/01/18/hands-on-akitio-node-egpu-tubro-charge-apple-2016-macbook-pro-thunderbolt-3-video/

But the process is intensive and it requires to also have you use an external monitor.

Man, that Razer Pro V2 seems so good - if only I could figure out linux

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1 hour ago, Ed_David said:

 

Thanks for this.

Do macbook pros now allow eGPUs?  I guess with using thunderbolt 3 in the latest models.  Are the newest MBPs good now?

Looks like they are:

https://9to5mac.com/2017/01/18/hands-on-akitio-node-egpu-tubro-charge-apple-2016-macbook-pro-thunderbolt-3-video/

Yes they are!

https://egpu.io/mantiz-venus-review-thunderbolt-3-external-gpu-docking-station/

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But the process is intensive and it requires to also have you use an external monitor.

Only for FCPX. Premiere & Resolve don't require one. 

Quote

Man, that Razer Pro V2 seems so good - if only I could figure out linux

Looks good indeed

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/27/2017 at 3:36 PM, Dustin said:

Cool article! Wouldn't a 13" only get you a dual-core processor though? I never had any luck with dual core processors in the past in laptops.

In the tests that I did I found most things worked great even on a dual core laptop. The only processing that really benefits from many cores is transcoding and stabilization with Premiere. So if you use these a lot, then get at least a quad core. But for FCPX & Resolve there is little benefit of having many cores and at the end performance with a dual core is really close to the higher core CPUs. 

On 3/28/2017 at 2:48 PM, Ed_David said:

But the process is intensive and it requires to also have you use an external monitor.

Installing the eGPU was very easy. The external monitor is only necessary for effect acceleration in FCPX (stabilization works even without it) & that can be fixed with a headless hdmi adapter. Acceleration with Resolve & Premiere works even without any external monitor. Performance with Resolve is really amazing with an eGPU. Worth every penny. 

Here are my test results:

 

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