Laptop recommendation for creating GANs and 3D

Question

I'm looking for recommendations for a laptop suitable for creating GANs and working in 3D (so a 'gaming' laptop). It needs to have an NVIDIA graphics card and I'll be installing Linux (probably Ubuntu) so need to know that won't be an issue.

I've been looking at MSI laptops (but open to alternative suggestions) such as the MSI GE76 Raider Deluxe Edition, MSI Vector GP66 and MSI GP66 Leopard. What's most important here - graphics card, processor or RAM? For example should I prioritise Intel Core i9 with 16GB of RAM or the i7 but with 32GB of RAM

Answer 1

The Slimbook Titain and System76 Gazelle come with whichever Linux distro you choose, pre-installed, have discrete Nvidia GPUs, and can be customized to your order. Lenovo also has a good track record of supporting Linux.

My experience with heavy 3D simulations has been that you need:

• 32GB of RAM
• a fast work drive (nvme)
• an i5 is sufficient (if you can accelerate your jobs with a GPU)
• don't bother with extra internal storage (use network storage)

I've had a lot of trouble with too little ram. I've spent way too long waiting around for spinning hard drives. A CST job running only CPU takes 1hr, GPU only takes 7min, both takes 6min (with a 12 core CPU). You will stack up a lot of data from anything 3D and you don't want to try and keep it all locally. Getting something that comes with Linux means you will get much better driver support and it will save you a lot of hassle in the long run.