Time to upgrade my laptop – need advice please

Looking for a high-performance PC (non-Mac) for data-heavy workloads — suggestions?

It's time to upgrade. I'm looking for a Windows/Linux-compatible machine (no Mac) that can handle:

Large spreadsheet workloads (think multi-GB Excel/CSV files)

4K+ video editing and exports

Possibly some ML experimentation later on

I was considering a high-end gaming PC for the GPU + RAM benefits, but not sure if that’s the best tradeoff for thermals, noise, and form factor. Open to desktop or laptop, though portability is a plus.

What builds or machines would you recommend in 2025 for blazing speed + stability?

9 points | by zyruh 5 hours ago

7 comments

  • seized 3 hours ago
    Framework, the AMD versions.

    Can take the 48GB SODIMMs that are on the market now. That'll handle a spreadsheet or two.

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    • zyruh 2 hours ago
      Great - thx!
  • benoau 5 hours ago
    There's really only two choices in terms of laptop: a built in discrete GPU aka a gaming laptop, or one with the ability to add an external GPU through Thunderbolt or OCuLink.

    Pretty much any desktop is going to outperform a laptop, especially the GPU.

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    • LorenDB 3 hours ago
      External GPU is actually a really good option here. Get a laptop with a beefy CPU (definitely Ryzen; Strix Halo chips are really good and would be decent at standalone AI as well) and Thunderbolt/Oculink, then grab an eGPU dock and get the best GPU you can afford. For gaming, eGPUs suffer from bandwidth constraints, but for LLMs it shouldn't matter as much since the model only needs loaded once; after that it can sit in VRAM.
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      • zyruh 2 hours ago
        This is great - thank you!
    • brudgers 3 hours ago
      Workstation laptops can be specified with powerful GPU’s.

      You can spend $10k on a Dell with 4 drive capability, 128gb of ram and 24gb of gpu.

    • zyruh 5 hours ago
      Super helpful - thank you!
  • dlahoda 3 hours ago
    for local ai seems unified mem may win.

    no non mac laptop today has that with good thermals.

    so some boxes has amd ai 390 or 395 with 128gb.

    for laptops need to wait for good thermal releases.

    so it feels that macs dominate these days in all your points, and has good resell price later, except being mac)

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    • zyruh 2 hours ago
      Excellent, thank you!
  • chrsw 5 hours ago
    A gaming PC is probably your best bet. PC workstations for ML are extremely expensive.
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    • zyruh 2 hours ago
      I was kind of thinking this. thx
    • brudgers 3 hours ago
      You get what you pay for.
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      • zyruh 2 hours ago
        Yeah, absolutely.
    • zyruh 5 hours ago
      Thank you!
  • brudgers 3 hours ago
    What is your budget?
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  • mixmastamyk 3 hours ago
    I’m happy with my AMD framework. Though you said ML so maybe want Nvidia?
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    • zyruh 2 hours ago
      Cool - thx for the tip!
  • bigyabai 5 hours ago
    Wait for Q1 2026 and Nvidia will have probably announced their laptop product. Otherwise your best shot is a beefy Ryzen laptop.
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    • zyruh 5 hours ago
      I've been looking at Ryzen - thx for the tip!
    • chrsw 5 hours ago
      A laptop product for ML and not for graphics?
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      • wtallis 5 hours ago
        They're (over)due to start shipping miniPCs aimed at being AI/ML workstations, using a SoC that's a collaboration between Mediatek and NVIDIA, with 128GB of DRAM. They have not yet announced intentions to put those chips in laptops and run Windows on them, but the writing has been on the wall all year. It would be entirely unsurprising to see NVIDIA(+Mediatek) overtake Qualcomm for ARM Windows PC sales next year. But it's too soon to start making purchase plans around that.
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        • zyruh 4 hours ago
          Thank you!
      • bigyabai 5 hours ago
        Unless it uses an entirely bespoke GPU architecture, presumably it will support both.
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        • zyruh 4 hours ago
          Thank you!