Railworks America

So with over 2 months without a working laptop, I’m looking to get a new one. My current broken one is an HP Omen that is nearly 4 years old and better to put money into a new one with more power.

I was going to get another Omen with a i7-11800H, RTX 3070 Max-Q (capped at 100-watts) and a 17-inch 16:9 (2560x1440) QHD 165Hz display. It doesn’t have a G-Sync display and I’ve heard mixed reports on if it’s display supports Freesync. I was gonna wait for it to go on sale, but it looks more like get one while you can cuz laptops have been selling out. The wait times for shipping are up to 1.5 months. Now the QHD is sold out, so I have to wait for a restock.

The downside is that Omen laptops don’t let you disable Nvidia’s Optimus to increase power to the CPU and discreet GPU. They also don’t have a MUX switch. That switch allows your laptop display to get input directly from the discreet GPU. Normally laptops have the discreet GPU use the CPU’s integrated GPU as a pass through to the display. This bottlenecks the data and thus limits the frame rate. A MUX switch allows the discreet GPU to bypass the iGPU and send its data directly to the display. This avoids the bottleneck and gives the RTX 3070 about a 3fps to 8fps boost in games. The OMEN does allow the GPU to bypass the iGPU to increase frame rates, but only for an external display hooked up to an HDMI or DisplayPort…. Not the internal display.

In the meantime, I was seeing some good reviews of the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro and the Legion 7. Both are identical in specs, but the Legion 7 has better RAM performance timings, has better cooling (Vapor chamber Vs. only heat pipes in the Legion 5), better RGB lighting and better build quality overall.

Both have a 16-inch 16:10 (2560x1600) 165Hz WQXGA display and both sport a RTX 3070 Max-P (full 140 watts,so much better performance than a Max-Q variant). They both have a MUX switch. I’m told the built-in display is both G-Sync and FreeSync capable when the MUX switch bypasses the iGPU …..and only FreeSync if the iGPU is not bypassed. The display has HDR, while the Omen display doesn’t to my knowledge.

I’m inclined to pay a little more for the Intel because unlike the AMD based ones, it has Thunderbolt 4, Intel Quick Sync encoder/decoder and a 16-lane PCIe 4.0. AMD doesn’t have Thunderbolt or Quick Sync and only uses 8-lane PCIe 3.0.

Omen offers a 3-year extended warranty w/accidental coverage option, while the Lenovo offers a 4-year plan with accidental coverage.

My question to you guys that have owned one or know someone that’s owned one is…. How is Lonovo’s customer service and warranty service?

I have heard bad things about HP, Dell and Lenovo. Not sure who is worse. Depends on who you ask. The two warranty screen replacements and a whole new laptop replacement went fairly smooth with my HP omen. The customer service was pretty good. I didn’t like their sales department because I asked about when the QHD screen option will be back in stock so I can get one. He said he didn’t know….. then tried to sell me on a 1080p FHD display. If I had wanted an FHD display, I would have just bought one dude.

Heard bad things about Digital River. It’s the contracted out company that takes orders and your money for Lonovo’s website. The bad reviews on this company were mostly in Ireland and the UK. Not sure if they use the same processor on the USA website. Complaints ranged from saying a product is in stock and should be to you in days….. when in reality it took weeks to even months to receive it. Also heard getting your money back for a return is a nightmare with them as well.

Then like all laptop makers, some people had laptops fail on them at some point and getting them fixed seems like a headache. Remember….those that have problems are the ones most likely to post an online bad review. That’s the case with all companies. So it’s hard to tell if this is systematically a problem or just a few bad experiences.

Your input is appreciated.

When I was still working we bought several Lenovo laptops from Newegg. Good service and never had any problems from any of them (5 if I remember right). Bought other stuff that had some issues and they were very responsive to any problems.

Thanks for the info. I just went to buy it and in the checkout it says “Ships in 4+ months”. Now I don’t know what to do. Do I buy it and wait all that time without a laptop or do I get the Omen which almost certainly will be available at least 2 months sooner, but not quite as good of specs? Tough call. By the time they ship it, the new 2022 models should be somewhat close to being announced.

Also…. What about the warranty? Does it start at date of purchase or the date it shipped? It’s not fair for the clock on a warranty to start 4+ months before I actually receive the laptop. Heck…it could push to 5 or 6 months. Who knows. The AMD version with the Ryzen 7 5800H only says 2+ months. So I may get that one instead.

It’s a tough decision. Not entirely sure what I’m gonna do because I want this laptop, but I want to be playing my games soon too.

Update…

Called Lonovo and they were up front with me. They said it’s looking more like a 6 month wait. But they also said people have reported getting their’s earlier with no explanation. They didn’t know why because they are not part of the fulfillment end of the company. I had read some users online reporting their surprise at getting theirs 2 months earlier then expected out of the blue. Also was told the warranty begins when the laptop is shipped. So no problems there. Now I just have to figure out if I want to wait or buy something that’s more readily available. 6 months from now is a long time without a computer.

Have you thought about a used one from e-bay or Craigs List which can be obtained pretty inexpensively as a fill in to have something while you wait?

You may also want to look at MSI and Razer. I know that some of their newer models have a MUX switch. I have two Razer and one MSI laptops and all have been excellent performers. My son has an MSI that he has used for gaming for over three years and is actually in the process of buying another. He's trying to decide between a laptop and a desktop at the moment.

Not sure if this list will help or not but thought I'd throw it up here for you: https://jarrods.tech/list-of-gaming-laptops-with-mux-switch/

Yeah I have a personal MSI laptop and it is excellent.

Thanks guys! After much thought, I decided to put up with the wait and get the exact Intel based Lonovo I wanted. Upgrading from the 3060 to the 3070 cost $240 more. If I had upgraded to the 3080, that costs $980 more. Ahhhh…. No! The 3070 is the sweet spot. Going from my current 7th gen Intel to an 11th gen one is a pretty sweet jump in performance too.

Also got their ultimate tier 4-year extended warranty with onsite repair and 4 year accidental protection. And for cheaper than competitors 2 or 3 year plans. You want your big investment to last. It was nice that the sales guy hooked me up with $220 in coupons off the price of the laptop and extended warranty.

Yesterday it listed 4+ months for delivery. Today it dropped down to 3+ months when I ordered…. So I may get it sooner than I thought. Now I wait patiently.

Update: So I finally got my laptop after a 6 week wait and 3 weeks earlier than they originally projected I'd get it. I've had it almost a month now and this is a mini-review.....

It originally had Windows 10 installed, but I decided to take the plunge and use the free upgrade to Windows 11. So far, so good. One feature I really like about Win 11 is the Auto HDR feature. It will take most DX11 or DX12 based games and upgrade them to HDR even if the original game didn't have HDR support. It's not quite as good as native support, but pretty darn good if your display supports it. It has an adjustment slider with a preview pic to dial in the level of HDR intensity you prefer. You can also turn it off and simply display games in regular SDR. It added some real punch to colors in both TSW 1/TSW 2 and TANE. It does nothing for Run 8 even though it's DX11 based and TS2022 unfortunately uses DX9.

This laptop is awesome and very well built! The 165Hz G-Sync display at over 500-nits of brightness is stunning. It's 1600p resolution and HDR 10/Dolby Vision support really make things look crisp. It's my first 16:10 display and I'm now a solid fan of this ratio. If you prefer 16:9 content, it does a really good job with only small top/bottom black borders that are barely noticeable due to the deep blacks of this display.

There is a faster PCIe v4.0 SSD slot and a slower PCIe v3.0 SSD slot as well. I must say that v4.0 had my train sims loading considerably faster than the v3.0 SSD. Routes load up from the main menu in the 5-12 second range.

The rear ports have labels that light up so you can find the right port to plug in the dark. This should be standard on all laptops.

The vapor chamber cooling on this is very effective. Older games from only a few years ago with settings maxed out have the GPU temps at 45c-55c and the CPU 50c-62c range respectively. The most demanding newer games had the GPU at 56c-70c and the CPU at 63c-78c with short spikes to 81c.

I got a 130watt-140watt GPU power draw and confirms this is indeed the more powerful Max-P variant of the RTX 3070. I did cab view framerate tests with the same train consist at the same starting location on several routes at both 1080p and 1440p. Each tested with 8xMSAA and the more demanding 3x3 SSAA filtering. All other settings were maxed out and checked. FOV set to default. Headlight off.


TS2022 cabview results are as follows....


1080p resolution
8xMSAA / 3x3 SSAA

Cajon Pass 193fps/68fps
Donner Pass 135fps/60fps
Pacific Surfliner 80fps/65fps
Soldier Summit 65fps/57fps
Tehachapi Pass 69fps/54fps

1440p resolution
8xMSAA / 3x3 SSAA

Cajon Pass 200fps/37fps
Donner Pass 146fps/33fps
Pacific Surfliner 85fps/36fps
Soldier Summit 54fps/32fps
Tehachapi Pass 69fps/31fps


TSW 1 and TSW 2 cabview results on the Sand Patch route with max settings are as follows....


TSW 1 is 116fps at 1080p and 109fps at 1440p

TSW 2 is 125fps at 1080p and 119fps at 1440p.

FYI....Based on average benchmark tests, the RTX 3060, 3070 and 3080 desktop GPUs are 11%, 25% and 49% more powerful respectively than their mobile GPU variants.


So needless to say, I'm very happy with this laptop and would recommend it to anyone looking to upgrade!!

Gee that is lots of money for a laptop more than what this pensioner could afford. https://www.lenovo.com/nz/en/laptops/le ... areSection

trev123 wrote:Gee that is lots of money for a laptop more than what this pensioner could afford. https://www.lenovo.com/nz/en/laptops/le ... areSection

Yeah we build our own towers for way less. But then we are old fuddy duddies.

trev123 wrote:Gee that is lots of money for a laptop more than what this pensioner could afford. https://www.lenovo.com/nz/en/laptops/le ... areSection

Well a few things here…..

My laptop was $2409 after taxes or about $3566 New Zealand dollars. So the prices are about the same. Although I notice a couple downgrades on the NZ version. It says it has a red backlit keyboard (I’m guessing a listing mistake) and Killer brand WIFI card. The USA version has a per key RGB keyboard and the better Intel Wifi card.

I don’t buy desktop computers anymore (especially right now) for a few reasons. The main reason is because I like to game on the go. When I go train watching, camping or go to my sister’s house for the holidays, I’ve got something to play on when I’ve got idle time. It’s got specs that make it a pretty good desktop replacement at home.

Plus… building a desktop PC is not only expensive these days, it’s harder to get some of it’s individual upgradable components for the foreseeable future. Cuz if I wanted a desktop computer, I certainly wouldn’t buy a pre-built one. Especially with the big brands that use proprietary motherboards that can limit your future upgrade ability and have limited space in the case.

I rarely watch television, so I save a lot of money right there that can go towards my laptop and it’s games instead of cable or DirecTV. I’ve got a great unlimited data plan on my phone, so I can watch YouTube or play online games using it as a hotspot at home or out in the wild.

The Legion 7 is Lenovo’s premium gaming laptop line. I could have gone with the cheaper Legion 5i Pro with an RTX 3070, but didn’t for a few reasons…

The 5 Pro has regular heat pipe cooling, while the 7 has the better vapor chamber cooling. This is because only the 7 line has the RTX 3080 option that requires the better cooling solution. So if you get the 7 with a 3060 or 3070 instead, it’s an overkill cooling solution (especially with the 3060) that keeps things just that much cooler. That is especially helpful if you are playing games in a location with high ambient temperatures where thermal throttling becomes a real possibility. It also reduces the rpms needed for the fans to cool it, thus keeping fan noise down as a result.

The 7 has a per key RBG keyboard, while the 5 Pro tops out with only a 4-zone RGB option.

The 7 has a stronger aluminum body, while the 5 Pro has a weaker plastic body.

I would have gotten the cheaper RTX 3060 option, but I wanted 8GB of VRAM instead of 6GB. That helps a lot when maxing out graphics settings…. especially at 1440p res or higher. Also that extra VRAM and better GPU helps future proof it just that much more.

Correction….

I misspoke in my last post. TANE doesn’t support Auto HDR even though it uses DX11. It just looks so colorful and vibrant on this display that it fooled me into thinking Auto HDR was running. But when it detects a game that can support it, Windows 11 automatically pops up a message saying the game you launched supports Auto HDR and turns it on. I never got that message while loading TANE.

TANE barely stutters on this laptop compared to my past laptops. What I don’t like about TANE is that it seems to have reduced the rendering distance on the Mojave route compared to the Trainz 12 version in order to increase the frame rate and reduce stuttering. I noticed it because I see less cars behind the engines rendered into the distance behind me on a long train than it does in Trainz 12.

Yeah. They suck. Bought one and gutted it the next day. Installed more RAM, a 1TB NvME, and an SSD. Then I removed all of that Windows trash and installed Linux Mint. Runs like a screaming eagle now. Yes, yes, issues with Steam, but it runs Blender just fine.