Helllo everyone,
I’m going to buy a new laptop. I want to use Zwift (for a few years without any problems) with display on my TV via HDMI cable. I can’t decide between a dedicated graphics card or a good integrated graphics card (e.g., AMD Radeon Vega 10 RX), which is much cheaper and runs cooler. Thank you very much for your advice. (For the CPU, it will be an AMD Radeon i7 or an Intel i7.)
does it have to be a laptop? I would suggest something else if you don’t need the portability. A macmini is another great choice if you need something small (these are way smaller than a laptop and have HDMI out ports)
I think steering clear of AMD is also a good choice, @Paul_Southworth might know better than me however
Integrated graphics in PC laptops will not support the quality of visuals or resolution that you get from a dedicated graphics card, or from a Mac. The Radeon Vega 10 RX is on the Basic graphics profile in Zwift. Majority of Ryzen 7 systems with that GPU are not showing stellar frame rates (ie, worse than a 60Hz TV can do). It’ll probably work, won’t look any better than Apple TV. Up to you if that’s acceptable.
The above info is from the search page on trainerdx.com
I would avoid getting a laptop if its only intended purpose is to run Zwift. I bought a new laptop for office work with a dedicated GTX 1650 GPU purely as a “Backup” device to run Zwift should the main PC start playing up. Basically you are paying twice as much for half the performance with a laptop and you just cannot upgrade the thing with say a new GPU and it runs incredibly hot. The 150W power supply on mine gets uncomfortably hot as soon as you start running the GPU connected via HDMI to a monitor. I would decide on what resolution and frame rates you intend getting and then get a system to match.
OK . I need a laptop for others windows office needs.
I’dont realize how the basic profile looks. A little blurry?
I am …disappointed but thank you all for your reply
I wouldn’t say it looks blurry. It just doesn’t have as many details as the higher profiles. You’ll see less scenery and and you’d have a sort of ‘blob’ under your avatar, as opposed to a defined shadow.
Do you have a current laptop that can run Zwift? If it has any iGPU then that would give you a preview of how it will look on just about every other iGPU including Radeon Vega 10.
No, I haven’t. I run Zwift on a PC desktop with a geForce FX 710. It’s ok but many problems with this PC and I have to replace it.
If it’s a GeForce GT 710, that’s on the Medium graphics profile in Zwift, so it will look a bit better than the Radeon iGPU you mentioned. I didn’t find anything called an FX 710. Hard to guess how frame rates would compare since that is mostly limited by CPU performance in Zwift, and I assume that PC is pretty old.
That CPU is sufficient to run Zwift. Upgrade the GPU and you will see a pretty good increase of graphics on the system. Something like a 970/980; 1060 or 1050Ti. Will need to verify the power cable from your Power Supply. Some GPU cards do not require power cables (1050Ti, etc.).
Then just buy whatever laptop you need for your other functions.
