Folding Forum

I am looking at purchasing a new laptop on which I intend to run f@h. Most laptops that I am looking at are i5 or i7 configuration. I know Intel graphics which most laptops have is not supported by f@h. So
assuming its a modern generation i5 or i7 mobile cpu, is there much to gain from adding a discrete mobile graphics like Nvidia 750M ? or the cpu by itself would be good competiton to the gpu ?
I also realize that most laptop gpus may just have a passive cooling approach (no fan, heatsink only) as compared to cpu so while a gpu may perform better than the cpu, I dont want to make the mistake of burning out the gpu either. Is this something to watch out for ? Does this rule out mobile gpus then ?

Also, when choosing a cpu, is there anything in particular that I should be looking for that can specifically benefit f@h processing ? Used to be in the old days SSE and SSE2 would be great to have but these days its pretty much standard and even more on even mobile cpus.

Please advise.
Thanks!

At present CPU folding on less than 32 cores cannot compete with mid-range GPUs -- though someone will no doubt find a 16CPU config to beat a low-end GPU.

As you suggest, heat is the killer for folding on a laptop -- some will not even cope with flat-out CPUs, many will not cope with GPU folding. The only way to find out is to try, while monitoring temperatures. Pay attention to airflow round the laptop, do not fold while it is on carpet or soft furniture, increased spacing underneath may be required.

Of course any normal folding will require a mains supply -- folding on battery is not sustainable.

You've "done your homework" and have pretty much described all the issues.

Some laptops report a non-Intel iGPU -- perhaps only AMD -- but I have not had good luck with them, even when the computer isn't a supplied in a desktop case with fans, etc. but actually contains a laptop chipset.

(SSE* is a standard requirement, as you say.)

Increasing the number of CPUs and GHz will increase the actual CPU's throughput (assuming heat doesn't become the limitation) but most CPUs now integrate a pair of threads (ALUs) which share a single FPU, and since FAH depends almost exclusively on Floating Point operations, extra ALUs (as in HyperThreading or AMD's equivalent) only provide a relatively small benefit.

It should be noted that generalizations like these are subject to change. Later AMD hardware is much more likely to perform better than the ones that I tested.