Question about Recoil series with 4080/4090 - power supply

[Varkhan]

Here's the current spec:

Spoiler: Spec

Chassis & Display
Recoil Series: 17" Matte QHD+ 240Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1600)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 24 Core Processor 14900HX (5.8GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair 4800MHz SODIMM DDR5 (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 4080 - 12.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
4TB SAMSUNG 990 PRO M.2, PCIe 4.0 NVMe (up to 7450MB/R, 6900MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
4TB SAMSUNG 990 PRO M.2, PCIe 4.0 NVMe (up to 7450MB/R, 6900MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 330W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre Swiss Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Recoil Series Integrated 99WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
LIQUID METAL PERFORMANCE COOLING
Sound Card
Nahimic by SteelSeries 2 Channel HD Audio
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6E AX211 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.3
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x THUNDERBOLT 4 PORT + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
RECOIL 17 SERIES RGB BACKLIT SWISS KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
France/République Française - French Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED IR+FHD Hybrid Webcam
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Chassis
TongFang GM7IX8N (12GB RTX-4080, i9-14900HX, 240Hz QHD)
Delivery
3 DAY DELIVERY TO SWITZERLAND
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Price: CHF 2'828.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/recoil-VIII-17/bQmjMzfQvY/

TLDR: a 4080 RTX

Now I've seen on the laptop pictures that the back panel has TWO power inlets - I can order two power supplies... and according to this article ( RTX 4080 on notebook benchmarks ) the performance basically varies based on the wattage...

I remember some configs here in the past that actually required two power supplies to actually work, but I also remember this was indicated during the spec check on the site.

Now I definitely don't picture myself hooking a laptop to TWO power supplies to have the proper performance, so the question is: is the config above worth anything when only plugging in one power supply?

Typically, I play a lot of DCS (so lots of CPU required also), but also games like Cyberpunk or BG3, and I would expect that replacing my old 2080 Max Q Vyper Series from 4 years ago with a brand new gig, the perf of the graphics card would be a the top of class 1 today with only one power supply hooked (and not degrade to class 2 because of only one power supply) and in 4 years probably still be in class 2, still with one power supply hooked.

Now if the 4080 actually requires 2 power supplies to deliver something like that and there is an alternative, well... what is it?

 

[TonyCarter]

Are you sure they're not the in/out for the recommended liquid cooler? Without it you may not get the performance you hope for.

The only reason to buy two power supplies is so that you can have one in 2 locations without having lug one around everywhere...and there are 2 power options depending on how much full-power usage you're going to use and how quickly you want it to recharge between sessions.

 

[Varkhan]

Oh, I didn't even think about the liquid cooler, fair point, then the power inlet is the small one, not the 2 blue ones. Thanks Tony!

Actually, the 2 power supplies really were required in some configs 4 years ago because the GPU actually needed more wattage at the time than what a single one could provide, thus my confusion. Those were also I think very bulky > 17" laptops, but I can't recall the exact series.

Judging from some posts I found (e.g. this one ), the big difference seems to be between the laptop fan being basically 100% up at all time and making a lot of noise, or not. Which I don't care much for anyway, 99% of the time I play with a headset and I don't hear the fan's noise.

Though it's definitely something to consider, at least for when I fly on DCS, I have so many different things connected that adding an external cooler wouldn't change much, especially since it's in my office downstairs anyway and not annoying anyone else in terms of the place it takes ^^. It's another thing for most of my other gaming sessions where I'm sitting upstairs on the couch, though that's not entirely a deal breaker per se, depending on the cabling length.

Has anyone the specs somewhere on this external cooler, typically the length of the cables?

 

[Varkhan]

I think I've answered my own question my googling myself with this:

Cable lengths would definitely be an issue on the couch

Basically, the performance is (marginally IMO) improved overall, as the GPU/CPU can go higher up. Sound doesn't change, either the fans make noise... or the cooling unit ...

I think I'll pass, I can probably always change my mind later, mid-life of the laptop, to increase again the gig's performance for a small fee.