Choosing the Right Discrete GPU when buying a Content Creator Laptop

Aug 31, 2023

When it comes to bringing your artistic visions to life, a powerful creator laptop will be your greatest ally. One key component in such laptops is the dedicated GPU (dGPU). Choosing the right one for your type of work can be the difference between creating efficiently and smoothly and struggling due to insufficient graphical power. But first, you’ll need to understand what dedicated GPUs are, why you’re better off with one (instead of only integrated graphics), and what key specs to pay attention to.

Below, you will find some key facts about dedicated GPUs as well as recommendations about which laptop GPU is suitable for different types of creation. Plus, you’ll learn about some of the creator laptops from ASUS that feature these graphics cards. So, let’s dive in!

What’s the difference between an integrated GPU and a dedicated GPU? The former is built into the CPU, sharing its power; a dedicated (aka discrete) graphics card, however, lives on a separate chip. This translates into difference in graphics processing power. While integrated GPUs have drastically improved in recent years, dedicated GPUs still outperform integrated GPUs — especially when it comes to handling graphics-heavy tasks, such as creative work or gaming.

It’s worth noting that laptops that feature dGPUs still have an integrated graphics built into the CPU. Why is this important? By not sharing power with the CPU, the dGPU allows both types of processors to run at their full potential, simultaneously.

Dedicated GPUs draw more power. When running creative software without plugging the laptop into an outlet, you will likely see battery charge drop rather quickly. However, ASUS creator laptops allow users to switch the dGPU off when it isn’t needed, preserving precious battery charge. For example, when only doing light edits or browsing the internet, the integrated GPU provides enough power without quickly draining battery charge.

To learn more, give this article about the differences between integrated and dedicated graphics a read!

Now that we’ve established that a dedicated GPU is a better choice for content creators, there are a few considerations to keep in mind when choosing the dedicated laptop graphics card that is right for you.

Brand

There are three main manufacturers that offer dedicated laptop GPUs: NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel. The latest ASUS creator laptops offer NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ and NVIDIA RTX™ (formerly known as Quadro) laptop GPUs, due to their particularly strong fit for creative work.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX and NVIDIA RTX lineups consists of laptop GPUs that support ray tracing. This is a very important consideration for content creators — especially those working with 3D content.

The latest generation of NVIDIA graphic cards that is featured in ASUS creator laptops is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4000 series, debuted in early 2023. In this series, you will find offerings such as the GeForce RTX 4050, 4060, 4070, 4080, and 4090. As a rule of a thumb, the higher number the last two digits are, the more powerful the card. In the previous-generation 3000 series, cards such as the GeForce RTX™ 3050Ti straddle a middle-ground between the two tiers (i.e., GeForce RTX 3050Ti will outperform GeForce RTX 3050, but will be outperformed by GeForce RTX 3060).

The enterprise Laptop GPUs such as the RTX3000 in the Studiobook Pro 16 OLED (W7604) are built for professionals that need a solution that is certified, tested, and supported for their software. They are ISV-Certified to signify their compatibility with creative software, such as Autodesk, PTC, Dassault Systems & Adobe.

This tiered naming system is a very useful guideline that can help you quickly identify the right GPU for your needs. When carefully evaluating different specs, there are three things you should pay special attention to: video memory (VRAM), the number of cores, and clock speed.

VRAM

The spec that is usually the easiest to spot is the video random access memory (VRAM) — or video memory, for short. This spec is often specified right as the GPU model is called out in the laptop spec table. You may, for example, see something like “NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4070 Laptop GPU 8 GB GDDR6”, where the “8 GB GDDR6” part refers to the VRAM volume and technology.

VRAM is quickly accessible temporary storage for the graphics processor. It holds image-related data that will help your computer “understand” how to display the information rendered by the graphics processor. The higher the VRAM number, the more complex graphical tasks and the higher resolution of imagery your GPU will be able to handle without a hiccup.

We recommend that creators opt for a graphics card with the latest GDDR6 memory type for fast, stable data flow. The volume of VRAM you will need will depend on the complexity of your tasks. For example, for editing 1080p videos, the absolute minimum of VRAM you should have is 4 GB. If you wish to dabble in animation, heavy effects or high-resolution video editing, you may need to go up to 16 GB or more.

Cores Available

As with CPUs, the cores in a GPU are responsible for processing graphical tasks. In the case of NVIDIA, these are called CUDA® (Compute Unified Device Architecture) cores for general purposes. The latest generation also features special RT cores, specifically optimized for ray tracing, as well as Tenson cores designed to facilitate efficient AI processing.

The core count in GPUs can go into the hundreds or even thousands. A high number is important as it allows you to run multiple calculations in parallel. One example of a task where many cores running simultaneously comes in handy is when ray tracing is enabled. During ray tracking, the cores process information that will then translate into realistic shadows or lighting conditions in games or animation, or other special effects in a video.

The number of cores in the latest-generation NVIDIA GeForce RTX laptop GPUs range between 2,560 in the case of GeForce RTX 4050 to 9,728 for GeForce RTX 4090. As a general rule, the higher the core count, the more complex imagery you’ll be able to work on without slowing down. To see an example of core options, check out this NVIDIA GeForce RTX laptop GPU spec table.

Clock Speed

Finally, it’s also good to check the clock speed of the GPU. Described in MHz, this number refers to how many processing cycles can be executed per second. The higher the GPU clock speed, the faster your GPU, and the shorter the rendering time.

In the GPU spec table, you will see base and boost clocks. In general, the higher the clock speed, the better. However, this number is also related to the number of cores. The frequency describes the speed of each core, so the GPUs with more cores will usually outperform the ones with the same or even slightly higher clock speed but fewer cores.

Now that you understand the basics of GPU specs, let’s take a look at some recommended dedicated laptop GPUs for different kinds of creative work, and some ASUS creator laptops that feature these cards.

Graphic Design and Photography

Graphic design and photography usually don’t require a top-notch graphics card. Of course, it will all depend on the complexity of your edits, the resolution of the images you’ll be working on, and whether you just do one edit at a time or edit in large batches.

Hobbyist graphic designers and photographers will most likely find the NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4050 Laptop GPU adequate. This card has 6 GB GDDR6 VRAM and packs 2560 NVIDIA CUDA Cores with 1605–2370 MHz boost clock speed. This GPU features both ray tracing and AI and tensor cores. A great example of a laptop featuring this card would be the thin, lightweight and reliable ASUS Vivobook Pro 15 OLED.

It’s also worth noting that as more and more AI features are becoming available in creative software — particularly one for graphic design and image editing — it’s very useful if the graphics cards is optimized for AI features support. Many of these features are RTX-accelerated, facilitating much quicker AI content processing. Look for NVIDIA Studio badge to find the best graphics cards for graphic design that are AI-ready.

Video Editing and Animation

To determine what GPU you will need for video editing or animation, you’ll need to look at the resolution you are dealing with. You’ll also need to ask yourself whether you’ll be doing a lot of color grading or adding a lot of advanced special effects.

If you just need to cut 1080p videos, without much color grading or special effects, the same option noted above for graphic designers and photographers should be perfectly adequate.

However, if you work with 4K video content and dabble in special effects and color grading, you’ll be better off opting for a more advanced card such as the NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4060 Laptop GPU. It features 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM and comes with 3072 NVIDIA® CUDA® Cores with 1470-2370 MHz boost frequency. It also features ray tracing cores as well as AI and tensor cores. A great creator laptop that features such a GPU is the ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED.

For top-notch creators working with cinematic-grade 8K content, you’ll need the graphical power of an NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4070 Laptop GPU. This pro-grade, robust GPU comes with 8 GB of GGDR6 video memory. It has 4608 NVIDIA® CUDA® cores operating at boost clock speed of 1230–2175 MHz. It features ray tracing and AI and tensor cores, too. A great example of a powerful laptop that comes with this card, as well as myriad of other top-notch components (including a 13th Generation Intel® Core™ i9-13980HX processor) is a flagship ASUS creator laptop — ProArt Studiobook 16 OLED.

Another reason why a dedicated GPU is crucial to video editing in crunch time is that recent GPUs (30/40 series) have been especially optimized to accelerate the video encoding process, also known as "exporting a video." Some of the most popular professional video editing apps leverage NVIDIA’s video encoder, NVENC, which is a dedicated hardware found on NVIDIA GPUs that is designed specifically for accelerating video encoding (hardware encoding). This allows creators to reduce the time spent encoding their video for output or export video into newer, higher quality video codec such as the AV1 and H.265 formats. By taking advantage of hardware accelerated encoding on NVIDIA GPUs, video editors will be able to reduce the time they wait on exports and can spend more time and effort on the editing process.

3D Modeling

Working with 3D content is one of the most taxing processes you can task a GPU with. To ensure you work without interruptions and the laptop you buy stays adequate for years to come, you need a top-notch graphic card. One such option is the NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4080 Laptop GPU. This beast of a graphics card comes with 16 GB of GDDR6 video memory. The massive CUDA® core count stands at 7424, running at the boost clock speed of 1350–2280 MHz. This GPU is a full package, also featuring ray tracing cores and AI and tensor cores. One laptop that features this GPU is the uniquely powerful ASUS Zenbook Pro 16X OLED.

Another great option is the NVIDIA RTX™ 3000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU. It packs 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM and comes with 4,608 CUDA cores while featuring both RT cores and the tensor cores as well. This powerful GPU is featured in the ultimate creator powerhouse laptop — the ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 OLED. This laptop has earned certification from Autodesk, Dassault Systemes, PTC, and Adobe, signifying its compatibility with their respective applications.

The graphics card is only one of many components that will determine how your laptop will perform when working with content. You should look at the laptop holistically, and also take into account the CPU, RAM, cooling, battery life, and how thin and light it is. To learn more about other laptop specs, see this article: laptop specs that content creators should consider.

In the end, the selection process boils down to this: figure out what you need the laptop for, determine your budget, research the requirements of the software you will be working with most often, and pick a laptop that meets all of the requirements.

If you are on the fence between two options, we recommend that you choose the more powerful laptop — even if it costs a bit more. In the long term, it may end up helping you save money. Many parts, such as the GPU and CPU are not upgradeable, so if you need something more powerful in the future, you may need to buy a whole new device.

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