u/Pleasant-Teacher9471

Hi everyone,

My background is in numerical simulation of physical equations, and I’m now planning to do some AI research related to physical modeling / physics-informed machine learning.

The computations I plan to run locally are not extremely large. My idea is to use a laptop for smaller experiments and rely on commercial cloud computing for anything too heavy.

Do you have any laptop recommendations within a budget of around $2500 USD? Based on my own research, I’m considering a Lenovo Legion gaming laptop, but I’d love to hear from anyone with experience or other suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

My background is in numerical simulation of physical equations, and I’m now planning to do some AI research related to physical modeling / physics-informed machine learning.

The computations I plan to run locally are not extremely large. My idea is to use a laptop for smaller experiments and rely on commercial cloud computing for anything too heavy.

Do you have any laptop recommendations within a budget of around $2500 USD? Based on my own research, I’m considering a Lenovo Legion gaming laptop, but I’d love to hear from anyone with experience or other suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

* Country

Canada, but I can also consider buying from the US if the deal is good.

* Budget

Up to $2500 USD. Roughly around $3400 CAD, but I would prefer to stay lower if possible.

* Are you open to refurbs/used options?

Maybe, if the condition is good and the warranty/support is reasonable.

* Screen size

Preferably 16", but I am open to 14"–17".

* Weight limit

No strict limit, but I would prefer something still reasonably portable. Performance is more important than weight.

* Purpose

AI research related to physical modeling / physics-informed machine learning, plus numerical simulation work.

* Form factor

Standard clamshell laptop.

* Intended usage

My background is in numerical simulation of physical equations, and I am now planning to do research related to AI for physical models, such as physics-informed machine learning / PINNs / scientific machine learning.

I plan to run small to medium-scale experiments locally on the laptop, and use commercial cloud computing for anything too large. I may use Python, PyTorch/JAX, CUDA, numerical solvers, CFD-related tools, and general research/development workloads.

I am considering gaming laptops because of the NVIDIA GPU performance. My current research points toward the Lenovo Legion series, but I would like to hear if people have better recommendations or experience with similar machines.

* Desired battery life

Not a major priority. I understand high-performance gaming/workstation laptops usually have limited battery life. Around 3–5 hours for light work would be acceptable.

* Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life

Performance, size, weight, battery life.

* Info/Requirements

Strong NVIDIA GPU preferred, ideally with as much VRAM as possible within budget.

At least 32 GB RAM, preferably upgradeable to 64 GB.

Good CPU performance for numerical workloads.

Good thermal design is important because I may run long experiments.

Linux compatibility would be a plus.

I am currently considering Lenovo Legion models, but I am open to ASUS, MSI, Alienware, HP Omen, or other options.