Building a Super Powerful (Portable) Creative Workstation for 2018

Throughout 2017, we used our desktops and local media server to power through dozens of video projects. Some involved more intensive 2D and 3D animation, others involved light or heavy editing with either tens of gigabytes or multiple terabytes of data. The decision to use custom PCs in video work comes down to the ability to stagger the upgrade of components to get maximum bang for your buck over time: certain parts will want to get upgraded every couple years, while others remain reliable and current for several more years. You can dial your machine perfectly to your needs and scale as your workflows change over time.

How We Arrived at the Perfect Video Editing Laptop

Going into 2018, when we decided to invest in a portable workstation we had to take into consideration a variety of factors. We wanted to create a no-compromises video powerhouse in the body of a laptop. Here are the main factors in customizing a laptop, and the incredible specs we ended up with.

A Super Powerful Processor

The choice of CPU is the number one consideration when it comes to performance for video editing in Premiere or After Effects. In the world of PC workstations it's important to be able to upgrade over time, yet with most laptops, upgrading the CPU is difficult or impossible. For our 2018 laptop workstation we sought out a desktop-level CPU that could clock at-or-above 4.00GHz, which is well above the consumer-level processors you'll find on off-the-shelf laptop models. All other decisions about the laptop followed what we found to be the best processor available for a laptop, which (at the top of 2018) is the Intel i7 8700K CPU.

Picking a Laptop Body

Picking a body came around the same time as figuring out the best possible processor for a laptop within our price range. We went with the Clevo P775TM1-G, as it can support 8th Generation Intel Core Processors, and has all of the benefits in the below categories. This class of laptop body makes it possible to have such a great customized and upgradeable workstation, so with a model like this, the PC is whatever you make of it. 

Choosing a Graphics Card (or two?)

For maximum compatibility with our suite of Adobe software, we wanted to stick with Nvidia for our GPU of choice. Plenty of gaming laptops these days support the latest series of Nvidia graphics cards, even multiple cards within a single machine. It’s important to note that the graphics card is not nearly as critical as the CPU when it comes to heavy lifting in After Effects. Having a good amount of GDDR3 graphics memory is great for rendering previews and making exports, but we figured that most of that rendering work wouldn’t need to be done while working remotely on a laptop anyway, and that we could make the desktop PC more of a render machine. So, rather than going all-out with two GTX 1080’s in SLI, we went with a single GTX 1070 in the laptop body with an extra vacant slot in case we decide to double-up later on. This gives us 6GB of graphics memory which is fantastic for exporting a video file or rendering  a batch of files through Media Encoder.

Memory for Days

The next consideration in building a creative workstation is the RAM. I don’t have as much to say here in terms of the nuances of what type of RAM to get (DDR3 vs DDR4) because this is one of the most easily upgradable components. Adobe programs require lots of RAM for effectively previewing video content, and at the moment 32GB felt like just the right amount to go with. Most kits for 64GB RAM today consist of 4 x 16GB sticks, so we wanted a laptop case with four slots in case we want to double the memory down the line without having to replace the existing sticks. So, we landed on a kit of 2 x 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 RAM.

Display

Given the choice between a 15.6" and 17.3" display, going bigger makes it easier to multi-task and spread UI elements of our creative programs in a more cozy fashion. As a video company, we have had the capability to create 4K content for a while, and are just starting to move from a 1080p HD workflow into a 2160p QHD workflow. While you don’t necessarily need a 4K display to create 4K content, it’s nice to be able to view the imagery in its full glory. The market for QHD gaming laptops makes it possible for us to find a reasonable laptop body that has this as an option while also allowing for all of the specs that we need under the hood. For only a few hundred dollars extra, we opted for a 4K display to view our creative content at 100% scale.

Storage

These days, M.2 SSDs are all the rage. We went for a 240GB drive for the Windows 10 operating system, which will leave plenty of room to have various files on the desktop. For creative project data, we have a 1TB 2.5" solid state drive. Because projects can range anywhere from a few gigabytes to several terabytes, we use a SSD for those with a lower footprint, and a 4TB 2.5" HDD in the second slot for larger files. We can always swap out drives or upgrade down the line to suit the current workload.

Input + Output (I/O)

For heavy lifting on the laptop, whether at home or a client’s office or in a cafe, we want to have no compromises on the input and output of the machine. Plenty of USB 3.0 ports, video display outputs, and audio jacks are a must, with Ethernet and Thunderbolt as a strong preference as well. Luckily the unit we arrived on had exactly what we need for all of this. The Ethernet port can be setup for a gigabit LAN connection to our 24TB creative server, or it could be used for fast Internet access if we’re downloading a huge batch of files and there’s a network jack available.

Important Decision on the Laptop Bag

Picking a laptop bag is a fun, final step in getting the portable workstation. It’s helpful to think of it as an actual part of the computer system, in that it houses components and enhances the portability aspect that makes the laptop attractive in the first place. When the machine is dormant, the bag is the human interface for the laptop and it influences your decision on how and when to bring it from place to place, thus impacting your workflow greatly. You want something that is easy to carry around, and stores the laptop plus power cables, headphones, mouse, maybe a drawing tablet and cooling pad. It has to be comfortable to wear — something that looks good enough to bring to a meeting but doesn’t scream “please steal this bag”.

After a bit of searching, I picked a convertible briefcase / backpack in a cool gray color. In backpack-mode it creates the appearance of a casual college student and doesn’t immediately scream “super powered laptop inside”. In briefcase-mode it has a low-key professional look that doesn’t call too much attention to itself: it’s not going to make anyone question how much the bag cost. The bag also comes with a strap for slinging it like a messenger bag, making it an excellent choice for any type of trek from putting it in the trunk of a car to commuting on public transit and/or walking from A to B. While the powerful PC components that go into the laptop make it the workstation that it is, the bag gives it wings to bring the experience wherever you can find a power outlet and/or decent WiFi.

The Final Build

To actually put the machine together, one option would be to order all of the components separately from various sources and seek out the best price on each item, but we found a California-based company called Prostar that has a handy customization tool and great recommendations online. They market their customizable laptops to gamers, and our video needs are aligned greatly with the professional specs that they can pack into a portable machine. The body of the laptop itself is a Clevo model P775TM1-G, and ProStar put it together and shipped it within a few days. In total the laptop reached $3,000 which is a reasonable rate considering the proportion of work we do that is done via PC. At that price point, you would not be able to get nearly as powerful of a Macbook Pro, let alone the capability of upgrading graphics card and processor to the extent we are with our Clevo laptop. With the top-of-the-line desktop CPU and GPU, this thing is only technically a laptop in the sense that the screen folds down and it has a battery. It's just as powerful as our desktop machine after overclocking the components.

Paired with the convertible laptop bag, this setup is ready for anything. In the bag we have the massive power supply brick, a Bluetooth mouse, and an Ethernet cable (because why not?) with plenty of room to add a cooling pad and plenty of assorted items. Converting from briefcase to backpack allows us to go more places to get stuff done.

We find that using a high-end laptop for video work is super liberating and adds a sense of adventure to tasks that would normally be restricted to a traditional desktop. Moving freely with the power of a portable workstation makes it possible to accelerate creative sessions with clients and inject some fresh air into the video workflow.