Since you didn’t list a budget, allow me to recommend the ASUS Flow Z13. That’s what I have, and if you get the model with 128gb of unified memory, you can safely dedicate 96gb of that to the GPU for use with local models, allowing you to very easily run models that are too large for people with two 5090s to run. technically you could use more, but you want to keep a fair amount restricted to use as RAM so the system doesn’t run out of memory. best of all, since the machine overclocked has a maximum of 90w for power usage, even under full load it uses less power than most people’s gaming rigs do when idle. I know from experience that it is possible to run this device off of a small solar panel. when you are doing something low power, like browsing fedi, the power usage drops to around 5-10w on cachyos, meaning you get 6-8 hours of use per charge for low-power tasks. that drops to 1 hour when gaming, since it has a 70wh battery and the system normally uses 70w under load, but like most gaming laptops you will likely be plugged in when gaming so you get the full performance power.
for gaming, it’s pretty good too. the AMD RYZEN AI MAX+ 395 in it has a Radeon™ 8060S built in, giving it about the performance of a 3060, except that it has potentially 96gb of VRAM. meaning you will have no issues setting textures to the absolute maximum in any game. I get good frames in most games, easily reaching over 100fps in most of the titles I play, like Dune: Awakening. you can use G-Helper for linux to do things like control fan and power profiles, if you want to really optimize things.
the biggest issue with this device is the price. it was never cheap, since it launched after the RAM shortage started, and things have obviously gotten worse since then. it’s a serious investment. but as far as laptops for use with local AI go, I don’t think there’s currently a better option, all things considered.
seconded. the Flow Z13 with 128gb of unified memory is a beast for both gaming and local AI.