Advice on purchasing new laptop

Hi there.

I'm currently in the process of purchasing a laptop.

I am going into my third year of an architecture degree and have in the past been using a mac with bootcamp which has been a pain in the arse with all of the re-bootings and the fact most of the hard drive is used for mac. I've decided to convert to PC

I will be primarily using AutoCad 2009 and 3D Studio Max and want advice on what specification for a laptop I should be looking at. Am I right in saying it's rendering that's processor intense?

Also has anyone got any specific laptops they would reccomend? Budget is not really an issue.

Thanks!

First place to start would be the AutoDesk website (or maybe here at CT) and find out what the minimum system requirements would be for each program. Go with the higher of the two specs.

I would recommend a system with a dedicated graphics card. I personally would not rely upon a laptop that uses an onboard, integrated graphics chip.

I too have read that rendering tends to be more processor related rather than graphics card related.

I would suggest too that you get as much RAM installed as the system and your wallet can afford. RAM is like money; you can never have too much.

Will you be using Vista as the OS? Just curious.

If you're going to be doing a lot of rendering, I would suggest you get a desktop workstation rather than a laptop. Rendering is very processor intensive and you need to keep it cool. I hear people complaining all the time about how their laptop is overheating and shutting down when they are trying to render. Laptops are great for many things, but in my opinion, working in 3D and rendering are a couple of things they're just not suited for.

I've moved your question to the "Hardware & Operating Systems" section where you will most likely get more feedback on this question.

AutoDesk has this to say about rendering in AutoCAD. Not sure if it applies as well to 3ds Max.

 

Memory requirements

 

As drawing file size and complexity of rendered objects increase, so do the memory requirements for operation. Memory requirements for rendering are also directly related to the rendering resolution and color depth settings. The higher the settings you select, the more RAM and greater swap file size you will need.

 

Firstly, congratulations on getting away from MAC.

I would strongly reccomend a desktop. Not only for effiency but it would also be the most cost effective choice. However, if its a laptop you need, i would reccomend looking at the Toshiba Qosmio series. Follow the link for a quick reference.

http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/series/Qosmio-G50-series/1055423/

Z

 

Also has anyone got any specific laptops they would reccomend? Budget is not really an issue.

 

Thanks!

If that's the case, you could make everyone on here and in your class jealous and get my 'dream machine'

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-alienware-m17x?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs&source=428

Be warned though, i will have to kill you for this laptop

Z

Wow, thanks a lot for the replies guys, it's much appreciated.

Yeh, I have been doing my research and I have read desktops are far more suitable for rendering and general Cadding (is that a phrase?). Unfortunately I have to get a laptop for the portability. Also my house I will be staying in at Uni next is pretty grim and I don't want to be stuck inside with a desktop!

As for the dream machine, as well as looking absolutely hideous, it couldn't be upgraded to 8GB memory which is what i'd be looking for.

I've looked at the Toshiba and it looks very impressive. At the moment i'm looking at getting G50-115, the cheapest of the four versions. I can't really see a massive difference in each laptop. It looks like the for an extra £220, all i'm getting extra by getting the G50-127 is an extra 0.13GHz in processor speed, which although nice, I wouldn't value at an extra £220! Please correct me if i'm wrong. But yeh i'm loving the look of the Qosmio.

Has anyone else got any suggestions or would everyone else agree with getting the Qosmio?

Thanks.

I would love to have a Thinkpad™ DS laptop. Wow!

A 17" screen is a bit large for portability but, I'll take one!

I have had numerous laptops, personally rate the Thinkpad™ laptops #1.

Run AutoCAD never missing a beat! Send me one and I'll put it through the test and promptly report, honestly, the results!

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=F10AD59D781A47888400957242FCF7F8

I've had 2 Qosmios' now and they've been just as good as my desktop for everything. My brother still uses my first one (bought 2005) for CS:Source, photoshop ect and it works just as good as the day we got it. They're definatly the pinacle of affordable performance laptop.

You're correct about there not being a great performace diffrenece in comparrision of price range. But for the money you'll get more media based upgrades (speakers, controls, software maybe). Completely depends on what you want.

Just to add, Qosmio have a great warranty and customer services which is alot of the reason i've stayed with toshiba.

Z

Hey guys. I'm just need a bit of help with RAM.

I've decided to get a Quosmio, but need advice on upgrading the RAM.

Now the Quosmio has 4GB RAM that can be upgraded to 8GB RAM.

I've looked at the individual RAM on the Toshiba website, but it's a bit confusing.

Now I ideally I would upgrade another 4GB, but a 4GB piece of RAM is a massive £324, whereas a 2GB piece of RAM is only £30, which seems a bit out of proportion. Do you think I could buy 2 2GB RAM pieces instead of 4GB? Or would there just be one slot that upgrade RAM would be placed?

Thanks guys.

Depends on the Motherboard and the RAM that's already installed. You need to find out how many slots are on the board and whether any of them are available or not. If there are 4 slots on the board and each slot is holding a 1GB stick of RAM, then you will have to replace the whole lot with (4) 2GB sticks. But if only two slots are being used, each holding a 2GB stick, then you can simply add two more 2GB sticks.

You have to look at the specs for your motherboard. Usually there is a section that pertains to RAM and the recommended configurations. The specs may call for every slot to be filled to achieve optimum performance. That would mean if you have four slots then each slot would be occupied by a 2GB module. I don't think you want to run out and buy two 4GB modules and have two empty slots. Make sure you get the correct RAM too (type and speed).

Hi there.

 

I am going into my third year of an architecture degree and have in the past been using a mac with bootcamp which has been a pain in the arse with all of the re-bootings and the fact most of the hard drive is used for mac. I've decided to convert to PC

I don't profess to be a computer expert by any means but in all my years of using them, I think this is the first time I have ever heard someone say that PC is more reliable than MAC:?