Hardware specification for AutoCAD Architecture will it work????

Hi All

I am in the process of buying a laptop - I'm studying building surveying so need to be able to run AutoCAD Architecture. I really don't understand the technical spec for computers and have struggled trying to match up laptop specs to the list of AutoCAD requirements. I was hoping someone might take a look the specs and requirements below, and advise me if you think the laptops will run AutoCAD Architecture at a workable speed and without collapsing under the software requirements - a problem we have at uni.

Thanks in advance for any/all your help.

64 bit Requirements:

• Microsoft Windows Vista (SP2 or later) Enterprise, Business, or Ultimatem or Home Premium edition (compare Windows Vista versions), or Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 edition (SP2), or Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional, or Home Premium edition
  
• AMD Athlon 64 with SSE2 technology, AMD Opteron™ with SSE2 technology, Intel Xeon® with Intel EM64T support and SSE2 technology, or Intel Pentium 4 processor with Intel EM64T support and SSE2 technology
  
• 2 GB RAM (4 GB RAM recommended)
  
• 3 GB free disk space for default installation, 3.5 GB for full installation
  
• 1,024 x 768 display with true color (1,280 x 1,024 true color recommended)
  
• 128 MB graphics card (256 MB or greater recommended)
  
• Pixel Shader 3.0 or greater, Direct3D®-capable-workstation-class 3D graphics card (currently supported graphics hardware)
  
• Internet Explorer 7.0 or later
  
• DVD drive (for installation only)
  
• Optional printer or plotter, Internet access, and network interface card
  

Laptop spec 1:

Samsung RC710-S01UK, Core i5-480M 2.66GHz, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit, 17.3" LED HD+ (1600 x 900, 16:9) Gloss SuperBright Display, Nvidia GT330M GDDR3 1GB Graphics, 4GB RAM, 640GB HDD, DVD+/-RW SM DL, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, Webcam, 3 in 1 Media Card Reader, 6 Cell Battery

Laptop spec 2:

17.3" 1600x900 LED HD+ display, Intel Core i5-480M processor 2.66GHz (2.93Ghz Turbo), 3MB Cache, 4GB 1066Mhz DDR3 RAM (2x 2GB), 640GB hard disk, DVD Super Multi (Double Layer) drive, NVIDIA GeForce 315M graphics with 1GB RAM, Wireless 802.11-bgn, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, Bluetooth, full size keyboard with numberpad, 4x USB 2.0, card reader, 1.3MP Webcam, VGA + HDMI, Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit

Laptop spec 3:

WXGA TFT Laptop Core i5-450M 2.4GHz 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive 3 x USB, Webcam, Wi-Fi, 1GB Dedicated Graphics DVD-RW Windows 7 64Bit

Those should be "reasonable". A tip: go for an i5/i7 2nd gen chip and see RAM as 4GB as an absolute minimum, prefer going larger, especially if your buildings are largish and you want 3D. The 2nd gen chips are a lot faster than those 1st gens you've quoted and in some cases cheaper as well.

Also make sure your graphics is a dedicated card, preference to an adesk certified card. Make sure it has its own dedicated RAM, no shared.

As for the OS, go with Win7 ... don't kick yourself about Vista. Pro should be fine, unless you need other language - then Ultimate.

Hard drives seems alright, nothing to write home about. Personally I'd go with a SSD & HDD for speed and battery life, or a hybrid. But that's money permitting.

One piece of advice re: laptop hard drives. Stay away from 5400 rpm drives. 7200 rpm drives are better.

But then they loose a lot of battery life, thus my suggestion of SSD / Hybrids. These give you even greater performance than a 7200 (in some cases even better than a 10000 RPM), though still giving better battery life than a 5400 RPM. The only worry is cost, they're generally 3 to 10 times the price of an equivalent size HDD.

I have a feeling battery life will not be that critical but I could be wrong. So the choices would be long lasting battery/slower hard drive speed vs. shorter battery life/faster hard drive speed. Easy choice for me. I feel the need for some speed!

I think you miss my point. The choices are:

1. Cheap:
   


1. Slow HDD with longish battery life (i.e. 5400 rpm economy drive) - around 20-30 MBytes per sec.
   
2. Faster HDD with shorter battery life (i.e. 7200 rpm) 35-60 MB/sec.
   

 

[*]Expensive:

1. Extremely fast HDD, no battery life to speak of (quoted at around 50-100MB/sec). Arguably not "so" fast though: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/ou/how-higher-rpm-hard-drives-rip-you-off/322
   
2. Hybrid SSD/HDD (like Seagate Momentus XT), comparible speed to the faster HDDs, even coming close to the Extremely fast HDD's supposed speeds, especially for non-sequencial (i.e. not like video) reading & writing. Yet having similar (if not better) battery life than the Slow Economical HDD.
   

 

[*]More Expensive: SATA 3GB SSD ... around 150-300 MBytes/sec. Longer battery life than even the economical slow HDD.

[*]Exorbitant: SATA 6GB SSD with explosive speeds ... usually throughput of around 400-500 MBytes/sec. Around same battery life as the SATA 3GB SSD.

So actually it's more a question of cost: If you can't afford anything more, then go with the 7200 RPM (the 5400's aren't that much cheaper). If your budget's just that bit higher, look for a Hybrid. And then if you can still afford something even higher, go for the fastest largest SSD you can afford.

 

You can always get a smaller SSD (60-120GB) to install your OS & Programs on, then a larger HDD for data. That should equalize speed-to-cost about the same as the Hybrid does.

Nope, didn't miss it at all. You even repeated what I said (under "Cheap")! LOL

Do they make a laptop that has both a SSD and a platter-type hard drive together?

As a sample you could check the Sager: http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_customed&model_name=NP5175

Or a Dell XPS17: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=eycwjmk1&m_2=I52410M&m_3=6G2D133&m_6=550MUS&m_8=256GBSS&m_11=W7HPEC5&m_16=DVDRW&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&model_id=xps-l702x

Otherwise, if you want to go for something "really" huge: http://www.boxxtech.com/products/goBOXX/2650.asp?prodid=2650

http://www.rockdirect.com/configureNotebook.php?pName=XTREME%20850&pSku=X850-I7-940XM

I so want the new Dell XPS 15z, .97" thick!!

Intel Core i5-2410M 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz

NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M 1GB graphics with Optimus

6GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz Memory

8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)

Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N 6230 & Bluetooth 3.0

500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

Backlit Keyboard

Don't think I can convince the wife I need it though