jlau6888 Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Hey guys. I'm fairly new to the AutoCAD world and am planning on purchasing a new laptop with the intent on being mainly used for CAD. What is a good computer for this task? I also plan on using SolidWorks on this computer in the future as well. What specifics should this computer have to run both smoothly and seamlessly? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nellie Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Welcome to CADTutor, I'm sure you'll find this sit full of usefull things. I dont know much about Solidworks but have got the requirments from there website which is below but in the case of normal CAD I use a 3gig ram at home & 8gig ram at work (use point clounds at work) and my machines work fine. http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/SystemRequirements.html Hope it helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott W Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Agreed the main things when using AutoCAD is RAM and a good Graphics card if going 3D. Most of todays middle to top spec laptops are ok if the above is upgraded. I use a laptop for all my work professionally, so my company asked our CAD reseller what they would recommend. i persoanlly think it could be better spec'd but hey it works fine and is not too slow, you cant beat a st. for speed and heat loss... my laptop spec... Intel® Core™2 Duo CPU T7500 @2.20GHz 789 MHz, 1.96 GB of RAM hope it helps.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlau6888 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 Is a video card with 512meg dedicated ram enough? is 4g of overall RAM enough or should i go higher? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 If you can get a laptop with those two features you should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlau6888 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 Well I was planning on get a new Mac Book Pro that comes with 2 GPUs (one on board that utilizes 256m shared an one non with 512m dedicated RAM), 4gb ram, and 2.86 core 2 duo. One of my coworkers seems to think that it might not be enough as he uses a gaming PC thats built to the hilt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I prefer dedicated graphics cards in my computers as opposed to graphic chips (GPUs). Personal preference I suppose. 4GB RAM sounds fine. What OS will you be using? How much money are you looking to spend here? Xi Computers has a nicely setup laptop aimed at AutoCAD users but I think it runs about $2500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Well I was planning on get a new Mac Book Pro that comes with 2 GPUs (one on board that utilizes 256m shared an one non with 512m dedicated RAM), 4gb ram, and 2.86 core 2 duo. One of my coworkers seems to think that it might not be enough as he uses a gaming PC thats built to the hilt. Won't work on a Mac. You could probably run it in BootCamp which is the Microsoft Windows emulator but I wouldn't recommend it at all. Stick with a Windows machine. http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/SystemRequirements.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlau6888 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 I prefer dedicated graphics cards in my computers as opposed to graphic chips (GPUs). Personal preference I suppose. 4GB RAM sounds fine. What OS will you be using? How much money are you looking to spend here? Xi Computers has a nicely setup laptop aimed at AutoCAD users but I think it runs about $2500. $3k is the top of my spending limit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlau6888 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 I was going to run BootCamp/ XP Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Xi PowerGo XT - true workstation performance. $2395 before taxes, shipping and handling. http://www.xicomputer.com/products/PowerGoIntelXT.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlau6888 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 thanks for the link. it seems all the laptops with comparable internals all are in the range of $3k. any preferences? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Not really. It's time to toss that coin. I call heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlau6888 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 now is there a preferred video card you guys like to use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlau6888 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 I guess I also failed to mention I plan on using 3D and SolidWorks in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 nVidia...the Quadro series is a good place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I was going to run BootCamp/ XP Pro I would be HIGHLY worried about performance and/or installation issues. Do you have someone who has a Mac Book Pro that you can install a Demo on to test it before spending the money? Maybe call a sales representative might be a good option, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlau6888 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 nVidia...the Quadro series is a good place to start. I will look into those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlau6888 Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 I would be HIGHLY worried about performance and/or installation issues. Do you have someone who has a Mac Book Pro that you can install a Demo on to test it before spending the money? Maybe call a sales representative might be a good option, too. A friend of mine actually uses AutoCAD 2008 on his Mac Book Pro and has no issues. But, he doesn't use it as extensively as I would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cad64 Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I guess I also failed to mention I plan on using 3D and SolidWorks in the future. And you're spending your money on a laptop? That's just a waste of money in my opinion. If you're going to be doing a lot of 3D work, then invest in a good desktop PC with a 64 bit OS, a quad core processor to help with rendering and at least 8GB RAM. You'll be glad you did. And forget about getting a Mac. Everone I've talked to that tries to run Autocad on a Mac says it's not worth the hassle. It runs slow and doesn't perform well. As Styk said, stick with a Windows PC. Check my computer Details. The cost was just under $2,400 from XI Computers, and it blows away every other computer that I've ever worked on. Including our machines at work. It actually renders scenes faster than our render farm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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