I'm planning to buy a laptop for school, I'm trying to cap the budget around 1000-2000...I just need a laptop that is mobile, so that i can use it for showing process work during studio, collaborating on group projects in school, and carrying it around to work on campus (studio, library). I commute to school...takes an hour, so mobility and durability are key, and I work alot at school. (and let's be honest, a secondary computer when working a night before deadline is something that alot of us utilize)
Software I will be using this year:
- AutoCAD
- Rhino
- 3D Studio Max
- Grasshopper
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Revit Architecture
Now, I have a desktop pc at home, i'm concerned if it will suffice in terms of video card. I researched that certain video cards are more for design software whereas some are for gaming. Another that it freezes randomly, and i've struggled moddeling on AutoCAD in 3d:
Gateway FX 6802-07c (What I have)
- NVidia GeForce GTX 260 1792MB (my main concern...and my pc is gonna be my main rendering machine)
- 12 GB DDR3 Memory
- Intel Core i7 processor 920
- 1TB Hd
- Windows 7 64 Bit
I was thinking about the Dell Studio XPS 16 as a laptop...but i dunno if its good, if it will make this laptop-desktop tag-team duo a sucess...I'm just concerned now about video cards and renderings.
Dell Studio 16
- Intel Core i7 720 Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz
- Windows 7 Home Premium
- 15.6 inch WLED LCD screen
- 6 GB Memory DDR3 @ 1333 MHz
- 500GB of Hard Drive, 7200RPM
- ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730, 1gbm (again, concern it's not a professional graphics card like the FireGL or Open Fire series or Quadro by NVIDIA)
Is this something I should worry? I used to 3d MOdel on cad, but ppl are telling me to go with Rhino. Are there any better things i can do to save or make this better? (i'm a tard on computer building, and schools about to begin soon...so i gotta make the decision asap)
The dell Laptop looks ok. It will work with Rhino well. I have seen other students use Rhino with an old Laptop with 2 GB memory, no Graphic Card, and old Intel 4. The dell Laptop will just speed things along for you so like I said it ok for you to buy. But also did you check on other computer brands? with similar specs? price might differ
just my advice...get a macbook pro and dual operate it. That way, you can render while you work. it has saved me from a few all nighters being able to run V-ray and then as soon as one finishes, start another rendering and then move to the mac side to start your illustrator and photoshopping.
rhino have never froze on me except when the file was over 300mb and it froze on opening. Autocad will crash on anything, i have quadro at work and it crashed more than me 8600GT on the home laptop.
just buy something with a decent screen. the ASUS g73 is something i have had my eye for awhile. or the HP envy 14/17
[just my advice...get a macbook pro and dual operate it. That way, you can render while you work. it has saved me from a few all nighters being able to run V-ray and then as soon as one finishes, start another rendering and then move to the mac side to start your illustrator and photoshopping. ]
sounds like a good idea but your rendering in the background is using processor and other resources while you are running OSX for other software. I have seen this cause crashes, driver failures on Video card and other things.
In my opinion, not worth it.
With a strong pc at home sitting there doing nothing, I remote desktop and run it as a render slave. Your desktop is more powerful and desktop hardware will always offer higher performance/$. I feel like it's a waste of money to try to get max performance out of a laptop, besides, save yourself the $1000 Mac tax and invest in your desktop or an SSD for your laptop (by far the best upgrade you will ever do).
I run a pretty standard $500 Dell laptop for studio, notes, etc.. and i7 workstation at home. Rendering happens off site at my apartment, the files are synced between the two via Dropbox and I don't need to worry about clogging resources in studio.
When the laptop has run it's course, I will replace it with a tablet of some kind and a move my current i7 workstation to studio and build another for home. After evaluating the actual costs and daily use, I've found that my laptop doesn't really leave my desk and thus the portability is really not a big issue.
Nov 1, 10 3:32 am ·
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Laptop (+ Desktop advice) Help for Arch School!
I'm planning to buy a laptop for school, I'm trying to cap the budget around 1000-2000...I just need a laptop that is mobile, so that i can use it for showing process work during studio, collaborating on group projects in school, and carrying it around to work on campus (studio, library). I commute to school...takes an hour, so mobility and durability are key, and I work alot at school. (and let's be honest, a secondary computer when working a night before deadline is something that alot of us utilize)
Software I will be using this year:
- AutoCAD
- Rhino
- 3D Studio Max
- Grasshopper
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Revit Architecture
Now, I have a desktop pc at home, i'm concerned if it will suffice in terms of video card. I researched that certain video cards are more for design software whereas some are for gaming. Another that it freezes randomly, and i've struggled moddeling on AutoCAD in 3d:
Gateway FX 6802-07c (What I have)
- NVidia GeForce GTX 260 1792MB (my main concern...and my pc is gonna be my main rendering machine)
- 12 GB DDR3 Memory
- Intel Core i7 processor 920
- 1TB Hd
- Windows 7 64 Bit
I was thinking about the Dell Studio XPS 16 as a laptop...but i dunno if its good, if it will make this laptop-desktop tag-team duo a sucess...I'm just concerned now about video cards and renderings.
Dell Studio 16
- Intel Core i7 720 Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz
- Windows 7 Home Premium
- 15.6 inch WLED LCD screen
- 6 GB Memory DDR3 @ 1333 MHz
- 500GB of Hard Drive, 7200RPM
- ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730, 1gbm (again, concern it's not a professional graphics card like the FireGL or Open Fire series or Quadro by NVIDIA)
Is this something I should worry? I used to 3d MOdel on cad, but ppl are telling me to go with Rhino. Are there any better things i can do to save or make this better? (i'm a tard on computer building, and schools about to begin soon...so i gotta make the decision asap)
The dell Laptop looks ok. It will work with Rhino well. I have seen other students use Rhino with an old Laptop with 2 GB memory, no Graphic Card, and old Intel 4. The dell Laptop will just speed things along for you so like I said it ok for you to buy. But also did you check on other computer brands? with similar specs? price might differ
good luck
What about my PC? i'm just curious in terms of if it will cope...as a rendering machine and for like intensive modelling.
I'm also looking into Lonovo, also ASUS...but i dunno which models to look at.
Your Pc is much faster then my own i7 with only 8Gb of memory.
It all depends on the size of file you are rendering. (Good for rendering)
Lonovo, I would pick for your mobile computer "ThinkPad W510 mobile workstation "
man an hour commute?? sucks!
yea man don't worry about your PC not hacking it - unless you dial up (all the way) the wrong rendering settings you'll be fine
just my advice...get a macbook pro and dual operate it. That way, you can render while you work. it has saved me from a few all nighters being able to run V-ray and then as soon as one finishes, start another rendering and then move to the mac side to start your illustrator and photoshopping.
rhino have never froze on me except when the file was over 300mb and it froze on opening. Autocad will crash on anything, i have quadro at work and it crashed more than me 8600GT on the home laptop.
just buy something with a decent screen. the ASUS g73 is something i have had my eye for awhile. or the HP envy 14/17
@dv8_the_norm
[just my advice...get a macbook pro and dual operate it. That way, you can render while you work. it has saved me from a few all nighters being able to run V-ray and then as soon as one finishes, start another rendering and then move to the mac side to start your illustrator and photoshopping. ]
sounds like a good idea but your rendering in the background is using processor and other resources while you are running OSX for other software. I have seen this cause crashes, driver failures on Video card and other things.
In my opinion, not worth it.
With a strong pc at home sitting there doing nothing, I remote desktop and run it as a render slave. Your desktop is more powerful and desktop hardware will always offer higher performance/$. I feel like it's a waste of money to try to get max performance out of a laptop, besides, save yourself the $1000 Mac tax and invest in your desktop or an SSD for your laptop (by far the best upgrade you will ever do).
I run a pretty standard $500 Dell laptop for studio, notes, etc.. and i7 workstation at home. Rendering happens off site at my apartment, the files are synced between the two via Dropbox and I don't need to worry about clogging resources in studio.
When the laptop has run it's course, I will replace it with a tablet of some kind and a move my current i7 workstation to studio and build another for home. After evaluating the actual costs and daily use, I've found that my laptop doesn't really leave my desk and thus the portability is really not a big issue.
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