What’s the Best Computer / Laptop for 3d Modeling and BIM?
Tags: Computers, Hardware
This week classes started and one the most common questions I’m getting is “What’s the best computer for 3d modeling?”. Beside the people that REALLY want me to say “MAC BOOK PRO, of course” this is a tough question to answer. (I’ve noticed once a person has decided to go with a Mac book, there is really no point on discussing it further 
) When it comes to hardware I try and stay objective and really find the best tool. I had a Mac Book and the issue for me was mapping the keyboard. I could not get used to the command key. For me the most important things are performance and comfort, you are going to be spending a lot of time with this computer so make sure you like it.
My recent recommendation has been the 15″ HP elite book. At CASE we have one of the 17″ versions and although it’s pretty big, it has been a great machine. Fed, Steve and I work on Dell Precisions M4400(s). We have had mixed results….. Fed’s hard drive failed, my monitor has had to be replaced 2 times and we have spent waaaaay too many hours on the phone with dell customer service. And….. that was all in a period of 8 months. That being said Steve has had little to no problems with his machine. 1 out of 3 is not good odds.
So my question to you is what is the Best Computer and/or Laptop for 3d Modeling and BIM?
My general concerns, or things I tell students to look out for include:
Processor: The processor affects things like rendering and computationally heavy operations (updating a huge grasshopper definition). What it does not affect is things like spinning a model or composting in Photoshop. Generally I try and not get the best option. It tends to add quite a bit to the price tag. I go for the one just below the most expensive.
RAM: Try and get 4 gigs or above (if you go with a 64 bit OS)
Graphics Card: The graphics card affects things like orbiting a model (not so much in Revit) and real time shading previews (software like Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Showcase and Autodesk Newport) I prefer nVidia over ATI. Upgrading quatro is a different discussion in and of it’s self. (What do you think?)
Hard drive: This is for storing your models. 3d models, rendering and all the other file you produce will get very big (100 megs per file at times) . Hard drives are getting fairly inexpensive so I would go with at least 250 Gigs. That being said, for me your HD can get too big and you should avoid making it your life long data storage bin. Back that data up on an external drive.
Operating system: I bought our machines with Vista 64 and in general it was not too bad. I definitely had some things about it that drove me nuts. Now I’m running Windows 7 (64 bit) and I have to say, I really like it! for you Mac lovers, running 3d apps on parallels or VMware is going to get you mixed results in terms of performance and…. you will run into some listening issues with Autodesk application (3ds Max in particular)
That my 2 cents on the issue of hardware. Please post your thoughts (students need it) and forward this post to anyone you feel can provide some insight on this subject.
Creative Commons
DesignReform.net by David Fano is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at designreform.net.
i’m 4th year student of architecture faculty and i;m working on macbook pro
-2.4 C2D
-4gigs of DDR2 RAM
- nVidia GeForce 8600M GT with 256 mb memory
- it’s runnin MAC OS 10.6 fully 64 bit
and i’m NOT using any BootCamp , VMware , Parallel, etc.to run Windows because in my personal opinion Windows Operating System is not so reliable for profesionals users. ( i don’t want to start discussion PC vs. MAC).
according to software i’m using :
-Autodesk Alias2010 ( free for students)
-Autodesk Maya2009 ( 6 month license for students)
-Rhino 4 WIP (free for all)
-Archicad12 ( free for students) Cinema4d
Hi, - I would never buy a workstation-like notebook again. Too big to carry, but nasty to work long hours. Better a small (and cheap) notebook and a heavy desktop. Just an opinion of course.. Great website! , Chris
For mac users I would highly suggest using BootCamp and not virtual software. Here is some info I posted on my site in the past:
I personally am running Revit on a Macbook Pro with Bootcamp 2.1 with the following specs:
- Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit
- 2.4 ghz Dual Core Processor
- 4 gigs of Ram
- 256mb Nvidia Geforce 8600m
I would have to say Revit runs reasonably well… but there are moments in big files where that good old loading bar never seems to stop loading.
In work I am using:
- Windows XP 32bit
- 3.0 ghz Phenom Quad Core
- 4 gigs of Ram
-512 Nvidia Geforce 8800gt
I also received a comment from a reader stating:
The best system to have is
as follows
Intel Quad-Core @ 2.66Ghz
4.00GB ram DD3
64bit operating system (vista ultimate)
at least 1 8800GTX (I have two) or its new successor 295 GTX
and you have to go with the Terabyte harddrive at least 1.0 TB ( I have 5.5) Hardrives have become cheap like ram lately and at least 1.0TB back up storage from Western Digital or similar
If You enter the world of B.I.M you need all that and then some you just wont be using Revit you’ll be using other Autodesk products to produce a final product you just can’t create everything in revit sometime you need other software like Rhino ect… to do exotic designs
Experince is ( Intern Architect Soon to be licensed this Year)
Great stuff so far. This stuff is going to be really helpful! Thanks!!
also, I will do a more thorough post about great Revit site but in the meantime everyone should check out (http://therevitkid.blogspot.com/)
I custom build all the workstations in our office. (Sorry, David, no Macs here.) Here are my $0.02 on hardware.
Stick with Intel CPUs for now. Core i7 920s provide great bang for your buck. The brand new Core i5 or i7 800s are great for lower/medium end systems. If you want to go multiprocessor, you’ll have to switch to Xeons but those get pricey on the workstation level.
My personal opinion on video cards is to buy Nvidia GeForce cards. I’ve played a little with Quadro cards and don’t think it’s worth the insanely high prices. The biggest benefit you’ll see in Max requires their special Max driver (which always seem to cause problems for me.) Everything from Autodesk has shifted to DirectX so the same features that were Quadro specific now work with GeForce cards.
Thanks Walter. Any thoughts on Laptops? Most of the student I teach are going to buy a laptop over a desktop.
David,
I have been working on the following configuration for a while and it seems to be working extremely well for us:
Model : Dell XPS Studio 13 (small size great for portability)
OS : W7 64 bit(measurable performance boost for Revit, MAX etc)
RAM : 8 gigs(allows one to run revit/max sessions in VM mode)
HDD : 500 GB
GPU : Nvidia
Average Revit files have been around 100 MB’s and no issues so far for the past year.
We just went through some fairly thorough benchmark testing on graphics cards. We use 3DS Max 2009-10, Revit, Sketchup, etc.
We bought new T5500s from Dell but bought out own RAM and Video cards separately to save a massive amount of money.
We tested a mix of cards: a mid range gaming card GTX275, our old Quadro 3500s, a Quadro 3700, a Quadro 1700 and maybe one other that I’m forgetting.
We used both 3D Mark, and SPECapc 3DS Max 9.
We hoped the GTX275 would work well for the price but it had half the performance of our old 3500s using the SPECapc as well as simple frame rate in the Max viewport. However, it smashed all the other cards in gaming performance; five times better than our 3500s on the 3D Mark.
The 3700, a generation newer than the 3500, beat the 3500 by 80% or so,scoring 1.8 on the SPECapc. The 1700 was similar to our 3500s.
Judging by the scores on Tom’s Hardware, we have decided to go with 1800s for now.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/workstation-graphics-charts/SPECapc-3DS-Max-9-Graphics,117.html
@ Walter,
We were thoroughly disappointed with a straight gaming card, GTX275 768MB, compared with our five year old Quadros.
The Quadro and Fire Pro cards are expensive for a reason.
I’d like to see some personal benchmark scores (using SPECapc) on some Fire Pro cards. The price break is significant.
We only use lower end laptops in our office for typical office apps, no CAD. Everyone works on a desktop for better performance. Laptops are tough to recommend as faster CPUs usually mean heavier laptops and shorter battery life. There’s always a balance between those three, especially for students.
I have been using a MacBook Pro with bootcamp. I have actually favored it over a desktop model and I just plug it into the screen at work. I used a DELL Precision before which also worked well with nearly the same specs. I haven’t dealt with Revit copy/monitor and saving to central. Does anyone know if their are any issues or work around for these for Macs running bootcamp?
I would say a laptop, all the way. First, it is a functional question reckoned with the operational needs. If you, like me, find yourself working at different places for a long time, if you are a freelancer, a laptop is just superior solution. I will not argue that desktop is an ultimate powerhouse and the place of innovation. I recommend if you can afford to get a power desktop too. So, when you can put your hands on it apply the maximum power of technology. However, when on the assignment or on road for a prolonged time, sorry, desktop is just not an option. I would strongly recommend HP and Lenovo on the PC side. They may not have the slickest chassis or the latest ‘pace-maker’ installed (or the price does not seem right in comparison) but their components work and they work well. Putting up a laptop that can work with Linux or Windows is not an easy task, I can tell you from my own experience. My first laptop choice although it looked like a good bargain at the time was disastrous choice. Half of the components did not work well on the XP SP2 or SP3. Simply, the laptop was not well supported and thought out inside-out from the hardware to software engineering issues. In the end it was not cheap - a 2200 for a junk that I had to repair 2 times (screen compressor, hard drive died) and add more memory, ($150) and on top of that hack drivers for the ATI card to enable the Open GL 2.0 (and they still do not work quite well). Fujitsu did not care to update or fix drivers although it was their responsibility. The manufacturer of a laptop is always responsible for updating drivers. Call Ati or Nvidia if you do not believe me.
Be very careful when you choose the laptop. Most of them are toys for grown-ups in suits. If you just email and do spreadsheets than you do not have a problem. But we are not those kinds of users. Mac is a sure thing I guarantee you, but running simulation is not a really a solution. I am not familiar with the BootCamp or views form pro-users who have employed dual-boot system on their MacBook Pro laptops.
Gentlemen,
i’ve got a mac book pro like the ones owned by the other guys in the forum, upword. I switched from Windows to MAc OS X for its stability, no virus worry, for the strict relationship between the customer and the productor of the machine. Everything is pratically perfect except for the fact that too less architectural software runs under Mac Os. There’s Bootcamp and it goes like a train just with a old XP 32bit. That’s the matter, you have to use an old OS to work with the best softwares (revit, Max design and Rhino). Ok now there’s Windows 7, but it’s always a Microsoft ’s software. You know what i mean. Anyway, buy a notebook for your studies at the university, because you’ll have years to work with a workstation chained to a chair and a table in an architectural studio.
I sold my Macbook Pro within 10 months after purchasing it. My conclusion was that macs aren’t necessarily faster than a pc. I spent most of the day using Windows throught bootcamp anyway, so you don’t really benifit from OSX. At first I had all the CAD/BIM software on Windows and everything else on the Mac side. It was a huge pain and very unproductive constantly rebooting between the two OS. After a while I had two sets ofAdobe CS4, two Microsoft office, two Itunes etc. installed on both OS’s. Parallels was not an option for intensive cad work.
At this moment you can get a notebook workstation with a special CAD graphics card ( Quadro line), memory up to 16 GB, Quad core, Blue ray etc.for a decent price. You can’t get these options on a MacBook Pro.
Thats right ,JAJA, the pc is more flexible than os and only for professional users. Lately i thing about buying a Mac but know good ,fast notebook with win 7 its a very good platform for designers and of course cheaper
What about the Vaio FW series with the ATI 4650? Im looking at that laptop for college. Btw, I’m studying industrial design.
I just came across this discussion, and figured I would chime in my hardware.
Earlier this year I purchased a refurb Dell M4400 w/ a Core 2 Duo T9800 on eBay. It’s about as good a portable solution I could get for ubout $1000 at the time. I thought that was fast (my machine at work is a Xeon 5420 running XP 32 bit and it renders more slowly than the M4400) but I recently (last week) picked up a desktop XPS Studio i7 920 for just over $600. What a difference. . . .since no i7 level chips are out for laptops, and laptop ram (in any configuration over 4GB) would be prohibitively expensive, I’d suggest the two-system solution mentioned above. Get a decent run-everything-OK laptop and leave the heavy work for a desktop. As an example, a high-res interior rendering on the M4400 took 18 hrs; on the i7 XPS Studio the same rendering took just under 8 hours.
Full disclosure - the M4400 is 32-bit XP w/ 4 GB ram; the XPS is 64-bit Vista w/ 4GB ram (now upgradewd to 9, but I had 4 in it at the time of the test.)
I have done a lot of testing with Revit rendering and Revit 64bit definitely helps a lot since it can handle a lot more memory.
You can check out some of the Revit and Navisworks rendering case studies I have done on http://www.revuprender.com
We compare rendering times on different computers.
What is best probably depending on what you need to get done. But here’s my 2cents on what is pretty decent options for small architectural office:
For production work at this point in time, I would go with a the new i5 or i7 with lots of memory and at least a Quadro 1500/3500 from auction/classified; latest 3DS benchmarks for i5 and i7 is very impressive based on reviews in anadtech.com and tomshardware.com.
For those really need to go with notebooks but need to work long hours, there is always the option of hooking up to a docking station with standard keyboards, mouse and monitors. There is definately a compromise of processing power for flexibility.
If money is no object, add a home-brew render farm to the mix for both desktop or notebook option. There’s a nice article on tomshardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/render-farm-node,2340.html
I run a Dell M90 on XP-32 and DIY Intel Q6600 on Windows 7RC-64, both 2yr old machines with the Revit Visualization Suite. They both run seamlessly for fairly detailed Single Family projects. For 3DS, I just use Net Render to hook the two together to squeeze a little more processing juice. The best bang for buck is to get as much RAM as possible, CPU makes a difference mainly with rendering in my case; rendering is my production bottleneck at this point. For video card I use Quadros 1500 and 3500, definately faster, more stable and less artifacts than GeForce I bought previously to save.
I don’t game, so Quadro is my choice, but for gamers out there, you got to balance between work and play.
We are in a dismal economic moment in history right now, so my personal choice for best system is one that fits your budget and still get the work done.
correction on 2nd paragraph regarding i5/i7 core reviews, it’s http://www.anandtech.com , the one I typed by accident is some kind of religious website. Sorry.
Having just finished university @RMIT in Melbourne I’ve been lucky enough to be able to run a Q6600 (OC 3.6gHz) 4gb 32bit Vista desktop as well as have a MacBook Pro for work on the road. While a costly solution, the combination of the two machines means I’m never left short on performance or portability.
At the end of the day it needs to be clear that one machine will NOT do all of these things. I work mainly in modeling and rendering and find that both my computers can handle most day to day tasks including fairly complex modeled geometry (Rhino and 3ds Max mainly) but if I don’t need to be moving around the benefits of having a workhorse machine with dual monitors (I can’t stress enough how much more productive dual monitors can be) far out weigh the financial costs.
As far as my MacBook Pro I use Bootcamp to run Vista 32bit and the same versions of my software that I do on my desktop machine (identical set up as far as software is concerned) I do have double up on some software but I equally use my Mac partition for other tasks so I don’t feel a PC laptop could replace it.
Desktop - Q6600 (OC 3.6gHz), 4Gb 1066mHz, nVidia 9600 512mb, Vista 32bit
MacBook Pro - Intel C2D 2.33gHz, 2Gb, Radeon X1600 256mb (+ Vista 32bit)
17-inch MacBook Pro
Processor: 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
L2 Cache: 6MB shared
System bus: 1066MHz
Memory: 4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM (up to 8GB)
Hard drive: 320GB Serial ATA; 5400 rpm
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor; and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
Graphics Memory: 512MB GDDR3
Display: 17-inch (diagonal) high-resolution LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1920-by-1200 resolution
does anyone know if the dell studio xps 13 (2.4 ghz processor, 4gb ram, nvidia 9500m -256mb) is capable of coping with sketchup, autocad, photoshop, and 3d studio max? it’s just the graphics card - 9500m with 256mb seems quite low, but i’m wondering if it will be sufficient. thanks
The i7mobile (Clarksfield) quad core processors have now been released and are starting to hit the market. This is going to change the equation for CAD and rendering laptops! Anyone who is looking to buy a new laptop should do a little research and (probably) wait a month or two. The benchmarks for these chips are cracking! …and the cost factor doesn’t look too bad. With the release of Windows7 X64 also in October, the market is changing VERY fast. Patience is advised.
Dell M6400 - 2.53GHz Core2Quad, 8GB RAM, nVidia 3700m, Intel X80m SSD, RGB-LED Screen, Vista64 (soon to be Win7 64 in October).
The machine screams, and as soon as 4GB Ram chips become affordable I’ll bump up to 16GB. I couldn’t wait for I7’s, but they will be worth the wait if you can.
I previously used a 15″ MBP Core2Duo with 2GB of Ram with XP on Bootcamp. XP via Bootcamp couldn’t interface the chipset properly, causing the fan to run heavy on simple tasks such as web browsing, while not running at all with heavier tasks such as rendering in max. This is apparently a common issue. I also constantly ran in to memory faults, and performance seemed to degrade much faster from fresh OS installs than on windows-built machines.
I’m no Mac hater, but I do think that if you’re running windows-specific software, you’re much better off with a windows built machine - both economically and performance wise. If you love the mac aesthetic - check out the new HP Envy machines.
As far as the ATI vs. nVidia argument - you’ll get more oomph for your money with ATI, but better compatibility with nVidia. There’s also nVidia’s CUDA to consider, which reportedly will have better integration with Win7. This hypothetically means that those 128 or so extra processing cores could be tapped for help with rendering and/or modeling duties. I’d love to see grasshopper using my 3700m assisting with complex Grasshopper solutions.
I’ve been using Parallels for Autocad and Revit on Imac 3.06 ghz intel core 2 duo/4 gb memory…amazingly well and seamlessly so far!
We will eventually be offering some kind of special rendering package for students. Our system is a time leasing and remote ownership kind of system. It is a way of using BIM software on a super computer without having to buy a super computer.
It would be good to hear from architecture students. If there was a special student deal with our service would you consider using it?
Right now the computers that we allow remote access to for rendering and energy analysis in BIM software like Revit and NavisWork are very expensive. However we will eventually be upgrading when the next latest and most cutting edge technology hits the market. At that point we could offer the current systems more affordably.
I agree that people should wait if they can for the new i7’s to come out. If you can get a laptop with an i7 Cpu in then that would be sweet. However we found that the i7 Nehalem 920 CPU still had some problems rendering very complex geometry in Revit; and we were using a full 64bit system. This is why we then made the choose to go with the Nehalem Xeon X5550 series processors. They are solid workhorses that can handle anything.
The momentum seems to be building… the combined release of i7 Core laptops and Win7 X64 over the coming month will mean alot of new hardware on the market. Dell has new machines +HP +Toshiba,… The others cannot be far behind, but are likely waiting for Win7 release on Oct22 - then let the games (work) begin!
Yes I agree Rhino013. We are actually already using Windows 7. We have been Beta testing it for the last year. It is great for rendering because it uses a lot more of the system RAM. On our standard system we have 12GB’s of DDR3 memory and all of it shows up in the system information within Win7. However with Vista only 4-6 GB’s of that RAM would show up.
Please check out our website http://www.revuprender.com for more information on our systems.
Do you know who is going to be coming out with i7 laptops and when exactly? Are they going to be i5 or i7 cpu’s in them. I was reading some of the reviews on Newegg.com and the i5 apparently do not have the same hyper-threading like the i7’s. I use a i7 920 cpu in my regular desktop and it works great. However when I need to Render anything heavy in Revit or NavisWorks I use the RevUp Render machine which is a beast.
Would be great to hear from anyone in this post once they get one of the i7 laptops and test it out with Revit or some other rendering software.
Great comments guys! Extremely helpful.
I am trying to work out the following: Small design build office, we run Revit Architecture and SU Pro. Our typical workflor is Revit>SU>SU Podium for rendering. Most of the time I am using applications that do not take advantage of multi-threading, the SU Podium rendering does. I am trying to decide between two Dell systems 1. XPS Studio 9000 with i7 920 and lots of Ram, and swap out the graphics card for nvidia quadro, or 2. Precision T5500 with dual 2.0ghz Xeon.
The Tom’s Hardware charts show the i7 920 just absolutely crushing, and I am thinking that with the fact that we mostly work on single-threading applications, this might be the better solution. I’m concerned that the dual-Xeon builds I can afford will perform much worse than the i7 920 when not multi-threading.
Thoughts? Thanks Guys!
StackDB….Do not waste your money on Dell or HP. I can help you build a system 10 times better for less money. Send me an email at ry@the-ids.com and I will help you out.
Either way though the new i7 Nehalem technology is leaps ahead of the old Xeon dual core or any other processors for that matter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Nehalem_%28microarchitecture%29
After all of the comments, is it safe to say that the Macbook Pro isn’t the best option for heavy use of windows based BIM and modeling software?
@ Randy
I do great with my MacBook Pro 17″ but the only windows software I use is AutoCAD…
Mac for heavy use of windows based software? Clearly NOT the best option.
bought a lenovo w500 in april 2009, some student discount thing, 2.66 ghz t9550 cpu, 4 gigs ddr3 ram, ati mobile firegl 5700, 320 gig 7200rpm hd, 1900×1200 reso. running vista 64 bit. am very satisfied in general, like the design of lenovo (had a macbook pro, too much of a fetish thing, hahaha, love mac os x, parallels was pain in the ass, bootcamp worked quite well, a lot of licensing issues with autodesk products ;))…lenovo w500 is fast, reliable, no crashes yet, software support is great (system update, etc.), vista sucks big time (eating up resources although i had several optimization procedures running), grafix is crappy (an ati 3650 with enabled opengl features), would really like to have some decent quadro gpu inside. the only app that really benefits is maya, 3dsmax performs great under directx9, sucks under opengl and directx10, combination of cpu and ddr3 ram boosts rendering quite nicely (mentalray, hypershot), resolution is great, color reproduction also, screen is not that bright compared to led display lighting…
gonna try win7 and maybe some osx install 
lenovo w500 is a great machine if you can grab it for a decent price (e.g. 1100 - 1300 euros), and they should put nvidia gpus in their 15″ machines 
keyboard is great, machine does not heat up your ballz (like my mac did, hahaha) when working in a more comfortable position on my couch….and, yes, 7200rpm hd is also a speedup factor when it comes to data transfer…i was thinking to go for a macbook pro 15 but unfortunately they dont deliver hires 15″ displays and yes, another annoying fact was the leading designers verbal masturbation on the aluminium unibody design and the 100000 design variations in the evaluation phase of their closing lid…i really appreciate good design but if you make a religion out of it…welllllll, mky, i wish i had some autocad caad appz running under macosx or linux
I am with building your own PC (newegg loyal customer) and here is what I added to my own:
Processor: Of course fastest is best, your budget will determine that. if for Revit, no need to worry about number of cores. Don’t be cheap on motherboard.
OS: XP or Win 7 64bit (No Vista)
RAM: 8GB … Read More
HDD: Size is everything, speed not so much (not sure yet about speed of SSD disks) minimum 100GB free space!
NIC: MUST be gigabit
Graphics: nVidia Quadro FX seems working best. Also if for Revit, VRAM is not a major factor
Monitor, Laser Printer: Samsung (dual monitor is OK !!)
Case, Power Supply, Fans: Wattage over 500 (video card may ask for more) and lots of cooling and fans.
What’s with all the silly Mac guys? I just don’t understand how seemingly intelligent designers and propeller heads care SO tied to their beloved Macs that they not only overpay to purchase them, but then have to jump through hoops in order to get the things to operate well. What utter silliness!
.
Signed, Steve “Thanks for the Coin” Jobs ;-D
@ “fake” S.Jobs
You get what you pay for. simply.
i wanna knon 2, giv me a message when u find out…
Hi i’m an interior architecture student from South Africa also looking to get a laptop. All the ones i’ve been looking at have 4GB RAM, 250HDD or more intel duo core processor. Taking into consideration that most are at the same price bracket and have the same specs which would be a preferable brand to get Acer, HP, Asus, Lenova or can any other suggestions be made
Thanks
hi. can i ask?im from the philippines.what is the best laptop for gaming and autocad.. what would be the better Hp pavilion or the Dell inspiron 1440(611N)
I am a 4th year student of architecture and I am happy with my mac book pro 17 inch. I’am using of bootcamp for autocad/rhino/grasshopper and 3ds max/vray and Everything works fine !
can i run 3ds max 9 32 bit in HP Pavilion dv6-1215ee because hard disk is 5400rpm not 7200rpm ?Please help
don’t see why not. Can you post the other specs for that machine? How much RAM do you have?
for specification http://www.am4computers.com/main/viewProductDetails.php?id=2927
can i run 3ds max 9 32 bit in HP Pavilion dv6-1215ee because hard disk is 5400rpm not 7200rpm ?Please help
Check this out too http://www.cadalyst.com/management/laptops-and-cad-12901
I’ve been doing arch-rendering for 10 years with 3dMax.
Why would you spend 40% more for a Mac, then run bootcamp? Why would you settle for older tech at the time of purchase when you can get the latest hardware right now, not when Steve J decides you can handle it?
Do the math, don’t fall for the hype. It’s a tool you are using to produce, not a fashion statement. I have an acquaintance who just bought a mac. I asked him what video card it has, because that would be a major consideration for me, he didn’t know, [and] he looked at me like I was disfuntional. That stuff matters to real users who make a living with their machine. Rendering times, view port quickness, complex scenes. It makes a difference. Most people who commented that their mac works fine, I wonder how intensive their needs are. It is “academia” anyway. They pick up a check every 2 weeks no matter what, no deadlines! When your up against it and it has to be done, and you want to be the hero and blow people away do you really want to simulate windows?!?! Pay more?!?!? Dude, your young I get it, Mac is cool, I get it, hell it might even get you laid. But it ain’t gonna run autodesk anything like a real intel machine. Your call bro.
Here’s some advise, buy windows machine, take the money you saved and buy Apple stock. Profit off the white headphone wearing mindless mob. Think different bud
i know that all configuration is enough for 3d max 9 32bit installation in HP Pavilion dv6-1215ee but hard disk is 5400rpm not 7200rpm ,so I am confused due to slow speed of hard disk i.e.5400rpm whether i can run max 9 smoothly or not ,plz somebody clear it because I am going to buy it .I know desktop computer is more better than a laptop but for portability I need laptop not for heavy scene and long time rendering.I only want to do study max 9 with some project files provided in it .or specification http://www.am4computers.com/main/viewProductDetails.php?id=2927
I got an HP Elitebook 8530w for $1500
2.63 GHZ Core 2 Duo
8GB Ram
250 GB SATA 7200rpm HD
Nvidia Quadro fx
15″ Workstation, light enought to carry around
Loving it
If a client walks into your office and wants a rational and highly functional boxy office building, without any whistle and bells or any aesthetic qualities, would you take on the commission? Probably not. So therefore, there is enough reason to pay extra for the Macs. They are beautiful and they reflect what we try to do in daily life. There are obviously enough valid reasons to choose an ugly dell or HP, but being an architect, it’s more in our nature to chose a Mac.
If anyone thinks you will get hired if you have mac on your desk, you are simply wrong. If anything, clients expect you to be able to plugin directly to many numerous trades Civil, MEP etc. The truth to the fact is that they are all in WINDOWS world. It’s the way it is.
You are not going to be hired if you have a mac on the desk (Although i know a California design build firm that gotten a commission the Macbook Pro at the presentation). The point I was trying to make is, that if you are a designer, you are more likely to fall for a Mac. So therefore it isn’t strange that people who care for aesthetics, chose the Mac
I’m sorry guys, it isn’t just aesthetics! I knew that this “conversation” was going to become a small battle between Redmonds and Cupertinos. Macs are greit machines that have the double of possibilities that a PC offers. They aren’t cheap, it’s right but they have all the technologies that the other will have with not less than one year later.
Now there’s Windows 7, that looks to be a good OS. Finally! Remember that you, PC users worked, until today, with a OS designed in 2001, 32 bit, viruses and some crushes. So don’t blame guys who buy a mac, because they will be hired also with an Apple on the desktop. Who says that is not true should looks better around. Now Apple offers Xeon and quad cores machines, someone with 27 inches led displays. If other productors don’t do it and continue to produce plastic notebooks for 1500 bucks, it’s not Apple’s fault, but consumer’s choice. Less money, less choice, always. Thanks.
some people miss the point. The point is to run certain 3D software, such as Rhino 3D, that, I underline does not run on the MAC period. BootCamp turned to be half-baked solution as many who used it have noted, for this is not exact bios/OS solution that works well with XP/32 and not-at-all with XP/64. Also it looks like Apple will drop support. So unless you are die-hard Apple user for which I do not blame you, the point is in order to reach peak performance of your hardware you dear MAC will not cut it. Secondly offer on the MAC side especially in the Graphic Card depratment are inferior to the PC side. I will not get into argument but differences are obvious from variety and drivers updating stand point. I tested the same card on my MAC and PC. The results were better on PC. Nevertheless, this does not stop you or I would argue from not using apple. What a heck, Sketch Up, ArchiCad, Modo 401, Cinema 4D and now LightWave run flawlessly on the MAC period. However, if you want Revit, Autocad, or Rhino you have a problem. I think this is the point, not whether Apple hardware is inferior. For one thing OS X like linux are miles ahead of MS OS World. Again, this was not Apple-PC duel, I think. It is also true that you can buy PC notebook of not-so-great design character but of the same hardware quality as Apple’s notebook; but spend less $300-500. And again work is not judged by the tools you use but what you present. In the end Apple has very fine hardware that does cost a little bit more sometime more. But in terms of design you get more.
This is starting to sound like a Mac vs PC. Guess the question really boils down to which BIM and 3D software you are using versus hardware budget. Zivotinja is right, there’s a place for Macs, a place for PC. I use Revit and 3DS, so Win7-64 is the logical choice; running Bootcamp on Mac to me doesn’t qualify a “best” unless or have some religious affinity to Apple or you already own a Mac and don’t want to fork out more money buying another computer.
ArchiCAD and the likes, I would agree … Mac.
Yes, lets get back to the point
I recently started using Windows 7 and i have to say, I have NO complaints so far. Every software seems to be running great (I’m using a 64 install). One of the killers for me when I had a mac (for 3d, i just bought one for home 
) was the Function + Delete to delete objects in Rhino or any other 3d app. This seems petty but it really messed with my workflow. This is great discussion please KEEP IT UP!!!! Thanks,
Dave
C’mon guys! This Mac/PC thing is really stupid! Yeah, I said it… really stupid! I like apple the same way I like Microsoft.
I’ve used both and both have their pros&cons. Now I have a Macbook Pro 17″. Why I got it? Simple! Awesome OS, DDR3 memory, awesome 17″ screen and still lighter than any regular 15″ laptop!
If you don’t use a lot of windows native software you’re fine with a Mac. If you use mainly windows native software (say AutoCAD+3dsMax) then don’t get a Mac. I use AutoCAD+Maya every single day and yeah, it would be great to have an AutoCAD Mac native version, but I still do fine using bootcamp…
Elitebook 8530w
15″ @ 1920×1200 ,quadro 570F, RAM 4gb, processor T9600 @ 2.80 ghz. Hard disk 320 GB @ 7200 rps …what else?
Good mornning.
Before to follow David’s request for a different discussion, i need to underline that, not strangely, Rhino is going out with the version five also on Macs, that: Maya, FomZ, Cinema 4d, Lightwave, Modo 401, Alias studio tools work very well under Mac OS X, from a long long while and that Autodesk is moving to Mac’s world, with ideas about Autocad (and i don’t think they will stop there considering that they put hands just in giars full of honey, like macs are).
Finally, i want to remember a software like Vectorworks, probably the best CAD on the market, with a parasolid kernel for 3d.
Anyway, Dave is right, the workflow, for us, is as important as “the food we eat” every day. We “built” it in weeks or months of hard work and it could be interesting to share comments about it. We talk from every part of the world and it’s important to tell that every place “needs” different levels of quality and different designed architectures. So here comes the “workflow”, customized for each person after different academic experiences.
Would you like to follow, also, this discussion?
Thanks and good work.
G.
@Giuseppe Nativo
“Autodesk is moving to Mac’s world, with ideas about Autocad”
Do you know anything that we don’t? ’cause all I know is the survey they did last March/April.
“with ideas about Autocad”. Ideas Jason, ideas.
Ideas? What does that mean?
The intention to come back to Apple platform again, with their best seller software:Autocad, that they stopped to develope, for Mac, many years ago, as you know.
Just for record, at the moment, I own the not so great looking but perfect working hp 8710w after goin the mac/bootcamp route. I did this because, as others said here, for daily Windows use, the MacBook Pro wasn’t optimum with Vista 64 bit. And the dual booting was the killer for me. However, I could imagine that the MacBook Pro with it’s Windows issues would still be more appealing to designers, than pc mobile workstations. So, the question would then be; are todays MacBook Pro equipt to handle daily use of Windows and heavy 3D software like Revit, 3ds max, rhino, naviswork ?
“The intention to come back to Apple platform again, with their best seller software:Autocad”
What’s the source? Where did you read that?
“So, the question would then be; are todays MacBook Pro equipt to handle daily use of Windows and heavy 3D software like Revit, 3ds max, rhino, naviswork ?”
Windows based software? No! If you just use one windows based software like I do with AutoCAD it’s fine… but more than that, no. (if you care about the design buy a Sony Vaio. They’re expensive, like macs, but awesome!)
Heavy 3D software? Yes! I’d say Macs are the best option for software like Maya, Cinema 4D, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Efects…
I think if Revit, Autocad, 3dMax work natively on Mac, more designers would buy a Mac than a PC.
For Jason.
http://www.theapplelounge.com/cultura-societa/business/autocad-per-mac-os-x-autodesk-ci-pensa/
and other magazines
Sorry i don’t have the time to translate articles of magazines and websites. Do it by yourself, if you have time and curiosity.
Please, would someone talk about worflows or would you prefer to continue writing down with lists of your brand new hardware. Please again, non more Pc vs Mac, it’s not interesting, it’s just arguing.
Thanks.
@Giuseppe Nativo
That’s the survey I mentioned!
I’d love to have an AutoCAD Mac native version, but I honestly don’t think that’s gonna happen anytime soon. Specially, since Autodesk extended Mac support to bootcamp! that was not a good sign…
I’m a student and working a lot in 3ds. Have tried different powerful notebooks, but when rendering, they all get too hot, and that wears down the hardware really quickly, resulting in lower performance and early death. Now I got a 14″ laptop, and a desktop at home for the heavy work.
My big tip is to get remote access to the desktop at home and use the laptop for working and the desktop for rendering. I’m using Mesh, from microsoft, which is free. It automatically backups files to a online account, and to other devices, as a desktop. Trough the same software it is possible to remote connect and start renderings.
Lets move the Mac/PC cheerleading to a different discussion and keep to BIM/3DS workflow. Also, we should also move the ‘this is my computer specs, I have nothing to say’ to a different thread as well.
I’m limiting to Revit and 3DS since those are the two I use. Someone correct me if I am wrong but I think Revit is multithreaded only for the rendering engine at this point, so a slower quad-core is not as efficient as a fast dual core for office production work that does not require rendered presetation. Of course, a fast stable video card is still essential as panning and zooming around can get quite video card intensive for a large BIM model.
For rendering production/presentation, I would say throw in as many cores and memory as you can afford. Better yet, 3DS can net render on 999 networked machines with only (1) license, put together your own renderfarm is your budget allows. As for the video card, it is only used for display, not for the production ‘render’, so only the primry machine needs a nice fancy card.
In both cases, 64bit OS is must.
If 3dMax was available on a MAC i would seriously consider buying one. If only to quiet the clients who think there’s a difference. Sorry for the MAC vs PC.
Get a little of that “envy” that MAC people seem to crave.
notebookcheck.net is a great site for comparing hardware. All the popular benchmarks are there.
I’m buying a new notebook soon . . .
•Intel X58 ICH10R Chipsatz
•Intel Core i7 base1366 Desktop CPUs
•Nvidia Geforce GTX 280M 1024MB GDDR3
•17“ WUXGA
•6GB DDR3 RAM 1066 MHz (3×2GB)
•3x Seagate Momentus 500GB/7200U (ST9500420AS) RAID 0
This site graphs the videocard performance, processor performance in a huge way. It’s very easy to see what processor is going to change your world.
The new nvidia mobile cards perform very well too.
See this page for the comparison
http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_11761.html
This card is awesome, it has CUDA parrallel proccessing for adobe programs
and is 20% faster than the 3700m bandwidth
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_280m_us.html
This thing will smoke my 4 year old server by 20 or 30 times!
See how it performs here scroll down.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4870-X2-Crossfire.14406.0.html
Let’s say for example i wanted this card in a MAC.
How would i get that? It’s not available on their site. Their best offering is almost a year old tech.
I can have 2 of these in a laptop from 2 dozen other computer makers.
The macbook pro has a NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 512MB that’s today.
The macbook pro is 3500.00?
The Sager has 2, count them 2 280mSLI cards, thats 2gigs of video memory
and 256 CORES of CUDA processors, Holy SHEIT!!!!
Same money? Yes? Holy Sunnie!
Just one card is a full 120% faster. imagine 2 cards linked!!!!! Now do you get my drift??
I love design. I’ve designed some shit in my day.
How do you begin to argue the the finer points with people who deny reality???
Dude????
Mobile Videocards
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html
Mobile Proceesors
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html
Just don’t argue. It’s not necessary and it’s not interesting. Write clever things, like Proxy. Just follow his example. It’s clear that you like “super hyper multi core machines” but, i repeat, it’s not interesting. Dave F.asked us to speak about other stuff, like workflows, that is very interesting.
Thanks.
Sorry you feel that way. I was tring to illuminate the value, workflow wise of using superior hardware. You might be interested in the links I posted Giuseppe. I think you will be very interested in the raw data. The numbers are very interesting. I thought you might be interested in your software running faster on this hardware. Is that not what your interested in? Isn’t that the point?
JoeyO, i’m sorry i didn’t mean to offend you. Like everyone i uese to read about machines benchmarks and when i’ve bought my mac i’ve read with attention it’s capabilities. Today, i’d like to buy a new powerful machine but i can’t so i have to work with may beautiful Macbook pro, until the desidered day. It’s right, you are not wrong but there’s no discussion if anyone write down just his own list of fresh hardware and stop.
Anyway, every one can post everything thay like.
For Dmytro Lutsak: no replay for a frustrated beast like you.
Excuse me Dmytro Lutsa, surely british or american, but i looked for “muthar” on Weebster dictionary and i didn’t find it. Did you mean mother? Your mother, obviously.
Have a nice day!
Dmytro Lutsak, you are more than welcomed to post but I can not allow that type of language on the site. All the comments feed to the home page and it’s unprofessional for us to publish your comments. For anyone that was fortunate to not see them Dmytro Lutsak’s comments are FULL of explitives. Everyone else thanks for the healthy debate so far.
Having looked at JoeyO’s specs, what about this thing
http://www.sagernotebook.com/product_customed.php?pid=216215
looks intense.
David+Giuseppe, ignore this if you think it is stupid: I would like to propose a challange to this forum by injecting a little of my real world problem into this discussion. This may put a little relevence/limit to your intial question posed by your students. Working out here, I need to set IT budgets and make projections on ROI for all purchases. Let’s put it to the test in a similar way, say a working non-trustfund student puts away $4/day for a year to pay for a computer to take a BIM/3DS class, what that is best computer specifications for BIM/3DS at $1460 (exclude tax for simplicity). Now, this computer has to still make sense for (3) years.
One note for some of the post regarding video benchmarks … use Spec.org’s 3DS benckmarks instead of gaming/general benchmarks.
Outside of this challange, the sky’s the limit for what is best. Just my 2cents
Now my 2cents. I think that it’s an interesting point of view. I agree, sky is the limit but we can’t touch the sky, today.
Also, $1460 is 982,637Euros, and it’s a good price for a machine like the one you described.
“Let’s go with the flow”.
Thanks
Do you recommend a Toshiba? Which model should I get? Thanks.
I want to purchase laptop. I am working 3D graphic works. I have some doubts.can you cleare my doubts.
Can i install unregestered softwares in apple laptop?
Can you tell me good configuration laptop for 3D works?(Any company)
I own a Dell Studio 15, Intel Core Duo 2.66, 4GB RAM with Windows Vista (for now)
For the most part, it has been able to run Rhino, Revit and AutoCAD fairly smoothly… albeit I have not gotten into heavy CAD use yet. However, as David mentioned, I too have spent way too many hours on the phone with Dell tech support with multiple issues - some of which were Vista related.
One of the most important things to remember is to get the best warranty possible when buying a laptop, because no matter what, it WILL have problems sooner or later. Although, the more you spend on your laptop, the less time you’ll have to waste getting fixing it. So I suggest getting the best computer you can afford along the best available warranty (no matter how expensive).
The laptop specifically made for 3D work are Dell M6400, Lenovo W700 and HP 8730W. They all have the Nvidia Quadro FX3700 made specially for 3d work which consumers and gaming laptops don’t have. These models are also available in a 15″ version.
Good point Pete, get a 3D workstation grade notebook and not a gaming machine unless you are running only 2D AutoCAD. For Revit, a Quadro FX2700m is more than enough; 3DS, go for the FX3700m if you can afford it but not a deal breaker. Discrete/dedicated video memory is highly recommended. Get as much RAM as you can afford, buy from online retailers, not manufacturers to save some $. BTW, do some research and timing, you can get purchase a very good machine direct from the manufacturer for a bargain, just saw a machine listed with FX3700m for less than $1400.
If you are interested in 3D modelling software for free then check out this post here for a comprehensive list of free software for working with 3D:
http://ninjarabbits.blogspot.com/2009/11/do-some-3d-modelling-for-free.html
The new M6500 just came out. Probably the most powerful mobile workstation you can get at this moment.
Finally I found some advice on the subject; which laptop for 3D work? Thank you:) BUT: I live in a country, where pc’s are more expensive than in the US and as a student I cannot afford the laptops specifically made for 3D work. Can anyone tell me which kind of graphic board I need as a minimum? This discussion is pretty much about what would be ideal, if money is not an issue, I think :)I would be gratefull for a little help navigating in the graphic-board-jungle:)
I would say go with HP Envy Aluminum Body Intel Core I7-Quadro. The graphics sucks, although it’s not bad either for essential tasks; but as people said for most things it will make up (BIM) by being quadro and utilizing 4+Gig of Ram (Windows 7). I do not know the test results, as this would be really interesting. It’s sad that HP did not bundle a better video card for this specific model in this price range.
Thank you for a quick reply Nenad. Only problem is, that Envy is just as expensive as Dell M4400 with Nvidia Quadro FX 770M. Is it better to use my money on DDR3 RAM and i7 on the Envy than the better graphics on the M4400? Would it be possible to change the graphics board on HP Envy later on? Or even better: Is there no way, that I can work with a Core 2 Duo (2,2 GHz or more), 4GB DDR2 RAM (possibly DDR3) and a cheaper graphics board? The Envy costs almost three times my monthly income and I desperately need a laptop as soon as possible.
Its amazing reading this thread, …things keep going around. Back in September the i7 processors were being released - but not much happened with them in laptops. Now, next up is the Calpella platform. Although the bulk of the models that will follow will use the i5 chipset, it is still a dramatic step up from Core2 duo.
What I am saying here is that if anyone is in the market for a new laptop, they should (again) WAIT until after all the CES announcements in the second week of January - so you can get the absolute latest tech, or you can get great discounts on the outgoing models.
…
and QLOU, the graphics card in the Envy will not be replaceable or upgradable. The other main comment that I have heard about them is that they run VERY HOT. I would wait another couple weeks for the new thinkpad’s to be announced. The (rumored) T510 and W510 sound pretty impressive.
Impressive and propably to expensive for me:)It seems I’m just going to have to take my chances with a lesser graphics card.
I hope everyone has taken note of all of the new i5 powered laptops that have been released at CES in the last couple of days.
There are quite a few budget level laptops that have both reasonable discreet graphics + i5 processors… a combination that is sure to please us CAD users.
The HP-Envy line has been updated and the price lowered 25% (That is for you QLOU).
But the main point here is that there are lots of new systems to choose from, and the processor power levels are a significant generational step up, so now we wait for the GPU’s to catch up.
I don’t know where you live Rhino13, but I live in Denmark. I haven’t seen a laptop with i5 yet, but maybe I missed it. And the Envy is still the same price: Everything hits the market a bit later here :)Now I bought a not so expensive laptop and am saving for a better one in a couple of years. Everyone enjoy your wonder-machines:)
I use M4400 with FX1700M, 8GB ram and XP-64bit. It’s powerful but frequently has graphic issues over viewports and icons in revit/microstation/3ds max.
Besides the processor/ram/graphic card, I also think screen itself is very important, because we have to watch it for so many hours every day. M4400 has LED display, but the material looks like plastic, not that kind of glass on macbook pro. I have no problem working or reading on macbook pro for many hours, but M4400 drains my eyes very quickly.
I currently bought a Lenovo w700ds. To my personal standards it is one of the most complete mobile workstations I have had over the years. Yes its big and bulky, but i have realized that for the work I do (Student/Landscape Architect/Graphic Designer)and in order to try to achieve some PC standards on a Laptop these are the consequences. As some one had posted prior to mines; screen resolution and size… extremely important. The stain on your eyes is extreme so keep that in mind.
Specs:
Intel Core 2 Quad Core Extreme Processor QX9300 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 12MBL2
17″ WUXGA 400NIT TFT+10.6″WXGA+ TFT (1920 x 1200) w700ds features a second, retractable 10.6 screen. (DS dual screen)
4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
Ultranav + Fingerprint Reader + Pantone Color Sensor (Integrated color calibration) + WACOM Digitizer (120cm x 80cm)
Intel Turbo Memory 2GB
Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
Full-size, ergonomic keyboard
RAID configuration (I did not chose this option)
and this is
“the bad boy” that powers it up
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M 128-core CUDA parallel computing processor 1GB
OpenGL with up to 1GB of dedicated video memory enables graphics-intensive applications.
(OpenGL 2.1, DirectX 10, and Shader Model 4.0)
High-resolution, premium WSXGA+ or WUXGA panels provide a superior viewing experience.
Dual-link DVI
(This graphics card is precisely made for programs from AutoDesk and Adobe)
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_fx_3700_m_us.html
Yes, this mobile work station is going to cost you, but its rock solid and will probably last me another 7 - 10 years.
They have another w700 with out the dual screen that runs for a lower price.
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/special-offers.workflow:ShowPromo?LandingPage=/All/US/Landing_pages/ThinkPad_notebooks/2008/W700/W700ds
So here is an after suggestion to a peer in my school of architecture:
I would say a dell xps 16 starting at $1149 or alien ware starting at $1399 ? (I have not tried them for myself but their configurations and price work hand in hand.)
HP? Toshiba? Sony (form personal repair experience I would not recommend it) – Since I have been repairing computers for the past 5 yrs I could say that for the most part they have been sony’s.
Brands vary a lot and in each you will find something negative about them.
So to make it more of simpler task you should look at the following and look at your budget.
Processer speeds, RAM and most importantly Graphics Card and screen (size and resolution)
Processor: You probably would want to get 2.0 Dual core or higher (3.06ghz). There is also Quad cores available in this case I would look at something 2.0ghz + (2.53ghz preferably but now you are looking at $1000 in a processor itself.) Quad Cores and rendering have a significant difference than a Dual Core and rendering, so maybe that’s something that you may take in consideration.
Ram: The more the merrier, with that said. Minimum you should look at 4g.
Video Card: I personally think that this plays a HUGE factor with all these programs. I would trade those $600 - $800 that you would be spending in 8g of ram. Alienware being a gaming laptop carries a pretty good graphics card the runs around $200 (1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M). These are Dedicated graphic cards. Whenever possible, if there is an option of dedicated over integrated (most notebooks have these) choose dedicated. High end computers tend to have dedicated (http://www.infopackets.com/news/hardware/2005/20050203_integrated_video_or_dedicated_video_which_performs_faster.htm) Lenovo Thinkpad W series – w700 or w700ds carries a Quadro FX wich is certified by Autodesk so these laptops will definitely be compliant with what you are looking for.
Alienware allows a dual video card (2 in 1) but that’s really high end and not needed for what we do. But if the money is there, so is the option.
Screen Resolution: I personally find this important, the bigger screen resolution and sharper it is the less strain you have in your eyes
Macs: Here is my personal view on them, yes they are good, yes they are durable. But for the price of a Macbook Pro ($2,299.00) you can get a PC with 2x’s its power.
Also keep in mind: Esthetics over Power. The more power the more bulky (Alienware, Lenovo w700) the less the more skinny (Mac, Dell XPS) . (There is a significant Weight variation there from 2lbs to 7-8lbs?) if you want these 2 in 1 well then you’re going to be paying for it (Hp envy Base configuration Starting at $1799.99)
Hp Envy (previously known as Voodoo) can be compared to Alienware – both of these brands are big rivals in the PC video game market.
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=ENVY&series_name=ENVY15be_series&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/notebooks/ENVY/ENVY15be_series)
I only read half of the discussion and have a few questions.
I’m about to come to college this june and taking on a multimedia course.
Which would deal mostly on 3d modeling / animation and 2d animation and graphic design
I’ve thought for a while and came to a conclusion that I may need a powerful laptop with at least 8gb RAM and the likes.
I’m very uninformed when it comes to the laptop world but one thing I know is the more power you get, the less battery life you shall receive.
When I realized that, I thought to my self how would I use a powerful laptop at school if it keeps dying after 40 mins?
Well anyway, bottom-line is, I need Powerful yet convinient laptop recommendations. One that’s powerful enough for 3d design and has enough life for school. Don’t worry about the budget for now. I’ll work on it. :3
guys, there are quite a few i7 notebooks on the Australian market. Are there any ones that standout as being capable of running something like Revit? I’m just learning the software so I don’t need it to be a full brown professional setup but needs to be quick enough not to be annoying.
What i understood from a post somewhere here in this thread is that there are OpenGL and directX orientated cards (Walter Tien September 15, 2009 @ 9:05 am).
Is it possible to put a OpenGL orientated (eg. GeForce/Radeon) and a directX orientated (eg. Quadro/FireGL) card together into one PC? And if i do, do they work together (compatibility)? Will it enhance workperformance?
I work mainly in 3DStudio Max for 3D modelling and rendering and im looking into buying a new desktop (PC) piece by piece: so far i have decided on an Intel i7 920 processor on an Asus P6TD Deluxe Motherboard with a Titan Fenrir Cooler and a Seasonic M12D 850W power supply. The RAM will be something like 8GB of 1,600MHz DDR3 and the hard disk a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB.
This thread has been an interesting read. I was hoping someone could help me out with chosing the right graphic card for my new machine. So far im up to 1300euros with all the above.. My total budget for this new investment could stretch till 2,5 maybe 3k (coz in the end - we know - its all about the money).
Thanks.
Help me please to build a PC station with best performance for no much money
Im student and i have too render in revit
You can write me in Archi@gmx.fr
Thanks you !
Hi, I want to know if this laptop specifications works well for 3D max rendering and animation
• Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q9000 (2.0GHz, 1066MHz, 6MB Cache)
• 4GB DDR3 memory PC3-8500 DDR3
• Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit, SP1)
• NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX graphics (1GB GDDR3)
• Intel Mobile PM45 Chipset
• DVDRW-SuperMulti with Labelflash
• 64GB SSD + 320GB hard drive (7200rpm)
• Intel 5100AGN WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• 180W (19V x 9.5A) Power Supply
• Battery:8-cell 14.4V 58Wh