3D Sculpting Laptop

[SoCalSteve]

Since I'll be focusing on 3D modeling and slicing for printing (and a lot of programming), I know GPU will be a big deal. I don't really have a budget for this laptop, but I want to be reasonable (i.e. why spend 4k for SLI when 2.5k for a single GPU will be more than enough, or is it?).

I've been looking at MSI as they seem to have great quality laptops with some nice bonus features light design, lighting, etc. The Titan series is really nice, but an 18" laptop won't fit my bag (I just bought an Oakley Lunchbox and I'm not compromising). my next stop is the "lower" end GT models, but then I get lost between the 72 vs 73 series, the Dominator vs Dominator Pro, the D vs E, vs F configurations. Do I care about 4k? Tobii seems cool, but pricey, am i right?

all help and opinions appreciated.

 

[hang-the-9]

What are the recommended requirements for the programs you are using? Is this for games also or only for best 3D speed?

Once you get past about $1,500 for laptops you are starting to pay more for diminishing returns in speed and into more fancy things like 4k displays, high end video cards, large solid state drives, etc...

Take a look at some of the 1070 models for a good mix, I suggest getting the largest m.2 sata drive you can afford right off the bat, and use a secondary regular drive for on the fly backups of completed projects. http/

 

[SoCalSteve]

Maya:
Hardware
CPU 64-bit Intel® or AMD® multi-core processor
Graphics Hardware Refer to the Maya Certified Hardware page for a detailed list of recommended systems and graphics cards (https/knowledge.autodesk.com/sites/default/files/HardwareCertificationResults_Maya2017_Update1_v01.pdf)
RAM 8GB recommended
Disk Space 4 GB of free disk space for install
Pointing Device Three-button mouse

But I've never seen a computer run well with anything below the recommended hardware. as a rule of thumb i generally double most of those requirements. I'm not saying I wont game on it, but Bioshock will stay on the Playstation, not the laptop. currently, the most demanding game i expect to play is Evil Genius (2004).

I'm not sure a 4k monitor will get much use with me. as far as SSD, im still a little skeptical as I've seen entire servers go out in a single shot. And I have thought of them as large thumb drives which have always been a little unreliable. am i correct in my assumptions here?

 

[hang-the-9]

Maya:
Hardware
CPU 64-bit Intel® or AMD® multi-core processor
Graphics Hardware Refer to the Maya Certified Hardware page for a detailed list of recommended systems and graphics cards (https/knowledge.autodesk.com/sites/default/files/HardwareCertificationResults_Maya2017_Update1_v01.pdf)
RAM 8GB recommended
Disk Space 4 GB of free disk space for install
Pointing Device Three-button mouse

But I've never seen a computer run well with anything below the recommended hardware. as a rule of thumb i generally double most of those requirements. I'm not saying I wont game on it, but Bioshock will stay on the Playstation, not the laptop. currently, the most demanding game i expect to play is Evil Genius (2004).

I'm not sure a 4k monitor will get much use with me. as far as SSD, im still a little skeptical as I've seen entire servers go out in a single shot. And I have thought of them as large thumb drives which have always been a little unreliable. am i correct in my assumptions here?

Looks like you are OK with using the gaming cards, but if you will not be using it for games, you are better off getting a real dedicated workstation system vs a gaming laptop. Lenovo P models are good, this model has a 1 TB SSD and a 1 TB regular hard drive, so you have a built-in backup drive https/www.amazon.com/P50-Workstation-i7-6700HQ-Professional-Computer/dp/B00T3JTZQO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475066369&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=Lenovo+P50&psc=1

Don't worry about SSD reliability, it's the same or better than a regular hard drive, no moving parts to fail.

There are several models shown in that link you can pick from, you can get a smaller 500 GB SSD and 32 GB of RAM, that may work for you also, same price as the 16 GB with 1 TB SSD and if you don't need a huge amount of space, that may be better. Or just max it out with 1 TB SSD, 2 TB standard drive and 32 GB RAM if your budget is fine with that, it's actually only $100 over the other model so is a pretty good deal, if you can call a $2,000 laptop is a good deal https/www.amazon.com/P50-Workstation-i7-6700HQ-Professional-Computer/dp/B01H0FF0W0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475066369&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=Lenovo%2BP50&th=1

This one has a better CPU and video card, but smaller storage https/www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad-15-6-inch-Processor-Windows/dp/B0186JDMOW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1475066646&sr=8-3&keywords=Lenovo+P50

 

[SoCalSteve]

Thank you for the input. Ill put some effort into researching these this weekend. And thank you for the links!

 

[velo3100]

My best suggestion for you is a workstation as these will be able to handle 3d modelling very well, I would look at lenovos w range I think is their workstation range if you can afford them.

 

[hang-the-9]

My best suggestion for you is a workstation as these will be able to handle 3d modelling very well, I would look at lenovos w range I think is their workstation range if you can afford them.

W changed to P for the newer models for some reason for Lenovo workstation models.

 

[SoCalSteve]

So I looked at one of the suggested Lenovo workstations via amazon link and compared it to one of the MSI laptops I've been considering. the MSI is about $500 more expensive but includes Tobii eye tracking which i could do without and save $600 on the same non-Tobii model.

When I compare these two models, it appears that the two models are equivalent with two exceptions, hard drive space and GPU. the Lenovo has 2 TB of SSD whereas the MSI have 1TB HDD, 256GB SDD. from my limited understanding the most important component is GPU memory and processing, is this correct? Lenovo uses the NVIDIA Quadro M1000M vs the MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M. GPU comparisons are my weak point, but one website review said that the GTX had "Insanely faster effective speed" than the Quatro.

any further information you folks can give me on understanding these laptops and what components are most important would be greatly appreciated.

 

[hang-the-9]

The rule of thumb for systems is that the Quadro cards and drivers are best for CAD and other such work, and the regular ones are for gaming speed with enough power to run CAD but they are not optimized for that work. You can also look for laptops with a better than the M1000M card.

 

[SoCalSteve]

Great information! Thank you.