Architecture Designing Laptop

[realchaos]

My cousin is going to college soon and she needs a laptop that will work really smoothly in architecture programs. She will be making models and photoediting, so I'm assuming she needs an i7 with 16gb of ram, but she wants to keep it under $1000, the cheaper the better. I don't know much about laptops, so that's where you guys come in. She also prefers atleast 15" screen.

 

[andrewcarr]

Lenovo Y580.
http/www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/ideapad/y-series/y580/

I wouldn't get it directly from them but you should be able to find one that's got a 1TB HDD, CD/DVD drive and a 1080 screen for $1000.

Another option would be their Y500 laptop (would consider buying it from their website).
http/www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/ideapad/y-series/y500/

Reason I'm recommending their products is because I have the Y580 (it's a great laptop for a good price) and for the price it can't be beat. I assume she's going to be running different architecture programs where the 660M or the 650M GPU would be helpful (their not only for gaming).

8 GB of ram should be fine but if you really want to pay the extra money for the 16 GB you can.

 

[realchaos]

Would the programs run slow if it's only 8gb of ram? I don't want to give her a bad laptop
Also, with only one program using the integrated gpu is fine. But if she's going to use multiple programs then it's better to grab a discrete gpu?
And she would need a 3rd gen i7 right? Or will the i5 run good decently?

 

[andrewcarr]

I don't believe the ram would make a difference. You can get one without all the fancy stuff for only $800 (but there is tax).
http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=5B0116E237099FA0FCA012D9B20ED2FB

From my experience with CAD and architecture programs you'll definitely want the GPU. The processor would be fine as an i5 but it'll be a bit faster yet with the i7. The times it takes to render images would be greatly decreased.

 

[realchaos]

The 1366x768 resolution on a 15.6" screen should be extremely clear already right? No real need for the 1080p?
Also, this laptop will have to last her all 4years of college and probably even past college. Is it a good idea to get the 16gb of ram just in case? Or is it not worth the money?

 

[andrewcarr]

My one laptop has that same resolution Lenovo Y570 and I'm fine with it.

1920*1080 is generally preferred though not necessary.

If you really feel the need for more ram in the future it's very easy to add ram and would cost less than the price increase for getting it from the factory.
I's just a matter of unscrewing 7 screws to remove the plastic bottom then you have access to the RAM.
http/www.notebookcheck.net/typo3temp/pics/11e44321ee.jpg
This also doesn't void warranty.

 

[realchaos]

Will it have extra ram slots, or will she have to buy a complete 2x8gb set?

 

[andrewcarr]

It'd be a 2x8 kit but they currently retail about $90.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007609%20600213067%20600000410&IsNodeId=1&name=DDR3%201600%20%28PC3%2012800%29

Sorry but I'm heading off to bed. I'll check back once I wake up.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

She is going to be running AutoDesk products and as someone who runs an engineering firm and specs out the builds for my own and colleagues firms, I can tell you that $1000 is a bit tight for running programs that start at $4,000 and go up .....way up ..... from there. Luckily students pay almost nothing for the software but that doesn't help on the hardware end.

http/www.autodesk.com/products/autodesk-revit-family/buy

I would consider the following as a minimum:

1920 x 1080 screen (15 or 17")
Nvidia GeForce GTX 670MX 3GB GDDR5 Memory
7200 rpm Hybrid SSD / HD (Momemntus XT)
i7-3630QM Processor
16GB DDR3-1600

That should run ya about $1,300 w/ student discounts
http/www.lpc-digital.com/sager-np9150.html
http/www.lpc-digital.com/notebook-review-members-military-and-student-discounts.html

If doing rendering .... NVIDIA Quadro K3000M with 2GB GDDR5 (+$600). Hopefully they have facilities on campus to handle this for the kids.

BTW, 16GB of RAM factory installed was a $70 option, the hybrid SSD / HD added $90 ....both were included in ht e $1300 And BTW, get the OS on campus .... typically $20

 

[realchaos]

$1000 is already pushing it, as we aren't that rich. If she does need to pay ~$1300-1500 for a laptop to run her needs, I think we'll just have to wait for some sort of sale...

 

[andrewcarr]

If you get a dual GPU version of the Lenovo Y500 (you give up a built in CD drive) it outperforms the 670MX by about 10% in gaming (not exactly how sure that'd transfer to CAD performance).
Here's the cheapest one I could find on a reputable site.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834312439
But if you can push the budget a bit more there's currently a discount on the top model with the RAM you wanted but it's 6$ over budget.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834312441

 

[realchaos]

After looking through some Y500 laptops on tigerdirect (they don't charge me tax like newegg) I found that the 12gb ram model is $150 cheaper than a 16gb ram model. Do you think that 12gb of ram should be enough?

 

[andrewcarr]

In my opinion it's more than enough.

You're unlucky that newegg has to charge tax in your stats I've almost completely stopped buying from amazon since they started to charge tax.

 

[realchaos]

I really like the Lenovo Y500, but with tax the $800 one becomes ~$900. Do you know any site that sells the Lenovo Y500 for about the same price and doesn't charge tax in California?

 

[andrewcarr]

Not really sorry. It sucks when shopping online loses it's main advantage vs the store (although the prices are for the most part a lot less).

 

[realchaos]

I'm wondering if refurbished laptops are good. I saw a Lenovo Y580 refurbished for $760. http/www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad-20994CU-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B0082PRC1U/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A2QA0NNCRIKN2X
Also, what would be the minimum gpu for both nvidia and amd (Geforce 640m, 620m, 7670m, 7870m, etc)

 

[andrewcarr]

I wouldn't shy away from them since they can be a much better deal. Just make sure it's still carries the same warranty.

My friend got a new one though for $800 plus tax direct from Lenovo so that's really not much better of a deal.

 

[realchaos]

Alright, we still have tons of time before college starts. Maybe we could find a really nice deal during the summer.
Laptop gpu's confuse me. I see Geforce 630m, 635m and 640m. Is the 635m performance between the 630 and 640?
And how would a 610m hold up with 2/3 architecture programs at one time?

 

[andrewcarr]

Okay the 610m would be close to useless. The 635m is just a rebadged 555m.

I wouldn't consider anything below the 650m, especially if you're spending over $800.

 

[realchaos]

How would this do? http/www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7566808&Sku=
Not sure how AMD gpu handles modeling programs.
Oh, and she also likes dell over any other brand.