Best laptop for 3d modelling and rendering (Revit, 3ds, rhino & V-ray)

[nelisa]

Hello all! I am a 3rd year interior architecture student. I'd like to get a laptop powerful enough to model and render. I already have a pretty powerful desktop but I will be studying abroad next year and even tho the university abroad has computers, I would still prefer to work on my own computer. It doesn't necessarily need to render fast it just needs to be able to actually do it.

I have been reading and asking around and the consensus on my options are Asus, Lenovo, Dell (M6500 or an xps) and MacbookPRO. I am a mac person but if in this case its a better idea to go for one of the others then I will. I tried going to the ASUS site and immediately got lost and overwhelmed. There are SO many options I have no idea what would be my best bet. Also can you give me the cheapest option along with the best option? Just in case I can't afford the best option I'd like to know how much I can take out. Help?

1. What is your budget?
$1, 000-$2, 000 although the less the better of course

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15" and up

3. What screen resolution do you want?
don't really care

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
.........huh? sorry, again, not very great with computers other than architecture stuff.

5. How much battery life do you need?
a bit more than 2 hours for sure

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
nop.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
Adobe products. Modelling on Revit, Rhino, 3dsmax and sketchup. Rendering on Revit, V-Ray and 3ds

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
As long as possible? This is another reason why I like Macs, I've had my Macbook PRO for 5 1/2 years and have had NO problems with it and still runs perfect. So yeah, I'd like my new laptop to be around for quite awhile.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Don't really have a preference.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
Mac
Lenovo
ASUS
Dell (I don't LOVE dells but I have to admit it has a lot to do with how they look physically and that is not really as important as how good it works, so again, very open to options.)
13. What country do you live in?
Kansas, USA (Puerto Rico is home so I live there during holidays so I might get it sent there since Summer is almost here)

Thanks!

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
Since you like Macs, consider the Macbook Pro 15" base model.It's GPU isn't very powerful but since you don't game,it's not a big deal.

 

[nelisa]

I LOVE macs. However, I would like to consider cheaper options. One thing I love about macs is durability. I've had my macbook pro for 6 years and counting. Never had any problems which can't really be said for most dells and other computers. BUT if there is a cheaper option that has everything I need and is also durable, I might go with that

 

[Maziar]

I LOVE macs. However, I would like to consider cheaper options. One thing I love about macs is durability. I've had my macbook pro for 6 years and counting. Never had any problems which can't really be said for most dells and other computers. BUT if there is a cheaper option that has everything I need and is also durable, I might go with that

Sager NP5160 is a great choice
http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5160-clevo-w150hn-p-2999.html
Also consider Dell XPS 15

 

[cbrunnem]

this laptop would eat any mac you throw at it.
http/www.malibal.com/boutique/pc/configurePrd.asp?idProduct=283
the 2630qm is a fast rendering cpu but if you can get the 2820qm or if you feel like spending money the 2920xm is a nasty processor. a solid state drive would help you a lot as i suspect that your files you load into rhino and 3ds max get rather large.

 

[nelisa]

Wow. Those specs for that amount its tempting. But oh man I am way behind, forgive me if I am a little hesitant since I've never heard of either Satori or Sager Do you know if they are reliable? Are their laptops durable? How's their support?

I have an extra question now, are the NVIDIA GE or Quadro cards better than the AMD ones? It seems like apple recently switched to amd but I've heard nvidia are the best, so I'm confused now.

 

[cbrunnem]

i have heard that both brands are very reliable and that the warranty services are great for them. A quadro card will be much better for what you want to do also.

 

[randomstar]

Without a doubt for the applications you are looking at, it is better to get a professional type graphics adapter.
the Nvidia Quadro or ATI/AMD FireGL cards will serve you much better than all the high -endish gaming versions.
personally I would go for the Dell Precision models and get the completecare so that Dell has to fix it no matter what, especially if you are going to be traveling.
its not a case if if something gets broken, but WHEN>
they are highly durable units.
plus you can go to the dell business outlet and get a great deal on one with a scratch or something, and save hundreds.

 

[Maziar]

Wow. Those specs for that amount its tempting. But oh man I am way behind, forgive me if I am a little hesitant since I've never heard of either Satori or Sager Do you know if they are reliable? Are their laptops durable? How's their support?

I have an extra question now, are the NVIDIA GE or Quadro cards better than the AMD ones? It seems like apple recently switched to amd but I've heard nvidia are the best, so I'm confused now.

Sager is a great brand and their laptops offer a great price/performance ratio along with good build quality.
Both AMD/Nvidia cards are good,it depends on the model you're considering

 

[stamfb]

dell xps l702x

 

[Maziar]

XPS 17 doesn't have either FireGL or Quadro cards

 

[stamfb]

it has gt 555m which is faster than my desktop's quadro 600 with the performance drivers etc....

 

[Maziar]

Yep I know but for some apps,pro cards are better(If you compare models with similar specs)

 

[stamfb]

those cards were tested in 3ds max 2010

 

[Maziar]

I didn't mean GT 555M and Quadro 600,I meant 2 cards with similar specs

 

[nelisa]

Thanks so much for the replies everyone! I'm in between a dell, samsung or sager so I still have a lot of researching to do before the final decision but it is great to have choices and to know what to look for now Thanks again!!

 

[nelisa]

Best answer selected by nelisa.

 

[Maziar]

So,you went with Sager ?

 

[nelisa]

I really was until I saw that bestbuy lowered their Samsung RC512 from $1200 to $999 which is...kinda perfect. I'm just being a little bit of a coward about this. Even $999 is so much money. I'm definitely buying a computer its just taking me a while to decide because I want to make the right decision if I'm gonna be out $1000-$1200.

Lately I've been wondering if going with an i5 with 8gb RAM would be almost the same thing as an i7 with 6 gb. If this is laughable then woops, sorry again, I don't really know much about computers which is why I came here It's been so helpful!


Samsung RC512 from bestbuy: http/www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+6GB+Memory+/+750GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/Graphite/2235132.p?id=1218315006844&skuId=2235132

 

[cbrunnem]

I really was until I saw that bestbuy lowered their Samsung RC512 from $1200 to $999 which is...kinda perfect. I'm just being a little bit of a coward about this. Even $999 is so much money. I'm definitely buying a computer its just taking me a while to decide because I want to make the right decision if I'm gonna be out $1000-$1200.

Lately I've been wondering if going with an i5 with 8gb RAM would be almost the same thing as an i7 with 6 gb. If this is laughable then woops, sorry again, I don't really know much about computers which is why I came here It's been so helpful!


Samsung RC512 from bestbuy: http/www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+6GB+Memory+/+750GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/Graphite/2235132.p?id=1218315006844&skuId=2235132

not laughable its a decent question but no stop thinking that lol. get a quad core if your going to be rendering as ram is really cheap. id recommend buying a laptop that will support up to 16gb of ram as that will be very important if you have larger scenes and file sizes. i actually highly recommend more ram but a quad core is more important right now