CAD/ Gaming laptops limited budget

[Faber Castell]

Hi all,

I am looking for a laptop which I will be able to use for the next few years. I want it to run 3D modelling jobs, games, and rendering quite comfortably. The laptop therefore needs good colour %. It needs minimum 16gb ram and a very good CPU, graphics card is important also. Additionally, I would prefer an SSD than a HDD.

I was thinking of laptops like the DELL XPS series, they seem to be quite good for the price, are there any better options?

My budget is £1500 could push it slightly. Any suggestions?

 

[Johnson Mike]

Hi,
Dell XPS are kinda business and school ultrabook laptops. I wouldn't recommend them for CAD and Gaming.

For CAD, it is necessary that you buy the laptop with proper specs.

If you don't know then Intel and AMD makes special CPUs for the workstation laptops namely Intel Xeon and AMD FX. The workstation laptops powered by these processors are considered best for CAD and 3D modelling works.

Even there are special GPUs made by NVidia and AMD (NVidia Quadro and AMD FirePro) to back such powerful machines with better graphics.

CAD software vendors such as AutoCAD and SOLIDWORK also recommends these CPUs and GPUs for running their software.
( source - https/laptopunderbudget.com/best-laptops-for-cad/ )

Because you have enough money to spare on your new laptop, I would recommend you to buy a workstation laptop for yourself rather than normal laptops (with Intel i3/i5/i7).

Here's the laptop which I would recommend you to buy. It is slightly over your budget, but I think its totally worth to spend money on this laptop.

Lenovo ThinkPad P50 Workstation (https/www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Workstation-P50-20EN001SUS-HID1-E3-1505M/dp/B01FJRRJUW/)

Specifications -

Intel® Xeon E3-1505M v5 Quad Core Workstation Processor, 2.8-3.7 GHz
nVIDIA Quadro M2000M 128bit w/ 4GB GDDR5
16GB 2133MHz DDR4 RAM
256GB SATA SSD
15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS Antiglare
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
WARRANTY: 3 Year Warranty,

 

[Faber Castell]

Hi,
Dell XPS are kinda business and school ultrabook laptops. I wouldn't recommend them for CAD and Gaming.

For CAD, it is necessary that you buy the laptop with proper specs.

If you don't know then Intel and AMD makes special CPUs for the workstation laptops namely Intel Xeon and AMD FX. The workstation laptops powered by these processors are considered best for CAD and 3D modelling works.

Even there are special GPUs made by NVidia and AMD (NVidia Quadro and AMD FirePro) to back such powerful machines with better graphics.

CAD software vendors such as AutoCAD and SOLIDWORK also recommends these CPUs and GPUs for running their software.
( source - https/laptopunderbudget.com/best-laptops-for-cad/ )

Because you have enough money to spare on your new laptop, I would recommend you to buy a workstation laptop for yourself rather than normal laptops (with Intel i3/i5/i7).

Here's the laptop which I would recommend you to buy. It is slightly over your budget, but I think its totally worth to spend money on this laptop.

Lenovo ThinkPad P50 Workstation (https/www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Workstation-P50-20EN001SUS-HID1-E3-1505M/dp/B01FJRRJUW/)

Specifications -

Intel® Xeon E3-1505M v5 Quad Core Workstation Processor, 2.8-3.7 GHz
nVIDIA Quadro M2000M 128bit w/ 4GB GDDR5
16GB 2133MHz DDR4 RAM
256GB SATA SSD
15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS Antiglare
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
WARRANTY: 3 Year Warranty,

I heard about the special GPU's and CPU's and I have considered them however, wouldn't that limit me to just CAD work? I would like to do some gaming on it. Also photoshop work and things like that. I have also heard that some of the GeForce GTX GPU's are as powerful as the Quadros, I was considering an I7 with a GTX 1050 or 1060. How do these GPUs compare to the Quadro M2000M?

 

[Johnson Mike]

Yes, laptop with i7 and GTX 1060 will also be best for CAD and gaming but I thought that CAD is your first priority and gaming is the second.
You're right, i7 and GTX 1060 will also be able to run all the CAD software and all the latest games but Intel Xeon and NVidia Quadro are hyper threaded CPUs and GPUs which are designed to run CAD software more efficiently.

Its your choice. You're gonna be fine either way.

Here's a laptop to consider with i7 and GTX 1060 in your budget -

MSI GS43VR 7RE (Phantom Pro) 061UK 14 Inch Gaming Laptop - https/www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-GS43VR-Phantom-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B01N6MTJT3/

Processor: Kabylake Core i7-7700HQ+HM175
Memory: DDR IV 8GB*2
Storage: 256GB NVMe SSD +1 TB (SATA) 7200rpm
Display: 14" FHD, Anti-Glare (1920*1080) eDP IPS-Level
Killer Doubles hot Pro (Killer Gb LAN + Killer 802.11 a/c Wi-Fi) with Smart Teaming

Price - £1,429.91

 

[Faber Castell]

Yes, laptop with i7 and GTX 1060 will also be best for CAD and gaming but I thought that CAD is your first priority and gaming is the second.
You're right, i7 and GTX 1060 will also be able to run all the CAD software and all the latest games but Intel Xeon and NVidia Quadro are hyper threaded CPUs and GPUs which are designed to run CAD software more efficiently.

Its your choice. You're gonna be fine either way.

Here's a laptop to consider with i7 and GTX 1060 in your budget -

MSI GS43VR 7RE (Phantom Pro) 061UK 14 Inch Gaming Laptop - https/www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-GS43VR-Phantom-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B01N6MTJT3/

Processor: Kabylake Core i7-7700HQ+HM175
Memory: DDR IV 8GB*2
Storage: 256GB NVMe SSD +1 TB (SATA) 7200rpm
Display: 14" FHD, Anti-Glare (1920*1080) eDP IPS-Level
Killer Doubles hot Pro (Killer Gb LAN + Killer 802.11 a/c Wi-Fi) with Smart Teaming

Price - £1,429.91

Thanks for the two options, I was thinking of MSI laptops however I have heard that they have cooling problems, is that true? And that is something that I need to be quite good especially for heavy rendering.

 

[velo3100]

Look at scan pc. They have both gaming laptops and workstations.

 

[Johnson Mike]

To be very frank, all gaming laptops throttle when they are pushed to limits and definitely you will be pushing limits while doing rendering work on the laptop. I haven't heard about cooling problems on MSI but few models in Asus ROG series has serious cooling problems. And, I just had a look at Scan PC's website as recommended by "velo3100". It seems to be pretty dope place to build powerful workstation and gaming rigs. Have a look at it once.