Sony Vaio 14" E Series for CAD?

[toledoj]

Hey guys!

Everyone on here has been fantastic and helped me build a sick gaming computer a little while back, so i figure i'd come back to the experts to ask!

So heres the situation:

I'm going to university in a few months and studying mechanical engineering. I'm looking for a laptop that will be powerful enough to allow me to work in class without problems, but i'd do most of my computer work and CAD designing on my desktop which is more than capable. So here's where i need an opinion. Keep in mind i'll be using Solidworks, AutoCAD, and MATLab probably. Here are the specs of the laptop:

3rd gen Intel® Core™ i5-3210M processor (2.50GHz / 3.10GHz with Turbo Boost)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
14" LED backlit display (1600 x 900)
AMD Radeon™ HD 7670M (1GB) hybrid graphics
500GB (5400rpm) hard drive
4GB (4GB x1) DDR3-1600MHz
CD/DVD player / burner
Standard lithium-ion battery (5300mAh)

Heres the link (ofc you have to use the customization to add the i5 and the 7670m card into the laptop)
so all of this for $850. best deal i've found. Get back to me on how well you guys think itd work! 😀

Cheers

 

[radiowars]

I would suggest going with the S series if you're set on a Vaio. The E series is meant to be cheap, but what you need is more RAM and a better hard drive (you don't want to be stuck with an HD spinning at 5200RPM, it's painfully slow). Go with an S series and get at least 6gb of RAM (preferably 8 for CAD) and upgrade the hard drive. You'll already be given a better CPU and an equal GPU, so it should still be under $1000. Or, you could simply upgrade the E series, but I think the quad-core on the S is worth it.
Good luck.

 

[toledoj]

Thanks for the advice. 1000 bucks is a bit over my range more like 900ish is better for me. I think i'll stick with the E series for the better screen res and cheaper price, but upgrade the harddrive to a 640gb 7200rpm for 20 bucks more. And then ill buy a stick of 4gb 1600Mhz DDR3 laptop memory and see if i can stick it in. That way it's much cheaper and great performance.

My next question is what type of ram would work? Like all it says is that it has 1600Mhz DDR3 ram in it, but how would i go about picking my own aftermarket ram? For example would something like these work?

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233241

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231483

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231481

I'm just worried about the timing of the ram and stuff. Would it have to match the existing ram in the laptop that comes with it?

Thanks for the help!

 

[WR2]

Run CPU-Z and find out what RAM you have installed.

It's not exactly necessary to match the installed RAM. But I think you'd want to, if at all possible.

 

[toledoj]

Ok great! Thanks for the help!