laptop recommendations for CA 12

[DKArchitect]

Hello- I'm looking to purchase a new laptop which I use for modeling w/ a 2nd screen. For meetings, I unplug and take it with me- so prefer a 17" monitor. I don't render images much at this point, but may begin to if the computer is capable. Any input regarding Intel i7 vs. i9 vs other processors would be much appreciated, as well for graphics card and RAM, for a max $2000 budget.

[MarkMc]

15 hours ago, DKArchitect said:

I'm looking to purchase a new laptop which I use for modeling w/ a 2nd screen

I'll bite since I went through researching all of this not long ago.

The one in my signature runs Chief well with the two extra monitors. Got it end of August to replace my main machine a Sager 17" with 6700k/ GTX m980 w 8GB  and a Spectre X360 13 used for field measures. Several brands offer the equivalent starting at around $1500 a tad more for 17's but end up higher if you customize. Should be easy enough to stay at your budget.

Thermals are better, quieter, lighter, and snappier than the Sager. Typical of gaming laptops running Chief in performance mode battery life is not super, though better than the Sager. This one runs better in balanced than either of the others though which helps some with field measures. The power brick is 1/3 the wt of the old one and this machine is 2 lbs lighter than the Sager but heavier than the Spectre of course.

 

CPU- I only looked at i7's, didn't considered i9s due to -cost, machine weight and thermals. Didn't consider desktop CPU this time for same reasons.

GPU- I only considered RTX cards knowing they would be an advantage with X13. I briefly considered machines with RTX 2080 Max Q. Saves about a pound, costs an extra $500 but from what I read around thermals are not as good and performance of that card is about equivalent to the 2070 Super (depending on brand is a lower voltage desktop version and the sweet spot). Thought about waiting for RTX 3000 in laptops but those are likely not here until 2nd quarter 2021, too far out for where I was at.

 

I only buy from places that will A) customize, B) test and burn-in the machine before shipping.

Upgrades I got in order of importance:

• Thermals-pads and the best paste they offer
• The fastest NVMe available for the C drive-minimum 500GB as they slow down as they fill.
•  16GB ram minimum-stick with that for the budget. I only thought I might try a Ram Drive for undo so ended up with 32GB premium ram
•  The rest were nice to have but based on budget ( I hit $2500)
• upgraded storage drive
• low back light bleed ( i run a black desktop) and calibrated monitor.

I eventually got an extra OEM battery from a battery dealer at half the price of what the laptop dealer wanted. Have to turn the machine off and take out two screws to change but handy.

I went to 15" for the sake of portability field measures, 1-1/2" narrower than the 17 only about $100 extra , and I bring a Asus DisplayLink monitor along for meetings or hook up to something at location. I use 2 extra monitors and a separate keyboard so the laptop sits on left at 45 to main screen and I just use it for email program, temporary holding, and hardware monitor.

[Kbird1]

The one in my Sig. is about 3 months old and will fit your budget currently --- I see it on sale several places , though Asus themselves have a holiday bundle for an extra $100 if you also want the backpack and some other "swag",  though it maybe sold out currently.  but Bestbuy Amazon etc still have the laptop available though.

 

https://store.asus.com/us/item/202011AM190000028

 

Just watch out for reviews online , most are for the much higher End i9 CPU with a 2080 Super ( $3200.00)

 

BestBuy.com Link

 

M.

 

 

[DKArchitect]

Many thanks to all for the advice! I just made a purchase of an EVOC 17" PC701 w/ i7-10875 8-thread processor, 8GB NVidia GeForce RTX2070 Max-Q video card, 2 TB SSD drive & 32 GB RAM from HIDevolution- who were very helpful!

[Katy_DDR]

DK,

Can I ask where you got it and cost?  I'm hunting at the moment.

 

Cheers,

Kt

Quote

38 minutes ago, DKArchitect said:

Many thanks to all for the advice! I just made a purchase of an EVOC 17" PC701 w/ i7-10875 8-thread processor, 8GB NVidia GeForce RTX2070 Max-Q video card, 2 TB SSD drive & 32 GB RAM from HIDevolution- who were very helpful!

 

 

[MarkMc]

12 hours ago, DKArchitect said:

EVOC 17" PC701 w/ i7-10875 8-thread processor, 8GB NVidia GeForce RTX2070 Max-Q

Good luck with it-I liked HID too. Since you got the Max_Q I'd love to compare performance and thermals sometime in Februrary or March after the release of X13 and you've had it up and running for a while. If that's ok I'll PM you then?