Help w/ Laptop Specs/Purchase

sea_lyons

By sea_lyons,
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sea_lyons

sea_lyons

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Hi, 

 

I've been having issues with my current laptop, IT guy says it's a compatibility issue between the laptop's built in video card and CA. 

 

This is the new laptop he's suggesting:

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_4419&item_id=234878

 

I'd really appreciate some input and opinions as I'm not very knowledgeable on computer specs and comparing these specs to the recommended CA specs is still gibberish to me lol. 

 

Thanks!!

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elgreco

elgreco

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It looks like a very good spec.

As for the graphics card... the 4090 is superior to the 4060 by a a huge margin but the question remains... will you need the extra power regardless of the cost? do you do a lot of real time rendering? 

Personally I would stick with the 4060 but increase the RAM to 32GB.

Also check to see what ports are available on the 4060 for additional external monitors

 

Elgreco

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sea_lyons

sea_lyons

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25 minutes ago, DavidJPotter said:

I would suggest paying more for an upgraded video card to at least RTX 4090

 

DJP

Just looked this one up and definitely out of budget at the moment. Are you suggesting this bc the specs on the laptop that I linked are insufficient for CA?

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sea_lyons

sea_lyons

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6 minutes ago, elgreco said:

It looks like a very good spec.

As for the graphics card... the 4090 is superior to the 4060 by a a huge margin but the question remains... will you need the extra power regardless of the cost? do you do a lot of real time rendering? 

Personally I would stick with the 4060 but increase the RAM to 32GB.

Also check to see what ports are available on the 4060 for additional external monitors

 

Elgreco

I work mostly in vector or line drawing camera modes. My current laptop is crashing anytime I switch to physically based camera mode. I typically export images in this mode for client presentations but that's about it. 

 

Can RAM be upgraded later on a laptop? I know they can be different from a desktop in this regard. 

 

How do I check re: ports? I only use 1 external monitor and only when I'm in the office. 

 

Thank you for your input, much appreciated! 

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Renerabbitt

Renerabbitt

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2 hours ago, sea_lyons said:

I work mostly in vector or line drawing camera modes. My current laptop is crashing anytime I switch to physically based camera mode. I typically export images in this mode for client presentations but that's about it. 

 

Can RAM be upgraded later on a laptop? I know they can be different from a desktop in this regard. 

 

How do I check re: ports? I only use 1 external monitor and only when I'm in the office. 

 

Thank you for your input, much appreciated! 

What is your current machine? I am assuming your signature isnt correct as it wouldnt give you the option to raytrace.
Crashing has more to do with drivers than with machine spec..it may be that you do not need to purchase anything new and if you did, that you might run into the same issues. Driver updates are an important part of maintaining function in RT

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sea_lyons

sea_lyons

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Ha, actually my signature is correct. When I was working solo, I had a gaming laptop and had no rendering issues outside of the laptop being slow when working on larger files. I recently started working under a general contractor who provided me the laptop with the specs in my signature. Its giving a very consistent error and crashing every time I go into a Physically Based Camera mode and sometimes in Standard. I've been working with their IT guy for several weeks. He's updated all drivers and done many a number of other setting related changes to no avail. You can see the error message I'm referring to if you go to my past posts here. 

 

Today, the IT guy suggested the GC purchase the laptop linked above to solve the issues as the video card built into this one seems to not be compatible with CA. GC ok'd this but the IT guy is asking my opinion and if it will suit my needs. I think asking for a 4090 video card would be presumptuous and excessive and I don't want to offend as its not coming out of my pocket. 

 

i.e. Is this sufficient for now? Can it run 1-2 external monitors? Can the video card and/or RAM be upgraded/swapped at a later date if ever required? I realize these may be questions for him but I follow you renerabbit and value your opinion!

 

Thanks! :)

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Renerabbitt

Renerabbitt

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2 hours ago, sea_lyons said:

Ha, actually my signature is correct. When I was working solo, I had a gaming laptop and had no rendering issues outside of the laptop being slow when working on larger files. I recently started working under a general contractor who provided me the laptop with the specs in my signature. Its giving a very consistent error and crashing every time I go into a Physically Based Camera mode and sometimes in Standard. I've been working with their IT guy for several weeks. He's updated all drivers and done many a number of other setting related changes to no avail. You can see the error message I'm referring to if you go to my past posts here. 

 

Today, the IT guy suggested the GC purchase the laptop linked above to solve the issues as the video card built into this one seems to not be compatible with CA. GC ok'd this but the IT guy is asking my opinion and if it will suit my needs. I think asking for a 4090 video card would be presumptuous and excessive and I don't want to offend as its not coming out of my pocket. 

 

i.e. Is this sufficient for now? Can it run 1-2 external monitors? Can the video card and/or RAM be upgraded/swapped at a later date if ever required? I realize these may be questions for him but I follow you renerabbit and value your opinion!

 

Thanks! :)

I will say you will not get RTRT with this laptop and once youve started using RTRT you don't really feel like going back..its a fantastic rendering method.
Will also say that I have both nvidia and amd machines and the AMD machine has been such a better experience with driver issues over nvidia..night and day. So I would recomend the Legion 7 with the amd 6850x and 32gb ram

 

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Kbird1

Kbird1

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Has your Boss given your a budget Number $$$ wise for the Purchase?   as CC also has some options on Clearance I see......

 

one has a RTX 3080 which is a stronger Video card that the 4060 even though from the 3000 Series (3rd from top) vs the newer 4060 ( 2nd from bottom) , and is only $50 more

 

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_4419&item_id=187823

 

There is also this Gigabyte Laptop with a 4070 GPU  which is stronger than the 3080 but is $300 more than the one suggested, but I think would be worth the extra especially longterm.

 

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_4419&item_id=236109

 

or for the same price if an Intel CPU is preferred this one

 

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_4419&item_id=236109

 

or this 17" model if you like a bigger screen  for the same price as those above

 

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_4419&item_id=235071

 

 

Mick

 

 

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Kbird1

Kbird1

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13 minutes ago, SHCanada2 said:

I would agree, I run around 14GB with only CA, Edge (which is a hog), email, zoom and a PDF viewer . everything else is some sort of stock bloat

 

I don't disagree, but the Laptops She is looking at are pre-configured, and most come with 16GB Ram , sometimes it is even soldered to the MoBo these days,

but most modern laptops have easy access to the Ram and Drives for User Upgrades in the future, and extra Ram can be gotten on Sale Cheaper usually than through the ManF. Website for example eg at Dell or HP etc. 

 

Mick.

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Kbird1

Kbird1

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Rene is right above about the Lenovo 7 Series, a Client got one last Month and is very happy, ( I told Her to get 32GB Ram and the extra 1TB NVME for RAID )

 but the pricing and availability in Canada is not the same as in the US by a long shot usually :( but it might be worth a look as I think the "Back to School Sales"

just started this week.

 

This is the one My Client got in July and it's on sale , ( you'll need to configure it I think) though you'd need an additional $1000-1200 for the 13900H, 4070 model and 32GB ( Lenovo is one of the few who don't scam you on Ram and Drive Upgrades) though it appears in Canada, they don't offer the Extra 1TB Drive as an addon like in the US. The 1TB in Canada is the upgrade from 512 GB but I think I'd still be happy with it  :)

 

https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/configurator/cto/index.html?bundleId=82Y3CTO1WWCA1

 

Of course they Have Models in the Higher Ranges like you may want for Xmas too Jason :) 

 

Mick.

 

 

 

 

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Kbird1

Kbird1

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14 minutes ago, SHCanada2 said:

$2900 CAD for 32GB I9, 4070...but 16" screen. Now that I am at 17" I cant go back :)

 

they dont really have anything for 17" ..unfortunately. 

 

but I must say I have a 15" Lenovo and it is rock solid ...just doesn't have the GPU

 

 

 

Many 16" screens are pretty close in size to the Older Style 17" models due to the much smaller bezels and the screen resolution is higher now so real estate wise I don't think you'd loss anything.

 

My 17" diag. screen (1980 res) in my Sig is 15"w x 8 1/2"h...... and it runs Chief fine though not as fast as my desktop of course.

 

M.

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sea_lyons

sea_lyons

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12 hours ago, Renerabbitt said:

I will say you will not get RTRT with this laptop

I won't get RTRT with the one in my signature or with the laptop I linked above?

 

11 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

Has your Boss given your a budget Number $$$ wise for the Purchase?

He has not, and tbh I didn't think I wasn't going to be given the opportunity for input on the purchase - I thought the IT guy was just going to go ahead once he got the OK. So, since this one is priced at $1700 I'm inclined to stick very close to that $ if I were to suggest something else. Don't want to push my luck here lol. 

 

11 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

Gigabyte Laptop with a 4070 GPU  which is stronger than the 3080

So a 3080 is better than a 4060 but the 4070 is better than the 3080?

 

11 hours ago, Kbird1 said:

if an Intel CPU is preferred

Is an Intel CPU better or just preference? What are the other options?

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sea_lyons

sea_lyons

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I think these would be viable options and ones I'd be comfortable suggesting based on price point:

1) https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_4419&item_id=234878 (original, $1699)

2) https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_4419&item_id=187823 (better video card but 16GB RAM? $1749)

3) https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_4419&item_id=243885 (same video card but 32GB RAM? $1889)

4) https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_4419&item_id=239806 (same video card but 32GB RAM - $1499 - why is this one so much cheaper? lol)

 

Will all of the above allow me to do RTRT?

 

Thanks to all of you for your help!! 

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Kbird1

Kbird1

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3 hours ago, sea_lyons said:

I won't get RTRT with the one in my signature or with the laptop I linked above?

 

He has not, and tbh I didn't think I wasn't going to be given the opportunity for input on the purchase - I thought the IT guy was just going to go ahead once he got the OK. So, since this one is priced at $1700 I'm inclined to stick very close to that $ if I were to suggest something else. Don't want to push my luck here lol. 

 

So a 3080 is better than a 4060 but the 4070 is better than the 3080?

 

Is an Intel CPU better or just preference? What are the other options?

 

1. He was referring to your current laptop, anything with a Nvidia 2000, 3000 or 4000 will do RTRT  

 

2. I was just hopeful your Boss might go to $2000 before Taxes

 

3. Correct

 

4. Intel and AMD (ryzen) CPUz are more preference these days , early on Chief recommended Intel and personally I always go Intel myself.

 

Mick

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Kbird1

Kbird1

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11 minutes ago, sea_lyons said:

Or this one at $1799? RTX 4070 and 16GB but with i7

 

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_4419&item_id=237633

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm gathering that ideal would be i9, 32GB RAM and either a RTX 3080 or 4070? Something will have to give there though due to cost - just not sure what to sacrifice first lol. 

 

 

There is nothing wrong with the i7 Intel CPUs either, I've never had an i9 myself , and upgrading the Ram is easy  - it can be done later if you find you need it, eg during Black Friday or Xmas Sales.

 

In fact the last one you posted, the Gigabyte would probably be the one I'd suggest for you, assuming it is available "open box" at one of their Locations near you?

 

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_4419&item_id=237633

 

Mick.

 

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