Need help fast please regarding laptop for cad

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killadoob

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Ok so my mate has asked me about a laptop for cad with a budget of 9k

Acer Notebook:TM7740G-5485G50MN / 17.3" WXGA+ Display / Intel Core i5 480M / ATI Mobility HD 5650 1GB Dedicated VGA / 6GB RAM / 1x500GB / NSM8X / 802.11bgn / 6 cells / 1.3DV CrystalEye Webcam / Bluetooth / Windows 7 Pro (64bit) R 7 294 excl. R 8,315 incl.

I am thinking of recommending the above one, please let me if that would be fine.

I know cad likes memory so 6gb should fine just not sure about gpu processing side of it. Would they need more than 6gb?
 
Here are autoCAD's requirements. I'm running that on a workstation with an i7 @ 3GHz, 6GB RAM and 1GB VRAM. It feels sluggish. AutoCAD is a dog. I'm runnign Revit on the same system and it's okay, as long as the model file doesn't get too out of hand...
 
You need a core i7 3.4, at least 16gb memory and a powerful nvidia quadro card
 
Dont buy a laptop for CAD, get a desktop and you will get double the specs for the same price.
 
killadoob said:
Ok thanx but it has to be a laptop and they only have 9k so work with that please :D
Click to expand...

How about the EliteBook 8460p from esquire? See here

Edit:On second thoughts its excl vat, not powerful enough and 14" is too small...
 
Last edited:
hereticangel said:
http://www.laptopdirect.co.za/laptop_specifications.php?laptop=42618

upgraded to i7 sandybridge and 8gig ram cost you a total of 7.4k :)

and its got gt540m
Click to expand...
You forgot to add Windows.

Here's the cost breakdown:
Basic system: ? R 3804
+ Operating system: R 966 (Win7 x64 Home Premium)
+ CPU: R 2315 (i7)
+ HDD: R 406 (320GB)
+ Memory: R 369 (4GB for slot 1)
+ DOA Insurance: R 92
+ Memory slot 2: R 369 (another 4GB for slot 2)
Total (incl VAT + shipping): R 8321
 
killadoob said:
Yea but they want a lappie for cad not desktop :D
Click to expand...

Oh, I know. I was just telling what I'm currently using, and my experience with it. For comparison.

I'd say, try and get an i7 in there and you'd be okay. On my personal laptop -- an aging Core2Duo with 2gigs of RAM and half a gig of VRAM -- I use an older version of AutoCAD and it's okay. I wouldn't dare throw 2012 or even 2011 on there. I also do a lot of Sketchup modeling on my laptop. And some 3DStudio work -- except that was infuriating.

Exactly what CAD software is your mate going to use?
 
The HD5650 would be fine. For gaming it would perform slightly worse than the Nvidia GT540m.
I'd favour AMD graphics cards for CAD, because Nvidia limits their OpenGL performance on their non-workstation graphics cards. I'm really not sure if the HD5650 would be better/worse than the GT540m in CAD though, and I can't find any benchmarks/reviews on this either.

For CAD I'd recommend a quad core/dual core with hyperthreading, 4GB RAM, a high resolution screen (minimum 1600x900, recommended 1920x1080) and a decent dedicated graphics card (at least Class 2 one from http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-540M.41715.0.html).

So the first mentioned Acer notebook should do the trick, although I'm not sure of how long the warranty is on that one.
I'd highly recommend that you get one with at least a 2 year warranty!

@silentbee:
silentbee said:
Here are autoCAD's requirements. I'm running that on a workstation with an i7 @ 3GHz, 6GB RAM and 1GB VRAM. It feels sluggish. AutoCAD is a dog. I'm runnign Revit on the same system and it's okay, as long as the model file doesn't get too out of hand...
Click to expand...
What graphics card do you have? 1GB video memory means almost nothing, because you can probably assign that much video memory to an onboard Intel GPU.

I do agree with you 100% that the version of CAD makes a huge difference on what kind of PC/laptop you'll need.
 
Pada said:
You forgot to add Windows.

Here's the cost breakdown:
Basic system: ? R 3804
+ Operating system: R 966 (Win7 x64 Home Premium)
+ CPU: R 2315 (i7)
+ HDD: R 406 (320GB)
+ Memory: R 369 (4GB for slot 1)
+ DOA Insurance: R 92
+ Memory slot 2: R 369 (another 4GB for slot 2)
Total (incl VAT + shipping): R 8321
Click to expand...

why i love them, because you not force to buy windows with the laptop :P
 
Pada said:
@silentbee:

What graphics card do you have? 1GB video memory means almost nothing, because you can probably assign that much video memory to an onboard Intel GPU.
Click to expand...

Device Manager tells me its an Nvidia GeForce GTS 250. I'm not sure how the IT guys have set it all up here at the office. I do know that this card is not on the Autodesk list of known-to-work cards and we have had some minor problems with Revit. Overall it's okay.

I also think it makes a huge difference if the CAD in question is 2D or 3D. 3D is a whole different kettle of fish!
 
silentbee: have your IT guys at least installed the proprietary Nvidia drivers?

The GTS 250 would beat those mobile graphics cards listed in this thread by a long shot.
 
OK, then it seems like you have Nvidia 258.96 driver installed.
It would be better if you just look under Add/Remove programs for the Nvidia drivers.
 
Add and Remove tells me it's version 1.10.62.40, if that means anything to you ;)
 
Im looking for the same laptop, did you manage to find/choose something?
 
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