Need some advice regarding laptops for 3d work

dom

Hey guys, I'm thinking of getting a notebook for 3d work. Mainly modelling, texturing and zbrush. My main concern is whether a pentium M processor w/ 2Gb of ram would cut it for hi-res modeling. Am thinking about a Dell Inspirion 9300.

I'm tempted by an AMD X2 laptop but the shipping is a hassle. Nonetheless, it is a possible option, the steep price is a turn off though.

Any ideas?

TomDunne

I just bought an Alienware with an AMD X2 chip. 2gb ram, 7800 GTX, etc etc, blah blah blah. Great machine that even rocks with Quake4, but a very bulky design and they cost an arm and a leg.

If you're getting a Dell specifically to use for work, you probably want a Precision, as they ship with either Quadro or FireGL cards. The Inspiron line is kind of problematic anyway (the 8200 I had was a laptop drama queen, I swear it's true).

Mark Dygert

Any processor they put in laptops today should be enough to handle what you need. The problem is the video card, getting a quailty video card in a laptop is like trying to find the holy grail.

Whatever you do don't skimp on the video card. More than likely it is the one piece that will effect what you are doing the most besides ram and processor. Unlike desktops, laptops are often stuck with the video card they ship with, upgrades are not an option. Also they sometimes need very specific drivers so getting video driver updates can be like pulling teeth.

EarthQuake

A few guys i work with have Dell XPS's 2 of them with the 6800s and one with a 7800 which is by far the fastest system in our office. You can customize the lower end one with a 7800 for about $3000 or they have thier high end one thats about $4200.

Edit: Dont ever get extra ram from dell, unless you want to pay like $800 for a gig

dom

My concern with pentium M proc lappies is that they don't multitask as well? If I had to render in the bg, and say work on some textures in photoshop, would there be a significant drop in performance?

As for the video card, its either a 6800 or a 7800 so either would do ok for 3d work. It's really about the processor, moreover pentium M processors aren't 64bit compliant.

Damn. I sound like I want a dual core. ...

Anyhow, thanks for the suggestions and advice so far.

eXpendabLe

Just for the record, My 9300 with 1 gb/6800 has been an excellent machine. and with a sub $1200 price tag I don't think I could have bought a better laptop for the money.

poopinmymouth

I have a Pentium M 2.1 ghz with 2 gigs of ram and it multitasks fine. In fact I've never had a problem with it ever. I can have max 7, zbrush 2, Firefox with 8 tabs, GAIM, Outlook Express, Photoshop 7, Winamp streaming radio, and it runs fine, switches fine, eats it all for breakfast.

KDR_11k

When it's rendering in the background you can lower the priority of the renderer compared to Photoshop, rendering will take a bit longer but unless you're doing something REALLY complicated it won't do that much. Well, depends on how fast you paint, obviously.

If you want 64bit and battery life isn't that important I'd say go AMD (single core if price is an issue)), I've seen laptops using AMD chips that cost a few hundred less than otherwise identical Intel-based laptops. I don't know whether Dell is selling any of those so you may be forced to shop around.

dom

Thanks guys. Daz was right about posting here. Lots of notebook users in the same industry.

At the moment I am more for the AMD notebook. its going to set me back for about 3400usd, I think it can last me for a good 2 years, hopefully 3.

https://www.pctorque.com/sager-9750-gaming-computers.php

TomDunne

That machine you linked is exactly what I have - Sager manufactures the Alienware cases and can be configured pretty much the same. My notebook.

I also want to add that I looked through your website gallery and demo reel - great stuff!

KDR_11k

Whoa, that thing is overpriced! I've seen laptops with almost the same specs for half that price, does a videocard really cost 1000$ for a laptop?

dom

i think the video card should be around 600-800 usd? You're paying more for the processor and how all that goodness fits into a notebook.. or brick. the thing is huge.

notman

I have a zd8000 from HP and it works great for modeling. I haven't done much rendering and I only model for game mods, but it seems to handle it without a hitch. It has it's limitations, basically battery power and weight, but I love the screen, full keyboard, and it runs games great.
Others here have this laptop and can probably provide a better evaluation of how well it works for modeling.

Anyways, here's a link to the specs: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shoppi...&catLevel=1
They've also introduced the zd8000z, which seems like a big change. I'm not sure what the new video setup is like, but I see they added 64 bit AMD.
I think for the price though, it's hard to beat.

KDR_11k

I've seen laptops for ~1200 euros (and that's including 16% VAT) that come with a better CPU, more RAM (compared to the cheaper Sager model), more HD, etc. Only the graphics card isn't top of the line but rather average (X700s and 6600GT/6800s these days, always a generation behind the current stuff) and the screen is smaller (since a laptop is portable that's usually acceptable). Sager charges 140$ less if you choose such a weaker graphics card so the price difference seems to be mostly the larger screen. May be a fitting time to ask whether one step up on the resolution is worth 500$ (1680x1050 vs. 1280x800).

I wouldn't call that huge, it's tiny compared to the 386 "breaks your lap if you put it on top" brick I've got lying around.

For a reference, from my favourite local PC store:

Mobile AMD Sempron™ Prozessor 2800+ (25W), Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition, 15.4" WXGA TFT Display, ATI Mobility™ Radeon® X600 mit 64MB, 512MB (2*256) DDR, 80GB HDD, DVD-Dual (DL), 56Kbps Modem, 10/100/1000 LAN, WLAN 802.11g, 6-in-1 Card-Reader
EUR 959.90

I don't know much about the Mobility X600 but I think with some additional RAM that lappy would be suitable. It's no powerhouse but unless you plan on rendering out your stuff on the lappy (that'd kill the battery faster than JFK) I don't see what excessive amounts of power are needed for.

TomDunne

I know I could have gotten a cheaper deal on my laptop, but I had to blow some money before the end of the year to get my taxes down a bit. It's a good machine and kept the government's dirty hands off my money, so I view it as a win-win situation