Luuk17

Hey all , 
 
I am a big fan of Linus and have been following his YouTube videos for years . I wouldn't quite call my self a tech-savvy kind of person , but I try to keep my information fresh as much as possible. Since you guys are some sort of experts I would like to ask your advice for which laptop/or portable workstation you might advice me with . I would be really grateful for any tips or suggestions as I am on a tight budget . 
First of all, I am an architect with a master degree and currently doing my PhD in urban studies. So I basically use CAD softwares , Rhino + Grasshopper ( visual programming ) , c# and Python , and GIS ( Arc Maps ) . I will be also doing renderings (high quality ) and some data analysis .
 
As you can see I need quite a responsive reliable system ( without sudden crashes and slow sluggish performance) .
 
During my masters , I used (and still now using ) HP ( y7x67ea - i7 7th generation - 15 inch display ) and it has served me very well so far ( survived multiple system crashes , durable body built ) but the screen resolution started to fade ways noticeably .
 
My Budget : 1300 to 1600 $ .
 
Options that I have viewed are : 
1-Dell G5 15 Gaming Laptop – Core i7 2.2GHz 16GB 1TB+256GB 4GB Win10 15.6inch FHD Black + Pre-loaded MS Office ( at 1300 $ ) .
2- Lenovo Ideapad L340 Gaming Laptop – Core i7 2.6GHz 16GB 1TB+256GB 4GB Win10 15.6inch FHD Black ( at 1100 $ ) .
 
Your advice will be valuable !!
 
P.S: I live in Dubai , and the local market has limited options in comparison to US markets , but I can buy and ship easily to here . So if you can recommend certain models it would be great :) . 
 
Thanks , 
Noura 

I would strongly advocate for avoiding mobile workstations. They are BAD. The use cases, particularly things like AutoCAD and Lumion will drag the system to it's knees, and engineering offices want their staff to be mobile so they keep buying them these laptops for CAD work and then giving them rubbish displaylink-based docking stations that don't work with CAD programs.
 
If you are actually working for a client, you should be billing them for the cost of the PC you use. So don't cheap out on parts if it improves the productivity.
 
If you are considering a laptop, you MUST avoid the gaming laptops. Only the laptops marketed as 17" laptops are CAD laptops, the rest are complete rubbish. 15" thin-and-light laptops typically suffer failures within months, and even the Precision 7000 series laptops from Dell are typically under-engineered for using with CAD products and the fans run full tilt on those just like the thin laptops.
 
 

A laptop is portable, a desktop will have better bang for the buck. So unless you need portability, a desktop is usually the better deal.
 
~edit: A desktop is also more flexible, since you can build it with whatever specs you need/want, while a laptop is mostly a fixed packagw that may or may not have everything you want and may include stuff you don't care about.

I use a laptop workstation because portability only.  If I didn't need it I would use a workstation desktop only.  For me, that's the only reason I use a laptop - more power in a desktop but no mobility is all.

In laptop you will always sacrifice some performance for portability. I mean you can always get one of those obnoxious gaming laptops that weigh as much as a desktop and take more space, but I wouldn't recommend doing that. 
 
Laptop CPUs and GPUs are always downgraded in order to reduce power consumption and thermal output.
 
Desktops will always perform better with same specs because components are not downgraded due to power and heat limitations.
 
As @Kisai, stay away from mobile workstation as they will thermal throttle like hell and may die prematurely due to high heat and load.

You can get something like this, another CPU, and more RAM...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Proliant-DL160-G6-Server-1U-2x-2-67GHz-Hex-X5650-Xeon-WRails/273741259094?hash=item3fbc402156:g:VroAAOSwWiJce3xa
 
Or just get one already kitted out with RAM for ~$200...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Proliant-DL160-G6-Server-1U-2x-Hex-X5650-Xeon-2-67GHz-48gb-DDR3-PC3-10600/382785619711?hash=item591fcd06ff:g:MTcAAOSwXq5cZIye

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: AMD - RYZEN 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor  ($316.88 @ OutletPC) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($46.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Fatal1ty X370 Gaming K4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($138.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Team - T-Force / Night Hawk 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($104.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($94.68 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card  ($719.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $1501.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-05 12:49 EDT-0400

Alternative: Get Cryorig H7 and B350 mobo to get larger SSD

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/nXsKLD
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/nXsKLD/by_merchant/
CPU: AMD - RYZEN 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor  ($316.88 @ OutletPC) 
CPU Cooler: NZXT - Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($112.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME X370-PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($149.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill - Flare X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($186.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB Gaming OC 11G  Video Card  ($684.79 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12G 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($64.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $1515.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-05 13:27 EDT-0400
 
A B350 board is enough if you don't need sli. You can OC upto 4.1 GHZ without any problems.

You can easily get 90% of the performance of that $8,000 PC for under $2,000.  The thing that makes those workstation computers expensive is the Xeon CPUs and Quadro GPU (which are almost identical to gaming GPU).
 
You can get a high performing Ryzen 8 core CPU for $500 and a GTX 1080 Ti for $700, then just add 32GB of RAM and fill in the rest for a few hundred more.

Of course you can, make a 1800x + 32gb ram + Titan XP rig and you're set for all the heavy work including gaming, get an ultra-wide monitor.

Absolutely! Some time ago, another user also asked for advice here on a pc build suited for both gaming, production and autocad, 3d modelling etc.
One of the reason, "engineering" aimed PC's have such hugh pricetags is due to the choice of certain workstation processors (Xeon) and graphicscards (quadro). A friend of mine who is a mechanical engineer used to spend loads of money on such components, until he discovered at work, when testing consumer gpus and cpus for their workloads, that the performance was faster and smoother on the consumer parts, but in turn less stable (occassional crashes). He now uses, both at work and at home, just normal consumer parts and saves loads of money while being just as productive. Doesn#t mean that workstation parts are not viable, on the contrary, but if you are not exactly running a company and need huge number crunching capabilites, it is overkill. get a normal pc for abour 2000-2500$ and you're set

Hue hue hue, and my father gets by with his i5 4200U powered laptop fine for rendering 3D models and running simulation  
To be fair, the models he renders are only like a single concrete column or a section of a bridge which probably uses less polygons than a full building...plus the longer it takes for the models to render, the more free time he gets while still getting paid for it...