Choosing a Workstation Laptop

[JPear]

Hello, I am a high school student looking for a new workstation laptop for CAD. I have been doing CAD for a few years on a Macbook Air but it no longer is able to keep up with the programs I am using.

*This is my first post, please let me know if this is against any forum rules*

 

As far as the laptop goes I have a budget of a little under $3,000. I would like a large screen (preferably 17" but 15" works as well) with thin bezels. I value screen resolution and color accuracy over refresh rate as it is unlikely I would use this for much gaming. Size/weight does not matter as much as performance (although I do require thin bezels and would prefer a metal or similarly premium shell). Battery life does not matter. Since I am doing CAD I believe that a Quadro RTX card (likely 3000 or 4000) would be preferable, though I am open to suggestions. I require the ability to run dx11 applications for an upcoming internship. I have been looking at the following laptops.

 

Dell XPS 15 (Core i7-9750H, GTX 1650, 32GB Ram, ITB NVMe SSD, 15.6" 4K UHD OLED Display):
    Price: $2,399.99
    Pros: Very good screen, below budget, good reviews
    Cons: Relatively bad graphics, worried about thermal management
MSI WS75 (Core i9-9880H, Quadro RTX 3000, 32GB Ram, 1TB NVMe SSD, 17.3" FHD IPS Display) *Open to suggestions on other configurations*:
    Price: $3,199.99 (On BestBuy.com)
    Pros: Quadro RTX 3000, 17" Screen, Looks like good thermal management
    Cons: Would prefer RTX 4000 and 4K display, over budget
Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701 (Core i7-9750H, RTX 2070, 16GB Ram, 1TB SSD, 17.3" FHD IPS Display):
    Price: $2,499.99
    Pros: 17" Screen, Below budget, Good thermal management
    Cons: Not Quadro graphics, 16GB Ram (rather than 32GB), not 4K
Asus ZenBook Pro Duo (Core i7-9750H, RTX 2060, 32GB Ram, 1TB SSD, 15.6" OLED 4K and 14" 4K UHD):
    Price: Not Yet Announced
    Pros: Two 4K Screens (better imo than single 17"), Lifting Mechanism for cooling, Coolness Factor
    Cons: Not available yet, Pricing Not Announced - likely expensive (but would be willing to go slightly over budget for it)

 

 

I am open to any suggestions for better laptops/configurations. Thank you in advance for your help.

[SupaKomputa]

Does 10bit color important to you, if yes, then Quadro is clearly the winner. You can get an external 4K monitor anyway.

The 3000 is about the same specs as 2070.

[TheBean]

dont get quadro for a laptop. it unnessesarily increases your price when it doesnt help with CAD that much (you are power and thermal contrained anyway)

[SupaKomputa]

1 minute ago, Saksham said:

dont get quadro for a laptop. it unnessesarily increases your price when it doesnt help with CAD that much (you are power and thermal contrained anyway)

At $600 more it's pretty good for the same specs Quadro, i've seen worse difference than this.

[TheBean]

Just now, SupaKomputa said:

At $600 more it's pretty good for the same specs Quadro, i've seen worse difference than this.

but why spend the extra if you don't need to. for CAD it doesnt really matter. it only matters for compute.

we are talking about a high school student here - you do not need quardo. 

[JPear]

So in the case that I do not get a quadro what would you recommend? Also I'd pay a little more for a laptop/gpu with better longevity in terms of performance and reliability.

[SupaKomputa]

2 minutes ago, Saksham said:

we are talking about a high school student here - you do not need quardo. 

Hah, didn't catch that one, sorry.

3 minutes ago, JPear said:

So in the case that I do not get a quadro what would you recommend? Also I'd pay a little more for a laptop/gpu with better longevity in terms of performance and reliability.

If you're looking for reliability, then a gaming laptop would be better since it has better airflow. So the ROG is great.

 

[TheBean]

if you want reliability, just buy like 4 years of warranty. You should be taking good care of your laptop anyway. I have a 7 year old laptop and it runs perfectly fine for my parents. (its a little too slow for me now).

 

honestly, you are a high school student and soon (hopefully) going to college. you should probably pay attention to size and weight because in college, you have to walk A LOT. you will not be able to carry a heavy laptop everywhere. I fell into the same trap of a gaming laptop and I am going to sell it because its just too damn heavy to carry everywhere. please choose your laptop wisely. 

 

do not buy the dell xps 15 laptops as many have advised that it has many severe issues that have  not been fully addressed. go with something like the lenovo x1 extreme or something powerfull but thin/light. 

 

lenovo thinkpad laptops are known for their excellent reliability and long term use (10 years and beyond). they also have mil 810g standards for some. if you call lenovo they can price match the x1 extreme with the xps 15 to reduce your cost. 

 

Edited August 1, 2019 by Saksham

[JPear]

Thanks for the advise. I am thinking about getting the zephyrus then (or maybe the ZenBook if its not to expensive), but will look into the lenovo.

[genexis_x]

6 hours ago, SupaKomputa said:

If you're looking for reliability, then a gaming laptop would be better since it has better airflow. So the ROG is great.

Uh no. Best reliability would be premium business laptop / mobile workstation. Asus consumer grade has one of the worst reliability

7 hours ago, JPear said:

snip

Are you from US? Since weight and battery life aren't big concerns, go for thicker gaming laptops or perhaps mobile workstations for better QC+QA

[wunderwaffedg3jz]

2 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Uh no. Best reliability would be premium business laptop / mobile workstation. Asus consumer grade has one of the worst reliability

Are you from US? Since weight and battery life aren't big concerns, go for thicker gaming laptops or perhaps mobile workstations for better QC+QA

It would be best for him to not have a thicker or heavier laptop, the guy's a high school student, and will soon be going to college which as @Sakshammentioned earlier, will involve a ton of walking. A heavy laptop will only lead to back injuries and unneeded portability issues.

[wunderwaffedg3jz]

9 hours ago, JPear said:

So in the case that I do not get a quadro what would you recommend? Also I'd pay a little more for a laptop/gpu with better longevity in terms of performance and reliability.

Try checking out MSI's line of creator laptops, the Prestige series. They're some great thin and lights, with all the IO you could possibly need and good specs.

[genexis_x]

46 minutes ago, wunderwaffedg3jz said:

back injuries

lol

[wunderwaffedg3jz]

25 minutes ago, GeneXiS_X said:

lol

https://www.campbellclinic.com/2018/11/21/carrying-heavy-bags-shoulder-and-back-injuries/ 

"lol"

[genexis_x]

7 minutes ago, wunderwaffedg3jz said:

https://www.campbellclinic.com/2018/11/21/carrying-heavy-bags-shoulder-and-back-injuries/ 

"lol"

I never got it even though I carry laptop+charger often to classes. Maybe that's just me. But saying 'injury' is a bit too much

[TheBean]

nvidia studio laptops if you really want high end (you dont need it). jut go with something like the lenovo x1 extreme or other high end ultraportables