Laptop for CAD

[spartaman64]

My mom wants a laptop to do CAD work. The budget is around 2000 but can go higher. The programs being used are 2020 design and maybe fusion 360.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QRGSFS7/?tag=thowisguy-20

This is one that im considering but idk if a quadro laptop would be better.

[5x5]

That's a pretty poor option. Get a proper business workstation like the Lenovo ThinkPad P53 - https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-p/P53/p/22WS2WPWP53

[spartaman64]

19 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

That's a pretty poor option. Get a proper business workstation like the Lenovo ThinkPad P53 - https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-p/P53/p/22WS2WPWP53

the rtx 4000 model is $3500 which is above budget and the T2000 is half the performance. also i think 2020 design and fusion 360 are both optimized for directx not openGL so geforce cards might actually run better than quadro

[5x5]

31 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

the rtx 4000 model is $3500 which is above budget and the T2000 is half the performance. also i think 2020 design and fusion 360 are both optimized for directx not openGL so geforce cards might actually run better than quadro

Thing is - a gaming laptop will be loud, hot and won't last past 2 years in most cases. It's not made for professional work, stability or long-term durability

 

A professional machine is FAR more durable and reliable - the P53 is built to military standards, offers good cooling at very low noise levels while also maintaining high performance. It's water resistant, dirt resistant, sand resistant, high-impact resistant, drop resistant and etc - it's designed to work in almost any condition - from a dusty desert to a frozen arctic station. It offers far superior security and comes with NBD support for 1-day turnaround times in the case of issues. Not to mention it comes with certified drivers and firmware for 0-bug/problem operation.

 

Basically - if your mother wants a laptop for work - look at the business class. If you want to be constantly fixing bugs, issues and and constant overheating - then I won't stop you, waste the money on a flashy gaming laptop with a GeForce card and just buy a new one when it inevitably dies in 2 years due to the extreme heat it produces and can't cool when under heavy stress.

[panzersharkcat]

I agree with getting a ThinkPad. If you don't mind refurbished, a P52 with a Quadro P3200 (6 GB VRAM) should still be very solid. I found you a P52 with a Quadro P3200 for $1600 on eBay. i7-8850H CPU, 64 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD.

Edited September 6, 2019 by panzersharkcat
P3200, not 3200

[spartaman64]

18 hours ago, 5x5 said:

Thing is - a gaming laptop will be loud, hot and won't last past 2 years in most cases. It's not made for professional work, stability or long-term durability

 

A professional machine is FAR more durable and reliable - the P53 is built to military standards, offers good cooling at very low noise levels while also maintaining high performance. It's water resistant, dirt resistant, sand resistant, high-impact resistant, drop resistant and etc - it's designed to work in almost any condition - from a dusty desert to a frozen arctic station. It offers far superior security and comes with NBD support for 1-day turnaround times in the case of issues. Not to mention it comes with certified drivers and firmware for 0-bug/problem operation.

 

Basically - if your mother wants a laptop for work - look at the business class. If you want to be constantly fixing bugs, issues and and constant overheating - then I won't stop you, waste the money on a flashy gaming laptop with a GeForce card and just buy a new one when it inevitably dies in 2 years due to the extreme heat it produces and can't cool when under heavy stress.

arent quadros are optimized for openGL but both of the programs seem to use directx. is there a business laptop with geforce card

[5x5]

Just now, spartaman64 said:

arent quadros are optimized for openGL but both of the programs seem to use directx. is there a business laptop with geforce card

Quadros are optimized for reliability and stability. Not OpenGL. They also come with ECC Vram

[panzersharkcat]

19 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

arent quadros are optimized for openGL but both of the programs seem to use directx. is there a business laptop with geforce card

Yes but the ones I know have the 1050 Ti or the 1650, which don't seem to be powerful enough for your mom.

[Super Spartan]

20 hours ago, spartaman64 said:

My mom wants a laptop to do CAD work. The budget is around 2000 but can go higher. The programs being used are 2020 design and maybe fusion 360.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QRGSFS7/?tag=thowisguy-20

This is one that im considering but idk if a quadro laptop would be better.

Also take a look at MSI Workstations:

 

Custom Built MSI WE65 9TJ-006 - 15.6" FHD - i7-9750H - Quadro® T2000

Custom Built MSI WE75 9TK-875 17.3" FHD - E-2176M - Quadro® RTX 3000

Custom Built MSI WS65 9TL-686 - 15.6" FHD - i7-9750H - Quadro® RTX 4000

Custom Built MSI WS65 9TM-857 - 15.6" UHD - i7-9750H - Quadro® RTX 5000

[spartaman64]

1 hour ago, 5x5 said:

Quadros are optimized for reliability and stability. Not OpenGL. They also come with ECC Vram

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/145178/de-de

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/creator-ready-drivers-supercharge-creative-apps/

also nvidia does have drivers optimized for creators for geforce.

and a lot of people on the autodesk forum cite that the reason why quadro performs better in some cad programs like solidworks is the openGL optimizations

 

Quote

Recommended Hardware Specifications
Processor: i7 – 8th Generation (Quad Core) or AMD Ryzen7 models 
System Memory: 16 GB RAM 
Hard Drive: SSD with 20 GB free disk space for installation 
Video Card: DirectX 11 compatible dedicated video card (such as GTX1080) 
Optical Drive: DVD-ROM. A DVD-ROM is required to install 2020 Design and catalogs when Internet access is not available. 
Security Device: Free USB port for the 2020 Design license (dongle). For Cloud (soft key), the USB port is not needed.

https://www.2020spaces.com/2020products/2020design/system-requirements/

2020 design seem to work fine with a gtx card

 

so the question now is fusion 360 and a lot of people on the autodesk forums say geforce cards work better than quadro cards because of fusion being directx

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-design-validate/fusion-invento-quadro-2000m-or-gtx1060/td-p/7561220

 

also we are not going to be running anything for days so i dont think the ECC ram is needed

 

i think you have a good point in that the professional laptop will probably last longer but i think gaming laptops breaking in 2 years i only true for razer.

https://rog.asus.com/articles/technologies/inside-our-hardcore-rog-durability-tests/

it seems that asus do durability tests and searching around people say that they last 4-7 years

 

if it was me i would be willing to spent the extra 1500 just for the lenovo keyboard  but i dont think my mom would be quadro cards are just too expensive

[5x5]

1 minute ago, spartaman64 said:

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/145178/de-de

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/creator-ready-drivers-supercharge-creative-apps/

also nvidia does have drivers optimized for creators for geforce.

and a lot of people on the autodesk forum cite that the reason why quadro performs better in some cad programs like solidworks is the openGL optimizations

 

https://www.2020spaces.com/2020products/2020design/system-requirements/

2020 design seem to work fine with a gtx card

 

so the question now is fusion 360 and a lot of people on the autodesk forums say geforce cards work better than quadro cards because of fusion being directx

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-design-validate/fusion-invento-quadro-2000m-or-gtx1060/td-p/7561220

 

also we are not going to be running anything for days so i dont think the ECC ram is needed

 

i think you have a good point in that the professional laptop will probably last longer but i think gaming laptops breaking in 2 years i only true for razer.

https://rog.asus.com/articles/technologies/inside-our-hardcore-rog-durability-tests/

it seems that asus do durability tests and searching around people say that they last 4-7 years

 

if it was me i would be willing to spent the extra 1500 just for the lenovo keyboard  but i dont think my mom would be quadro cards are just too expensive

If you're set on GeForce, then just pick up an X1 Extreme - business-class in every way but with a GeForce and Core CPU rather than Quadro and Xeon

[spartaman64]

13 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

If you're set on GeForce, then just pick up an X1 Extreme - business-class in every way but with a GeForce and Core CPU rather than Quadro and Xeon

would the 1050 ti be enough?

[5x5]

39 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

would the 1050 ti be enough?

Google benchmarks/performance showcases and decide - the modern version comes with a 1650 and that's on the level of the last gen 1060MQ

[panzersharkcat]

If you need a discount code, I can get you the link and password to bring it below $2000. PM me for it.