Notebook for Graphics work, Adobe Illustrator, PS

[Vejnemojnen]

Hello there

 

A buddy of mine is about to buy some laptop for mostly graphics work, photo editing, later I think she would give a try to video editing and cutting as well. The laptop would be rarely used for gaming, mostly older titles. And of course "everyday use" like browsing, watching videos and listening to music. 

 

For the "professional use", I thought something with 2x8gb dual channel RAM-s, 4core-8thread CPU and a 250GB SSD would suffice well. She would like to get the best bang for buck choice, though the budget is limited ~ 222k HUF, which is roughly 630 euros. I know it's not much for a portable device, BUT 2nd hand-used market is an option as well! 

 

Are there any particular models which are suitable for the intended use, and worth a search? I'd really like to help, but I have non-existent knowledge on mobile devices.. Any assistance would be kindly appreciated.

 

I was browsing on this site. Everything seems to be over the budget, but I believe, we can stretch it a bit.

 

Thanksinadvanceforyourresponses. : )

[Kisai]

I'd almost suggest seeing if you can pick up a pre-owned Dell Precision 5510/5520 or XPS 15 from 2016 or later, as that's right about right for that software. A Precision 5520 has those specs, but usually has a 500GB drive.

 

The problem with used laptops is the battery life and the abuse they were subjected to during their operational life. You can replace the batteries, but the batteries are usually $200 or more in most laptops. Hence a new laptop should be considered if only you get a REALLY good deal on one, as most sub-$1000USD laptops are usually rubbish tier without a dGPU and are only intended for running office/word processors. You can run photoshop on them, but it will super slow. 

 

For Photoshop in particular you need more RAM. For Premiere Pro you also need a dGPU to work with any decent sized project (eg more than filming a birthday or so  )

 

 

[Vejnemojnen]

5 hours ago, Kisai said:

I'd almost suggest seeing if you can pick up a pre-owned Dell Precision 5510/5520 or XPS 15 from 2016 or later, as that's right about right for that software. A Precision 5520 has those specs, but usually has a 500GB drive.

 

The problem with used laptops is the battery life and the abuse they were subjected to during their operational life. You can replace the batteries, but the batteries are usually $200 or more in most laptops. Hence a new laptop should be considered if only you get a REALLY good deal on one, as most sub-$1000USD laptops are usually rubbish tier without a dGPU and are only intended for running office/word processors. You can run photoshop on them, but it will super slow. 

 

For Photoshop in particular you need more RAM. For Premiere Pro you also need a dGPU to work with any decent sized project (eg more than filming a birthday or so  )

 

 

Thank you. I was looking at something like HP Probook 450 G6, 15"6 FHD IPS; i7-8565U; 16GB RAM; 512GB SSD+1TB HDD; MX130 VGA

 

Any chance this would suit well for the intended use? I know the GPU is not that powerful, but I believe it would not be strained too seriously anyway.

[genexis_x]

Any links for stores with new laptops selling?

[Kisai]

5 hours ago, Vejnemojnen said:

Thank you. I was looking at something like HP Probook 450 G6, 15"6 FHD IPS; i7-8565U; 16GB RAM; 512GB SSD+1TB HDD; MX130 VGA

 

Any chance this would suit well for the intended use? I know the GPU is not that powerful, but I believe it would not be strained too seriously anyway.

That's a U-series CPU so it will be super slow. There's no dGPU, so it will be unsuitable for Adobe Creative Suite (Which minimum requirements are GTX 1050 now) 

 

For something to be useful with Photoshop, the laptop needs to have an H series CPU and a dGPU. In some cases you can get away without the dGPU but it will run the laptop very hard on the iGPU. So the minimum requirements for Photoshop also align with 15" laptops that have dGPU in them.

 

[Vejnemojnen]

6 hours ago, genexis_x said:

Any links for stores with new laptops selling?

well, I'd rather link the german geizhals, as generally everything there is also available in my country, for a very similar price  So roughly 650eur would be the budget. 

 

@Kisai thank you. Just checked the performance of some "U" series CPU-s, and, I'm kind of disappointed. Let us say, we would be able to stretch a little bit to get something with a better CPU and dedicated graphics. Even "Gamer" notebooks, if that is reasonable. 

 

I was wondering, whether it is a good price: 8750 six-core CPU&1050ti&16GB RAM , lenovo Y 530 ~ 706 euros.

[Kisai]

1 hour ago, Vejnemojnen said:

well, I'd rather link the german geizhals, as generally everything there is also available in my country, for a very similar price  So roughly 650eur would be the budget. 

 

@Kisai thank you. Just checked the performance of some "U" series CPU-s, and, I'm kind of disappointed. Let us say, we would be able to stretch a little bit to get something with a better CPU and dedicated graphics. Even "Gamer" notebooks, if that is reasonable. 

 

I was wondering, whether it is a good price: 8750 six-core CPU&1050ti&16GB RAM , lenovo Y 530 ~ 706 euros.

Significantly better than the U parts.

 

[Vejnemojnen]

21 hours ago, Kisai said:

Significantly better than the U parts.

 

Thanks. For now, I was wondering, whether 7700HQ or 9300H could be a better solution, or even the 8750. I do not know, if 1050ti mobile version would be suitable enough for light graphics work, or shall we aim for something with 1660-1650, or even 1060? I'll probably undervolt both GPU&CPU for her, to extend battery life& reduce heat output.

 

For the intended use, I guess, CPU could be more important, though the 1050ti line does sound a bit underwhelming. 

[Kisai]

25 minutes ago, Vejnemojnen said:

Thanks. For now, I was wondering, whether 7700HQ or 9300H could be a better solution, or even the 8750. I do not know, if 1050ti mobile version would be suitable enough for light graphics work, or shall we aim for something with 1660-1650, or even 1060? I'll probably undervolt both GPU&CPU for her, to extend battery life& reduce heat output.

 

For the intended use, I guess, CPU could be more important, though the 1050ti line does sound a bit underwhelming. 

The 1050Ti/1060 are typical base-line configurations, and while they are considered weak, they're usually close enough to a 1080p60 gaming configuration, just it'll be super loud when the fans spin up. On more capable GPU's the fans might simply not spin up until the work load hits a level that it would otherwise need to thermal throttle at.

 

As for CPU, the H parts are the "high performance laptop parts" and they're roughtly within the same performance envelope of a desktop CPU, only they're usually 30% slower clock for clock. eg a 7700HQ is not a 7700K. for the most part the exact CPU is less of an issue than the GPU is. Any 7000 or 6000 part is still a capable part, but a H part is far far more capable than a U part. The i7 8xxx/9xxx parts are likely 6 core parts as well, which can make up the difference for not being a desktop K part.

 

[Vejnemojnen]

13 hours ago, Kisai said:

The 1050Ti/1060 are typical base-line configurations, and while they are considered weak

I see. When you'd have to chose, would you rather aim for something with 9300H & 1660(Ti) GPU or, for a 6c12t CPU (8750H) with a bit weaker graphics card? As I indicated, probably it would not be used for gaming. Graphics works mostly.

 

I guess the 2x8gb Dualchannel RAMs are indispensible for this intended use. I'll keep browsing through local classifieds, and pr'lly show some listings, what I find reasonable enough?

 

The 9300H has better single-core, single thread performance, but only four cores, eight threads. And it's a great question, whether PS and Illustrator benefits from those extra cores the 8750H has to offer. It won't be an easy decision, I feel : )