Upcoming IT student need inputs

[Loli Pits]

Hi, I'm sorry if I'm posting this on the wrong category... I was gonna post it on the laptop category but I thought that the opinions of the people here would be more valuable...

 

I'm gonna be an IT freshman this March and was looking for a laptop... I don't know what I should be prioritizing...

 

1. Are "programming" programs cpu or gpu intensive?

 

2. How much ram do I realistically need?

 

3. Is storage size irrelevant?

 

4. Can I use a chromebook? (Do Windows apps work on chromebooks?)

 

5. Will I ever get a girlfriend?

 

Any input will be appreciated... Also if you could recommend a laptop that would be nice... Budget is around 500 freedom pebbles... Sorry if my English is bad... England is not my city...

[Radium_Angel]

3 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

1. Are "programming" programs cpu or gpu intensive?

Both, depends on what you are working on.

3 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

2. How much ram do I realistically need?

16GB would be what I consider minimum these days.

4 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

3. Is storage size irrelevant?

Effectively, given you can get external drives to expand storage.

4 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

4. Can I use a chromebook? (Do Windows apps work on chromebooks?)

 

No and no.

4 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

5. Will I ever get a girlfriend?

Keep yourself in shape, don't be a jerk, play it cool and quiet and yes, you will.

[IAmAndre]

2 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

1. Are "programming" programs cpu or gpu intensive?

Unless you are studying 3D modelling, CAD or anything like that, most of your work will be CPU-oriented. I'm saying "oriented" because depending on what you are studying, it might not even be intensive.

4 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

2. How much ram do I realistically need?

 

3. Is storage size irrelevant?

 

4. Can I use a chromebook? (Do Windows apps work on chromebooks?)

Too vague to give an answer. It really depends on what you will be studying. Windows apps don't work on Chromebooks of course, however in most chromebooks you can install a Linux distribution or even use the "root" mode that is Linux-based.

 

5 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

5. Will I ever get a girlfriend?

 

You probably guessed it... Too vague.

6 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

England is not my city...

England isn't a city.

[minibois]

7 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

1. Are "programming" programs cpu or gpu intensive?

Depends on what you do.

Game programming for example can use your GPU a lot when play-testing.

I'd say most programming a beginner will do is neither CPU nor GPU intensive, as the programs will be relatively simple. Most code you'll start out making will be single-threaded too.

At some point though, you may be working with more advanced stuff that does use CPU/GPU a lot (i.e. machine learning, multi-threaded programs, etc.), but it's hard to predict the future really.

9 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

2. How much ram do I realistically need?

8GB at minimum, 16GB recommend. That'd be my opinion, on a computer that can last a while.

9 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

3. Is storage size irrelevant?

You need to be able to have one or multiple projects on your device, the size of which depends on what you're doing. I'd have at least a 500GB SSD.

10 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

4. Can I use a chromebook? (Do Windows apps work on chromebooks?)

I wouldn't get a Chromebook, unless your school specifically says you can get one. You might run into trouble of not being able to use the recommended programs.

11 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

5. Will I ever get a girlfriend?

Well the answer is.. *unlock this answer with three easy payments of $19.99!*

[jaslion]

14 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

1. Are "programming" programs cpu or gpu intensive?

Depends but most are cpu intensive

 

15 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

2. How much ram do I realistically need?

16gb is what you should aim for 8gb can do but it should be avoided

15 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

3. Is storage size irrelevant?

Sort off at depends on your project the lowest I would go is a 256gb drive

16 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

4. Can I use a chromebook? (Do Windows apps work on chromebooks?)

Highly advise against it windows apps do not work on a chromebook. For any IT course a chromebook is normally not usable

.

17 minutes ago, Loli Pits said:

5. Will I ever get a girlfriend?

Don't be a dick, be healthy, stay fit, be communicative, always be able to improve yourself and don't force connections. That should be a good start to get going. That and don't go into starting any companionship with a partner with the goal to become romantically involved just go for friends and see if it works. Saves you a lot of potential pain and trouble just being friends first and seeing if that works.

[shadow_ray]

@Loli Pits

Decent battery life is more important than stupid amount of processing power. Carrying a charger, searching for power sockets is not fun. Screen brightness matters if you wanna do stuff outside.

[EpiCheeseTime]

Long story short.

 

Most of your programming assignments I assume are only going to be utilizing one core or one thread. At least for the start. They are pretty archaic assignments that make you want to quit because it isn't the new cool stuff.

 

Once you get more in depth do you actually get to start with multi threaded coding and stuff.

 

Get something that has great thermals, ssd, and 16gb of ram.

 

Or go balls out on a desktop, get a crappy laptop and always remote into your main computer to run anything. EZ

[Sauron]

I got through a master's degree in computer engineering with a 2011 thinkpad and I'm pretty sure it would still be sufficient now, you don't need a lot of horsepower. The "heaviest" IDE I needed to run was android studio and it worked just fine.

 

I would prioritize weight, battery life, an ssd and a decent IPS screen over raw cpu or gpu power. Also don't spend too much, buy a refurb if you find a good deal; you want something that won't mind the inevitable mistreatment it's going to get by being lugged around every day. And also as a student there might be other things you want to spend your money on.

[Laborant]

First of all: Many universities give out recommendations on the laptop for studying. If nothing is stated there, they do not expect you to have a powerful laptop.

 

Regarding the GPU in a laptop for computer science - if your university has a course about parallel processing, "Single Instruction Multiple Data" and heterogeneous systems, it might occur that you have to do some GPU acceleration stuff, as these are insanely good at parallel processing, but all that can be demonstrated using integrated graphics. Multi threaded CPU processing can be demonstrated having a dual core CPU. You do not have to show your professor a 16 thread monstrosity of application, to show that you understood the concept of threads. You do not have to show your professor a program that fully utilises a RTX 3090 - but an OpenCL algorithm for sorting lists can be run efficiently on Intel HD graphics or a Vega 3 iGPU.

 

Raw CPU or GPU power is not needed in a university, as assignments focus on HOW something is done. A web server can be demonstrated with two clients connecting to it, basic programming structures are super lightweight, databases for these assignments are generally small and IDEs are not really the heaviest programs out there.
 

Therefore...

38 minutes ago, Sauron said:

I would prioritize weight, battery life, an ssd and a decent IPS screen over raw cpu or gpu power.

I fully subscribe this. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Loli Pits said:

Hi, I'm sorry if I'm posting this on the wrong category... I was gonna post it on the laptop category but I thought that the opinions of the people here would be more valuable...

 

I'm gonna be an IT freshman this March and was looking for a laptop... I don't know what I should be prioritizing...

 

1. Are "programming" programs cpu or gpu intensive?

More cpu. Intel you can get something that ends in H or Q. 

Ryzen is good for amd. 

2 hours ago, Loli Pits said:

2. How much ram do I realistically need?

4gb cuz windows ten is a little ram hungry. 

You'll probably want 8 or 16 because you'll get used to having several programs open at once. 

2 hours ago, Loli Pits said:

3. Is storage size irrelevant?

Depends. Most computers come with at least 500gb hard drive or ssd. You'll be fine with that or more. 

2 hours ago, Loli Pits said:

4. Can I use a chromebook? (Do Windows apps work on chromebooks?)

No. Buy a windows computer, Linux if you understand it or a Mac if you understand it. 

2 hours ago, Loli Pits said:

5. Will I ever get a girlfriend?

If you don't have anime body pillows, shower, brush your teeth and don't act like an idiot, then yeah. 

Also don't pick your nose and don't bite your fingers. Girls hate scarred fingers and finger nails. 

2 hours ago, Loli Pits said:

Any input will be appreciated... Also if you could recommend a laptop that would be nice... Budget is around 500 freedom pebbles... Sorry if my English is bad... England is not my city...

As long as you buy a current production laptop with windows and ryzen, you'll be good. If you get a current production Mac, you'll also be fine. Windows is likely more recommended. 

[igormp]

2 hours ago, Loli Pits said:

1. Are "programming" programs cpu or gpu intensive?

Do you mean like IDEs and text editors? If so, not at all.

 

2 hours ago, Loli Pits said:

2. How much ram do I realistically need?

 

I'd say 16gb if you want to be comfortable. 8 is okaish, if money is really tight you can go by with even 2gb.

 

2 hours ago, Loli Pits said:

3. Is storage size irrelevant?

Yes, mostly.

 

2 hours ago, Loli Pits said:

4. Can I use a chromebook? (Do Windows apps work on chromebooks?)

Yes, I've deployed many services and ML models using my crappy chromebook haha; Nope, they can run linux and android apps tho.

 

2 hours ago, Loli Pits said:

5. Will I ever get a girlfriend?

 

Have you ever tried tinder?

 

I'd go for a light chromebook or cheap refurb laptop with linux (I can't see why one would use windows for IT).

[wanderingfool2]

On 1/5/2021 at 5:32 AM, Loli Pits said:

3. Is storage size irrelevant?

It's not irrelevant, but 500GB should be pretty decent for most people beginning....but SSD SSD SSD SSD.  Can't stress how much of a difference it can make (especially loading projects or anything else like that).  Larger projects, or libraries could have tons of tiny files....it can really slow you down when your harddrive has to seek for it.  So make sure you go with a SSD.

 

For everything else, since you are just beginning mostly anything would really work (just generalizing here).  Do you have any interests?  What is making you enter into IT?  (Have you had any experience yet with IT)?  Actually, I should ask...IT is such a generalized term.  Are you thinking of entering into programming, or going for things like System Admins/Network Admins/Database Admins?  [Which comes back to the question on what your interests are].

 

The reason why I ask that is depending what route you take, your needs could drastically change.