Need advice on Professional/Gaming laptop, where is the balance? (also first post woo!)

[Ry Doge]

I work at a small Construction company that has begun to have me do more and more CAD/BIM/3D render work. The computer provided by my boss is lacking to say the least, 8GB ram and far outclassed CPU with no graphics chip/card. I work mostly in AutoCAD, SketchUp and VRay and Ensuite. although I could start replacing parts in the prebuilt with a new CPU, more RAM and a small cheap graphics card I feel like it would be much less time and effort to get a new machine. I may be able to get my boss to help sponsor a new computer purchase but I really want to get something that can game a bit. I don't ask for much, I play mostly Destiny 2 and a few other indie titles but would love to branch out eventually. I currently own a Gaming laptop that was new for $1500 probably 5 years ago (i7-7700 and a 1060 6GB) but its bulky has a 1-2 hour battery life and an eye sore at the office. 

 

I would want something that I can both use at work in the office or on site, and at home. 

theres 2 big concerns I have: 

1 I really want the benefits of using thunderbolt hubs to plug into at home and the office. But I know current Ryzen processors are the top of the line. is there no replacement for connecting to printers, ethernet, monitors with thunderbolt on a ryzen laptop? 

2 Professional vs Gaming GPU? considering how low my normal gaming load is I would imagine gaming on a workstation GPU would be fine, but I have 0 experience with them and know nobody that has one. (hence why I am here) 

I have read that some gaming gpu's dont work with some professional programs but I know that most of the apps I use are CPU based anyways. do the differences chalk up to a workstation GPU having more VRAM and better driver support? 

what are the odds that 20 or 30 series GPU doesnt work with up to date programs. 

 

Would really love links to builds. anything in the $1,000 to $2,000 range is fine. 

 

another solution I thought of (tho likely more expensive) is to get a laptop with a really good setup that doesnt have a GPU and get an external GPU. possibly 1 for work and 1 for home. the problem I forsee is that everything GPU related is out of stock and I would need to get 2 GPU's which means much more $$$

 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Welcome!

 

id like to mention that a egpu is never great, and the laptop having a dgpu built is would be much faster for gaming.

workstation gpus are only worth it if you have a shit Ton of vram required, otherwise their gaming counterparts tend to be the exact same

What exact programs will you need to use?

[Ry Doge]

8 minutes ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

Welcome!

 

id like to mention that a egpu is never great, and the laptop having a dgpu built is would be much faster for gaming.

workstation gpus are only worth it if you have a shit Ton of vram required, otherwise their gaming counterparts tend to be the exact same

What exact programs will you need to use?

I use AutoCAD and Sketchup most of the time, but they are both mostly CPU intensive right? I would be using a GPU for programs like VRay and Ensuite, I would love to get something with RTX cores so in the future when I get a bit better at what I am doing I can do more realistic and beautiful renders. 

[S.Hamed23]

7 minutes ago, Ry Doge said:

I use AutoCAD and Sketchup most of the time, but they are both mostly CPU intensive right? I would be using a GPU for programs like VRay and Ensuite, I would love to get something with RTX cores so in the future when I get a bit better at what I am doing I can do more realistic and beautiful renders. 

Asus G15 2021 would be nice

[Ry Doge]

1 hour ago, S.Hamed23 said:

Asus G15 2021 would be nice

yeah, who wouldnt think a G15 is nice. I've had my eyes on it but I think I need to save a bit more to get that. although the white definitely does have a more professional feel to it