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Need Laptop for Engineering

MrMiniBeast
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I'm going to college this fall and am looking for a laptop.

I will be studying Aerospace engineering, but I want to dabble in programming and design stuff as well.

I definitely want it to be portable for college, but powerful enough so that I don't need to use labs to do my 3d modeling work or programming. I will have a PS4 so I don't plan on playing games, but I still want good processing power. My budget is around $1000-1500, but I might stretch it if it's worth it.

And I really like nice touchpads (like a mac)

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Would a mac be able to handle the engineering workload (without paying for the $2500 version)?

this might not be a bad option

FX 8350 | MSI 650ti BOOST | Gigabyte 970A-UD3P | Corsair CX 430

Diablotek Evo | WD Caviar Green 1TB 

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16 minutes ago, Arty said:

Most 3d modeling software is windows based. 

So true, as are many calculation and testing software

17 minutes ago, MrMiniBeast said:

Would a mac be able to handle the engineering workload (without paying for the $2500 version)?

this might not be a bad option

Well a mac could handle alot of it, but not nearly as well as a normal laptop on that budget nor would you have the support. 

 

Most engineering software cards abit more about cores than gpu. What screen size? Thunderbolt?

 

http://portablepicker.com/part/msi-laptop-px606qd002us

http://portablepicker.com/part/asus-laptop-g752vldh71 

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[I5-12600k | 32gb DDR5 6000 | RTX5070 | 2x1tb M.2]

 

[Ryzen 5 1600 | 16gb DDR4 3200 | GTX1030 | 4x 8tb HDD] 

 

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22 minutes ago, MrMiniBeast said:

Would a mac be able to handle the engineering workload (without paying for the $2500 version)?

this might not be a bad option

better off getting Windows based laptop since most software you're gonna be using is Windows.

"Sulit" (adj.) something that is worth it

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Samsung 850 EVO 500GB & 250GB - Crucial MX300 M.2 525GB / Fractal Design Define S / Corsair K70 MX Reds / Logitech G502 / Beyerdynamic DT770 250Ohm

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4 hours ago, RedWulf said:

So true, as are many calculation and testing software

Well a mac could handle alot of it, but not nearly as well as a normal laptop on that budget nor would you have the support. 

 

Most engineering software cards abit more about cores than gpu. What screen size? Thunderbolt?

I would like to stick between 13" and 15." I don't care too much about thunderbolt, but it would definitely be a plus.

FX 8350 | MSI 650ti BOOST | Gigabyte 970A-UD3P | Corsair CX 430

Diablotek Evo | WD Caviar Green 1TB 

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1 minute ago, MrMiniBeast said:

I would like to stick between 13" and 15." I don't care too much about thunderbolt, but it would definitely be a plus.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0150PJR3K/ref=psdc_565108_t1_B0150PYOZ6

 

You might try this, you can drop it down to $1,100 with a 960 instead of 970 and no ssd 

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                ,/    ]
              ,/      ]
            ,/        |
           /    \  \ /
          /      | | |
    ______|   __/_/| |
   /_______\______}\__}
Spoiler

[I5-12600k | 32gb DDR5 6000 | RTX5070 | 2x1tb M.2]

 

[Ryzen 5 1600 | 16gb DDR4 3200 | GTX1030 | 4x 8tb HDD] 

 

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If you're REALLY not going to game on it at all, I might have an interesting find for you.

 

http://www.eurocom.com/ec/configure(2,331,0)ec

 

^ Take that, set the GPU to the Quadro M1000N GPU (no change to price), change the wifi card to the intel 8260ac (sub $9 from price) and then contact them about the 10% off student discount. Should end up under $1500 in total with an unlocked desktop 6700K for your CPU needs and even a quadro card for any program you might be using. It won't have any soldered parts either.

 

Ask if you could get Prema's sBIOS on it as well if it won't cost any more. Make sure it's in USD for price as well.

 

You will need to source your own OS if you don't want to buy one from them, mind you.

I have finally moved to a desktop. Also my guides are outdated as hell.

 

THE INFORMATION GUIDES: SLI INFORMATION || vRAM INFORMATION || MOBILE i7 CPU INFORMATION || Maybe more someday

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P40 dual core i7 with a quadro gpu, P50 quadcore i7 with quadro or T460p quadcore i5 or i7 with 940mx 2gb.

Before you buy amp and dac.  My thoughts on the M50x  Ultimate Ears Reference monitor review I might have a thing for audio...

My main Headphones and IEMs:  K612 pro, HD 25 and Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor, HD 580 with HD 600 grills

DAC and AMP: RME ADI 2 DAC

Speakers: Genelec 8040, System Audio SA205

Receiver: Denon AVR-1612

Desktop: R7 1700, GTX 1080  RX 580 8GB and other stuff

Laptop: ThinkPad P50: i7 6820HQ, M2000M. ThinkPad T420s: i7 2640M, NVS 4200M

Feel free to pm me if you have a question for me or quote me. If you want to hear what I have to say about something just tag me.

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8 hours ago, Dackzy said:

P40 dual core i7 with a quadro gpu, P50 quadcore i7 with quadro or T460p quadcore i5 or i7 with 940mx 2gb.

I was strongly considering the p40. Do you think this could handle 3D modeling and programming?

FX 8350 | MSI 650ti BOOST | Gigabyte 970A-UD3P | Corsair CX 430

Diablotek Evo | WD Caviar Green 1TB 

Linus Tech Tips Fan!

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57 minutes ago, MrMiniBeast said:

I was strongly considering the p40. Do you think this could handle 3D modeling and programming?

yeah my 5 year old t420s with a 1gb quadro 4200m can so I dont see why the p40 can't.

Before you buy amp and dac.  My thoughts on the M50x  Ultimate Ears Reference monitor review I might have a thing for audio...

My main Headphones and IEMs:  K612 pro, HD 25 and Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor, HD 580 with HD 600 grills

DAC and AMP: RME ADI 2 DAC

Speakers: Genelec 8040, System Audio SA205

Receiver: Denon AVR-1612

Desktop: R7 1700, GTX 1080  RX 580 8GB and other stuff

Laptop: ThinkPad P50: i7 6820HQ, M2000M. ThinkPad T420s: i7 2640M, NVS 4200M

Feel free to pm me if you have a question for me or quote me. If you want to hear what I have to say about something just tag me.

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I'd rather go with the P50. It has a much stronger quad core processor and amazing build quality. It also has one of the best keyboards I have ever used on a ThinkPad. The smallest GPU it offers is the M1000M, so even at entry level you get very decent performance. (much higher than the P40)

 

The T460p is interesting, but suffers from thermal throttling, despite the CPU being tuned down to 35W instead of 45W, so I wouldn't recommend getting it.

 

The P50 is an outstanding machine and I found no major flaws when I was reviewing it. It was the best ThinkPad I had laid my hands on in a while, especially after the highly disappointing T540p/W541.

My opinion on 16:9

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8 hours ago, Hamako said:

I'd rather go with the P50. It has a much stronger quad core processor and amazing build quality. It also has one of the best keyboards I have ever used on a ThinkPad. The smallest GPU it offers is the M1000M, so even at entry level you get very decent performance. (much higher than the P40)

 

The T460p is interesting, but suffers from thermal throttling, despite the CPU being tuned down to 35W instead of 45W, so I wouldn't recommend getting it.

 

The P50 is an outstanding machine and I found no major flaws when I was reviewing it. It was the best ThinkPad I had laid my hands on in a while, especially after the highly disappointing T540p/W541.

Wait where have you heard that the T460p suffers from throttling?

Before you buy amp and dac.  My thoughts on the M50x  Ultimate Ears Reference monitor review I might have a thing for audio...

My main Headphones and IEMs:  K612 pro, HD 25 and Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor, HD 580 with HD 600 grills

DAC and AMP: RME ADI 2 DAC

Speakers: Genelec 8040, System Audio SA205

Receiver: Denon AVR-1612

Desktop: R7 1700, GTX 1080  RX 580 8GB and other stuff

Laptop: ThinkPad P50: i7 6820HQ, M2000M. ThinkPad T420s: i7 2640M, NVS 4200M

Feel free to pm me if you have a question for me or quote me. If you want to hear what I have to say about something just tag me.

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From Notebookcheck.com: http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Lenovo-ThinkPad-T460p-Notebook.159536.0.html

 

Granted, it's not strictly throttling, but the CPU does get very toasty and lowers its clock speed under heavy load. It's disappointing nonetheless.

My opinion on 16:9

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5 minutes ago, Hamako said:

From Notebookcheck.com: http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Lenovo-ThinkPad-T460p-Notebook.159536.0.html

 

Granted, it's not strictly throttling, but the CPU does get very toasty and lowers its clock speed under heavy load. It's disappointing nonetheless.

Awww I wanted to buy the model with the 6700 and 16gb ram, but now I dont know I guess that I will go for the p40 since I want a 14inch with a better combo for 3D work than my i7 2640m and NVS 4200m.

Before you buy amp and dac.  My thoughts on the M50x  Ultimate Ears Reference monitor review I might have a thing for audio...

My main Headphones and IEMs:  K612 pro, HD 25 and Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor, HD 580 with HD 600 grills

DAC and AMP: RME ADI 2 DAC

Speakers: Genelec 8040, System Audio SA205

Receiver: Denon AVR-1612

Desktop: R7 1700, GTX 1080  RX 580 8GB and other stuff

Laptop: ThinkPad P50: i7 6820HQ, M2000M. ThinkPad T420s: i7 2640M, NVS 4200M

Feel free to pm me if you have a question for me or quote me. If you want to hear what I have to say about something just tag me.

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Dell/Lenovo/HP business laptops.  Don't worry about 3D accelerators.  Make sure you get a SSD.  If there's anything you really need more hardware for, the school almost certainly will have computer labs for the purpose. 

 

If you have to spend a bunch of time on the bus/subway, think seriously about getting a 4G WWAN card.   The better the screen, the better.

 

I bought a Dell Latitude E6440 for $300 this evening that would be an excellent machine for you at a good price.

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