My college just sent me my need to buy list. HELP!

[TheNewbiestONewbs]

So on my to buy list is a laptop that can run heavy cad programs and rendering software. They suggested an I7 with 8Gb of ram and a dedicated graphics card. Could I find that in a non gaming laptop or would looking at gaming laptops help me here?

[DarkBlade2117]

Budget? And do you plan on doing anything other than the CAD work on it?

[Billy_Mays]

2 minutes ago, TheNewbiestONewbs said:

So on my to buy list is a laptop that can run heavy cad programs and rendering software. They suggested an I7 with 8Gb of ram and a dedicated graphics card. Could I find that in a non gaming laptop or would looking at gaming laptops help me here?

You could build an extreme sfx pc or wait until AM4 mini itx realses

[TheNewbiestONewbs]

Budget is what I can make over the summer. Probably around the $1000 usd mark.

[SCHISCHKA]

I would get a gaming laptop for CAD. The non gaming i7s are only dual core and really do not compare to desktop performance. Also not having a dGPU will be a disability.

[Billy_Mays]

Just now, TheNewbiestONewbs said:

Budget is what I can make over the summer. Probably around the $1000 usd mark.

That a little hard to work with but we can do it

[bgibbz]

I suggest something from the dell precision line as they are business oriented and built like tanks. 

[Oshino Shinobu]

1 minute ago, Billy_Mays said:

You could build an extreme sfx pc or wait until AM4 mini itx realses

And carry a monitor around so it can be used in lectures/workshops?

[TheNewbiestONewbs]

Just now, Billy_Mays said:

You could build an extreme sfx pc or wait until AM4 mini itx realses

It needs to be a laptop. I already have a beast desktop. I already asked if I really needed a laptop and they said it's unavoidable unless I'm fine with D's

[79wjd]

2 minutes ago, TheNewbiestONewbs said:

It needs to be a laptop. I already have a beast desktop. I already asked if I really needed a laptop and they said it's unavoidable unless I'm fine with D's

ummmm, that doesn't sound right. Usually you aren't penalized for not being able to afford something. 

 

I would honestly suggest not buying it until you actually need it for some assignment, because it doesn't make any sense that they would basically force you to buy one if you wanted to do well. 

[DarkBlade2117]

5 minutes ago, TheNewbiestONewbs said:

Budget is what I can make over the summer. Probably around the $1000 usd mark.

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np6852-clevo-n850hk1.html

After that if you really want a GTX 1060, they are usually just above $1000 though, think I seen an asus one for $1050.

EDIT: Here is similar laptop with 17.3" screen http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np6872-clevo-n870hk1.html

[DarkBlade2117]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

ummmm, that doesn't sound right. Usually you aren't penalized for not being able to afford something. 

They might be doing in-class work where it would be incredibly convenient to have a laptop.

[TheNewbiestONewbs]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

ummmm, that doesn't sound right. Usually you aren't penalized for not being able to afford something. 

paraphrasing. They told me it would be an extreme challenge if I didn't. AKA will probs fail.

[79wjd]

1 minute ago, DarkBlade2117 said:

They might be doing in-class work where it would be incredibly convenient to have a laptop.

I've still never heard of a class where they wouldn't hold a class like that in a lab for people who can't afford to spend a thousand dollars on a laptop. 

 

Just now, TheNewbiestONewbs said:

paraphrasing. They told me it would be an extreme challenge if I didn't. AKA will probs fail.

I figured, but it still doesn't sound right. 

[shadowbyte]

take a look at the dell inspiron 7567

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-7567-laptop

you can pick up the 7700hq + 1050ti model w/ 8gb of RAM for 940 dollars

[DarkBlade2117]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

I've still never heard of a class where they wouldn't hold a class like that in a lab for people who can't afford to spend a thousand dollars on a laptop. 

Actually the one I linked was $880

Some places will allow you to make payments on the laptop, yeah it is still $880 and likely more if you pay in payments but they already are paying a fuck ton of money (unless a ton of scholarships ect) to go to the Uni. Some degrees are far different from others. 

See it this way... they expect you to spend thousands of dollars on books either way, had one professor where our books were $500 for a PC repair class. First day he asked for anyone who bought the books to raise there hand, then told them to give them back and buy something nice lol

[TheNewbiestONewbs]

1 minute ago, DarkBlade2117 said:

Actually the one I linked was $880

Some places will allow you to make payments on the laptop, yeah it is still $880 and likely more if you pay in payments but they already are paying a fuck ton of money (unless a ton of scholarships ect) to go to the Uni. Some degrees are far different from others. 

See it this way... they expect you to spend thousands of dollars on books either way, had one professor where our books were $500 for a PC repair class. First day he asked for anyone who bought the books to raise there hand, then told them to give them back and buy something nice lol

Thats why I'm not buying the books until after the first day. Amazon is great.

[DarkBlade2117]

Just now, TheNewbiestONewbs said:

Thats why I'm not buying the books until after the first day. Amazon is great.

One of my old professors said to buy an older version of the book used and save $100s. He always had the book upfront for anyone who needed pictures of diagrams and would usually provide them online

[AvocadosGuac]

So someones gonna flame me for this but sager is cheap but thick and heavy.

 

https://www.sagernotebook.com/Notebook-NP5855.html

 

has a payment plan and a 7700HQ

[vanished]

I suspect you'll only find a dedicated GPU in gaming laptops, and workstation laptops.  Did they not tell you which one to look into specifically?  I would assume a workstation laptop would make more sense, given your description of intended purpose.

[Princess Luna]

40 minutes ago, DarkBlade2117 said:

They might be doing in-class work where it would be incredibly convenient to have a laptop.

Then again whatever college I know would provide decent HP/Dell computers with some locked i7 to do these tasks. Might not be convenient but I would use those to save the money and study at home using the desktop.

[AnonymousGuy]

Build a desktop and use a shitty laptop on the go.

[Lord Nicoll]

58 minutes ago, TheNewbiestONewbs said:

So on my to buy list is a laptop that can run heavy cad programs and rendering software. They suggested an I7 with 8Gb of ram and a dedicated graphics card. Could I find that in a non gaming laptop or would looking at gaming laptops help me here?

Oh, you might wanna look at the Xeon and Quadro offerings, as some CAD work can't be GPU accelerated unless it has a quadro, and only Xeon laptop CPUs really get used with mobile quadro cards now. 

[Not_Sean]

Just now, Lord Nicoll said:

Oh, you might wanna look at the Xeon and Quadro offerings, as some CAD work can't be GPU accelerated unless it has a quadro, and only Xeon laptop CPUs really get used with mobile quadro cards now. 

would be complete overkill for a Student. also the low end quadro's are terrible value for money where most of the 960/970m's actually flatten the ones in the same price bracket, Yes the big quadro's are epic but the low end ones are not that powerful at all and more often grabbing a decent midrange geforce is on par with it, Also its students work, mate of mine makes it as a professional on a old i7 HQ and 860m and he's doing insane Mining projects on pressure piping projects in solidworks & CAD. 

[Lord Nicoll]

Just now, Not_Sean said:

would be complete overkill for a Student. also the low end quadro's are terrible value for money where most of the 960/970m's actually flatten the ones in the same price bracket, Yes the big quadro's are epic but the low end ones are not that powerful at all and more often grabbing a decent midrange geforce is on par with it, Also its students work, mate of mine makes it as a professional on a old i7 HQ and 860m and he's doing insane Mining projects on pressure piping projects in solidworks & CAD. 

A lot of the software's won't run on non validated hardware, so often it's not worth the headaches to buy consumer stuff, I have an i7 4710HQ and GTX 860m (Maxwell), they're pretty lack luster really.