Looking for a laptop for 3D work on the move!

Hi guys,



I am looking to get a new laptop for using 3ds Max, Unity, Photoshop, possibly Mudbox.

I have a workstation PC at home so I will not need to be doing any rendering or really intensive tasks. Its just for modelling, animating and game development related activities.

I have researched like mad (like i do for everything!) but I would like some opinions on laptops that you use or have used for these tasks?

I find getting opinions from personal experience to be the best way to find out what is going to work



I like the look of this Lenovo z710, so this price range is around what I'm looking at. I am completely open to suggestions however, what has worked for you? Something cheaper maybe?! I don't need it to be an absolute beast so I have pulled myself away from more expensive models like the Dell precision series, with a decent PCat home it just doesn't seem worth spending loads on a laptop unless I really need to.



Lenovo are also releasing a new flex laptop soon that I thought could be fun. It can come with 16GB of ram and a 256 SSD. The drawback with it is the i7-4510u dual core processor. Has anyone got or used a similar dual-core processor with good results in the software I mentioned? I have only really worked on 3ds Max etc a lot on my PC at home so I don't really know how low I can go with components while keeping good performance.



I'm not worried about the weight of the laptop and would like at least a 15.6 inch screen.



Soooooo what are you all rocking on your laps for work?



Thanks!

 

Pants, usually.

 

Ha, ok ok Good to know

 

If you don't need it for anything really intensive, you may be overshooting a bit with an i7. I just got an i5 with a geforce 840m for 540 USD and it's between able to handle everything. My workflow is Unity, Photoshop, Notepad++, and Windows Media Player for music. I also game on it

As far as modeling goes, it would be helpful to know what you're modeling. Simple meshes or complex city scapes? You might want to peek at your task manager during your workflow to get an idea on ram usage.

More storage space is always good, but how much do you need? You can save a few bucks by dropping down to a 500 or 750gb hard drive.

Just my opinion, YMMV and all that.

 

More cores are always handy, but for making game models you're set with any i5+ and HD4000+ graphics (or AMD/NV equivalent). More RAM and an SSD make more of a difference for all sorts of work.

There is one thing you will regret not getting, though: A backlit keyboard. Trust me. It's the #1 irritation after shelling out for a decent laptop to discover you have to fumble in the dark

 

That laptop nice.
Mud box?
If you're going to make high poly objects, for baking texture map etc, for lowerpoly objects.
I would always suggest a laptop, with a GPU with 1 or 2 GB minimum. Yes.

The basic 12GB RAM on that laptop is obviously more than sufficient. So it's a serious pass.

Word of advice. When doing Graphic design and Music, "Buy a good USB laptop fan for it."
Similar to this, but not necessarily this version though.
http://image.tradett.com/images/pro...an-cooler-cooling-pad-for-notebook-laptop.jpg

When I'm in the mood and doing advanced sculpting, with super stinky high polycounts, especially for fun.
The internal laptop fans starts to increase.
The USB laptop fan, will help the cool that down nicely.

It's also good to have a USB external laptop fan, especially when I'm making dance music in LMMS or other DAW's too.
And the project has lots of VST's.
Those Vst's really use up alot of CPU power.
LOL!!

Cool! Cool! Cool! Cool! Cool! And Breezy!

 

ssd. big screen. good cooling.

 

MacBookPro with really cool sticker of an Ood on the case. Stickers make it faster.

 

I have a Lenovo Y580 as my portable workhorse. It is not bad at all:

Item Weight4 Kg
Product Dimensions53 x 33.6 x 7.8 cm
Item model numberM772CUK
SeriesIdeapad Y580
Form FactorPortable
Screen Size15.6 inches
Processor BrandIntel
Processor TypeCore i7
Processor Speed2.3 GHz
Processor Count4
RAM Size8 GB
Computer Memory TypeDDR3 SDRAM
Hard Drive Size1064 GB
Graphics Card DescriptionNvidia GeForce GTX 660M
Graphics RAM TypeVRAM
Graphics Card Ram Size2 GB
Operating SystemWindows 7 Edition Home Premium
Lithium Battery Weight1.5 kilograms

It runs Unity perfectly as well as Z-Brush, 3D-Coat, Blender, I-Clone, Mixamo Fuse, WebGL apps and a whole host of modern games really well.
It didn't like UE4 though and I didn't like the sound my fan was making when running it.

It cost me £870 in March 2013 and I have been happy with it although I am starting to wish I had bought something a bit more powerful and future proof. You can probably find them for half that amount now.

Technology moves way to fast...

 

You should hear my Mac mini when working hard! That's actually plenty of power. I've got more RAM, less GPU and doing fine. In a pinch, my gaming beast of a PC doubles as a development box if I need the R290.

 

I need to get a new Mac mini soon. My old one got injured in a power cut and I can only turn it on by holding the power button down and plugging in the power cord then letting go and pressing the power button again. When it turns on the fan runs constantly and it scares me. ;-) OK for xcode though although not for much longer....

Anyway, James_B; the Lenovo Z710 looks pretty nice though although I really like the spec of the y50-70. For a little more cash, it will probably last you a few extra years.

 

Wow thanks guys, really helpful

BeefSupreme, that's good to know you are getting that performance with those specs, what laptop is it that you have? If I can stay sensible and not go overboard then something like that may be fine for me, too tempting to go for better models though, the more I look - the more I keep increasing my budget!

I wouldn't need to be doing any huge scenes in 3Ds Max, when those come around I like to think I can keep to the desktop without really needing to use the laptop. There's always smaller bits and bobs that can be done when I'm out and about!

Same with storage really, only need enough to run any current work I've got going on, I can keep it cleaned up so a smaller SSD would be ideal really, it's just finding the right combo in a laptop. Thanks for the tips!

orb, thanks this is good to know also, seems like freeing up a bit of cash on the CPU and GPU to make sure the SSD and ram space could be a good plan. I haven't even looked below the i7's yet, could be some better deals

BrandyStarbrite, thanks for the info, i think in that one post you have fully convinced to get a USB fan! I had one for an Xbox once when it started to turn into more of a radiator than a console. Running Mudbox isn't a necessity if it becomes the only reason I need to upgrade further than I would for the other software, It would be nice to have it but I can live with just using it on the desktop.

JamesLeeNZ, thanks! I can see how I would benefit from those three things, I don't want to end up getting annoyed with slow loading or squinting at a screen that ended up too small. Screen sizes is something I need to a double check at a store really.

zombiegorilla, I didn't know that about the stickers, do you think I could sacrifice an SSD for a decent amount of stickers??? definitely cheaper!

mrmdesign, cool thanks for that, very helpful I do like the look of the Lenovos, I will have a look around for that model and see what the prices are like. I agree about the y50-70, if I pay £700 for the z710 it is sort of getting to the stage where its like... shall I just go higher since I'm already spending a fair bit. I always do that though and end up spending way over what I originally planned!

Thanks again for all the advice guys sorry for the essay, wanted to write back to everyone! I'll update the hunt with your new info and see what turns up

 

http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/NX.MMNAA.001
It's the Acer Aspire E5-571PG-50D3. Only major drawback for me is 4GB of RAM, but that's easily upgradable, whereas CPU/GPU are not. Touchpad is not my favorite also, but I'll live.

Back to school sales just ended, and that's a good time to buy a laptop, but remember that Black Friday/Cyber Monday are just around the corner. But, if price really isn't a big issue for you, just get an msi dominator and send me one too!

 

That's great thanks, how much RAM would you suggest? I have got 16gb in my desktop but would 8 do for the laptop? Yeah I can live with the touchpad, will be using a mouse, never liked touchpads on laptops!

Ha, price should be an issue, I just start justifying more expensive models and end up skint! Good point about the sales, I can try and be patient and see what turns up then

 

8gb of ram should be fine, I'd say it's the average amount at this point. That's what I'll be upgrading to in a bit.

Good luck with being patient, something I'm absolutely terrible at.

Also remember to uninstall all the bloat ware on whatever you get, the difference is huge.

 

Yeah 8GB is more than good.

 

Have you given much thought to screen resolution? It's one of my favorite things about my current laptop (which is a now ageing Macbook Pro, from 2010 or maybe even late 2009). It's a 1920x1200 screen, rather than the 1366x768 or 1600x900 that a lot of cheap laptops come with. It's also bright and colourful, unlike cheaper screens.

 

I've been looking at laptops for weeks and still haven't decided on anything....it's like preemptive buyer's remorse before I've even bought anything. lol ....Gtx or quadro gpu?

 

How many cores does the sticker have and what is its stock frequency?

 

The usual number of cores and frequency for 2012 model of sticker. But I am considering overclocking it. One time, I even water cooled it, but that was an accident.

 

Has anyone tried a Surface Pro with Unity?

 

BeefSupreme, cool thanks, yea I'm not great with patience either! Yeah I do hate that bloatware, am a bit of a clean freak with my PC so am forever deleting unused files/programs. Thanks for your help!

BrandyStarbrite, Cool thanks! Looking for one with 8GB ram does open quite a few more options

angrypenguin, yeah I have been aiming for 1920x1080, would hate to get all the specs I want but not have decent quality to work with them!

Imbarns, Ha yeah I know the feeling! A quadro would be ideal but more than I want to spend!

 

What about a not so great laptop and a mobile hotspot and some software like teamviewer so you can continue working on your desktop? Probably not a great idea. I've got a mac for my portable power. The 16GB of RAM helps me not worry about Unity's memory leak warnings when ever I slice a sprite sheet bigger than 1024x1024.

 

16GB lets me keep ALL THE SOFTWARE open at once, but 3D modelling, Unity,image editor and web browser won't put that much pressure on 8GB

 

Tomnnn, I did briefly look into this, but decided early on it wasn't for me. I prefer to have the portable power also

orb, Yeah I get what you're saying, its nice to have the memory there but if I can get away with the 8 then that will do me fine!

The Acer Aspire V3-772G SSD version seems ideal but its more expensive here in the UK than it is in US which is a shame, will have to keep an eye on ebay!

 

I'm considering one of these: (on the right, on left is 17")


Work from anywhere....

 

Ha, I suppose one advantage is that it could double up as a raft...either that or stick some wheels on it to get around

 

After a couple of days troubleshooting bizarre crashing issues with Unity (while selecting or creating objects, changing texture filtering modes on textures, etc) I just want to mention to make sure that if you get a laptop with switchable graphics (integrated & dedicated GPUs) to make sure to set Unity to run with the dedicated chipset. Otherwise you're gonna have a bad time, m'kay.

 

Ha thanks for that, definitely something that would have happened to me!

 

Hmm, the budget is real tight...

Some things ot consider and trade off...
1) You will be using your GPU mobile, so an efficient one is a plus. Nvidia 850M/860M Maxwell (not kepler varients) are in that price range, and excellent GPUs on performance / watt basis. Note the new NVIDIA 900M series is right around the corner (Oct 11th?) so that means sales on old models . Note dispite the name, 850M/860M maxwells are in the same family as the newer 980M/970M/960M (this latter is probably not until Nov). Be careful there is also a 860M kepler that is hot, it was made for the MXM 3.0 spec and is old tech, while the maxwell 860M were mostly soldered varients.
2) Cooling. Twin fans if you can (doubtful in this range). Try to check sites for full up reviews where temps are concerned. There are some thin light gaming notebooks (the fad) that literally can give you burns if not used on on of those cooler pads. If you are like me and actually use your lap that could be a real surprise.
3) Battery life. Consider how much will you use it unplugged
4) Weight. Light is always nice, but... Laptops that are light usually sacrifice good cooling (aluminum versus copper, etc) Personally since heat kills notebooks I will put up with weight over replacing/repairing them more often.
5) Screen size, resolution and type. You already know the size you want - I like 17" personally, but my eyes are not the best. Lower resolutions will be easier on your video card, but also have less usable realestate. I like 1080P at a 17". Matte screens will be dimmer but (more) usable outside, glare type are just the reverse. Go to a box store and see the screen you are getting if you can. Just be aware that many maufactures use several different brands of screens even for a given model ,so it may not be 100% the same.
6) Warranty. If you intend to use it a lot get extended warranty. Let us be honest, with very few exceptions
notebooks that do game/graphics well are very rare beasts, most comprimise longevity. Laptop failure rates are around 25-33% during warranty overall, gaming notebooks will be on the high side of this. So firms like ASUS or MSI with 2-3 year manufacturer options are a plus. HP and Dell have good warranty coverage in my experience as well.

 

I'd really like to know this too, actually. I wouldn't dream of it replacing my workstation, but I think it could be rad for "sketching" or "doodling" with ideas.

I've toyed with the idea of getting one instead of a next laptop. It could be way cheaper than an updated MBP, will still run almost all of the software I care about, and could be way more flexible to use.

 

Thanks, some great points there. I agree the budget is tight and not high enough to get ideal specs. I started off thinking I could compromise certain elements as long as I could do some moderate work in 3ds max and a fair bit in Unity - and there have been some good suggestions for this! The more I look about and think about it, the more I think I may as well spend more and get something that will cover everything and be a little more future proof. In a years time I may be wishing I had the power to do a little more, plus it would be nice to have a powerful backup in case anything goes wrong with my main desktop. At least then I could use the laptop until the PC can be fixed.

1) Thanks for the GPU info! I didn't realize the newer cards were out this soon so if I can, I will try and wait a little while and see what happens to some existing models, it depends what pops up between now and then....and how much I end up raising the budget!

2) Yeah have been checking reviews for temps, this is the scary thing if I decide to spend more, want it to be lasting! Of course I can limit the intensive work I do to keep the temps down a touch but then whats the point in spending more for better specs if I don't use them! Tricky

3)At the moment, I can't imagine I will ever be far from some sockets, so not too worried about battery life

4) Yeah Id rather a heavier laptop that will be cooler. The weight doesn't bother me, if anything I welcome the extra exercise

5)Yeah 17, 1080p is what I want, my eyes ain't great either, no need to stress them more than I have to! Havn'e given much thought to the matte screens, it is something I should go and have a look at.

6)Yeah this ties in with worrying about spending a lot and heating issues, I would feel much happier if I had at least two years warranty on it.

Thanks again for all the info, is real helpful Lets say...just out of curiosity what would you (or anyone else) get if you had around £1000 - £1100 to spend on a laptop for the kind of work I want to do?

 

Okay, well same thing my daughter got just two months ago which is an ASUS G750JM with a maxwell 860M. Its a bit heavy but has oodles of cooling. Archeage and LOL don't even cause the fans to spin up over idle and it runs Unity quite nicely. Its a brick, but it is a nice one. Infact it is the benchmark for running cool, which perhaps only the MSI GT72 (expensive) meets.

Guessing UK so try...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/17-3-inch-Notebook-i7-4710HQ-Graphics-Windows/dp/B00K7YA978/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1411498952&sr=8-5&keywords=asus g750

If you can find an actual ASUS reseller then you can (at least here in thes states tack on an extra 2 years warranty for like 10% of the machine cost. They are a bit more expensive than amazon though, but worth it since many (Xotic PC, power notebooks, etc) will also burn in your notebook and such before hand. Nothing like ordering a new machine and having it come in broken to spoil the fun.

A few points about ASUS specifically comming form a family of laptop gamers as well as a ex IT Department Chair -one of whose program included hardware repair. ;P
1) They tend to be more hit, than miss, in their designs, but they do do have their lemons. The 750 series and its ancestors are about their best design, although the initial G73JH were problematic from a design standpoint.
2) Warranty will be there, BUT what they do not say is it will be done by monkies. So multiple returns are possible as they break one thing while fixing another. ASUS has a very poor rep in terms of service in that regard sadly.
3) Do not do it yourself other than drive or memory for service. Serious chinese puzzlebox build. One where in you can easily break fiddly bits.

Other options?
Acer \ Gateway? Avoid, high failure rates. We repaired a lot more acer/gateways than anything else, and not just because of selling a lot due to price.

Alienware 17. Keep in mind you can negotiate on these to the tune of 20% or so from their phone reps (not online reps). Build is a bit better and service is miles different with upgraded warranty. Cooling is a bit worse tho, but still respectable two fan design. Plus side is audio is better and the 1080P screen is better.

MSI 17" models a step down IMO if only due to usually poor cooling. The GT72 is an exception to that, and is truly drool worthy, and pricey!

HP. Great service but pretty much have abandoned the gamer market. Maybe if they refresh their line up the 17" Envy would be decent. But right now with th 840 I would pass.

Gigabyte. New commer to notebooks. Maybe worth a look. Probably in the same category as Clevo/Sagers which means good value for the money, but cut corners on noise and heat. \

Note Clevo and Sager are resold/badged under a lot of small brand names. And, to a leser degree, so is MSI. In some cases the same customizers who sell gaming notebooks also rebrand these models themselves with the distinction that they cover the warranty. This is a plus in my book. A customizer that screws its customers is not long for surviving. They rely on word of mouth and repeat business, since they will be more expensive than the average box store.

General stuuf?
ATI vs NVIDIA? Nviida. I want to like ATI/AMD but the 7970M/8970M/M2-290 and friends tend to die. Mine in my Alienware has gone twice even in about 2.5 years. I hear this is not uncommon.

DC power jack. Best type is side with an angle like the ASUS 750. Next best is back of notebook like alienware m17s. Side with a straight in connector is a receipe for a repair if you actually move your notebook / pug it in a lot. The torque that design applies to the DC module is going to work it lose eventually. Number two repair, after screens, on lappies that we saw people come in with. Futher it will usually fail just out of warranty, and the manufacturer will usually want to replace the motherboard ($$$) versus solder it back.

Hinges. Sounds silly but cheap case hinges cna cause your laptop to fall apart if they fail. Very expensive if this happens.

 

Great stuff again, a massive help thanks! That laptop seems ideal, only extra I would want is an SSD, managed to find this one after looking at the one you linked....
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/G750JW-T4099H-ASUS-G750JW-T4099H_1626862.html
The GPU is not as good but with the SSD it seems a good deal. Can bump the warranty up to 3 years for an extra 50 quid as well which is pretty good. Just going to research the temps for it and get some general reviews.

I hadn't really ruled out any brand of laptop, all those points you have made definitely helped me research a bit and narrow it down. The Lenovos and Asus have been standing out to me, edging more towards Asus at the moment.

They tend to do SSD versions of laptops a lot more in the US than they do here which is a shame.

Nvidia is what I have always gone for in the past, I have read the same for a lot of the AMD cards and Nvidia hasn't let me down so have not had to look elsewhere!

Good points about the power jack and hinges, again something I hadn't thought of! Thanks again for all your help, I'm going to see what happens to the prices over the next month, it's not massively urgent so hopefully I can get a good deal