[David Fite]

Based on the recommended system requirements for 20/20 V11.9, does anybody recommend a specific make/model of a reasonably affordable laptop? Looks like I need to upgrade! Thanks in advance!!!

David

Attachments:

1. 2020Design_SystemRecommendations_V11-9_EN_20180408-1.pdf

[David Fite]

Hi Mike,
Thanks for your note.
As for the “reasonably priced” comment, I don’t know what to expect in terms of price range…I was told to expect $1000+-. I normally go by my rule: “I can’t afford the best, but should get the best I can afford”.
I currently run a HP Pavillion with a 17″ screen and it barely meets the minimum requirements, but works. I prefer that screen size when on the road, but I do have a 27″ side monitor in my home office. So, to answer your questions, I would prefer a 17″ screen, but would accept 14″-15″. Price range would be $600-$1200. Thoughts?

David

[Mike Langensiepen]

Well US$1200 should get something reasonable. I have a Toshiba 17″ Screen i7 and that cost me AU$1700 (about US$1600) at the time and since then I’ve added a 500GB  SSD and a 1TB hybrid drive to replace the old and slow 1TB.

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GL72M-7RDX-800-Performance-SteelSeries/dp/B072MTXBLM

Oh and don’t be tempted to drop the spec on the processor – V11 of Design really needs it. I’d be looking for an i7-7700HQ as a MINIMUM spec. If you can stretch your budget a little, this laptop is a killer spec for the price even if it is only a 15.6 display!

https://www.amazon.com/N950VR-Notebook-i7-8700-GeForce-Computer/dp/B079NQW3W9/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524784973&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=17%22+laptop+i7-8700

 

And otherwise, here is a relevant Amazon search. 8GB of RAM is fine – I never use the 16GB of RAM my Toshiba has unless I am running a good sized Virtual Machine.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=17%22+laptop+i7-7700hq

MSI are good, Sager are better but you pay a premium. Asus ROGS are good – we’ve got a few (refurbished). Manufacturers refurbished units are fine as they have been through an extensive checking procedure. I’m not a big HP fan but this unit is great for the price:

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Omen-17-W253DX-Gaming-Notebook/dp/B072F7NGDK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1524784477&sr=8-5&keywords=17%22+laptop+i7-7700hq

[David Fite]

Thanks, Mike!!

[David Fite]

What constitutes a graphics card Nvidia GeForce GTX750 or “better” as the link to the Redway3D supported GPU list is no longer maintained? In addition to the above mentioned, one of the  laptops I’m considering is a HP Envy 17-AE151NR with a Nvidia GeForce MX150 and another is a HP Envy Y7C72AV_1 with a Nvidia GeForce 940MX. My local Tech guy is concerned that these cards may not be supported by 20/20. Help, Mr Wizard.

Dave

[Mike Langensiepen]

Quite frankly there is negligible difference between the graphics cards since we moved to Windows10 – as you say,the Redway 3D engine no longer sees the cards. Assuming that this will change in the future then I’d probably go for the machine with the MX150 as it is a newer GPU but so many other factors are relevant.

Both are extremely good choices although I’d rather a lower res screen on a 17″ – on the face of it, this seems a silly thing to say but 4K on 1 17″ screen is a waste and you are rendering at a higher resolution than the same size window on a 1920×1080 screen which will take longer.

Both machine use the i7-8550 I think and that is an excellent processor.

Just FYI, whichever machine you get, there are settings you need to tweak. Change the power profile to ‘high performance’ and make sure that in the Nvidia controls that the NVidia is set as the default graphics processor.