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New PC Laptop Xeon or I7 also is 500g SSD enough


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Hi Folks,

Need to get a new laptop as a Travel Computer / Desktop Replacement when away from my office.

Currently my desktop is an I7-4770 @3.4ghz 16g ram , NVIDIA Geforce GTX 645

will have to update this desktop as well but hoping to get a couple of more years out of it. Do a fair amount of rendering

 

Looking at new laptops and lots of options.

Anyone have any recommendations on processor.

Is a xeon worth it ($$$) and do you think a Laptop with one 500g SSD is adequate..

 

I have looked at the Knowledge base and the tested Machines on the Vectorworks site.

 

Any laptop recommendations from users would  be helpful.

Need to pull the trigger soon.

 

Thanks,

-Paul

 

 

 

 

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This seems like a good time to upgrade - lots of fun stuff about to on the market.  I am getting a new machine for the office - so I have been researching.

 

The two I am trying to decide between are the:

Gigabyte AERO 15x

MSI GS65 Thin

 

Others to consider:

Dell XPS 15 (Underpowered)

ASUS ROG Zephyrus GX501 (2018)

ASUS Zenbook Pro (Underpowered)

HP Pavillion G (Will be released at the end of the month)

 

Those are all thin machines - which is my preference.  They are using the newest Intel 6 core i Series.  I never found value on the Xeon side.   

 

500GB is really pushing it.  You will end up using 150GB  of that just for programs, libraries, and OS.   I moved the whole server to the cloud and I am using file sync for most of it - but still need local copies of all active projects.  I tried to be ruthless - and I still have 650GB of local storage filled.   You could get a fast external to compliment, but a certain point there is little money savings in doing so - and inevitably once a week the data paths will break - which is not a big deal - but annoying.  I would invest in 1GB - or if offered a 500SD OS drive and 1 or 2TB secondary data drive.  

 

 

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I have never used a an MSI or gigbyte laptop.  and it concerns me.

I once owed a sony laptop that was a lemon.   thinking lenovo  (almost a pun)  possible alieneware/ DELL   seen some issues with HP s at work and home.  HP seem to think there smarter than intel and put bloat on the system.

 

Convince me?

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500GB would be ok for just the system drive holding your OS and programs, as I am using approx. 270 GB for OS and programs. You should keep in mind that part of the disk is used for spare sectors in case some flash cells get corrupted/damaged, usually this is approx. 10% of the disk size so that would reduce effective storage space to a little under 450 MB.

 

If you also want to put your data on the drive then a 1 TB drive should be the minimum size you need if there can be only one drive installed. Most laptops now have a SSD for OS and an additional HD for storage, but you may want to replace the latter with an equivalent SSD in a laptop.

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@xi makes great laptops.  They aren't pretty, they are mobile desktops.  

Xeons are not worth the money in my opinion.  More RAM, a good i7 chip, and a discrete graphics card are what really helps.  These days I would probably even go higher end on the graphics card than the processor.  

My laptop has a full size keyboard as well, very helpful.  

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I recently made a similar jump. The Xeon isn't doing much but didn't cost much in my case.

The HD decisions were cost driven. I wanted the fastest OS drive and figured a large slow data drive would be fine. The configuration costs were strange, so I got a nice 500gb SSD and plan on buying a second one when it fills. HD costs drop quickly and there will be more options in the after market so waiting should pay off.

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  • 2 months later...

I just bought a CUK (Computer Upgrade King) house brand laptop as an emergency backup, and I have to say I am quite happy.  1070 8 gb GPU, i17 8th gen processor, 32gb ram - 1800 bucks.

 

Its thin, light, and inconspicuous. Luckly there is no branding on it at all (especially with a name like CUK).  At 600-800 dollars less then similarly spec machines, it feels like a good deal.  At that price we can afford to upgrade almost a full year sooner.

 

 

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