Decent CAD laptop for ~$1000

[SandSoldier]

Hello internet! So, I will be going off to college in this next year to become an engineer and I need a laptop. I will be using it for basic internetey things, CAD renders, and maybe some games on the side. I don't need it to have sli 980m's, and a million gigs of ram because I can just offload any crazy render workloads to my OC'd I5 4690k/gtx 780 rig when i get home. I do want a 15 inch screen 1080p screen, a 10 key keyboard if possible (not a complete dealbreaker if it doesn't have one), and have decent reviews. Thanks in advance and ill keep on the hunt and if I find something, I'll post it here for your consideration.

 

[SandSoldier]

Well, I think I've found one: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50/?cid=us:sem|se|google|68189462144|Lenovo+Y50|IIP_NE_Lenovo+Ideapad|65104424&ef_id=VQeQiQAAAcM3xODe:20150421041200:s

 

[SandSoldier]

If that link doesn't work for you: http://goo.gl/3HcvZD

 

[velo3100]

Personally I would stay away from lenovo when you need the graphics power as they are more business oriented. Also the y50 has some screen issues that I read on this forum so I wouldn't go with it.

I would go with an asus n series laptop with the gtx 850m. That should be good enough for decent amount of rendering power and they have a good screen and cooling system.

There is the rog series as well but they are more for gamers rather than 3d professionals.

 

[SandSoldier]

Thanks, there seems to be some general discontent with geforce cards when it comes to cad and rendering in general. Can someone explain to me why geforce doesn't like cad and if i could still get a geforce laptop for light cad work?

 

[velo3100]

The main reason why geforce cards are not used professionally is because of their drivers. They are made more for the consumer who wants some gpu power and is more geared towards gaming. However they can be used in cad if it is light. It is perfect if you are using it for uni or collage work as they don't expect the models to be very high polygons.

The quadrino and amd fire pro on the other hand are generally used for the specialised drivers for cad.

 

[SandSoldier]

Thanks, so even my 780 wouldn't be good for cad. Ill have to do some research into how expensive quadro/firepro laptops are and that'll pretty much dictate my choice. Also, I'm unfamilliar with the "professional" card lineups, what should i be looking for in a laptop card and desktop card?

 

[velo3100]

The gtx 780 is a good gpu for cad but as I am not a desktop expert I don't know how much you can push it as it is made for gaming rather than cad.

For the laptop line up make sure that the card that you choose is optimized for the software you are going to choose for your cad. I know that autodesk like quadrino cards and I think solidworks likes amd if I not mistaken. The second thing you should look out for is the amount of vram and the type. GDDR5 is better than DDR3. The more the card has the less it has to use the system ram of the laptop. Third make sure that the cooling of you laptop is good as laptops can get very hot during rendering 3d models.

Apart from this advice, I can't think of anything else to tell you. Let me know if you have any questions

 

[SandSoldier]

Thank you a ton! You have been a great help.