Low budget laptop (or pc) for 3D animation and visual effects?

[MojoJojo95]

Hi guys, I am about to go into uni to study 3D animation and visual effects, I don't know much about the actual parts of a computer, and I have a very low budget as I am a student. I want any advice possible really. I need it to be as far away from 1000 pounds as you can get without having a rubbish laptop 😛. Is it better to buy one as it is or make one? I am also confused about what the best processor is?
I found this laptop: a refurbished HP ENVY dv7-7332ea, which has intel core i7-3630QM processor.
Am I on the right track here?

 

[James Mason]

Well you can't make a laptop, but you can get one custom built, but they carry a large premium, and a laptop may not be suited for graphics design, especially where your budget is concerned.
A desktop would do you a lot better for a much more reasonable price. If you need a laptop for you classes, maybe you can get by with a cheap laptop with a good battery life for note taking, and do your actual "homework" on a properly built desktop.
Are you 100% committed to only getting a laptop?

 

[MojoJojo95]

It needs to be high maintenance and durable to support software's like autodesk, and has to be able to render without crashing. Preferably a laptop for convenience but I'm happy to set up a desktop. Sorry, I meant to build a laptop haha not make one

 

[James Mason]

It needs to be high maintenance and durable to support software's like autodesk, and has to be able to render without crashing. Preferably a laptop for convenience but I'm happy to set up a desktop. Sorry, I meant to build a laptop haha not make one

Graphics design typically requires a good GPU, but workstation GPUs are designed specifically to work with programs like autodesk, but they carry a heft premium. The laptop you found only has a so-so gpu, probably illsuited to graphics design.

I believe something like this would be good for you:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£136.82 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.20 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£52.49 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£109.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£54.98 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 3GB Video Card (£161.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£65.66 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£64.96 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.83 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.96 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Asus VS238H-P 23.0" Monitor (£137.64 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £891.52
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-24 17:51 GMT+0000)

I included a monitor, because it should allow you to actually see what your computer is putting out (assuming your current one doesn't). no keyboard/mouse though.

 

[James Mason]

Unless you want to buy a prebuilt desktop, which again, costs alot extra. (it's VERY easy to build your own PC. Assuming you posses the rare talent known as "ability to read.")
Case
PCS ALPHA TRION 7622B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4670K (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z87M-D3H: Micro-ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 760 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE ASSASSINS CREED BLACK FLAG with GTX 660 & 7 Series GPUs!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£69)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £922.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-haswell-pc/r8d6NOvvxc/

 

[MojoJojo95]

Thanks! that's really helpful but still maybe a little pricey for me... Know any cheaper alternatives? Or will I lose a lot of quality?

 

[MojoJojo95]

The last one looks really cool though...

 

[James Mason]

It's possible to go cheaper, but the cheaper we go the more performance we sacrifice, which could make your graphics design homework take extra time where you have to wait around for it to process (or it crashing potentially, i'm not a graphics designer but I hear alot about how finicky those types of programs are)
When you looking for a lower budget, you go to AMD, but there's always the performance trade off:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6350 3.9GHz 6-Core Processor (£92.39 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.20 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G43 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£47.81 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.88 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card (£99.12 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case (£29.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£64.96 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£11.83 @ CCL Computers)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£69.96 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £543.13
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-24 22:21 GMT+0000)

Getting a custom built PC in this range is kind harder. Although this wouldn't be too bad:
https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Ultra_Scylla_XT

 

[MojoJojo95]

If I went for the cheaper option would I be able to improve the parts later? Or do you think I should just splash out for the more expensive option?

 

[sora]

Lenovo Ideapad y510. Has dual graphics and isn't bad for the price.

 

[James Mason]

If I went for the cheaper option would I be able to improve the parts later? Or do you think I should just splash out for the more expensive option?

Well, the cheaper option allows you to upgrade, but it's still a limited upgrade considering you're doing graphics design work. It might be a good entry point so once you're actually doing the work you can better understand where your computer is falling behind. You could add a second graphics card for Crossfire (has to be the same model), and you could get an 8 core CPU, and more RAM as well.
But that's gonna cost you probably around $400-500 dollars.
Upgrade later or get the better system now. Or get the cheaper system and pickup a laptop for note taking. (Check out the used laptops on Amazon, you can get an older (but powerful) laptop for a pretty good price)