Would these compononents suffice for easy/light work in programs like autocad?

[karminder]

Hello,

so im attending (hopefully i get in) a landscape engineering university next summer, and its a bachelor degree. And at the end, or towards the 3rd year we have some autocad, 3d, photoshop stuff going on, and im planning to take a masters in landscape architecture after that, where i supose the focus would be on autocad and 3d modelling and stuff like that. (or any other master in relation to that)

However i dont want to spend loads of cash on a laptop now and change my mind later(dont have a load of cash either), so i was wondering if these specs in the laptop would suffice for now?

Lenovo Yoga 720 2 in 1 13"3:
CPU - i7-8550u
Ram - DDR4 8 gb (dont know if its upgradeable to 16)
Storage - It says 256gb PCIe ssd (i assume this is a m.2 nvme drive? these retailers are confusing with their naming on pc parts.
GPU - UHD 620 (this is where i feel like its a bit wonky. Would atleast like an mx150 or gtx 1050)
Screen - IPS led 1920x1080 - full touch
Battery - 10 hr
Weight - only 1.3kg
Thunderbolt 3.1 port
And as extra it follows with the pen for the screen.

This is for aprox - 950 usd. (i live in norway so prices are immenely higher in this country, thus the price)

My budget is around that price point aswell, as its my max. any cheaper alternatives would also work. But i feel like i also dont want to opt for a cheaper laptop and chug around a 15"6 around campus with me. I am also attending engineering uni as of right now, which im obv not planning to continue but im still attending classes, so i kinda need a laptop right now.

Sorry for all the typing, and thanks in advance.

 

[Eximo]

Autocad will run on pretty much anything. How it handles complex models with fluid motion depends on the complexity of the model. Keep in mind the integrated GPU will use system memory.

HD620 is comparable to very low end late model graphics cards. MX150 is essentially a downclocked GT 1030. MX110 and MX130 are the smallest GPUs from the Maxwell line, probably less core count then the OEM GT 945A. So something closer to a GT 730, which is where the HD620 will land.

That i7 should have zero issues. Yes, PCIe means NVMe. M.2 is a physical form factor available in both SATA and NVMe. I wouldn't expect most end consumers to know the difference, so I am surprised they didn't go for some branding like Super Speed SSD, just stuck with the interface, but not the protocol.

 

[karminder]

Autocad will run on pretty much anything. How it handles complex models with fluid motion depends on the complexity of the model. Keep in mind the integrated GPU will use system memory.

HD620 is comparable to very low end late model graphics cards. MX150 is essentially a downclocked GT 1030. MX110 and MX130 are the smallest GPUs from the Maxwell line, probably less core count then the OEM GT 945A. So something closer to a GT 730, which is where the HD620 will land.

That i7 should have zero issues. Yes, PCIe means NVMe. M.2 is a physical form factor available in both SATA and NVMe. I wouldn't expect most end consumers to know the difference, so I am surprised they didn't go for some branding like Super Speed SSD, just stuck with the interface, but not the protocol.

would you say this then fills my need for the time being up intill (if i apply masters, which i prob will) i get in my masters degree and require more "pc power" ?
I am currently looking on amazon aswell, but the downside is a hefty tax obviously, living in norway + not nordic keyboard which i can probably outlive. but at this point im not sure what to look at. If i want a good cpu i dont get a gpu, if i want ram i dont get ssd, i mean its cutting corner all over. i cant get it all without emptying my wallet.

+ this is a bachelor degree which is defined as a "green line" as in alot of lectures in landscape, earth, the soil, plants. i figured with a 2 in 1 i might be able to draw stuff when the lecture is about how the plant life works and whatnot. not that i need to draw.

I am also looking at other laptops with a gtx 1050, but then the price kinda jumps up a fair bit. i did find a used hp pavilion power 15 with i5-7300HQ and 1050 4gb, 8gb ram and 1TB HDD. one of the comment says theres a ram slot for free upgrade and m.2 slot. It costs like 720 dollars. add like 100 usd for a nvme and another 8gb ram im good. but damn its all green and shit. Theres a newer version with 1050 2gb instead and i5-8300HQ 8 gb ram and 1TB HDD, but this also has a 128gb ssd, assuming this is m.2

 

[Eximo]

It really comes down to what you have access to. So for a classroom laptop it is fine, it should be able to do light autocad. Full renders might be a bit beyond it, but that is again a matter of the level of detail that is needed. The school presumably has computer labs? There are usually machines you can use for heavier work on offer. As long as that isn't too much an inconvenience.

You can also use that thunderbolt port on your first choice for an external GPU perhaps?

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OEMs overcharge for SSDs, so getting a laptop with a hard drive and replacing/supplementing with an SSD

Most SSDs found on OEM machines are mSATA unless otherwise specified, you want to make sure you pick the right one for the available m.2 port. NVMe won't work in mSATA port though most NVMe models will support mSATA. Or just drop in a 2.5" SSD. This isn't a problem really, any SSD is faster than a hard drive and sips power relatively.

You can always paint or wrap a laptop if you don't like the color.

HQ and H processors vs U class processors will use more power and reduce battery life. They'll also have larger heat dissipation requirements resulting in heavier laptops. That said, the 8th gen processors have more cores. 8th gen i5-U = 7th gen i7-U. So the newer chips can make it worthwhile even at the lower tiers.

 

[karminder]

It really comes down to what you have access to. So for a classroom laptop it is fine, it should be able to do light autocad. Full renders might be a bit beyond it, but that is again a matter of the level of detail that is needed. The school presumably has computer labs? There are usually machines you can use for heavier work on offer. As long as that isn't too much an inconvenience.

You can also use that thunderbolt port on your first choice for an external GPU perhaps?

-------

OEMs overcharge for SSDs, so getting a laptop with a hard drive and replacing/supplementing with an SSD

Most SSDs found on OEM machines are mSATA unless otherwise specified, you want to make sure you pick the right one for the available m.2 port. NVMe won't work in mSATA port though most NVMe models will support mSATA. Or just drop in a 2.5" SSD. This isn't a problem really, any SSD is faster than a hard drive and sips power relatively.

You can always paint or wrap a laptop if you don't like the color.

HQ and H processors vs U class processors will use more power and reduce battery life. They'll also have larger heat dissipation requirements resulting in heavier laptops. That said, the 8th gen processors have more cores. 8th gen i5-U = 7th gen i7-U. So the newer chips can make it worthwhile even at the lower tiers.

theres no specification on pc usage during the bachelor or the master studies ive seen, so i assume theres pc available for use, when needed, if not you have to be accountable for it yourself.

I doubt we have heavy cad work with loads of 3d stuff in this bachelor study, but we have some photoshop, adobe stuff compiled together towards the end of the year. Would the first pc i listed suffice then? or should i continue looking for something with a gpu included?

i mean i dont want to spend 900 dollars and then have to buy something even more expensive down the line. might aswell do it now and be over with. but at the same time i dont want to spend alot and change my mind. Like would the first laptop be doable in this kind of work, considering its all just not all too heavy work, im no architecht. or do i opt for a bigger solution?

 

[Eximo]

I can't answer that 100%, I don't think you can either. At least without having been through the course. Up to you on if you want to budget in a GPU or SSD. Your plan to buy a laptop with a hard drive and add the SSD yourself should be cheaper than one that is included.

You can also look at refurbished mobile workstations to get more oomph. Should be some 4th generation hardware out there with Quadro K620 and K1000 for reasonable sums. Open box and refurbished products can be had for a lot less than new. You do lose out a little on battery life, and possibly weight, though. Might also plan for a replacement battery in the near future with those.

And you can try for Skylake based hardware which might have Maxwell GPUs. Though I suspect those will creep into your budget range.

 

[karminder]

I can't answer that 100%, I don't think you can either. At least without having been through the course. Up to you on if you want to budget in a GPU or SSD. Your plan to buy a laptop with a hard drive and add the SSD yourself should be cheaper than one that is included.

You can also look at refurbished mobile workstations to get more oomph. Should be some 4th generation hardware out there with Quadro K620 and K1000 for reasonable sums. Open box and refurbished products can be had for a lot less than new. You do lose out a little on battery life, and possibly weight, though. Might also plan for a replacement battery in the near future with those.

And you can try for Skylake based hardware which might have Maxwell GPUs. Though I suspect those will creep into your budget range.

I can invest a little bit more, to just get a entry level one with atleast a gpu, but i cannot find any that are slim. They are all either chunky or its razer blade for 2k dollars. Do you have any suggestions?

When it comes to workstations, theres no point. Its all overpriced as hell. I was looking at some gaming laptops, but i hate the black/red(green) scheme they got going on, and that rainbow puke all over. Its horrendous, however i may have found some here and there, im just not finding any with a good combination.

Do you think its okay for going for a 1060 with a i7-7700HQ ? im just not sure if im willing to buy a 7th gen now that 9th gen will probably pop out not so far in the future, considering 8th has been out for a while. Because all i care for is that its thin and not a rainbow puked pc. Thus why i thought the lenovo yoga 720 might fit, but it has no dedicated gpu. The msi gs63 for example, is thin and well sorta not full out "gaming" laptop, however its still like 300 dollars over my budget. Because otherwise i literally cannot find any laptop with a dedicated gpu, except mx150. Cant even find ones with 1050 without being "GAMING"

 

[Eximo]

8th and 9th gen are basically the same. No reason to wait on them. Intel hasn't had a true process node shrink since 5th/6th gen. 22nm (Haswell) to 14nm (Broadwell/Skylake). Broadwell was Haswell on the new node, very short lived.

i7-7700HQ is still a full speed mobile i7, not an ultrabook processor. And a GTX1060 is pretty decent.

Locating a laptop that is available to you is tricky. I can make several recommendations on models though:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834234920 i7-8550U + MX130 + 1TB HDD + 8GB RAM
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=1TS-000X-00SV8 i7-8550U + MX150 + 256GB + 8GB RAM
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIADVH63Y2997 i7-7500U +940MX + 512GB + 16GB RAM
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAE4N8B98786 i7-8550U + 940MX + 1TB HDD +16GB RAM
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA9SK62T9086 i7-7700HQ + GTX1050 + 1TB HDD + 8GB RAM
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAE4N8B98790 i7-8550U + 940MX + 512GB + 8GB RAM

Older i7-4810MQ + Quadro K2100M + 240GB + 16GB RAM

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Workstation-i7-4810MQ-Cerified-Refurbished/dp/B07FZB2NH3/ref=sr_1_19?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1539899394&sr=1-19&refinements=p_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A2289792011%2Cp_n_feature_five_browse-bin%3A7817224011%7C13580790011%2Cp_n_feature_twelve_browse-bin%3A9521908011%2Cp_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A3012498011%7C3012497011%7C9659357011%7C3012495011

i7-6820HQ + Firepro W5130M + 256GB + 16GB RAM

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-3510-Workstation-i7-6820HQ-Refurbished/dp/B07DMZXT5D/ref=sr_1_22?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1539899394&sr=1-22&refinements=p_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A2289792011%2Cp_n_feature_five_browse-bin%3A7817224011%7C13580790011%2Cp_n_feature_twelve_browse-bin%3A9521908011%2Cp_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A3012498011%7C3012497011%7C9659357011%7C3012495011

17" i7-4810HQ + Firepro M6100 + 500GB HDD + 16GB RAM

https://www.amazon.com/Fast-Precision-M6800-i7-4810MQ-Refurbished/dp/B07HG85H4R/ref=sr_1_42?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1539899610&sr=1-42&refinements=p_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A2289792011%2Cp_n_feature_five_browse-bin%3A7817224011%7C13580790011%2Cp_n_feature_twelve_browse-bin%3A9521908011%2Cp_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A3012498011%7C3012497011%7C9659357011%7C3012495011

And so on. Plenty of decent laptops out there. Yes, the workstations are going to be a little heavier, but you won't be lacking graphical power.

M4800 are what we had at work up until just a few weeks ago. Now they are a bit fancier, and we offer an even more powerful mobile option.

You might not be able to get some of these, but models like them should be around on Amazon. Newegg just for reference (they have the best laptop filtering/selection tools out there) Irks me that I cant pick generation on Amazon, have to wade through everything they have. They do realize there are literally hundreds of i7 models alone...

 

[karminder]

8th and 9th gen are basically the same. No reason to wait on them. Intel hasn't had a true process node shrink since 5th/6th gen. 22nm (Haswell) to 14nm (Broadwell/Skylake). Broadwell was Haswell on the new node, very short lived.

i7-7700HQ is still a full speed mobile i7, not an ultrabook processor. And a GTX1060 is pretty decent.

Locating a laptop that is available to you is tricky. I can make several recommendations on models though:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834234920 i7-8550U + MX130 + 1TB HDD + 8GB RAM
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=1TS-000X-00SV8 i7-8550U + MX150 + 256GB + 8GB RAM
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIADVH63Y2997 i7-7500U +940MX + 512GB + 16GB RAM
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAE4N8B98786 i7-8550U + 940MX + 1TB HDD +16GB RAM
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA9SK62T9086 i7-7700HQ + GTX1050 + 1TB HDD + 8GB RAM
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAE4N8B98790 i7-8550U + 940MX + 512GB + 8GB RAM

Older i7-4810MQ + Quadro K2100M + 240GB + 16GB RAM

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Workstation-i7-4810MQ-Cerified-Refurbished/dp/B07FZB2NH3/ref=sr_1_19?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1539899394&sr=1-19&refinements=p_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A2289792011%2Cp_n_feature_five_browse-bin%3A7817224011%7C13580790011%2Cp_n_feature_twelve_browse-bin%3A9521908011%2Cp_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A3012498011%7C3012497011%7C9659357011%7C3012495011

i7-6820HQ + Firepro W5130M + 256GB + 16GB RAM

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-3510-Workstation-i7-6820HQ-Refurbished/dp/B07DMZXT5D/ref=sr_1_22?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1539899394&sr=1-22&refinements=p_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A2289792011%2Cp_n_feature_five_browse-bin%3A7817224011%7C13580790011%2Cp_n_feature_twelve_browse-bin%3A9521908011%2Cp_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A3012498011%7C3012497011%7C9659357011%7C3012495011

17" i7-4810HQ + Firepro M6100 + 500GB HDD + 16GB RAM

https://www.amazon.com/Fast-Precision-M6800-i7-4810MQ-Refurbished/dp/B07HG85H4R/ref=sr_1_42?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1539899610&sr=1-42&refinements=p_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A2289792011%2Cp_n_feature_five_browse-bin%3A7817224011%7C13580790011%2Cp_n_feature_twelve_browse-bin%3A9521908011%2Cp_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A3012498011%7C3012497011%7C9659357011%7C3012495011

And so on. Plenty of decent laptops out there. Yes, the workstations are going to be a little heavier, but you won't be lacking graphical power.

M4800 are what we had at work up until just a few weeks ago. Now they are a bit fancier, and we offer an even more powerful mobile option.

You might not be able to get some of these, but models like them should be around on Amazon. Newegg just for reference (they have the best laptop filtering/selection tools out there) Irks me that I cant pick generation on Amazon, have to wade through everything they have. They do realize there are literally hundreds of i7 models alone...

Okay so this is what i came up wtih. Trying to match the pc youve linked. ive looked, and looked. literally cant find anything else if i dont want to spend like 2k dollars and get thin, ultra etcetc. So here it goes. might a bit long, sorry.


1. Lenovo Ideapad 720s 15.6" - i5-7300HQ + 1050 TI 4GB + 8GB RAM + 256GB PCIe SSD + 1920x1080 IPS LED (1179 usd - Used but new)

* Now this has dual slot ram but 1x8gb. so 1 available for easy upgrade to 16GB.(32GB max) Specified info
* Its specified "PCIe SSD" and again, dont know what dumb retailers mean, but ive looked up the spec sheet from lenovo on ideapad 720s. (not this specific model, but the general spec sheet for ideapad 720s 15 inch) and it says it has M.2 NVME PCIe slot. so im going to guess this is an m.2 nvme.

Overall it looks amazing, thin, 300 nit screen, whopping 9hr battery life (est 12 from lenovo) and its pretty alright price, from compareable laptops. going to assume it also has a 2.5 for a ssd or hdd. But that i5-7300HQ concerns me a bit. its not a 8th gen.



2. Lenovo Ideapad 720s 14" - i5-8250U + mx150 2GB + 8GB RAM + 256GB PCIe SSD + 1920x1080 IPS LED (851 usd - used but new)

*This one says 8GB ram with max ram at 8GB and 0 slot available. Again i dont know if retailers type correct info, But this might be 8GB soldered on ram, with no upgradeability
*Same thing with the storage as above. Its specified PCIe SSD, so going to assume its a m.2 NVME and going to assume theres a 2.5 available.

overall same as above but its just a 14 inch instead of 15.6. It also has most likely same ish screen and batterylife is about the same, 9 hr. But here the mx150 concerns me instead.



3.Acer Swift 3 15.6" - i5-8250U + mx150 2GB + 8GB RAM + 1TB HDD and 16gb Optane intel + 1920x1080 IPS LED (890 usd - used but new)

*This has dual slot ram but 1x8GB, so 1 available for upgrade to 16. (32 max) which is specified. good stuff
*Now this has a intel optane instead, confirming the m.2 NVMe capabilities. So if i want i can always swap it out for a 128gb or 256gb nvme and use that as boot drive.

Overall same as the first one, its good looking, thin, nice bezzels and overall just good. Battery life a little worse at 7.8hr (est 10) price is pretty nice aswell. Dont know the screen brightness but again, the mx150 concerns me here. is it enough 3-4 years down the line? might aswell pay a little premium and get the first one?



And this is literally the cheapest of them all, kinda amazed how cheap this actually is.

4. Acer swift 3 15.6" - i5-8250U + mx150 2GB + 8GB RAM + 256GB PCIe SSD + 1920x1080 IPS Led (630 - Used but new)

*The retailer is not like amazon, it doesnt have "upgrades" that i can choose from, from a specific models. Instead it has different links with specified internals. This one says 8GB ram, with 0 slots available and max of 8GB while being literally the same laptop as above. And again retailers, dont know if they put correct info. If i cant upgrade this to 16 its pretty much non buyable, but if i can the price is amazing.
*Same thing as above, it says PCIe SSD, and the above model supports intel optane. Going to assume this is infact a m.2 NVMe drive. But its not specified. Dont know.


This is all i found. I also found a dell g3 15.6" but people say battery life is utter trash at 3-4 hr, and the screen is pretty much also trash. Even though im getting a hefty discount being a student, i decided not to bring this in here.


PS: ive looked at benchmarks, left and right, and came to the conclusion that the differences from a i5-8250u and i7-8550u is pretty much 1-2%. same with i5-7300HQ the 8th gen styles. Except obviously i7-8750U being a six core. couldnt find any laptops with that, their all "GAMING" which red thrown all over, and weighs 20kgs

 

[Eximo]

If you are worried about graphics performance, then paying extra for the 1050Ti makes some sense.

The only reason the one with the optane drive has worse battery performance is because it has a hard drive. You could just replace that with an SSD and leave the optane drive in place. Optane has the fastest random I/O out there, though I haven't experienced it in person, so not sure if it is truly worth it.

 

[karminder]

If you are worried about graphics performance, then paying extra for the 1050Ti makes some sense.

The only reason the one with the optane drive has worse battery performance is because it has a hard drive. You could just replace that with an SSD and leave the optane drive in place. Optane has the fastest random I/O out there, though I haven't experienced it in person, so not sure if it is truly worth it.

Black friday is coming up in a month, i just realized. So im guessing i might aswell wait then. Maybe i can snag a even cheaper laptop with same or, same ish specs.

Would you then say a mx150 is sufficent enough? should i lookout for laptops with mx150? given they have all the other specs in order?

 

[Eximo]

I still can't predict the future. I don't know if you will regret getting a smaller video card in a year or two. You are at that odd point where just a little more money gets you a lot more.

Black Friday is usually about clearing out inventory that didn't sell. Very few truly desirable products ever make it on the discounted lists. Some are used as loss leaders though, to get people in the door. Or they purposely price things low they know require the purchase of accessories and make up the difference there.

I've also noticed that what a lot of retailers carry are two things: Cheap laptops that people with little knowledge of computers will come in and buy many of, and very expensive machines that people will walk in and buy and not care about overpaying. Very rarely do you find mid-range hardware for sale at computer stores. Just economy of scale really.

Though this whole mainstream gaming movement has made quite the impact on mid-range GPUs showing up more often, but that price point is still $1,000-1,200 on the average.

 

[karminder]

I still can't predict the future. I don't know if you will regret getting a smaller video card in a year or two. You are at that odd point where just a little more money gets you a lot more.

Black Friday is usually about clearing out inventory that didn't sell. Very few truly desirable products ever make it on the discounted lists. Some are used as loss leaders though, to get people in the door. Or they purposely price things low they know require the purchase of accessories and make up the difference there.

I've also noticed that what a lot of retailers carry are two things: Cheap laptops that people with little knowledge of computers will come in and buy many of, and very expensive machines that people will walk in and buy and not care about overpaying. Very rarely do you find mid-range hardware for sale at computer stores. Just economy of scale really.

Though this whole mainstream gaming movement has made quite the impact on mid-range GPUs showing up more often, but that price point is still $1,000-1,200 on the average.

i have 50 days return policy on the laptop im looking at. same as i specified as nr 1. the lenovo 720s. 1050ti, 8gb ram (32max) i5-7200hq. thin and light. allmost 10hr battery life tested. Should i just pull the trigger then? use it for the time being?

If any deals come up on black friday, i can just buy that and return this, win-win situation i guess? since i already have a decent knownledge in computer parts, i guess i can easily just differentiate the bullshit from actual sales i supose.