Which laptop for heavy use?

hardtail

Honorable
Aug 6, 2013
6
0
10,510
1. What is your budget?

$2500

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

15"-17"

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Highest possible, the MBP Retina Display looks amazing

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Desktop replacement

5. How much battery life do you need?

Doesn't matter

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

At the moment, no. Down the line possibly Diablo 3 or Assassins Cree III.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)

Animation, 3D Modelling, Rendering, Hi-Res Sculpting, VFX, Photomanipulation, Web Development

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

250gb

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

www.apple.ca I am considering the newest MBP but I am unsure of the performance for my needs.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

1-2 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

Not required

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

Preferred brands: Apple, Lenovo
I'm open to anything pretty much, I do appreciate a good design, not clunky.

13. What country do you live in?

Canada

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

This machine will be used for visual effects development. Software I will be using: Autodesk Mudbox, 3DS Max, Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Mari, Hiero, and last but not least Adobe CC.

I'm open to pretty much anything but if there is anyone here doing this sort of thing that has experience with the Retina Display MBP I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on that machine. The display looks great but I am not sure on the GPU performance.
 
Solution
Do not purchase a Macbook Pro for Autodesk software. There's a damn good reason why Autodesk quit developing its' software for the Mac over a decade ago - and it still holds true. Macs are incredibly slow for rendering and the proprietary, non upgradable hardware means that you're SOL if you need to upgrade in the future. If you've got that much money I'd take a much different route - buy a $1700 desktop with an i7-3930K and an $800 laptop like a Lenovo Y500. But really - the Macbook Pro with Retina Display is a marketing gimmick and a gigantic waste of money.

g-unit1111

Distinguished
Moderator
Do not purchase a Macbook Pro for Autodesk software. There's a damn good reason why Autodesk quit developing its' software for the Mac over a decade ago - and it still holds true. Macs are incredibly slow for rendering and the proprietary, non upgradable hardware means that you're SOL if you need to upgrade in the future. If you've got that much money I'd take a much different route - buy a $1700 desktop with an i7-3930K and an $800 laptop like a Lenovo Y500. But really - the Macbook Pro with Retina Display is a marketing gimmick and a gigantic waste of money.
 
Solution

hardtail

Honorable
Aug 6, 2013
6
0
10,510


How do you feel about this setup?

I'm located in Canada and will be buying this from TigerDirect. Can you guys comment on my choices? This is my first time building a computer ever.

Critiques please. Can I save money anywhere, gain performance, etc? Did I make the right choices? I do want to say that I am set on the Corsair case, I love the look of it and I see it has good heat control.

Thanks.

Case: CORSAIR OBSIDIAN 900D ($400)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7739032&Sku=C13-1900

Motherboard: MSI Z87 ($250)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8041581&CatId=13

Ram: CORSAIR VENGEANCE 32GB DDR31600MHZ ($335)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1705069&CatId=4534

CPU: Intel 4th Gen i7-4770k 3.5GHz ($350)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8236897&Sku=M69-7187

GPU: EVGA GEFORCE GTX 770 2GB ($430)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8208320&CatId=7387

PSU: CORSAIR AX860 ($230)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7413649&CatId=2534

SSD: CORSAIR NEUTRON GTX 240GB ($220)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7895481&CatId=5300