Help! I don't know what I need!

Stormin_Norman

Estimable
Oct 2, 2015
1
0
4,510
I know this has been asked tie and time again, but I need an experts opinion on laptops. I'm buying one for my boyfriend for Christmas and don't know what to get because I've never needed anything that could perform past streaming an hd moving while having a couple tabs open. My boyfriend is an Architecture student in a masters program and right now he's working with a crappy HP. He's constantly running programs like AutoCAD, Revit, Rhino, SketchUp, etc. He needs something with a15-17inch screen, preferably with higher screen definition (1080p or higher) and I've been told he needs a beast of a processor, Corei7, and at least 16gb of RAM, but past that I know nothing. Should I get him something with a hard drive or an ssd? What are the pros and cons for each based on what he will be using it for? What is a flash cache and is it even worth considering? Does he need a discrete graphics processor or is that really only necessary for gaming, and not so much for graphics design and rendering? My budget is between $1,000 and $1,500, though I'd like to keep it closer to the$1,000 mark. What do I honestly need to be getting him based on what he'll be using it for and do you know of any laptops on the market that you think fit the bill? Thank you so much!!!