Guidance regarding new laptop

maxarch33

Distinguished
Feb 9, 2012
4
0
18,510
hi, i am an architecture student. i have been using my compaq presariov3000 since last 5 years. but now its life is over. it heats up a lot and the fan creates weird noises. so i am planning to buy a new laptop.

i have the budget of 60,000INR (1200$-1300$). but i have seriously no idea where to start from when looking for a new laptop. my usual softwares are for 3d-modeling and rendering like 3ds max and maya. and i have the habit of using the laptop for around 12-14 hours a day.

i have checked some dell and lenovo laptops but have had varying reviews and complains about heating and not performing upto the mark.

i could really use some guidance asap as my compaq has suddenly stopped working and my submissions are near :/

thank u :)
 

RetiredChief

Distinguished
Feb 22, 2007
465
0
19,010
I5-xxxx or I7-xxxx which are sandybridge Intel CPus.(I7 of couarse better - more cores.

Do not need a real high end GPU. The SB CPUs have an internal IGP - HD3000. While this may be adequate, I would recommend a SB laptop with a 540M GPU. Depending on the software both Graphics units can be used to improve performance.

Ram - recommend 8 Gigs, But if 4 gigs can easily be upgraded by the user to 8 Gigs for less than $100 (USD).

Brands - My prefered choice is in order: Asus, Toshibia, followed by Samsung.


A little caution: lega's second link is very dated on some of the topics ( ie the reference to AMD's CPUs is like back in 2001).
 

maxarch33

Distinguished
Feb 9, 2012
4
0
18,510



hi , thanx for the reply :)
i have a dumb question. why am i not able to find many people recommending asus? btw i found this lenovo thinkpad. can you tell me d area in which the notebook lags?

"Do not need a real high end GPU. The SB CPUs have an internal IGP - HD3000. While this may be adequate, I would recommend a SB laptop with a 540M GPU. Depending on the software both Graphics units can be used to improve performance." i am not able to understand this part. can u simplify it for me?