Dell Precision laptop or other mobile workstation

[Tin Matutinovic]

Hi to all,

I am an architect currently using old Dell Precision laptop M6700 ( i7-3740QM CPU @ 2.70GHz, 4 cores / 8 threads, 24GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro K4000M 4GB GDDR5, Samsung 850 EVO 250GB + WD Blue 1TB), at work i have a desktop (i9-7920x, Gigabyte GTX 1070Ti Windforce 8GB GDDR5, 4 x 8 DDR4 2933Mhz RAM, Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB + WD black 2 TB).

I am mailny using Autocad Architecture for drawings and basic modeling and 3ds Max for detailed modeling and Vray for rendering. Desktop at work is working great but my laptop stutters a lot when i am modelling larger CAD drawings (large apartment buildings etc.) especially in wireframe view and sometimes 3ds MAX crashes when the file goes above 1GB of size.

I am looking to upgrade my laptop to maybe a new DELL Precision 7760 Mobile Workstation but i am not sure if it is the best option. If i am correct my main requirements are in this order:  

• processor with the fastest single core speed for flawless modelling
• as much cores as i can get for faster rendering
• at least 32 GB RAM
• GPU no idea which one i need

My budget is up to 3000€. From the DELL configurator (https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-laptops-and-notebooks/new-precision-7760-workstation/spd/precision-17-7760-laptop/xctop776017us_vp?view=configurations)i have options for : i7-11850H (8 Core, 24MB Cache, 2.50GHz to 4.80GHz, i9-11950H (8 Core, 24MB Cache, 2.60GHz to 5.00GHz or Intel Xeon Processor W-11855M (6 Core, 18MB Cache, 3.20GHz to 4.90GHz). The GPU range is NVIDIA RTX A3000 w/6 GB GDDR6 or NVIDIA RTX A4000 w/8 GB GDDR6.

Is the Precision line the best option or are there better ones for the same price?

[Nikolaos M]

I'd take a look at gaming laptops too (better cooling in general). You don't need a quadro GPU for Autocad and 3ds max.

Check these two models out:

https://geizhals.de/dell-alienware-m15-r6-dark-side-of-the-moon-9gyw5-a2558239.html?hloc=at&hloc=de

https://geizhals.de/hp-omen-17-ck0390ng-shadow-black-48p11ea-abd-a2553138.html?hloc=at&hloc=de

[Scott Dombrowski]

We're looking to move to laptops to support a hybrid work schedule (part time at home, part time in the office). We have a render farm in-house, so it won't be necessary to stuff as many cores as possible into the laptop, but I am looking for a fast single core speed and a sufficient video card. I've heard some anecdotal grumblings about Alienware's reliability, but that was a few years ago so I don't know if that's still the case or not. Anyways, the XPS 17 checked off most of my boxes, and it looks like you can configure one with an 11th gen i7, 64GB of RAM, and a 3060 video card and be within your budget. The maxed out i9 is just a bit over your budget, but not by much. I wish the video card was better, but the laptop does have Thunderbolt 4 ports so I think we can use an eGPU if we really need to.

[Tin Matutinovic]

On 8/16/2021 at 8:32 PM, Nikolaos M said:

I'd take a look at gaming laptops too (better cooling in general). You don't need a quadro GPU for Autocad and 3ds max.

Check these two models out:

https://geizhals.de/dell-alienware-m15-r6-dark-side-of-the-moon-9gyw5-a2558239.html?hloc=at&hloc=de

https://geizhals.de/hp-omen-17-ck0390ng-shadow-black-48p11ea-abd-a2553138.html?hloc=at&hloc=de

Hi Nikolaos,

Thanks for the reply, you helped me 3 years ago pick a desktop for work.

I usually don't like gaming laptops but this HP omen looks good, i do need a 17'' screen, 15'' is just too small. GPU looks like an overkill but it's fine. Only thing i do need is a numpad on a keyboard but that's not such a minus.

[Tin Matutinovic]

Hi guys,

Since there is a big shortage in laptops in my country (Croatia) I have looked for these in Germany that Nikolaos suggested. I have found this Lenovo laptop which i like: Buy Lenovo ThinkPad P17 G2 20YU000GGE - mynotebook.de    , i am just not sure if NVIDIA RTX A3000 with 6GB of RAM is enough for smooth viewport when i work with large models in 3dsMax (around 15.000.000 - 40.000.000 verts/polys). Is maybe A4000 better option or not?