would this do for graphics programs?

masseyno9

Hi guys,

First time asking in here. Looking at a new laptop for doing college work on. Programs I use are AutoCad (2d and 3D) Photoshop, Sketchup and various rendering engines. From reading around it seems I need a decent processor, a dedicated graphics card, and a 64bit OS to use all available ram. On a pretty tight budget too.

Just wondering if the laptop linked below looks like it will fit the bill. I know I won't get blinding performance, but want it to handle a bit of multi-tasking without crashing or slowing down too much.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/HP_G62-a20SA_Windows_7_Laptop_WQ273EA/version.asp?switchc=e

Any other suggestions would be great. Budget could be bumped up a bit (absolute max €750 - and that leaves me on bread and water for a month).

Thanks.

EDIT: how would this compare? Would it be worth the extra? http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/HP_Pavilion_DV6-2113SA_Laptop_WB329EA/version.asp?switchc=e

ED E

If you're strapped you will only get a half arsed graphics card, I'd say focus on getting an i3 as more work will be done by the CPU. i3's start at 2ghz but are quad cores, double the linked. Once you have that and 4GB, get the best GPU you can.


Also, get the cheapest OS option you can, your college should be able to give you a good deal on 7 64Bit (unless you wanna use a linux distro ).

Alanstrainor

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

If you're strapped you will only get a half arsed graphics card, I'd say focus on getting an i3 as more work will be done by the CPU. i3's start at 2ghz but are quad cores, double the linked. Once you have that and 4GB, get the best GPU you can.


Also, get the cheapest OS option you can, your college should be able to give you a good deal on 7 64Bit (unless you wanna use a linux distro ).

All i3 processors are dual cores, only some of the i7's are quads.

dazzday

Indeed. With all the i-core promotion now is the time to pick up mid-high end core2duos for cheap. The higher end intel T and P series are easily on par with low-mid i5s in terms of performance.

For applications listed, order of spec should be RAM > CPU > Dedicated GPU (unless heavy 3d CAD rendering is being used).
Remember for heavy design work screen quality and resolution is an important factor and WGXA+ (900p) or above screen should be consider, or external monitor.

TBH id look at refurbished units,second hand builds on adverts/ebay or similar; aiming for T9300 and above CPU, 4gb Ram, HD 4650 and above.

masseyno9

thanks for all the replies. I don't think I was too far off the mark with what I was looking at, just need to refine the search a bit, and probably up the budget.

Any ideas on where else to look at getting refurbs? Dell outlet was my first thought, but its down at the moment. currently looking through ebay/adverts etc.

ED E

Alanstrainor wrote: »

All i3 processors are dual cores, only some of the i7's are quads.

Facepalm, 4 threads, 2 cores.

And there are quad i5s too.

Being broke I've been paying little attention to the new tech that I cant get my mits on.

masseyno9

If anyone's interested, here's what I got in the end.

Acer Aspire 5741G, with following specs:
Intel Core i5-430M processor
NVIDIA GeForce® GT 320M
4gb RAM
640gb hdd
Windows 7 64-bit
15.6" widescreen LCD

€600 - gumtree

Pretty happy with it in the end, wouldn't get near that spec on a new one for that price I don't think. Cheers for the help.