Advice on a new laptop please. (Autocad civil 3d)

[ashei08]

I'm in need of a new laptop capable of running the latest autocad civil 3d. Mostly its for drawing but occasionly I might like to use some more of the heavy 3d capabilities, but nothing too intense.

What I would like to know specifcally is what type of processor would work best. Should I stick to an i7 or could I get away with an i5 or even i3, what about the equivilent amd processors?

Once I do pick a preferred processor how important is clock speed?

Is 6gb-8gb ram enough?

Is it worth sourcing a laptop with an SSD instead of a conventional HDD.

Do I need a dedicated graphics card or do the inbuilt ones suffice?

Hope that all makes sense. If you need any more clarity just shout! 

Thanks, Andrew

[mathewkol]

I'll answer a couple and let the others answer the rest.  All of this depends on how you will be using the software, small projects,very large projects, etc., 

6GB RAM is not sufficient, 8 is the recommended minimum.  Most people are happy if they have at least 12, again, depending on how the software is used.  if you do very small jobs, 8 may be enough.

Clock speed is directly proportional to how fast the software runs, so faster is better.

I don't think SSD is absolutely necessary, but it is very nice to have and if you're working on large projects where C3D has to access the local drive, it should perform better.

[troma]

I don't know enough to comment on what you should get, but here's what I'm running:

Civil 3D 2011, 32 bit

Civil 3D 2013, HF3.0, 32 bit

Win 7 Pro, 32 bit; Intel Core i5 @ 2.80GHz; 4GB RAM

I think the recommended minimum RAM went up from 2013 to 2014, not to mention that 2014 isn't available in 32 bit.

I don't do any 3D visualisation.

[dgorsman]

Important note: newer versions of Civil3D are 64-bit only.

I'd be suprised if you can get a suitable laptop *without* an SSD.

[ashei08]

Thanks for the advice so far very informative.

Does anyone else have any ballpark figures for processor clock speed.

I'm thinking 2.6ghz+ or as close to 3ghz as I can get?

When it comes to graphics cards, seems I need at least 1gb dedicated memory. Without trying to open up a can of worms, does the name on the graphics card matter much (example - nvidia xxx etc) as long as you have this dedicated memory?

Again I appreciate the swift help.

Andrew

[Anonymous]

Personally, I don't like ATI.  I've tried them enough that all I like to use is Nvidia.  Regarding a gaming card versus a Quadro, that's an entirely different topic of discussion that I won't get into.  Obviously, Autodesk recommends the Quadro cards but they are pricey.

One thing I haven't kept up on is if 2014 C3D makes use of the multi-threaded processors.  If they don't then the higher the processor speed the better.  In the past they would only use one core, so you wouldn't benefit by having an 8 core for example.  From what I remember, it would be better to get a quad core with a higher clock speed than an 8 core with a lower clock speed.

For RAM, its always the more the better.  8 GB will work but 12 would be much better.  I get by fine with 8 but I'm starting to wish I has 12.  I always have many programs open at once.

SSD is awesome.  I'm not sure how much it improves Civil 3D but it does provide an overall better PC performance beginning with starting up the machine.  Be careful though where you store your frequently accessed files.  From what I understand, SSD's have a limited life span that is determined by how many times sectors are overwritten.  So, I keep my files on a regular HD and I install my OS and programs on the SSD.

Good luck!