Dell M6800 - To View Large Inventor Step Files

[coursonb]

I am looking for a laptop to be able to read large step files from inventor.  I work at a manufacturing company that builds sheet metal fabrications from customer supplied prints/drawings/models, and occasionally we run into larger step files of 3D models done in Inventor.  I am looking for something that will:

View: 75 to 200 MB Inventor Step Files

Eventually, we may need to create these files ourselves, but that would be down the road a ways.  I'm not sure if viewing inventor step files of this size is less intensive than creating them.  None of the systems we had were able to open the files we just received which were 120 MB.  They all crashed and ran out of memory.

I am looking at Dell's M6800 as an upgrade.  Here are a few configurations I am considering:

All systems are 64 bit, Windows 7 and can have a max of 32 GB of ram.  The main differences lie in the graphics cards, processors, and Hard Drives.

$2,000 system

Intel® Core™ i7-4810MQ Processor (Quad Core 2.80GHz, 3.80GHz Turbo, 6MB 47W, w/HD Graphics 4600)

8GB2 DDR3L at 1600MHz

2.5" 500GB Solid State Hybrid Drive

AMD FirePro M6100 w/2GB GDDR5

$2,600 system

Intel® Core™ i7-4910MQ Processor (Quad Core 2.90GHz, 3.90GHz Turbo, 8MB 47W, w/HD Graphics 4600)

16GB2 DDR3L at 1600MHz

256GB 2.5inch Serial ATA Solid State Drive

AMD FirePro M6100 w/2GB GDDR5

$2800 system

Intel® Core™ i7-4810MQ Processor (Quad Core 2.80GHz, 3.80GHz Turbo, 6MB 47W, w/HD Graphics 4600)

16GB2 DDR3L at 1600MHz

1TB Hybrid 2.5in, SATA3 with 8GB SSD Flash

Nvidia® Quadro® K3100M w/4GB GDDR5

I'm not too familiar with viewing files of this size, and would love some help.  Are any of these systems able to power these files, and is one of the setups better than the other?  What about if we ever move into creating the files ourselves?

Thanks a ton!

[coursonb]

From what I can gauge from the research I have done, it seems like the one issue that could really use an upgrade with the laptops posted below is the speed of the processor.  The multiple cores won't be able to offset the processor speed when running inventor, as inventor is mostly a '1 core' piece of software.  

The speed of the machines posted ranges from about 2.8 GHz to about 2.9, and also feature a "turbo speed listing".  Ideally, these machines would be closer to 4 GHz, and maybe even have 2 processors in order to be able run inventor optimally.  I'm not sure if viewing a file, and possibly getting dimensions is any different, or if the processor would be a possible issue with the machine.

Given the limitations of the processor, should these machines even be considered?  Or, should the machine be upgraded to the solid state drive, and possibly even the Nvidia 4 GB graphics card?  Would that help, and would they be a requirement, or would I just be upgrading a system that wouldn't be able to do the task anyway?

I have read many people who use an M6800 with success for inventor, but also am not familiar enough with the program to know if what I'm looking to do - read 75 to 200 MB files - is much more intense of an application then they are doing.  Can anyone please help point me in the right direction?  I'm looking to order this machine in the next day if possible.

[riff62]

Guess everyone is at AutoDesk University...lol

I had the M6800 with a SS drive and 2 gig video card..It did pretty well for anything I threw at it. Mostly drug processing models of maybe 20k parts..I think it had an i7 2.8ghz processor..

I would consider the 2600.00 system and maybe bump up the Ram if you start running into problems with your larger files. The one I had was 16 gigs and was fine.

If you have an unlimited budget go for the fastest processor, the most ram, the largest SS drive that you can afford and 4 gigs on the video card It would last you a couple years before having to upgrade.

Disclaimer: Im not a computer guru..your results may vary..