laptop advice

[Anonymous]

Hello, Fusion 360 community! I am going to be a mechanical engineering student this fall. Right now I am in the process of getting a new laptop that will be able to seamlessly run Fusion and the other CAD and slicing software that I use very frequently, almost daily. I am mostly interested in a Razer Blade laptop, Lenovo ThinkPad p50, Dell Precision 5520. A price in the low to mid $2000 range, at least an i7 CPU, an adequate graphics card, at least 16GB of RAM, at least 512 SSD, and portability, are all paramount factors for me. Please let me know if there are other machines you would recommend.

Thank you,

Ian

[mcramblet]

I'm a big fan of Boxx, who specialize in hardware for CAD. They aren't cheap budget computers, but ones made to work with specifically with CAD applications. If you look in the "ReBoxxed" section of the site, you'll find several versions of the "GoBoxx Slim", which will meet your price point and system requirements:

http://www.boxx.com/quick-ship/closeouts

I have a GoBoxx MXL VR, which I love, but for what you're looking for, the SLM series would work nicely.

[BvC_Prod]

Hello Mcramblet, I'm not seeing many reviews out there on GoBoxx laptops. I have a need to check 3D capture data while in the field, bad taste in my mouth from a client bringing along a Lenovo laptop with GTX 1080, similar spec to the MXL VR. This machine went down day 2, stuck in Siberia flying without a net. I know, lemons exist, client didn't properly test before heading out, but my attraction to GoBoxx, and this is based largely on their, albeit biased, claims, is that they serve engineering and entertainment industry users, touting much higher quality in selection of parts and not sending out design and fabrication of enclosure to the lowest bidder, as would names like Dell and Lenovo playing to larger crowds. Any truth to that from what you've seen. Any heat issues? Any gripes at all? How hard and long have you run your MXL VR? Thanks for sharing.

[mcramblet]

@BvC_Prod-

I can give you experience with my GoBoxx. I'm approaching having my laptop for a year now. I'm very happy with the performance and quality of the laptop. I use it as my only "workstation" both at work and at home, when needed. I use it a minimum of 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I primarily use it Fusion 360 and Keyshot, but also Rhino, SolidWorks, various Adobe products, such as Photoshop and Illustrator. I have had good performance with all, but SolidWorks alerts me every time to "check my system". The GeoForce card isn't supported, but for the limited use I have in SW, it seems to be fine. Whenever I can, I use several 36 core workstations for CPU rendering with Keyshot, but there are times where I've needed to do them locally. Using all 8 cores, at or near 100% CPU usage for hours at a time, I've had no over-heating issues. I've also experimented with some Cycles rendering in Rhino 6, which runs the GTX 1070 full out. This has also been done for hours, with no issues. The cooling system is actually very impressive. A certain temperature is reached, and beyond that, it doesn't budge. There is a fair amount of fan noise and it acts as a little heater, with the warm air coming out the back, but it runs without complaint. I still think it's a very impressive mobile workstation.

It is a large laptop, though, so that needs to be considered. I'm not as likely to bring it home with me, unless I know I'll need to use it for evening or weekend work. I have a large Pelican case, that is pretty thick. I keep the power brick, mouse, 3D mouse and accessories in the bottom layer, with the laptop in the top layer.

There is only one thing that I wished I had known about the VR Series, that may have changed the model I choose. The VR models, aimed a maximum performance at all times, have the integrated Intel graphics disabled. I was expecting the laptop to switch to Intel graphics when I was on battery, it doesn't. Adjusting the GeoForce settings certainly helps, but the VR series are not laptops to expect to browse the internet for hours at a time, the video cards just consume too much power. That one piece of information wasn't stated anywhere and I didn't find it out until I started digging into things and contacted Boxx. So be aware, all laptops with the designation VR have the integrated graphics disabled. If longer battery life is needed, be sure to confirm that model your looking at has the ability to switch when on battery. My particular laptop is good for about one hour. This works for me and my needs, but could be an issue for someone needing it for more field use.

Let me know if I left anything unanswered.

[mcramblet]

One more thing; I had mine built to the specs that I wanted. They put it together and they did fully test and perform a "burn-in procedure", or whatever they call it, to make sure all the components are working and the system is fully operational. I think that's a nice touch, to ensure things are right, before machines leave their facility. I'm not sure how many places do that, but I think most company's build them in large quantities and assume they are ready for shipping. Boxx truly builds and tests them to your specs.

[miguel.palma82]

this one fabricator, have a lot of models solve your problems, for sure 

there are around your budget

https://us.msi.com/

[I_Forge_KC]

I'm a Dell guy, through and through.

The Precisions come with next business day service and at least a 3-year warranty. I've been using the Precision line for about 15 years and never had an issue with them that wasn't corrected or repaired in short order. Dell maintains a network of 3rd party repair providers who can get the part next day and repair at your location (all for free, within the warranty period).

I'm also a fan of Quadros for engineering students. You'll likely be running programs like Ansys Live in the very near future that rely, almost exclusively, on the GPU. While gaming cards have comparable compute engines, their drivers are not the same by any stretch. You'll still be able to fire up some CS GO or PUBG, too.

[BvC_Prod]

Many thanks for the prompt reply and many details, just what the doctor ordered. That all sounds very encouraging, found a MXL VR on that Closeouts page with i7-7700K 4.2Ghz, 16 GB memory, GTX 1080, 512 GB SSD M.2 and 1 TB SATA for $2774, quite a break from the same package brand new. It's a bit of a risk with just a 30-day warranty, but with your vote of confidence (at least on a new model), I'll run with it and provide a solid shake down these thirty days, stability should show its face in this time. I'm yanking two 32 GB DDR4 SO-DIMMs from my ITX PC that blew up, seems these are compatible with the MXL VR. If so, do you know how many DIMM slots? I'll either yank the two 8 GB DIMMs and replace with mine or be able to add them. I also plan to yank the 1 TB SATA, too heavy, will repurpose a couple SSDs from the ITX build as well. 

Interesting what you say about locking out onboard graphics and power consumption, ran into this issue with my ITX. When I first built it a year ago I was able to push a 1080p 3D monitor from the onboard graphics and Dual-link DVI monitor from the 980 Ti. After a particular system upgrade no more. When I called I was told the motherboard never supported both, it was one or the other. But it worked before... In any event, not an issue. If I'm sitting in an airport, I'm not fussing with this large "laptop". It's really a misnomer, who would rest that on one's lap? It's a relatively small form factor workstation which allows me to travel with it SAFELY. And if I'm in the field away from wall current and need to validate data, that implies need for the GeForce. 

I'm curious, will the laptop function with the screen closed, running video out the back to larger monitors? I see it has one HDMI 1.4 and a Display Port, laptop will sit in cool server room with long connection to KVMP switch. That's the plan short term until I build a proper tower.

Many thanks, you made my day.

[mcramblet]

According to the manual, there are 4 260 Pin SO-DIMM Sockets, supporting up to 64GB, so you may be able to add your RAM to it.

I run the laptop all day, with the lid closed, using HDMI to power a large wide screen monitor. I only use the monitor of the laptop when I'm away from my desk or at home.

Sounds like a good deal, your getting. I'm glad I could be of help. Best of luck with the purchase, I hope it works out well for you!

[BvC_Prod]

Oh, that's two more bits of good news. Thanks.