Hardware for Fusion 360 - Discrete graphic card Vs integrated

[Anonymous]

I need to buy a new laptop for my job before this 7 years old one (i7-2670QM + NVIDIA GeForce GT540M 1GB) die.

I use Autocad LT for 2D drawings of electrical plants, office applications, web browsing, but also wanna try Fusion 360 for 3D print modeling (just for hobby). I use a separate ultrawide monitor when at my office.

I can purchase right now a 2-in-1 with an i7-10510U + NVIDIA GeForce MX250 2GB or waiting some months and take same thing but with a i7-1165G7 and integrated Intel Iris Xe with shared memory, 16GB RAM in both cases and maybe quite same price.

Is it worth the wait?

[lance.carocci]

Your current device should be able to run Fusion 360 if you wanted to wait.

From my understanding Iris Xe will be a little faster than the MX250, but Nvidia will also be releasing the MX450, which will widen the performance gap once again. Ice Lake also brings improvements to power consumption and Thunderbolt 4, which you might want in a laptop.

Here is a little overview from NotebookCheck that I'm using to come to this conclusion: https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-GeForce-MX450-looks-set-to-offer-tremendous-gains-over-the-Intel-I...

That said, the MX250 is perfectly suitable for smaller assemblies and basic-intermediate modeling, and will be supported for a few years since it is still being offered in new devices. If your device dies before the next gen is in circulation, I wouldn't feel bad about needing to buy a current generation laptop. In any case, waiting a bit might net you a sizable discount on the current generation as holiday shopping promotions begin rolling out, if not a slight discount on the next generation.

Broad strokes - if you have to buy now, buy now. If you can wait, wait.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your contribute Lance, I found it interesting.

Dell customer care told me new device should be available in the middle or end of october, so no long wait.

I also found the 17" model has same dimension of my current 15.6" laptop, has 11th gen i7 processor and MX350 graphics card, so it could be another choice, even if the 4k display is a quite heavy load ...

[lance.carocci]

For what it's worth, I do much of my testing on Intel UHD 620 graphics on a 4K display. Only with complex models (many faces/edges) or large assemblies does it start to slow down. In addition, there are graphics settings to help maintain a certain framerate when navigating the model, should you find it too slow.

[mazzetti]

The 15.6" Dell machine with 11th generation of Intel processor, both integrated and discrete Intel graphic (XE Max with 4GB) and 4K display ( https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/2-in-1-laptops/new-inspiron-15-7000-2-in-1-laptop-black-edition/spd/...) appeared and disappeared twice on italian website, always with international keyboard only. You can find it on other countries Dell websites, but no way to have it shipped here. It is impossible write/talk with italian Dell until you have a device serial number.

There is a full HD Dell Inspiron 15 7000 model with integrated Iris XE and shared memory, but at same price I think to switch on Lenovo Yoga 7i. I lost HDMI and integrated SD card reader, but I gain another Thunderbolt 4 port and dark keyboard (some Dell users complain about it).
Any cons?