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Buying a new laptop to run SolidWorks

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cinnamongirl

cinnamongirl

Mechanical
Jan 18, 2011
106
I'm trying to pick a good laptop to run SolidWorks. So far my top choice is the HP 8450w, specifically the B2A78UT (i7-2640M 2.8GHz 8GB 500GB DVD/RW 15.6").

I prefer HP's laptops to Dell's, they look and feel better built, and Dell portable workstation look "chunky".

I'd like to know whether this is a good choice. I'm trying to balance value and features. The specific model I picked has the features I need for SolidWorks, most important a 15.6" screen and it's the most affordable HP model featuring 2GB's of video memory.

I notice some models feature the AMD FirePro M5950 with only 1GB of video memory. Is that a big step down from the Quadro 1000M with 2GB's? From my understanding video memory can affect SolidWorks' performance significantly.

For a little more money I can get a processor with an additional 2MB of cache, would this make a big difference even though it has a lower clock speed (2.8GHz Vs. 2.4)?

 
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I've used a HP 8740w 3 to 4 years ago and it was a pretty good machine.

Now I'm working on a Lenovo ThinkPad W500 and If I was to change today I would go with the new version W520. I really like the build of the ThinkPad and I much prefer the installed software from lenovo vs HP.

As for your questions about the graphic cards you can have a look at the solidworks site I would not base my decision strickly on those result but you can see that the Quadro gives better results than the Firepro so it comes down to what you can afford.

For the processor I'm very interested in the response you will get from others because I don't know the real impact of better cache and I've been looking for answers for a while now.

Besides all this I think your looking for a very good machine for the price with what you've selected.

Pat
 
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Here is what I purchase for our users at Berry Plastics.

Dell:

M4600 is for our low, to Moderate users of Solidworks.
M6600 is for our Heavy to Super heavy Solidworks users.

We have had ZERO problems out of the Dell PC's with Solidworks. We have tested the Lenovo W520's and they work great for AutoCAD, but not so well with Solidworks. The Dell PC's always out perform them in every way We have tested.

I hope this helps... Do note we have a Company account through Dell, so we do get a certain Percentage off, but I don't think its more than 10%.

Kind regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP [pc2]
Berry Plastics
Cad Admin\Design Engineer
GEASWUG Greater Evansville Area SWUG Leader
"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"
Click to expand...
faq731-376
 
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Hi Scott

It's not the first time I read you say that. I know it may be hard to quantify but do you have an idea of how much better the Dell perform over the ThinkPad. I just built a Dell M4600 vs a Lenovo W520 online with the exact same configurations going to the waranty and I get 327$ less for the lenovo so I wonder if I only look for the price is the Dell still the better choice price/performance wise?

Sorry for hijacking the thread

Thanks

Pat
 
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The HP 8450w is not currently listed on the HP site. Are you buying a refurbished unit? Also the B2A78UT model number refers to a 8560W EliteBook.

What is your budget?

CPU speed is king where general SW performance is involved.
 
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I'm going with a 15.6" screen so the Dell equivalent would be the M4600. I looked at the Dell site and the prices seem significantly higher for similar specs.
 
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PatCouture - if you want go to my website and e-mail me there so I can talk to you about what I found. - thx

Scott Baugh, CSWP [pc2]
Berry Plastics
Cad Admin\Design Engineer
GEASWUG Greater Evansville Area SWUG Leader
"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"
Click to expand...
faq731-376
 
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I made a quick quote of the same items on the Dell website if I were not working for Berry Plastics and did not receive the discounts that we get.

The price was not as bad as I thought it would be. There is no tax calculated in it yet, but the base price is a little higher. I did make some cost reduction changes, like a standard 320GB HDD, versus the 128GB SSD like we use here, everything else should be nearly the same.

I hope this helps,

Scott Baugh, CSWP [pc2]
Berry Plastics
Cad Admin\Design Engineer
GEASWUG Greater Evansville Area SWUG Leader
"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"
Click to expand...
faq731-376
 
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One thing to keep in mind is the Precision workstations are only available directly through Dell, there are no other authorized retailers. HP authorized retailers compete with each other so they bring their prices down.
 
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I used all of Anna's examples (benchmarks) when I tested that Lenovo C20, and our 2 year old dell still out ran the Lenovo product that was suppose to be comparable to Dell we own.

Until we have a a problem using the Dells, I am not going to even consider a Lenovo workstation for a Solidworks user.

That is just my opinion. - Kind regards everyone!

Scott Baugh, CSWP [pc2]
Berry Plastics
Cad Admin\Design Engineer
GEASWUG Greater Evansville Area SWUG Leader
"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"
Click to expand...
faq731-376
 
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Just got my 8560w last week and been using it for a couple of days. The thing is built like a tank, very heavy but sturdy (makes it a joy to type on). SolidWorks running well so far, no large assemblies yet, but I think hard drive performance suffers a bit in a laptop.
 
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Last summer I purchased a MSI GT683 which is a gaming computer but it has an I7 processor, 12gb RAM, 1Tb hard drive, and NVIDIA graphics card for under $1400 and have been very happy with it. I looked for comparable stats in an HP or Dell but could not match the price of this system.
 
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You don't mention system RAM, but it is critical, especially if you get into assemblies that are even slightly large in size. Minimum of 6-8GB system RAM with 64 bit OS is my recommendation, along with at least 2GB VRAM. Skimp on either system or video RAM now and you will pay for it later. Also, as far as video cards, you know that you can check the SW site for their recommended cards. Just be warned that they do not always recommend the best card for your particular hardware/software configuration, so use good sense as well. I have had more that one SW recommended video card over the years that was sub-par in performance.
 
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