New Computer

Hello everyone, 

I have been in the biz for a little over a year & Ineed to upgrade my computer (I am moving faster than the machine can) Looking for recommendations on the best replacement laptop. Thanks
Todd

Hi,

I know it is unpopular, but I work on an old Macbook Pro, and while I did not choose it for 3d modeling, I rarely experience any hiccups with it.
But I guess Mac is not for everybody... :)

Anders.

The simple answers is based on what you are trying to do. A great example would be a designer who models with Solidworks or Autodesk Inventor, and does some heavy rendering in Keyshot would need the following parameters:

•  i7 CPU with speeds in excess of 2.4 Ghz ( this is really where you see speed gains in CAD since they are all single threaded)
• 64 GB of RAM to handle large assemblies
• 16 GB Video Card ( to handle large 3D scan files, but if you don't need 3D scanning capabilities then you can go for something much smaller, since the CAD programs do not utilize the GPU, even though they say they do ;)

I hope this gets you going in the right direction. My personal choice is the WS65 from MSI, here is a link if your interested 
https://us.msi.com/Workstation/WS65.html

This MSI workstation has all the power and the portability that I need to travel. 

Matthew Holling wrote:The simple answers is based on what you are trying to do. A great example would be a designer who models with Solidworks or Autodesk Inventor, and does some heavy rendering in Keyshot would need the following parameters:

•  i7 CPU with speeds in excess of 2.4 Ghz ( this is really where you see speed gains in CAD since they are all single threaded)
• 64 GB of RAM to handle large assemblies
• 16 GB Video Card ( to handle large 3D scan files, but if you don't need 3D scanning capabilities then you can go for something much smaller, since the CAD programs do not utilize the GPU, even though they say they do ;)

I hope this gets you going in the right direction. My personal choice is the WS65 from MSI, here is a link if your interested 
https://us.msi.com/Workstation/WS65.htmldordle

This MSI workstation has all the power and the portability that I need to travel. 

I understand it is controversial, but I work on an old Macbook Pro, and although I did not chose it for 3D modeling, I seldom have any problems with it. But I suppose Mac isn't for everyone...:).

Based on my experience, I would recommend opting for the following components:
For Basic (You can go with any brand):

• Intel i9-14900KS processor, 14th Gen
• 32 GB graphics card
• 2TB SSD
• 16 GB RAM

Note: For Mac, I would like to suggest go with your requirements and as per your budget.

Mid-Range (As per Industry)
Mac Mini Pro

• M2 Chip

Pro Based:
Mac Studio

• M2 Chip (Max / Ultra)

Pro Max Based:
Mac Pro

• M2 Chip (Max / Ultra)