Laptop for Solidworks/CAD

[whiskeysteve]

Techheads, your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Got a copy of solidworks 2012 there (student edition) and also looking for a new laptop. Only care about running the solidworks on it, all other requirements are basic.

RAM, processor requirements are clear, its the graphics card requirements that have me confused. How cheap a laptop can I get away with? Do I have to budget for a dedicated graphics card?

[illdecide]

Whiskey Steve I'd imagine even the basic laptops will cater for those software packages (although I'm sure the IT guys can confirm or deny this) I'm running AutoCAD and Solidworks 2011 of my laptop and it's basic enough and 4 year old

[blewuporstuffed]

it depends what level you want to run soliworks at as well, if you want to run FEA or complex surface modelling and that sort of thing a bog standard prcessor will struggle, and it may be prone to freezing when you open larger assemblies.
a lower end graphics card tends to struggle with large assemblies also.

if you are just creating basic parts & medium size assemblies a mid range laptop will be fine, or even consider a desktop if thats suitable

[mylestheslasher]

I've used solidworks for about 10 yrs. In answer to your question, it depends whether you intend drawing simple parts or whether you intend drawing complex assemblies with multiple parts. If its the later s bog standard laptop will not be good. You should look at 8gb of ram and a new dual core processor. Personally, I wouldn't waste my time with a laptop. Buy a desktop and put your money into a good monitor. If you intend using this professionally then graphics cards are an issue. CAD workstations are normally fitted with special CAD cards such as the firegl card, these are not gaming cards that normal PCs are fitted with. A gaming card will do ok for a basic user but you will get mote crashes with it. Whatever you buy make sure you get a standalone graphics card and don't rely on the onboard graphics of the motherboard. Any questions feel free to pm me.

[whiskeysteve]

Thanks for the feedback lads, aye Myles im looking for a laptop as i need to be mobile with it, I don't intend to draw complex assemblies at present - conceptual models will do for now with a view to learning the software for down the line.

At the minute im looking at getting a W7-64 laptop with 4gb of ram and room for an upgrade to 8gb. And a mid-range dedicated graphics card. Id love to splash out on a high end beast but as Mick Hucknall said "Moneys too tight to Mention".

[Hereiam]

I understood 4gb of ram was the limit for most new computers as anything above is not used by windows.

[amallon]

32 Bit Windows can only use 4GB.  64 bit doesn't have that limitation.