3d Modelling / Rendering Laptop - 3ds Max + Corona

[J0hnny_Utah7]

1) What is your budget?

~ $3000 CAD

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

 

Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen

 

3) In which country will you buying this notebook?

Canada

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

 

N/A

 

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?

No

6) What are the primary tasks you will be performing with this notebook?

I work in architectural visualisation. My primary software is 3ds Max running Corona render engine, which is CPU-based. I also work extensively on Photoshop for post-production. The most common bottleneck I will run in to is lack of RAM, so absolutely need something with 64GB RAM, or that is easily upgradable to 64GB.
 

GPU is less of a concern, but a solid one is only going to be better in the long run. 3ds Max isn't heavy on the GPU, but believe it prefers them with a bit more VRAM. Ideally not integrated.

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?

I will be using it using it as a traveling workstation when away from my main desktop, so I will be traveling with it, but can have it fairly stationary once arriving at a destination

8 ) Will you be playing games on your notebook? (If so, please state which games or types of games?)

Not very often, if at all (usually using a Steam Deck if anything)

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?

Not terribly important as I'll mostly be using it whilst stationary + Plugged in

10) Would you prefer to see the notebook you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?

Happy to order online

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Chrome OS, etc.

Windows

12) What ports do you require on your laptop? (ex. MiniDisplayPort or HDMI? Displayport or USB-C w/ DP?)

None are terribly essential. A few USB-A's and USB-C's will be fine.

13) What screen resolution(s) would you prefer? See further below for explanations.

A colour accurate screen is a main priority. Refresh rate is not a concern

14) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? See further below for explanations.

Either

Build Quality and Design

15) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?

No

Notebook Components

16) How much storage space do you need?

A 2TB SSD's and an additional 1 or 2TB SSD

Timing, Warranty and Longevity

17) When do you consider purchasing this laptop?

This year

18) How long do you expect to use this laptop?

As long as possible. 5+ years with proper maintenance?

19) How long could you afford to do without your laptop if it were to fail?

This would be OK. I'm primarily working from a desktop and this will only be used occasionally

20) Would you be willing to pay significantly extra for on-site warranty, or would it be acceptable to you to have to ship the laptop to the vendor for repair with perhaps a week or more outage?

Shipping the laptop is fine

Other

 

I was really keen on getting a Framework for the repairability, and upgradability. I love the business ethos, but not sure if the CPU, GPU and cooling are sufficient for my use case. Happy to hear thoughts in either direction. And I'd love a replaceable battery/upgradable RAM at least, but not sure if they are common in the current market.

 

I primarily work on a desktop (Ryzen 9 7950x / 64 GB DDR5 RAM / 3090), and I would be purchasing this machine for the occasions I have a project I need to work on but am away from my desktop.

[Bullit]

It is nasty CPU render, gives much more temps to a laptop. I am on Blender so i use GPU, the RTX3060 never surpass 70-71C. With my CPU's (5800H) goes to 95C in experiments.

 

In my opinion as long as it is medium CPU, it is irrelevant more than that since it will be the chassis temps buildup that will limit it, not its pure performance after a certain threshold.

 

Consider Lenovo Legion for example, you absolutely need a gaming laptop and not "professional one" because of cooling.   if you don't expect to use GPU render i would say consider at least a RTX4060. 4070 do not deserve the extra price since have same VRAM - the real GPU bottleneck in rendering -  so if you consider spending more go directly for 4080. But if you see the life of the machine only in CPU , 8GB VRAM will be more than enough.

 

I am not sure all gaming laptops are  already rated for 64GB RAM, check that. Some go to 32GB officially but work okay with 64

 

Don't pay premium for more RAM and more storage. Check the numbers, is often cheaper to just buy an SSD and new memory by yourself and you can still make money selling whatever it came with.

 

 

This is my machine from 2021, but it has an 5800H and now 32GB RAM and another SSD.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-Legion-5-17-with-RTX-3060-in-review-Strong-gaming-laptop-with-current-gen-AMD-Ryzen-CPU.603198.0.html

 

Fanatically pursue reviews and critiques of those models you shortlist. There are not bad manufacturers but there are bad models.

[J0hnny_Utah7]

Hi Bullit,

Thank you for the thoughtful reply - you've given me a few things to think about.

 

Appreciate it!

 

[kojack]

I would go with either a razer 16, xps 16 with Nvidia graphics or the new ProArt 16 from Asus. Three of those will work great for graphic creation. As a content creator myself, i know our needs are different than gamers. I use a Dell Inspiron 5406 2 in 1 as my main laptop, but am purchasing an RTX500 mini eGPU for a graphics boost.  For my work Intel's quicksync will take advantage of the extra GPU to make my projects finish MUCH faster.