topic Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17? in Installation & update

Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Gus — Sat, 11 May 2013 17:39:14 GMT

May, 2013

To anyone out there who knows a lot about ArchiCAD 17 and laptops,

My laptop's motherboard died a few days ago.
I've been searching for a replacement.
Following is a quote and specifications for a laptop I was considering purchasing to use with ArchiCAD 17.
Is there anyone out there who might be able to tell me if this is a good choice or not? My brain is getting quite scrambled with all these product sheets and different advice websites.
Is there anything missing or not adequate for one reason or another?
I would really appreciate any advice anyone might have.

Thanks.

Michael

Specs:

Inspiron 17R Special Edition Inspiron 17R Notebook (Inspiron 7720)
Inspiron 17R Notebook (Inspiron 7720)
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM (6MB cache, up to 3.4Ghz)
8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
17.3" Full High Definition (1080p) LED Display with Anti-Glare
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GDDR5 2GB
Intel® Centrino® Wireless 2230, 2x2 bgn + Bluetooth
1TB 5400RPM SATA HDD + 32GB mSATA SSD w/ Intel Smart Response
Intel® Centrino® Wireless 2230, 2x2 bgn + Bluetooth
English Backlit Keyboard with Multi-touch Touchpad
Windows 8, 64-bit, English
Integrated 10/100 Network Card
NB & DT w/Webcam
48 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Battery
8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
Skullcandy Speakers with WaveMaxx 4.0
Power cord, 125V, 3.2 Feet, US
Win8 Documentation, English
Microsoft Office Trial
Shipping Material, Direct & Retail
McAfee Security Center, 15 Month Subscription
Cyberlink Media Suite Essentials DVD
90 days Premium Phone Support + 1 Year In-Home Service after Remote
Wireless Display Application
Retail Software - All WIN8
PCmover Home – Free
Digital Delivery Enablement
A7TRBO1401_019/BTS/C1
PocketCloud Companion, Standard, Digital Delivery
Inspiron 17R Special Edition Palmrest Label

Stealth Black Anodized Aluminum
No Adobe Reader Selected

Subtotal: $1,057.43
Shipping & Handling: $0.00
Tax: $57.18
Total Price w/Discounts: $1,114.61

Also:
Here are two links I have found that help with deciding these things but I am still having trouble:

http://archicadwiki.com/VideoCardsForArchiCAD16?action=show&redirect=Video+Cards#Recommended_Video_Cards_for_ArchiCAD_16

and

http://www.graphisoft.com/support/system_requirements/index.html

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Laszlo Nagy — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:14:57 GMT

It is a pretty good computer.
Processor, display size and resolution, graphics card type and memory size are all good.
A few recommendations in order of importance:
1. SSD drive for system is good too. I would buy a larger one though if you can afford it. Preferably somewhere around at least 80-120 GB because lots of program install themselves onto the system drive and 32 GB fills up very fast. I have a 60 GB one and I find it not large enough.
2. Memory size. I would strongly recommend 16 GB of it. It is the other most important thing that, if not enough, can slow your machine down. Memory size is much more important than processor performance, because today's processors are very powerful, ArchiCAD is very well optimized, but if you don't have enough RAM for all your applications, your system will slow down dramatically.

Otherwise it seems like a good system, even for ArchiCAD 17. Lots of performance enhancements have been made for ArchiCAD 17 so it is not slower than previous version, only needs a bit more RAM.

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Gus — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:26:28 GMT

Thank you so much for that advice. It is comforting to hear. I will see if I can get this customized with 16gig and more solid state. Huge help!

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Gus — Sat, 11 May 2013 22:18:09 GMT

Does this one look better?
I know that the ram and solid state drive are better but is the "gaming" 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M video card on this one going to work as well as the NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GDDR5 2GB on the previous one I posted?

Alienware M17X R4 with Soft Touch
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.4GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
32GB (4 X 8GB) Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
17.3-inch WideHD+ 1600 x 900 60Hz WLED
2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M
256GB SSD SATA 6Gb/s
Quasar Blue
Windows® 7 Professional, 64bit
Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish
Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Creative Sound Blaster Recon3Di with THX TruStudio Pro Software
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 With Bluetooth 4.0
Alienware M17x 240W A/C Adapter
Alienware Documentation
Microsoft® Office trial
Shipping Material - Black
NO VIRUS PROTECTION REQUESTED
90WHr 9-Cell Primary Battery

Subtotal: $2,101.12
Shipping & Handling: $0.00
Tax: $115.56
Total Price w/Discounts: $2,216.68

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Gus — Sun, 12 May 2013 02:57:11 GMT

This seems like it may be the most balanced Laptop for ArchiCAD 17 I have found so far. Any thoughts?

$2,279.00
ThinkPad W530
Part number: 2436CTO

• Intel Core i7-3740QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.70 GHz)
• Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
• 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) LED Backlit AntiGlare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
• NVIDIA Quadro K2000M Graphics with 2GB DDR3 Memory
• 128GB Solid State Drive, SATA3
• 16 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (4 DIMM)
• Keyboard Backlit - US English
• UltraNav with Fingerprint Reader
• 720p HD Camera with Microphone
• DVD Recordable
• Express Card Slot & 4-in-1 Card Reader
• 9 Cell Li-Ion TWL 70++
• 170W Slim AC Adapter - US (2pin)
• Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna
• Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 AGN
• Mobile Broadband upgradable
• Publication - US English

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Laszlo Nagy — Sun, 12 May 2013 08:20:34 GMT

The ThinkPad is 15.6". Which means only one hard drive. And 128 GB will just not be enough for everything. This is why a 17.3" is a better choice, I think because it has room for 2 hard drives.

The Alienware's screen resolution is only 1600x900. I would recommend the 1920x1080 resolution. The higher resolution, the beter for ArchiCAD so with all the palettes you still have lots of room to work in.
It is not included in the list you attached but it also has a 1 TB hard drive.
I see that you can configure the Alienware with 1920x1080.
This is a gaming laptop which means it usually have strong processor, graphics card, lots of RAM, SSD + hard drive, good audio.
These are also good for ArchiCAD, which usually requires a high end machine.
Acually, my laptop is also a gaming laptop simply because that was the type of laptop that offered the specs I needed.

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

ci-JoshOs — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:30:52 GMT

That thinkpad would be perfect - just bump the SSD up to 240/256Gb.

The specs on the alienware are good too, but there's still nothing that comes close to thinkpad in terms of reliability and support.

Their screens are beautiful too, and the keyboards are pretty universally acknowledged as being amazing.

definitely worth the extra cash I would say!

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:56:10 GMT

Ive have been wondering if any one has reading the very good reviews that the new Intel Haswell Processor has been getting?

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/05/a-look-at-haswell/

In particular the main improvement has been the built in dreaded Intel HD graphics - according to the reviews they are almost as good as some of the low end discrete graphics. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who is planning on buying a low end laptop / desktop and trying archicad out on it.

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:26:13 GMT

As a user of a M6600 (previous model) i highly recommend this:

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&fb=1&l=en&model_id=precision-m6700&oc=swct674n&s=bsd&vw=classic

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:59:05 GMT

I bought that Dell special you started with for home - pretty unbeatable at that price point.
The screen size is great and no compromise from work.
Have not had any issues so far except that the build quality is less than my Mac (at double the price!). The keyboard flexes in the middle when in use...
and it is a big and heavy beast...

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:33:39 GMT

Side issue - I have been using one of the late 2011 MAC 17" MacBook Pro with the following upgrades:

Swapped the HD for a 256 SSD
Added 4GB memory for a total of 8
Added a 23" LG monitor to add to the available real estate
Added a 1TB external for backup

The system is very responsive. Upgraded to V16 and the graphics seem to be OK. Awaiting the arrival of V17 and will post when I can compare. Since I am a sole practitioner, the unit does everything needed. I have a need for a couple of WIN Apps so am using Parallels - installed AC V10 since it only works for me on the win side to open old files and is really fast. It shows that we have a lot of better stuff, but simpler is good too.

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:26:24 GMT

I'm an ArchiCAD newbie. In fact, I just downloaded the free trial of AC17.

I have the same question as the original poster, except I'm wondering if this laptop would be suitable to run AC17 as secondary (traveling) machine:

HP ENVY 15t Quad TouchSmart Laptop, Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ 2.4GHz

Processor & Memory:
4th generation Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ 2.4GHz
16GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)

Drives:
1TB 5400RPM Hard Drive
No Internal DVD or CD Drive

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows 8 (64-bit)
Windows 8 is Beautiful, fast, and fluid
Personalized: Make your Start Screen your personalized home for the things you care about. Organize and customize it the way you want
Connected: Now everything is in one place to share. Integrate your online favorites – Facebook, Flickr, Hotmail, etc. – with content from your PC., such as photos and contacts
Touchable: The new Windows 8 has been redesigned for touch but still works great with a mouse and keyboard

Graphics & Video:
15.6-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit Display (1366x768)
Intel® HD Graphics 4600

Communications:
802.11b/g/n WLAN
Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone

Audio:
Beats™ audio

Keyboard:
Standard Keyboard

Ports:
4x SuperSpeed USB 3.0
1x HDMI
1x Headphone out/ Microphone-in combo jack
Multi-Format Digital Media Card Reader

Power Supply:
6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
65W AC adaptor

Additional Information:
Coolsense Included: Yes
Dimensions: 14.94" W x 9.87" D x 0.74”~1.18” H
Weight (Approximately): 5.62 lbs.
ENERGY STAR Qualified

I do almost all my work on my desktop and would only use this when I'm away from the office, so the screen size isn't that big a deal.

Any opinions?

Thanks,

Dorothy

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Barry Kelly — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:11:47 GMT

I am no expert but the hard dive is a little slow which won't help.

Also it sounds like it has an integrated video on the mother board (Intel® HD Graphics 4600) which might be an issue.
Graphisoft say "We do not recommend the following low-end video cards:
•NVidia Quadro NVS series (not to be confused with the FX series)
•ATI FireMV series (not to be confused with FireGL series)
•Intel on-board (motherboard-integrated) video chips"

And the main killer will be the screen resolution.
The 15" screen might be usable but at 1366x768 resolution you won't see all the tool bars and the work space will be tiny.
Graphisoft say "Resolution of 1024 x 768 is required. Resolution of 1280 x 1024 or higher is recommended"
So it will work (if the graphics card is up to it) but it will not be pleasant.

Barry.

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

ci-JoshOs — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:29:57 GMT

I agree with Barry - hard drive is very slow, on-board graphics card is bad, and resolution is low enough as to make ArchiCAD nigh-unusable.

The hard-drive should be upgraded to at least a 7200RPM disk, or a solid-state if possible. Drop back the RAM to 8Gb and use the money you save to put in a 240Gb SSD instead.

You are also going to want a discrete graphics card as well - Nvidia Quadro 600 seems to be the sweet spot at the moment, but if that's too pricey or not available, then a GeForce 650 or thereabouts should do the trick.

The screen would be OK if you are always planning on plugging it into an external 21 or so inch monitor, otherwise, try and upgrade the resolution on the laptop panel. 1440x900 would be the bare minimum I would say, but 1920x1080 would be better.

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Steve Jepson — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 09:45:23 GMT

Dell M6700

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Update-Dell-Precision-M6700-Notebook-Nvidia-Quadro-K5000M.89984.0.html

Laptop for ArchiCAD 11 (upgrade to 17 later)

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 12:39:08 GMT

Hello everyone, hello especially to the ones in the know who have been helping Gus and will hopefully help me...

I was about to hit the go-button to order a new Dell laptop today - and it would have been either this one:

Dell XPS 15 (16GB RAM / 512 GB SSD)
------------------------------
/ Intel® Core™ i7-3632QM processor (with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.20 GHz)
/ Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, Deutsch
/ 40 cm (15.6") FHD-WLED-Display with 1.080p, Truelife und Skype-certyfied HD-Webcam
/ 16 GB1 DDR3 SDRAM, 1600 MHz
/ Solid-State-HD (SSD) mit 512 GB
/ Blu-ray combined drive (Blu-ray read, DVD/CD write)
/ 2 GB nVidia GeForce GT 640M
/ 2.6 kg
/ € 1.849,00

or this one:

Dell XPS 15 (8GB RAM / 750-GB-SATA + 32-GB-mSATA-SSD)
------------------------------
/ Intel® Core™ i7-3632QM processor (with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.20 GHz)
/ Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, Deutsch
/ 40 cm (15.6") FHD -WLED-Display mit 1.080p, Truelife und Skype-certyfied HD-Webcam
/ 8 GB2 DDR3 SDRAM, 1600 MHz
/ 750-GB-SATA-HD (7.200 U/min) + 32-GB-mSATA-SSD-HD
/ Blu-ray combined drive (Blu-ray read, DVD/CD write)
/ 2 GB nVidia GeForce GT 640M
/ 2.6 kg
/ € 1.349,00

It's not that money grows on the trees in my garden, but I have been working with the now-crashing computer for 7 years and probably will work as long with the new one, so I think to buy the "stronger" version of the XPS would be a wise decision. But then I stumbeled over the remark above in this thread that it WOULD be a REASONABLE alternative to have a gamer computer. I never considered gaming hardware before. Graphic cards have been an issue ever since I work with ArchiCAD (that's a while...) and it makes me nervous every time I buy a new computer. So does it now. I checked every list and advice and since the nVidia GeForce GT 640M built in the XPS 15 was recommended above in this thread, I felt it would be safe to order. But I have to admit I'm still working on ArchiCAD 11 (considering upgrade, but not next few days!) so there is a little bit of adventure left.

If a Gamer Laptop IS an opportunity, and if I do spend as much money as 1800+ Euro, then why not have this one:

Alienware 14
------------------------------
/ Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ prozcessor (6MB Cache, bis zu 3.4GHz w/ Turbo Boost Technology)
/ Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, Deutsch
/ 35 cm (14.0") FHD W-LED-Display (1920 x 1080), reflexionsarm
/ 16 GB2 Dual-Channel DDR3L bei 1600 MHz
/ 750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
/ Slot-Loading Blu-ray reader with Dual Layer (BD-ROM, DVDRW, CD-RW)
/ NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 765M Grafikkarte mit 2GB GDDR5
/ 2.77 kg
/ € 1.899,00

The smaller display doesn't bother me much because I have an external, bigger display at my workplace anyway - it only matters if I travel. And when I travel size and weight matter also. So basically the questions I'm struggling with are:

1/ Do both of the graphic cards:
- nVidia GeForce GT 640M
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 765M
work with the ArchiCad versions I'm planning to use in near and not-so-near future (ArchiCAD 11 and ArchiCAD 17)?

2/ What is the difference between the two HDs - and which is the better one to have for my purpose?
- Solid-State-Drive (SSD) 512 GB (XPS 15)
- 750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s (Alienware)

As my computer shows me a blue window every two days and I say a little prayer every time before I start the system, I'm trying to solve that problem soon! I'm grateful for every help, advice or recomendation! Thx!

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Ernest Atanasiu — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 17:57:23 GMT

You should take a look at ASUS N56VZ series (15" full HD screen) or the N76VZ series (17" full HD also).

It has beter build quality than Dell.

I have a N76VZ and it's great.
Intel® Core™ i7 3610QM
DDR3 1600 MHz SDRAM, 2 x SO-DIMM socket for expansion up to 16 GB SDRAM
17.3" HD+ (1600x900)/Full HD (1920x1080)/Wide View Angle LED Backlight
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M with 2GB/4GB DDR3 VRAM

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 00:37:04 GMT

AC runs very well on modest machines by today's standards.
Keep the €500 and save a bit more - upgrade to the latest AC, the productivity enhancements will save you more time than the machine will.

Re: Laptop for ArchiCAD 17?

Steve Jepson — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 02:21:00 GMT

uisanata wrote:
...It has beter build quality than Dell.

I can vouch for the flimsy case of the M6600, however, what's inside is rock solid. Also, it may feel flimsy but I am not so sure it makes anything more than a cosmetic difference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6cdnnJAdHw