topic New laptop for using AC20 in Installation & update

New laptop for using AC20

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 19:32:07 GMT

Hey everyone! Newbie here.

So anyways, I graduated some time ago and now I was thinking to start my own business using Archicad 20 for designing. The license was free back in school so I'm quite experienced using the program.

Anyways, I had no idea how much the program would require from the computer, although I always cursed how bad the school PC's were.

I've narrowed down to 2 different options, and these options are based on reviews I've seen here! I need a laptop since I travel quite a lot and don't spend that much time at my apartment.

Option 1:
Asus Zenbook Pro UX501VW 15,6"
Intel i7-6700HQ (Skylake, dual-core) 2,6 GHz
RAM: 16 Gt DDR4 SODIMM
Video Card: nVidia GeForce GTX 960M 2 Gt
Sound: Bang & Olufsen ICEpower
Hard drive: 512 Gt SSD
Cost: 2000€

Option 2:
Apple MacBook Pro 15" Retina
2,2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
RAM: 16 Gt
Hard drive: 256 Gt SSD flash-muisti
Video card: Intel Iris Pro
Cost: 2200€
*There's also the 2700€-model with the 2,5 GHz, 16 RAM and 512 GT SSD hard drive and Intel Iris Pro & AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2 Gt -video cards.

Now, I'm not an expert at all but the Zenbook looks better with the specs, and a bit cheaper. However, I've heard Apple products last for a looong time compared to other brands. However 2, both computers come with a free 3-year warranty.

In addition, I am planning to get a desktop in the future (possibly an iMac) but I read somewhere it's not possible to transit the Archicad from a Windows laptop to a iMac desktop, any truth to this?

So anyways, which would you guys recommend getting? Or not either of them? Basically I want the new Archicad 20 to run smoothly. Oh and if you accidentally see a word you don't understand, don't worry, it's possibly a Finnish word I forgot to translate when I copy pasted the laptop specs!

Re: New laptop for using AC20

Gerald Hoffman — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 23:00:47 GMT

They both look like they would be fine for ArchiCad but I would favour the Mac. If you can wait a month or so there will be new MacBook Pros coming out which will also probably have the Skylake processors. I have been working just fine on my MacBook Pro since late in 2011 and have only upgraded the HD to an SSD. It is still working very well but I will be looking at the new ones for the better video cards.

If you had to buy now I would chose the upgraded Mac with the better video card and larger SSD.

Cheers,

Re: New laptop for using AC20

Laszlo Nagy — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 15:47:40 GMT

GRAPHISOFT does not recommend laptops with only integrated graphics processing units (like the Iris Pro). They never offer the same performance as a dedicated graphics card does.
Otherwise the specs look good, your RAM shouldn't go below 16 GB, the 512 SSD is also a good choice, just as the i7-6700 CPU. You might want to consider a HDD as well for storage, that 512 GB will not be enough for all your data I think.

By the way, I think there may be this Young Architect Offer from GRAPHISOFT resellers where you can get a discount on your ARCHICAD purchase if you graduated in the last 3 years or so? You reseller can tell you whether this is available in your country or not.

Re: New laptop for using AC20

shtarkel — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 17:19:59 GMT

The Asus Zenbook Pro for sure