Is this laptop quick enough for Archicad ?

[Anonymous]

Hi All

Looking at buying a mid range laptop for running Archicad as my main computer. Is the spec below good enough or should I be looking at NVidia GTX series cards?

Intel® Core i7 2630Q ~2.9GHz
Windows7 Home Premium 64Bit
15.6" WXGA CrystalBrite widescreen, 1366x768 resolution
nVidia GT540 2GB of dedicated DDR3 VRAM
8GB DDR3 1066
1280 x 1024 Resolution
640GB HDD
DVD Super Multi Drive
6-cell Battery Lithium Ion (Li-Ion)
Wirelesss N (802.11 b/g/n)
Dolby® Advanced Audio® V2
1 x RJ-45/Ethernet
2 x USB 2.0 ; 1 x USB 3.0
1 x VGA
1 x Card Reader
1 x Microphone;
1 x Headset
1 x HDMI
382 (W) x 253(D) x 33.2 (H) mm / 2.6kg
3 Years Warranty (1st Year International Warranty)

[Anonymous]

It´s OK.
But the screen resolution is too low. Take one with 1600×900 or more.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Andre55

After reading the wiki Graphisoft recommend using Quadro cards. Does this mean standard Geforce cards aren't up to the task? You said OK but I assume that means just passable? Even with 2gb GPC?

Its a bit confusing and i dont want to over/underspend on my investment as this will be my primary notebook for design

[henrypootel]

They recommend Quadros simply because they are officially supported by Nvidia for this type of task. IE if your card acts funny in ArchiCAD and you have a Quadro, Nvidia will help. If you're using a GeForce, they won't (or they will, but very slowly).
In most cases the GeForces are just fine though, it will be a very nice machine for ArchiCAD.
All of the other specs are good - possibly verging on Overpowered, but that will mean it gives good performance for quite some time.
The only real problem is the screen 1366x768 is very low resolution, especially for a 15". I have a 10" laptop that uses that resolution!
For a 15.6" I'd want to get at the very least, a 1440x900 screen, although 1680x1050 would be better.
If you'll usually be plugging into an external monitor anyway, then the lower res would be fine though.

[KeesW]

I have a Dell 15XPS laptop with 8GB RAM, running 64 bit Windows 7 Professional. I upgraded the screen to 1980x1020 option. Used at home, I have connected it to 23 and 24" Dell monitors. It runs AC14 and AC15 very quickly, without noticeable problems. Not very expensive either.

I also have a Dell 8300 desktop with 12GB RAM and faster graphics. This is connected to a Dell 27" screen. The system runs a bit faster faster than the laptop.

Based on my experience, I think that a medium quality laptop, such as mine, is fine for Archicad.

PS: I like and am used to having a big screen and find the laptop's a bit small.