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Is this laptop quick enough for Archicad ?

Anonymous
Not applicable
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)
4 REPLIES 4
Anonymous
Not applicable
It´s OK.
But the screen resolution is too low. Take one with 1600×900 or more.
Anonymous
Not applicable
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
Graphisoft Partner
Graphisoft Partner
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.
Josh Osborne - Central Innovation

HP Zbook Studio G4 - Windows 10 Pro, Intel i7 7820HQ, 32Gb RAM, Quadro M1200
KeesW
Advocate
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.
Cornelis (Kees) Wegman

cornelis wegman architects
AC 5 - 26 Dell XPS 8940 Win 10 16GB 1TB SSD 2TB HD RTX 3070 GPU
Laptop: AC 24 - 26 Win 10 16GB 1TB SSD RTX 3070 GPU