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Which notebook?

justmefromla

I know this is a hot topic but I need a laptop within 2 weeks (at most!) and really need the advice!! The problem I have now is with Form-Z renderings. Will all the details (lights, shadows, full ray-traced, people, furniture...lots and lots of crap), it will take me around 1 hour per image to render!! This is waaaAAAyyyy too much. this is the crap system I have now:
windows XP...Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.8 ghz
GForce FX5900XT , memory: 128mb

Even though I know next to nothing about computers this looks like CRAP to me. So please, please help me out. I've never had any problems with other programs (CAD, photochop, illustrator..etc.) I need a LAPTOP that will make awesome renderings fast. you guys know we never have freakin' time! thanks

 
Sep 20, 07 1:55 am
holz.box

i use moleskins pretty liberally

Sep 20, 07 2:01 am  · 
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Carl Douglas (agfa8x)

Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, a proper graphics card (not integrated graphics), WinXP 64-bit, and then whatever you like for HDD, screen size, optical drive etc.

Sep 20, 07 2:05 am  · 
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justmefromla

I've heard, for pc, that AVI is better than GForce...is this true? Which graphics card should I go for?
oh..thanks agfa8x

Sep 20, 07 3:08 am  · 
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Carl Douglas (agfa8x)

Realistically, ATI and NVidia (GeForce) are both fine unless you want to get technical. The only thing you want to avoid is integrated graphics, because it steals some of your precious RAM.

Sep 20, 07 4:00 am  · 
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trace™

yeah, comparing ATI to nvidia is like comparing a Lambo to a Ferrari. Both are good, sometimes one shines more than the other. You need to compare models that are similar in price.

XP 64 bit is great, but make sure your software is made for it (for example, there are different versions of Max for 32 or 64)

Complaining about 1 hour renders!! Shame on you. They should take at least 10 hours each (and yes, you should stay awake and make sure your computer doesn't crash). You need to add more GI, more details (plants are great at slowing renderings down)! ;-)

Sep 20, 07 8:05 am  · 
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Carl Douglas (agfa8x)

...ooh, and lots of lights.

Sep 20, 07 3:34 pm  · 
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the unintegrated graphics card is a major plus

but i would also go for about 2 gig of ram 4 if you can afford it. You may have to buy it seperately and have them install it when you purchase it (costs a bit more but guarantees it works)

Sep 20, 07 6:03 pm  · 
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oh and if you do it at Circuit City don't let them touch your BIOS - they will f'ck it up

Sep 20, 07 6:04 pm  · 
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justmefromla

thanks for the help..i did purchase a laptop this weekend. got it at microcenter (kinda like Fry's) upgraded to 4gigs of ram with UNintergrated gforce 8800 graphics card. i installed formz and autocad and it feels like it runs 100 times faster than the computer i was using before. :D thanks again

Sep 24, 07 11:46 am  · 
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mkokimoto

Just wondering... what laptop did you buy from Microcenter? My laptop chokes even on sketchup.

Sep 28, 07 9:41 pm  · 
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Chch

Thread revival! How much did that setup cost you? Surely it was pretty pricey?

Nov 22, 07 4:58 pm  · 
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