Computers

[FYB]

My father is in the market for a new laptop and desktop seeing as we still have very old computers, I'm currently running an Hp Pavilion 7955. To be honest, I don't need a gaming computer, if this computer was capable of running AH in low setting then a cheap desktop will probably run it much better.

Back on topic, anybody suggest any decent laptops and desktops?

To narrow it down a bit he's looking at laptops with iC7 w/ Windows 7, I have not clue what the iC7 is, I'm not too big on this kind of stuff.

EDIT: I might have mistaken the iC7, is it Intel Core i7? It's something like that, mind my limited knowledge.

[Spikes]

I've never heard of IC7, but he might be referring to the i7, yes. They make mobility i7 processors now that are normally 1.6ghz.

They run a lot of laptop deals on newegg all the time...depends what he needs it for. If you have a budget for the desktop we could help you build one frmo scratch or you could go with a prebuilt (Dell/HP or possibly iBUYPower)

[FYB]

I've never heard of IC7, but he might be referring to the i7, yes. They make mobility i7 processors now that are normally 1.6ghz.

They run a lot of laptop deals on newegg all the time...depends what he needs it for. If you have a budget for the desktop we could help you build one from scratch or you could go with a prebuilt (Dell/HP or possibly iBUYPower)

The laptop is for normal day use and running some softwares my father uses for mechanical engineering. I'm guessing that's the reason for the i7??

For a desktop, definitely a budget one. It doesn't have to be fancy, and building from scratch sounds better than buying a pre-built one. We already have a 9800GT graphics card that needs to be fitted with some new fans or some sort of cooling "system".

[gyrene81]

Bestbuy has a good sale going on laptops, and these days good quality laptops can be had for under $1500.

If you have a 9800GT video card that needs a heatsink and cooling fan you can get one fairly inexpensive, then use that card in a system you build for yourself. I just priced out a dual core AMD system for someone else for under $800, since you don't need a video card nor I assume a monitor, you could probably get under that.

[FYB]

Bestbuy has a good sale going on laptops, and these days good quality laptops can be had for under $1500.

If you have a 9800GT video card that needs a heatsink and cooling fan you can get one fairly inexpensive, then use that card in a system you build for yourself. I just priced out a dual core AMD system for someone else for under $800, since you don't need a video card nor I assume a monitor, you could probably get under that.

What is the difference with dual core, quad core, i3, i5, i7, I'm in a world that far exceeds me at the moment.

[Spikes]

Well to put it into better terms:

Dual Cores:
i3, some i5's

Quad cores:
i5's, i7's

The extra cores just allow better performance for particular programs...ie video rendering. You won't see much difference in everyday programs. What kind of programs (names in specific) does he use for his work?

[MachFly]

I'm not sure about the desktops, have not looked at them in a while.

But I recently bought a laptop and did a whole bunch of research on it.  
Decided that I best get an IBM (Lenovo) Thnkpad. They have a few different kinds to to match your specifications, and they all can be modified with whatever specific hardware you request.
I got myself the T510 (with the Nvideo video card) and it runs AH2 pretty good. The only thing is that I my frame rate drops when I select self shadowing but everything else works great on highest settings.  

[MachFly]

Also the duelcore (or quadcore) processor that you get for a desktop is not the same as for a laptop. The only for a laptop would generally have "less power" even if they are both called I7 (or I5).
To compensate that they added a feature called turbo boost which makes the 2nd core work to backup the 1st only when one core is needed, in other words if you are running an application which uses only one core the turbo boost will make the 2nd core help the 1st in order to increase the processing speed. I do not belive this feature is available for desktops but you probably don't need it there anyways.

[ozrocker]

Acer used to be junk. In the years gone by, they are actually good laptops now. I bought my daughter one from Newegg.com, for 489.00. It does everything she needs it to do for College, and more. She has had it for a year now, no issues whatsoever. Good Luck in your Dad's search.

                                                                                                                 <S> Oz

[FYB]

Acer used to be junk. In the years gone by, they are actually good laptops now. I bought my daughter one from Newegg.com, for 489.00. It does everything she needs it to do for College, and more. She has had it for a year now, no issues whatsoever. Good Luck in your Dad's search.

                                                                                                                 <S> Oz

Thanks 

I don't have specific names for the programs he uses, he makes sockets and other parts for other companies and sometimes the military. They're definitely 3D designs:

They look like that, just chips for electronics and other things.

[68ZooM]

Thanks 

I don't have specific names for the programs he uses, he makes sockets and other parts for other companies and sometimes the military. They're definitely 3D designs:
(Image removed from quote.)
They look like that, just chips for electronics and other things.

dont mean to hijack... i run PunchPro and DataCad12, is that ViaCad made by Punch also?

[FYB]

dont mean to hijack... i run PunchPro and DataCad12, is that ViaCad made by Punch also?

It's a random picture from google, i searched up "3D design". I can search to see if it's made by punch.

Yes it is.

http://www.buzzillions.com/reviews/punch-93503-viacad-pro-v6-0-architectural-mechanical-design-tools-reviews

[68ZooM]

Cool thanks, im downloading it now

[Babalonian]

I'm a drafter and I use my play machine at home for my work-at-home machine too.  I guess it depends how fast your dad drafts or wants to draft and render stuff.  IE: my father is an architect and drafter but he is nowhere near as fast as myself or anyone else my aged on drafting on a PC.  Where a fraction of a second delay drives me nuts, he doesn't notice.  All he really wants out of his drafting machine is a sturdy reliable mule.  I'm a fast drafter and like fast rendering and minimal stuters, so drafting works great on my gaming machine at home since games on the high-end like to use a lot of memory, processing and video rendering power.  I'd say the two differences in my needs for gaming and my needs for drafting on the machine is HD space (CAD files keep getting larger and larger over time, but nothing like a standard PC game these days weighing in well over 1-gig on HD space) and frames per second on the display (gaming I like more than 50fps with minimal monitor delay, drafting I can deal with 20-30fps but still want minimal monitor display delay).  Everything else though, maybe because I'm a PC junkie, I can't draft as productively as I could without.  Large displays and multiple-screen displays are a plus too.  Now if your dad was just doing email, word processing, and the occasional webcast or movie then I'd say get him something on the cheapo-end without hesitating.

[Spikes]

So CAD. A quad core would help with rendering here...as would a good amount of ram.