Thinking of taking the plunge into Laptop land, but.....
I want an ultrabook - not looking to replace my PC, just want a little more PC experience when I'm away from home.
Really want it to be SSD (increased batter life), would love it to be HD display. Most important though, must have an Nvidia card (want to be able to play with Octane, even slowly).
Anyone any ideas? Not looking to bust the bank here. Want it small, and as cheap as poss..
Looking for Ultrabook advice
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gordonrobb
- Posts: 1247
- Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 9:08 am
Windows 8 Pro | i7 3770 OC | 32 GB Ram | Single Titan (plus Black Edition on Order) | Octane Lightwave |
ultrabook is not cheap option anyway
ghm, ultrabook, with good screen (IPS) & discrete grahics..
uff, that's not going to be cheap =D
You might start looking at something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIclcMKZt2M
& then move to simillar products from competing brands.
Hoever if You look for a bit more powerfull rig,
You might end up with something like macbook pro clone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVFVxfCFTrI
I'd start looking for second type, slightly bigger portables
or..ultrabook & thunderbolt expansion with desktop grade
parts inside =)
Ultrabooks are not designed to handle such workload & heat..
even with some new updates MBA (air) can get very hot under load
& that's without GPU's..
so in my eyes to get good (quallity feel), small & powerfull,
also cheap is.. very hard =)
uff, that's not going to be cheap =D
You might start looking at something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIclcMKZt2M
& then move to simillar products from competing brands.
Hoever if You look for a bit more powerfull rig,
You might end up with something like macbook pro clone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVFVxfCFTrI
I'd start looking for second type, slightly bigger portables
or..ultrabook & thunderbolt expansion with desktop grade
parts inside =)
Ultrabooks are not designed to handle such workload & heat..
even with some new updates MBA (air) can get very hot under load
& that's without GPU's..
so in my eyes to get good (quallity feel), small & powerfull,
also cheap is.. very hard =)
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gordonrobb
- Posts: 1247
- Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 9:08 am
Saw the Asus. It's a lot more expensive than I was thinking. And I don't need it to be that powerful. Think I've move off the thought again 
That razor looks amazing though eh?
That razor looks amazing though eh?
Windows 8 Pro | i7 3770 OC | 32 GB Ram | Single Titan (plus Black Edition on Order) | Octane Lightwave |
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gabrielefx
- Posts: 1701
- Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2011 2:00 pm
ultrabooks are useless for GPU render and for games too.
Buy the Asus G750JZ. Good price and performance. Heavy.
Buy the Asus G750JZ. Good price and performance. Heavy.
quad Titan Kepler 6GB + quad Titan X Pascal 12GB + quad GTX1080 8GB + dual GTX1080Ti 11GB
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gordonrobb
- Posts: 1247
- Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 9:08 am
Yeh, I should have been a lot clearer with my original post
I'm looking for a light, small, very portable lappy with a long battery life for work (nothing to do with CG). I have an ipad, but sometimes, I wish I had the flexibility a laptop would bring. It's really only for documents etc.
However, if I'm getting one, I had thought it would be good if I could at least play with (not use for anything serious) Octane. It's the kind of thing I'll take away with me on trips, and I could mess with it, or practice materials etc. I don't need it to be gas or powerful, it just needed to be compatible with Octane (as a plus, not a requirement)
However, it seems to get one with a Nvidia card, I need to go either big, or mega expensive. Unless, can you get external Nvidia cards that can plug into USB? Or whatever that Mac thing is. Thunderbolt I think?
I'm looking for a light, small, very portable lappy with a long battery life for work (nothing to do with CG). I have an ipad, but sometimes, I wish I had the flexibility a laptop would bring. It's really only for documents etc.
However, if I'm getting one, I had thought it would be good if I could at least play with (not use for anything serious) Octane. It's the kind of thing I'll take away with me on trips, and I could mess with it, or practice materials etc. I don't need it to be gas or powerful, it just needed to be compatible with Octane (as a plus, not a requirement)
However, it seems to get one with a Nvidia card, I need to go either big, or mega expensive. Unless, can you get external Nvidia cards that can plug into USB? Or whatever that Mac thing is. Thunderbolt I think?
Windows 8 Pro | i7 3770 OC | 32 GB Ram | Single Titan (plus Black Edition on Order) | Octane Lightwave |
the ASUS line Gabriel recomended in my eyes is useles..& I'll try to explain here just why:
month or two ago I've helped a friend of mine to sell one of this line & build a desktop (he's a Concept Artist, working mainly in photoshop, a bit with 3D + pluss getting into sculpting & other apps that would help to speed up his process).
The reality that this gaming line is wothless for CG..First of all was screen - game oriented screens are tuned for speed & not for color acuracy, usualy are based on TN panels rather than IPS. We had a hard time to calibrate it properly. Viewing angles is was another headache. Under load it was loud too. It could get pretty toasty while doing renderings or any intensive task, but hey - that's the nature of laptops..unless they use very low voltage parts that don't produce much heat (but those aren't the fastest around, even in comparison only to portable parts). Pluss the weight could only be justified as a desktop replacement. (the looks were..-well, that's personal, I gess =) the only good thing was a build quality - it just doesn't feel cheap..
so, to find a ultraportable will be hard time, even if You don't need very fast. Baterry life will be croped significantly & I wouldn't be surprised if some failures would come along on the hot day outside. To remove all the the heat from those thin aluminium cases is hard task. & the price, the smaller computer gets, more You have to pay..If You are looking for something with discrete GPU try looking for at just a bit bigger 13,14,15" with dimmentions around MBP - but maybe something cheaper.
It seems that OR is working on Maxwell (desktop has only 750, regular & Ti). I would try to look for a ultraportable with those (maxwell based) parts too, as they seem to draw less energy & produce less heat. But..try to test it with demo, to be sore that the item is working (good enough for Your needs with Octane)
Personally I have MBA (2014) & not looking for anything with discrete GPU for all the reasons I've mentioned before. I'm planing to hook external unit (it ain't cheap, but it's possible). Saw some guys online making a good progress on those. I was thinkin' about 750 that could be powered with only 70W so there would be no need for external PSU as some of those enclosures have some power bricks included inside. Performance wise 750 is almost the same speed as 460, what is not so bad for some simple tests. This way I can always have thin portable for docs, mail, etc. & enough power to play on the move with the help of plugable device. Pluss You can split investition, even upgrade would be possible when new more efficient parts (a.k.a Pascal.) going to come. if You buy a laptop, especially ultra protable - that's a done deal..no upgrades, battery will be killed asap & the price is just to steap to justify (imho).
month or two ago I've helped a friend of mine to sell one of this line & build a desktop (he's a Concept Artist, working mainly in photoshop, a bit with 3D + pluss getting into sculpting & other apps that would help to speed up his process).
The reality that this gaming line is wothless for CG..First of all was screen - game oriented screens are tuned for speed & not for color acuracy, usualy are based on TN panels rather than IPS. We had a hard time to calibrate it properly. Viewing angles is was another headache. Under load it was loud too. It could get pretty toasty while doing renderings or any intensive task, but hey - that's the nature of laptops..unless they use very low voltage parts that don't produce much heat (but those aren't the fastest around, even in comparison only to portable parts). Pluss the weight could only be justified as a desktop replacement. (the looks were..-well, that's personal, I gess =) the only good thing was a build quality - it just doesn't feel cheap..
so, to find a ultraportable will be hard time, even if You don't need very fast. Baterry life will be croped significantly & I wouldn't be surprised if some failures would come along on the hot day outside. To remove all the the heat from those thin aluminium cases is hard task. & the price, the smaller computer gets, more You have to pay..If You are looking for something with discrete GPU try looking for at just a bit bigger 13,14,15" with dimmentions around MBP - but maybe something cheaper.
It seems that OR is working on Maxwell (desktop has only 750, regular & Ti). I would try to look for a ultraportable with those (maxwell based) parts too, as they seem to draw less energy & produce less heat. But..try to test it with demo, to be sore that the item is working (good enough for Your needs with Octane)
Personally I have MBA (2014) & not looking for anything with discrete GPU for all the reasons I've mentioned before. I'm planing to hook external unit (it ain't cheap, but it's possible). Saw some guys online making a good progress on those. I was thinkin' about 750 that could be powered with only 70W so there would be no need for external PSU as some of those enclosures have some power bricks included inside. Performance wise 750 is almost the same speed as 460, what is not so bad for some simple tests. This way I can always have thin portable for docs, mail, etc. & enough power to play on the move with the help of plugable device. Pluss You can split investition, even upgrade would be possible when new more efficient parts (a.k.a Pascal.) going to come. if You buy a laptop, especially ultra protable - that's a done deal..no upgrades, battery will be killed asap & the price is just to steap to justify (imho).