Questions about laptop software

[shigudy]

So I have my eyes on a new laptop for my birthday and need some help finding the right one. I've just started VJing and experimenting with music so I want a laptop that can handle both types of software. Right now I use resolume, cinema4d, magic, and audacity. I expect ill be using new and other programs in the future as fell. My price range is about $1000. So far im looking at a dell, model number: I7559-3137BLK. Specifications are listed below.

Graphics Type Discrete
Graphics Processing Unit/GPUNVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
Graphics Card Other
Video Memory4000 megabyte
Cache Memory6 megabytes
Media Card ReaderYes
System Memory RAM Expandable To16 gigabytes
Type of Memory (RAM)DDR3L SDRAM
Number Of Memory Slots2
System Memory RAM Speed1600 megahertz
Hard Drive Capacity1128 gigabytes
Hard Drive TypeSolid State Drive
Included SoftwareMicrosoft Office (Trial, Multi-Language)
Operating SystemWindows 10
Processor BrandIntel
Processor Speed2.6 gigahertz
Processor ModelIntel 6th Generation Core i7
System Memory (RAM)8 gigabytes
Wireless NetworkingWireless-B, Wireless-A, Wireless-G, Wireless-N, Wireless-AC
Battery Life 7.5 hours
Screen Size15.6 inches
Embedded Mobile BroadbandNone

Would this laptop do what I want? After a lot of research I feel like Mac's are more popular even though they usually don't have as impressive specifications as windows and other laptops. Please helpppp

[rhcball]

I was gonna ask something similar so I'll just add to your question, what are the most important specs for doing Magic-type work on a Windows laptop, like what should I count as critical needs whilst doing my shopping? I know 12-16 gigs of RAM is a minimum, and probably one of those gaming-type graphics cards (I instinctively feel I should avoid Intel Integrated Graphics)...? Any help would be appreciated (and I have to get a laptop instead of upgrading my desktop cuz I need to be mobile while watching my kid...).

[dj0le]

Shigudy -

It's not a bad setup for the price and the performance should be enough for all the things you want to do. The only issue I see is your HD being 128 gigs. That is going to be eaten up fast, especially if you end up doing a lot of video work.

The only other thing to check is that the 4gigs of video ram is actually on board the gpu and not just allocated virtually from your system ram. Sometimes they list huge ram amounts, but only a small portion is actually embedded. In that case, you can only access the on board amount and you might have a lot less than you think.


RHCBall -

The 2 most important things I have found are using SSD drives and a discrete video card with as much ram as you can afford. After that, system processor and ram would be the next concern.

[Magic]

That laptop looks pretty decent. I would definitely recommend an Nvidia GTX GPU and an SSD drive.

For example, my main PC laptop has:
- Nvidia GTX 970 3GB
- 256 GB SSD (which is almost full actually -- space does run out quickly)
- Core i7 CPU
- 16GB RAM
I paid around $1500 for it a year ago.

I think there are a few other topics on here with some helpful info, here's one I found doing a quick search: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=854&p=3719

[shigudy]

thank you awesome humans for your feedback, it is much appreciated!

to dj0le
here is the link to the laptop http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-inspir ... 7400050000

I thought the hard drive was 1 terabyte. And from my reseach i saw ppl recommending a SSD. And even some ppl recommended one stronger than 128gb, do you think i would be fine 128gb? also, what is the purpsoe of an SSD?

[Terry Payman]

Just announced, so availability of these laptops is questionable, but now
"Nvidia stuffs desktop GTX 1080, 1070, 1060 into laptops"
http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2016/0 ... -gtx-1080/
It might be worth waiting for these. I'm going to.

8GB of GPU memory with the top end GTX 1080/1070!
Even the budget GTX 1060 comes with 6GB GPU memory
"GTX 1060 is faster than GTX 980"
http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2016/0 ... 60-review/

I've only just managed to get hold of the PCI-E GTX 1070 (8GB GPU memory) here in UK, and am just building a small PC around it as a dedicated Magic system. I'd much rather carry around a laptop than a PC, so I'm looking forward to a more readily portable system.

It's my birthday at the end of September, a very significant one, so a powerful Magic laptop would be perfect to start a new era.

[dj0le]

I thought the hard drive was 1 terabyte. And from my reseach i saw ppl recommending a SSD. And even some ppl recommended one stronger than 128gb, do you think i would be fine 128gb? also, what is the purpsoe of an SSD?

SSD drives read/write data significantly faster than a traditional HD (ssd really is just ram and it doesn't have motorized spinning platters). This matters when working with video since the files are usually large or you have a bunch of them running at once (reducing load times and stutter). If you install all your software and OS etc on the standard hd, and just use the 128 gig drive to hold all your video files, it probably will be fine.

Also, one thing I noticed from the link was you only have 1 HDMI output on that setup. That will limit you to only one projector / tv, or force you to buy some sort of external splitter later on if you end up needing more. Just something to keep in mind.

[rhcball]

Follow-up question: I might initially have a small SSD drive to be later expanded, is it practical to put my visual stuff for use in Magic on a USB 3.0 stick, put into a 3.0 drive? Is that fast enough? Like small videos, images, audio. Trying to work with a perilously limited budget here.

[Magic]

Yeah I think that would be fine. Definitely faster than a non-SSD drive. I've loaded an entire operating system onto a USB 3.0 stick.