Autodesk Revit Laptop

Other than a Lenovo Thinkpad a while back I’ve had MacBooks for the Adobe Suite editing softwares for a decade now.

Need a new laptop to run Revit, Bluebeam, RSMeans, etc.

Since I’m not building a desktop and Revit on a tiny screen is rough I’m prioritizing a large screen as a middle ground.

Was thinking Dell XPS 17 for 17” screen size:

$3,789 Dell 2023 XPS 17 9720 Laptop 17" Touchscreen UHD+ Display 14-Core 12th Intel Core i7-12700H NVIDIA RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6 64GB DDR5 4TB NVMe SSD Thunderbolt 4 WiFi 6E Backlit KB FP Reader Windows 11 Pro

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-XPS-9720-Touchscreen-Thunderbolt/dp/B0BXKNYMC5

A couple others are larger but they’re gaming computers, I would assume you can turn off all the rainbow lights ha.

ASUS (18”):

$2,850 EXCaliberPC 2023 ASUS ROG Strix G18 G814JZ-G18.I94080 (i9-13980HX, 16GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, RTX 4080 12GB, 18" QHD+ 240Hz 3ms, Windows 11) Gaming Notebook

https://www.amazon.com/EXCaliberPC-G814JZ-G18-I94080-i9-13980HX-Windows-Notebook/dp/B0C1JQX8ZW

Alienware (17.3”):

Alienware m17 R5 Gaming Laptop (17.3" 360Hz FHD,AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (Beat i9-11900H), 64GB DDR5 RAM, 2TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8GB) RGB Backlit KB, USB 4.0, G-SYNC, Win 11 Home, Dark

https://www.amazon.com/Alienware-m17-R5-RX6850M-Thunderbolt/dp/B0CB87MT26


I’m leaving towards the Dell purely for the lack of gaming aesthetics but do like the even larger screen and having had more experience with the ASUS brand.

Any reliability, quality, longevity, performance differences I’m ignorant of feel free to point out.

Good with CAD, bad with computers, oddly enough. Thanks for any input!

We all know why you’re really here

 

I just came here for the clickbait thumbnail

 

I feel you. I work with CAD daily, but I let our IT dept deal with the inners of the computers. I'm not that savy in them.

Could you run one to stream to a larger screen? You can pick up a larger screen to stream to I would think. Just a thought.

 

I'd choose the ASUS and bump RAM to 32GB. It's a full generation ahead of the Dell and the Alienware (also Dell) is just gimmicky AF, not no mention the cringy advertisement

 

I’ll be mobile for work so the primary screen used would be the laptop itself.

 

I’m far more familiar with ASUS as a brand, I just hope it’d be easy to turn off all the lights before I have a dang seizure.

My understanding is the Dell 17 is being discontinued for a 16 hence my wanting to pick one up before they’re gone if I went that way.

I’ll keep at the reviews, thanks, all!

 

ASUS uses their own software to control the lights, it's usually very simple and you may be able to turn them off entirely if that's your thing

 

Appreciated!

Always grateful for people who know computers. I can run advanced CAD and editing software all day then have to call my little brother like I’m 100 years old asking the dumbest basic questions haha.

 

and one thing I just have to mention.

Most "gamer" and high specs laptops don't have enough cooling built into them and lack proper dust filtering due to the high RPM blower style fans. This problem goes with the portable territory.

You can't minimize the dust that goes in but you can help the cooling system with a stand that rises the rear 1-2", this helps a lot!. It's more **** to carry around but they're usually lightweight and inexpensive.

Whatever you do, never let it starve for fresh air, have someone clean it once or twice a year (or more, depending on use) and you'll have a long lasting machine.

 

Appreciate that as well, thanks. Whatever I end up with I’ll take better care of than I have my current laptop for sure!

 

I use a Dell Precision 7540 w/16.0GB installed physical RAM. I run CAD software all day long using DraftSight, Cadence (all their tools) and a ration of other tools. The laptop handles all very well but I have 2 27" monitors as well as the LapTop monitor. Serves me well for anything I want to do

This system is due for a change since it is aging but still kicking!

 

Thanks! Seems longevity isn’t a major issue from all y’all’s experiences, good to hear!

 

Technology moves to fast to hold onto computers for very long

 

I would never buy a Dell. They are garbage! unless you need a good paperweight!

 

Those all look to be consumer grade laptops. Do you need this for work or fun? Those software titles are expensive enough, that I suspect this is for work. If I'm right, I would 100% go with Dell, but not consumer level as they aren't great. Pick up a similarly equipped Dell Precision mobile. You won't be disappointed.

 

I run Solidworks and Inventor day in and day out. Out of the three companies I consult for, I have three Dell laptops: two Precisions, and one G15. I used to have my own Dell Precision but had issues with it so its been resigned to living in my shop to run machines, and my personal laptop is a MSI Workstation. The MSI absolutely slaps though the keyboard is a little weird, but I only use the built in one when I travel. The Dell's are alright, the Dell I have in the shop randomly deleted the entire hard drive one day, so I stopped using them after that. But all the companies I work for use Dell's so take that as you will.

I'm not running the programs you are, but what I've found for CAD at least is you want the fastest clock speed possible, and a lot of cores can help but programs like Solidworks only pull on one core for the most part so you're better with higher speed and less cores if possible. My MSI has 6 physical cores running at 4.2Ghz until it throttles. I also bias towards a Quadro GPU instead of one of the gaming focused GPUs, but for CAD I don't see them making much difference. RAM at least 32GB, this day and age I would do 64GB or more. When I use my 3D scanner or if I'm rendering 4k footage the 32GB will get entirely used up (for CAD it doesn't use more than 16GB usually, but scans can easily be over 1GB for a single file so that's when it really pulls on the RAM). I would expect to spend 2-3k.

My workflow is very CAD based, so maybe you want something slightly different. But no one is really commenting anything of use so figured I'd chime in.

 

I just ordered a new work laptop today for CAD/GIS/VR. They got me a Dell Precision 7680 VR.

 

Technology is way too overpriced to care about getting the newest update every six months.

 

Any reliability data like car brands you can cite or just personal experience for the most part?

 

I don't care if I have the latest but when new software requires more than the current hardware I run it on then it is time for a change or take a performance hit. Just like the Apple rabbit hole...

 

I’ll look into it, thanks. 100% work computer.

 

I appreciate the tips on what CAD work pulls from vs. other tasks. I cited Revit because it’s the most resource heavy program I run but I run many less strenuous ones as well, albeit not usually too many in tandem. Thanks again.

 

Seems to be the most common for work environments!

 

I got a MacBook Air in 2012 and a Pro in 2015 and haven’t had to upgrade since, heavy Adobe usage.
Leaving the apple os now that I’m back on the Bluebeam/Revit/RSMeans train.

 

Oofta

 

I’d suggest MSI. They have versatile laptops and nice screens for when you need it portable. Many sizes and options but the Ge68 is one I like.

https://us-store.msi.com/Laptops/Gaming-Series/Raider-GE-Series/Raider-GE68-HX-14VGG-247US

 

Personal experience and they are our current work computers. They just never seem to work right.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Adding to the research list for sure, thank you!

 

I suspect you could back off on the GPU on this spec. That’s likely where most of the cost is coming from. Take a look at what GPU is required to run Revit and then bump that up a bit and see if that doesn’t save some bucks.