Laptops update

Laptops, revisited

The laptop market turns over quicker than... actually, I'm not going to finish that sentence. It seems that what I wrote in August is already out of date - some of those models are no longer available, and just to make sure we're paying attention the specs and part names are all different. Also, it's interesting (to me at least) that since I mostly linked to Amazon, those so-two-months-ago models look more alive than they actually are - because Amazon has "marketplace" sellers, products stick around there longer than they do in normal stores. But still, it's time to revisit the topic.

My recommendation to most graphics people

Go to an Apple Store or the Apple web site and order a 15" Macbook Pro with the high res non-glare screen. (They call it "anti-glare" but that sort of implies they took special steps to make it not glare, when what they really did was just not cover it with glass.) It's got the best screen you'll find in a laptop, except for a few obscure/heavy/cumbersome models that have an IPS display, and the screen calibrates very well. The hardware is very well optimized, with an Intel onboard GPU and an nVidia GPU and a system for switching between them as needed to balance speed and battery life; i5 and i7 CPUs; a large battery; and excellent ergonomics. I have one myself, and I just installed a trial copy of AutoCAD for OSX on it and can attest that it exists. Moreover, it does a great job on Adobe Creative Suite 5 and Aperture is fantastic for "serious" photography needs. This is certainly the closest thing to a perfect laptop currently on the market.

But most of you are going to want Windows notebooks, because that's what you use in the office, and fortunately for you these are much less terrible than they were just a few years ago, so here goes.

This time I'm breaking it down by size:

11.6" Ultraportables

I'm not going to address 10" netbooks. They're not good for anything to do with graphics or professional grade architecture apps, so they're outside the scope of this site. On the other hand, there's a species of notebooks with 11.6" screens that are almost as tiny as netbooks, run 64-bit Windows and have good enough specs for some graphics work. I have an Asus with a 1.2GHz dual-core Celeron, Intel graphics and 2GB RAM, and though it spends most of its time running Microsoft OneNote it also has its screen calibrated and is perfectly adequate for running Lightroom and Photoshop Elements. I took it to Europe this summer and offloaded my D90's memory card daily. Unfortunately, with the spec bumps these have been getting, the days when you could buy a reasonable one under $400 are over.

My recommendation: Acer Aspire Timeline 1810T. Neither the most nor the least expensive in this size, this one comes with a 1.3GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB, Wifi and Bluetooth, 64-bit Windows 7, an 8-hour battery and safe-for-work aesthetics.

Also available: Alienware M11x. These are more expensive, but some people will find them worth it because they have a Geforce GPU with dedicated memory and Optimus, and an i5 with a very good Turbo Boost ability. The reason I can't recommend them is that they are catastrophically ugly. They have the embossed alien head, they're unnecessarily thick and they glow red. It's the Porsche Cayenne of tiny laptops. I don't know about you, but I couldn't take that to a client meeting and keep a straight face.

13-15" Medium Sized Laptops

Recommended: 15.6" Asus G51JX-X5. Okay, now I know I just dissed the Alienware for being monumentally, shockingly ugly, and now I'm recommending another funny looking, pretty thick gamer laptop. How can I do this? Look at the specs on this thing. The 15.6" screen is 1920x1080, it's got a Geforce 360M with 1GB, 6GB RAM and a quad core i7. Budget-friendlier option: the slightly older G51JX-X3 with dual core i5. And at least this one doesn't glow.

Recommended: 13.3" Asus U33JC-A1 Bamboo Series. This one is still hard to find in stock. Because it's just that nice. I'm recommending it anyway on the off chance you find one, or don't mind waiting. Meanwhile you can get the 14" model, which is slightly faster and has a 10-hour battery but I prefer the idea of getting almost as much power in a smaller package. Both come with a Geforce 310M.

Also available: 13.3" Toshiba R700-S1331. In some ways a more powerful option, this one has a dual core i7 and solid state disk. It doesn't get a Recommended because it's only available with Intel onboard graphics.

Large

Recommended: Anything from Boxx. These guys have a way with large, high powered mobile workstations. Seriously consider them if you want to run Max, Revit or other high demand software on the go. These are serious, industrial strength machines for users with serious, industrial grade requirements.

I'm not going to recommend a specific model or configuration, because Boxx does its best work over the phone. Call them, tell them who sent you and what you're looking for, have a chat and be pleasantly surprised that you're talking with somebody who knows what Revit is for. You're paying for that level of service, so you might as well take advantage of it.

(Note to anybody who got here from a graphic design or photography site: Adobe Creative Suite is not considered high demand software for these purposes. Boxx will happily sell you a killer Photoshop notebook, but it will be overkill, with optimizations in areas you don't need, and you'll pay for that in money, weight and battery life.)

Recommended: HP Envy 17-1011NR. There are many companies making a laptop just like this: 17" 1920x1080 screen, quad core i7, 8GB, with a high end Radeon GPU and a large hard drive, in the $1400-$1600 range. They're quite powerful. One model I benchmarked had an i7-720QM and a Radeon 5870, and scored 2.95 in Cinebench rendering and 25.6 in OpenGL, which is very good for a laptop.

I've looked at at least a dozen variants on this concept and despite all the jokes about the name - really, what were they thinking, making a Macbook Pro knockoff and calling it "envy" - the HP is currently the standout. It's not too huge, it has Blu-Ray, the specs are right for CG and graphics users, and it doesn't look too ridiculous to bring to a client meeting. The screen is quite good and it has USB 3.0, eSATA, universal memory card reader, multiple display outputs, aluminum chassis and premium speakers. What more could you want? Battery life. The 2.5 hour battery is standard in this class, but I wish they'd do better.

October 2010 Workstations

The Month of the GPU

GPU rendering is hotter than my fantasy football team these days, with Vray 2.0 imminent, iray for 3DSMax out and TwinMotion 2 teasing up a storm. Regular readers and CGArchitect forum members may know that I remain unconvinced: while it's obvious that GPUs have an important place in future workflows, as Brad from Luxology said more eloquently (and with more supporting research) than I can there are still some issues that limit its usefulness in making the sort of production quality renders that have become standard in arch vis over the last few years.

With the GPU you get many parallel processors that are quite limited in the complexity of the calculations they can do, so most of the implementations so far have been Monte Carlo path tracers with some of the more advanced shader effects such as SSS missing. And in some cases it's not even clear that it's very fast.

For this type of GPU renderer, an nVidia card or three with a large amount of memory seems to be best. iray is of course nVidia only (mental images having been bought by nVidia a while back) and while Vray RT-GPU is written in OpenCL the beta is currently nVidia only, with ATI compatibility being a work in progress. I've written previously on the importance of healthy competition in the GPU market, so I hope Chaosgroup gets this done before full release and gives ATI users an option in this area.

Twinmotion has a different approach. Technical information is a bit thin but it looks something like a DirectX 10 game engine set up for visualization. We'll be keeping an eye on it. It runs on current and previous generation nVidia and ATI hardware and eats memory for breakfast.

In other GPU news, the next generation of Radeons is set to roll out in the next few months and will bump some specs, but the real upgrades will come next year when 28nm process goes mainstream and memory upgrades are had all around.

The Workstations

Since the last round of workstations I put out a mid-month update on builds for Vray 2.0. This month I'm integrating those recommendations, with a regular version and a Vray RT-GPU / iray version of some of the configs. I know this is a bit confusing, but until the market settles down a bit and it becomes more clear what everybody's using and what hardware they need for it, this is going to continue to be a problem. The hardware for Vray RT-GPU and iray is more expensive and uses more electricity, and with multiple Quadro cards being outside most budgets the Geforce cards you need to make it feasible don't work as well in 3D apps as the FirePro cards I've been recommending. So if you don't want to use those programs, stick with the regular versions.

The Intern
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg

This is a bit cheaper than it was last month, due to a few price drops, but there has been little movement in this hardware and it's essentially the same. With a three-core AMD CPU, 4GB of RAM, a Radeon card with DirectX 11 and 1GB, and 64-bit Windows 7, this build will fit the needs of both your intern and your senior partner who doesn't use CAD. You can build something cheaper, but I don't recommend it.

The Photoshopper
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg

The photographer, the graphic designer and the photoshopper have different requirements from the renderer. This work involves lots of loading and saving of many large files, and CPU intensive operation that do not make efficient use of many threads. You need more power in fewer cores, a lot of memory and a very good hard drive. What you don't need is an overpowered video card - the only app you might care about that actually uses the video card is Aperture, and that won't run on this anyway because it's a Mac exclusive - or a ton of CPU cores. This build's very quiet version of the Radeon 5670 is going to work well with the Sonata case in keeping the background noise down so you can concentrate on your Photoshop and your Daft Punk, or whatever it is you graphic designers are listening to these days.

Since we're going quiet, the Thermaltake Silent 1156 CPU cooler fits this situation well. This build will be barely noticeable to your ears or your electric bill.

The two RE3 (Raid Edition) hard drives have improved life expectancy over normal hard drives, necessary for reliable use in a RAID 0, which is the goal here. Use RAID to improve read/write speed on those large PSD files. Even with the RE3 drive, I would be remiss not to say that you really do need an external backup system. In an office environment, this can be as simple as a nightly backup of project files to the server.

Now here's where I'm going to lose some of you. This month I've upgraded from an i7 to an i5. Why? The i5-680 is a dual core with most of the same architecture as the i7, and a base clock of 3.6GHz that goes over 3.8GHz with Turbo Boost! How else are you going to get that without overclocking? (If you do overclock, by all means go to the i7-875k, upgrade the memory to DDR3-2000 and go nuts.) Don't worry, there's no shame in the i5 - I own two myself.

Whatever else you do, an X-Rite Eye-One Display 2 is indispensable, and a Wacom Intuos4 Tablet is a very good idea. Consider an IPS display from the Displays section below.

The Budget
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg

The Budget is due for an upgrade, and it's getting the new 3.0GHz version of the AMD six-core and 8GB of RAM. The higher end systems still outperform it, but I'm more confident than ever in saying that you can build a legit rendering box at the $1000 price point.

I thought long and hard about video card for this build. (So you don't have to - because, really, who wants to think long and hard about stuff like that?) The Radeon 5750 has been the best at this price point for a while, uses surprisingly little energy and has an impressive array of outputs. It's fantastic. I have one myself. But last month nVidia introduced the Geforce 450, and a bunch of rebates started turning up on the Radeon 5770. If you're a Cinema4D user, no question, you want the 5770. It's a no brainer. This one is currently $125 with rebate, which is nuts.

But MIR's don't count in these part lists, and the new Geforce 450, at the same price as the 5750, has identical performance and power consumption to the 5750 in most circumstances. (I'm going to go ahead and blow an extra $10 on a version with a higher clock speed.) The Geforce 450 adds CUDA, which some of you are going to insist on caring about, no matter what I say about proprietary specs.

The Midrange (Regular Edition)
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg

The Midrange features AMD's higher end 3.2GHz six-core CPU. (If you're an overclocker, this CPU has its multiplier unlocked, but you'll want faster RAM to take advantage of it.) The motherboard is a solid Asus choice that can take two video cards at full speed.

Since I'm splitting the Midrange into regular and Vray RT-GPU / iray editions, the video card choice is easier than it's been in months. For this money, for a video card to drive your 3D viewports and AutoCAD or Revit without doubling as a space heater for your office, the v5800 is the best thing. By not caring about CUDA, you get a lot of advantages in the viewport department. Serious Cinema4D users should also opt for this configuration.

Use the Caviar Black hard drive as your C drive and the Green drive for archiving and extra storage, and make sure you're letting that Lian-Li case cool the drives by leaving air space above and below them - the Caviar Black runs warmer than any of the other drives listed on this page. Use one of the incremental backup or file sync programs to keep copies of your project files on both drives for another layer of safety. I didn't want to blow the budget here, but for speed, one thing you can do is substitute the hard drives used in the Photoshop workstation and make them a RAID 0.

The Midrange (CUDA Rendering Edition)
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg

In many respects this machine is similar to the regular Midrange. In fact, if you're not using Vray RT-GPU, iray or another CUDA rendering packae, this build is worse than the one above because the FirePro video card is better for driving viewports in 3D apps. But with this version, what you get is:

-A motherboard that supports up to three video cards
-Dual Geforce GTX 460 cards with 2GB RAM onboard
-More power!

The 2GB GTX 460 is a great option for running software like this. It's the most memory you can put on a card that's not a Quadro, at only $260 each. A single Quadro 4000 card would cost $780 and while it would likely outperform this configuration in viewport performance, it would not run a CUDA renderer nearly as well.

If you want even more power, two GTX 480 cards can be used with this configuration; however, a 1000 watt power supply would be highly recommended. Three GTX 480 cards, the configuration Chaosgroup used in their demo? The cost/benefit is against you, but you can do it; a 1200 watt power supply is needed.

The High-End (Regular Edition)
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg

The array of video cards that could go into a computer at this price point is dizzying:

High end consumer level video cards:

-Radeon 5870 2GB version
-Geforce 480 1.5GB

Midrange workstation video cards:

-ATI FirePro v5800 1GB
-ATI FirePro v7800 2GB
-nVidia Quadro 4000 2GB

Remembering that this is not the system for CUDA users, I'm going to stick with the v7800 as the recommendation for most users, for the same reasons I recommend the v5800 for the Midrange system, but depending on your needs anything on that list could make sense. The Quadro 4000 would be just as good and h CUDA, but is more expensive.

The area with fewer options is CPUs. A single six-core CPU is most appropriate at this budget level, and though Intel has only two options and they start at $900, they have a significant performance advantage over AMD. I'm sticking with the i7-980X for its speed advantage over the 970, which makes it a slightly better value in terms of rendering speed per overall system price, and the overclocking advantage of its unlocked multiplier, for those who are into that kind of thing.

Install your OS and software on the SSD and use the 1TB drive for your working files. For a bit more speed, order two of the 1TB drives and put them in a RAID 0. (Remember, RE drives are "RAID Edition" for a reason.)

The High-End (CUDA Rendering Edition)
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg

Similar to Midrange version for CUDA rendering, this config is worse than the regular High-End if you don't use a CUDA rendering solution.

I seriously considered including four GTX 460 cards in this system, but in the end the principle that it's best to put the same amount of power in fewer CPUs translates well to GPUs and two GTX 480's wins out. Still, with this MB you can do it, and part of the reason I've included such a high end MB is future-proofing; you can add a third GTX 480 card, or a fourth (you might need a second power supply, which is a tricky thing to do) or at some later date upgrade to multiple cards of some hypothetical future type. A 1500 watt power supply and a motherboard that can fit four video cards ensure that your GPU selection will not be held back.

The Render Node
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg

If you run the numbers, you'll find that with current pricing it's possible to make a render node based on either an i7-980X or dual 12-core Opteron 6172's with reasonably similar amounts of rendering power per dollar. The Opteron box will cost a bit more than 50% more and render a bit less than 50% faster. If you want one render node, buy the one that fits your budget, but looking at the hypothetical comparison between two Opteron boxes and three i7 boxes, the two box solution has obvious advantages in saving space and electricity that will likely outweigh the three box solution's minor price/performance advantage.

I've provided the parts list for the Opteron solution. To build the i7 solution choose the High End but substitute the Opteron build's cheap video card, hard drive and peripherals, and the case and power supply from the Midrange system - with a single hard drive and low end video card, that case and power supply is enough to support the high end CPU.

But don't buy more than a couple of these. They quickly start to take up too much space and require too much maintenance. To add many nodes' worth of rendering power, you want a render farm. A farm is a collection of machines meant for rendering with, it's a must for complex animations and it should be done as a unit, based on racks, blades or other compact solutions and made for you by a company like Boxx. Get this if you want to add one or two render boxes, making individual nodes more practical than a farm.

The Maxer
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg

Several months ago I brought down the cost of the high end system by making it single CPU, and some CGArchitect readers were actually disappointed. It seems I'd been underestimating the market for $8,000 workstations. So this is the configuration for that class of high-end, one might say "Texas-size," user. This is why there's more than one reason it's called The Maxer. No, it's not the most expensive thing you can buy - I'm not trying to get you to throw your money away on needlessly expensive parts like SLI'ed Quadro cards. At the high end of the price/performance curve you double the price to add 1% to the performance; this system falls that 1% short of the top.

Coming in just shy of the $8,000 target, this beast features dual 3.33GHz six-core CPUs, allowing it to render twice as quickly as the High End system. The chassis and motherboard are designed to go together, and for use with X5600 series CPUs.

As for video cards, this was a tough one. I'm sticking with the FirePro v8800 mainly because I don't see a compelling reason to switch and it's a better value than the Quadro 5000, but a FirePro v7800 2GB, Quadro 4000 2GB or Quadro 5000 2.5GB would be valid choices, depending on needs.

Oh, one more thing. These Xeons use triple-channel memory and each CPU has its own memory controller. When using two of these CPUs, there are six memory channels, so the RAM used must be matched DIMMs in multiples of six. This configuration uses a set of 12 DIMMs.

If this box can't handle your scene, you're doing something wrong. Estimated Cinebench rendering score: 17.

Displays

A while back, one of my friends sent me a link to this article debunking pretty much every metric and slogan used in HDTV marketing. The market for LCD monitors is no less confusing, so concentrate on three things:

-Screen size.

-Resolution. This is not the problem it is in laptops, but what would you rather have - a 22" screen that's 1680x1050, or a 21.5" screen that's 1920x1080?

-IPS/PVA or TN. What you want here is an IPS or PVA panel, not a TN panel. Inexpensive monitors are TN panels, which have much worse color gamuts and viewing angles than better screens. A consumer LCD monitor likely isn't even processing and displaying color in 8 bits per channel, and if you move your desk chair 6 inches to the side the levels change.

So, here are a few options, all good quality IPS displays usable for professional graphics work:

-Eizo 24" CG243W. Let's get this out of the way first. This is a very expensive monitor with freakin' fantastic color quality. This monitor is appropriate for use in high end video, photography and publishing production environments. It is not necessary for most visualization are graphics work, but if you want the best that's available to you without costing more than your car, this is it. Pairs well with The Maxer.

-HP 22" ZR22W. This takes the spot that the Dell 2209WA used to occupy in my recommendations: a budget friendly model that beats a TN display and pairs well with the Intern and Budget systems. However, the newer HP model is a better panel, has a higher resolution and costs less. It's a winner at the lower end.

-HP 24" ZR24W and HP 30" ZR30W. As the names suggest, these are larger models from the same line as the ZR22W. All are great value options and significant steps up from consumer grade displays. You can size you ZR to your budget.

-In 27", I've previously recommended the Dell 27" U2711, but that's become hard to find. An excellent alternative is the NEC PA271w. With improved color reproduction and a resolution usually found in 30" displays, this Dell is a step up from the entry level IPS displays but more reasonable than the Eizo. Best with the High End or the Maxer.

-NEC 30" 3090WQXi. NEC's answer to the 30" Apple monitor. H-IPS panel for high end color and good viewing angles. A step up from the 30" HP, and a step up in price.

As usual, whatever you choose, calibrate it! We're not talking about one of those software functions where you look at the gray square and try to make it the same value as the lines, we're talking about a dedicated hardware calibration device. I use the Eye-One Display 2, but some users prefer the Color Munki, which can also be used with printers and projectors. I can't stress the importance of this enough - without calibration, you'll never be able to match your prints to your screen, whether you're using your system for 3D rendering, graphic design or photography.