Compatible Books and Laptops

[jenniferanne Bonham]

ok hello everyone, I was wondering If anyone could help me clarify a couple things before i run out and buy a Book or Laptop, I want to make sure  it can handle An SL viewer and  so far from my research and what ive found is that for a decent unit to consider buying and not have any lag or speed issues ive come up with this machine  and i would appreciate any input comments and opinions on this model and if anyone knows of something better by far or if you feel im making a mistake with my choice please dont be afraid to tel me OK Thanks Jenn

 

Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM 15.6-Inch Full HD Notebook (Intel Core i3-7100U Processor 7th Generation , 4GB DDR4, 1TB 5400RPM Hard Drive, Intel HD Graphics 620, Windows 10 Home

[KarenMichelle Lane]

Jennifer,

That Notebook will run SL but at only a very low graphics level. You really need a better Graphics Subsystem than the Intel HD 620. You may also cause this notebook to overheat as well.

[Rolig Loon]

I agree with KarenMichelle.  That particular machine will run the SL viewer but you will be disappointed by performance.  As a rule, if you are looking for a machine to run SL or any other graphics-intensive program, avoid buying one that handles graphics with an integrated chip on the motherboard.  Those machines are fine for browsing the web or watching YouTube videos, but not adequate for handling gaming-level graphics. You will experience low frame rate, slow image rendering, and low quality images, and your machine will run hot.  Look instead for a machine that has a dedicated graphics card.

I will go farther and point out that you can almost always get better quality for the same money in a desktop computer than you can in a laptop, so it makes sense to go that route unless you truly need portability.  A desktop also has much better air flow and heat dispersion, so it's less likely to overheat and destroy itself. IMO, though, the major advantage of a desktop machine is that you can replace components that die unexpectedly or that simply need to be upgraded with relatively little trouble.  I have had the same basic machine for ten years now, but have upgraded the graphics card four times, replaced the power supply and hard drives once each, have upgraded the monitor three times, and just replaced the case.  I could never have done all of that with a laptop.

[Nalates Urriah]

Rolig and Karen both provided good information.

For performance there are 3 key criteria that make the most difference. CPU speed is more important than the number of cores. The 6th generation i5 has been a better buy on performance per dollar than the i7. WARNING: be sure to check the CPU model. Vendors sell new machines with 3rd and 4th generation CPU's. The i5-6600 is a 6th gen CPU and that is denoted by the red 6. A 5th gen i5-5600, 4th gen i5-4600 ... etc.

Memory speed is important. DDR4 memory is marginally faster than the same speed DDR3. But, DDR4 is made in much faster sets than DDR3. Labels like DDR4 2800 (PC4 19200) to DDR4 3400 (PC4 27200) denote slow to fast memory. The smart move is to find the motherboard brand and see what the max memory speed is for the board. You can install faster memory than the board is rated for and it will work, but it is like buying a Ferrari and driving it 30mph all the time. 

Video chip in a laptop and card in desktops. Starting with the NVIDIA 1000 series VR, or fast dual image processing, was added. The ability makes a huge difference in most games.

HD Graphics has no video memory. It uses part of your system memory. A machine with 16GB and HD Graphics may dedicate 4GB to graphics and leave 12 for the system. Video cards have dedicated VRAM.

Hard disk speed is important for the initial scene render. SSD is expensive but fast. However, getting the most out of SSD is a complex thing. Venders often sell a system with SSD just to say it has it. But, the motherboard doesn't fully support it, so it ends up being no faster than a fast mechanical disk. RAM Drives live in computer system memory and for now are the fastest possible drives.

You can look up the comparisons and tech details here: http://blog.nalates.net/category/hardware/

Edited March 23, 2017 by Nalates Urriah