Hello,
I’m new on this forum and I’m looking for advices to buy a notebook which will deliver optimal performance on UE4 on Ultra(Epic) details and maybe able to do 3D modelling.
I was thinking to buy the Dell XPS 15 which has the following specs:
-CPU: Intel Core i7-6700HQ Quad-Core running up to** 3.5 GHz**;
-RAM: DDR4 8 GB SODIMM 2133 MHz Dual-Channel 2x4GB;
-Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX960M 2 GB GDDR5 (the most important part);
-Storage: 256 GB SSD
The previously described model costs € 1599 in Italy ($ 1753 US), what do you think about this notebook? Is it good enough to run UE4 smoothly?
PS: It is the first time that I try to use UE4, so I will not do very demanding projects, but I’d like to get in the business, so I want to be eventually prepared.
Thanks for every advice that you will reply to me.
Do you really need laptop?
I have office/work laptop dell inspirion. They did not do good job with it. For eg. it has weird propblems with usb 3.0 devices. When you plug second monitor it sometimes swaps to integrated graphics, sometimes to dedicated. That makes many programs crash. Its fine for my work but it would be terrible for unreal.
Also some questions you should think of:
can you work with only one monitor and small laptop screen? I love to have 3 monitors connected to my unreal PC, it is much more comfortable.
256GB windows will take about half of it. You can fit only unreal and windows on such small hdd. Maybe you should get laptop with tw ohdd bays.
8gb ram is bit low for unreal, you can work, sort of
for that price you can get desktop PC that will let you connect 3 monitors have more hdd space and more ram.
Do you really need that mobility over comfort of working?
A powerful laptop and it will handle UE4 fine, but not even close to “optimal performance” . You need a desktop for that. If you need a laptop you should go for one of the top end gaming laptops around. But be warned that they are often clumsy with short battery life.
So, you’re saying that a laptop is not very powerful and it can’t handle UE4 on Epic Settings with optimal performance. Will it reach 50/60 FPS with a 960M 2 GB? Or the video memory is a little bit small? I don’t have any ideas about that.
Anyway, can you tell me a laptop model that you consider able to handle UE? My budget is about €1600 ($1800 US Dollars).
I wasn’t considering the idea to buy a top-tier gaming laptop because usually they are quite heavy and they have general short battery life. Is a “good laptop” meaning a big, heavy laptop?
You should think about gettin Clevo. P770DM/P771DM/P775DM/P870DM.
They are great workstations. And… with a desktop CPU.
Personaly I have P870DM with i7 6700k, 980M (single), 32gigs of ram (2x16) and 8bit IPS QFHD Screen (3840x2160). And I wouldn’t switch to anything else.
Clevo’s are like PC. They’re powerful DTR’s. And love to be upgraded with newer GPU/CPU (desktop socket). There are also custom vBIOS’es and BIOS’es to keep them modern and powerful.
Don’t be afraid of desktop CPU, in P870DM my 6700k doesn’t get hotter than 80*c under heavy load. And I’m not using overclock or 100% fan profiles.
970M is minimum in my humble opinion. You don’t want anything slower.
P775DM and P870DM can be upgraded in future with QFHD IPS display (770 and 771 nope).
P775DM and P870DM supports desktop GTX 980 (180w for 775, 200w version for p870dm). And P870DM supports up to 2 gpu’s (2 mxm slots).
In future, you can also overclock your CPU and GPU. My 6700k has a profile of 4.4GHz (4 cores) with -40uV voltage. That’s free 400MHz on lower voltage than stock.
Thanks a lot for the rapid reply, I came to a point where portability is more important than performance sometimes, in fact the Clevo is a Great PC, but not only is way too expensive, but is alzo big and heavy to carry. I thought about the Blade 14 2015 but again, it is way out of my budget boundaries.
Well I am looking for laptop that can be as comfortable as my desktop to work with unreal, and also do my living work.
this is what i need from laptop:
3 monitors (or at least 2 HD monitors plus laptops display) laptop 17" display.
2 laptop size hdd bays, 3rd one in that new ssd format would be awesome.
docking station
nvidia 980 mobile at least.
up to 32gb ram
separate numpad keys on keyboard.
Do you know about any laptop like that, it may be one of those not so mobile gaming laptops, battery life does not matter much. I basically need laptop that i can carry home from work when i need it.
There is many reasons why you should Avoid thin and small notebooks like abominations.
Thermal Throttling (heavy, this is not going to be any workstation, wasted money)
GPU/CPU turbo not working due to limited thermal (BIOS&vBIOS) and probably weak PSU
Soldered CPU and GPU (unupgradeable)
Very bad screens (TN or cheap IPS mostly) with bad color gamut
You should really think about P771DM (or P775DM) with i5 6600k and 970M config. You will upgrade it later and this config will be cheap. Laptop is very thin for it’s DTR Segment and keep desktop CPU & GPU cooler. P771DM cannot be upgraded with QFHD screen (if it matters). i5 + 970M will be cheap to buy.
I recommend you to call MySn.Eu for example or other Clevo reseller near you. Most of them ship worldwide. And you can get good $ pricing when you contact them. It’s worth it.
Nawrot, get Clevo P870DM, it’s the only notebook with 980 Mobile 200W version (takes 2 cooling slots for 2 GPUS). Desktop CPU (i7 6700k) and supports to 64gb ram. x2 M2.0 slots (I’ve 250gb + 500gb ssds on these) and 2 HDD bays. And consider QFHD screen. It’s very great display (8bit IPS) with awesome color gamut. Standard one (FHD, IPS 75Hz) has G-Sync (overrated). But i don’t recommend you a desktop 980 mobile version since you won’t be probably able to sell this GPU and upgrade it to Pascal/Polaris GPU (only P870DM is compatible with these 980 200w, hard to find customer). But I don’t know any good docking station for this laptop, since I don’t them after switching from HP Elitebook.
I’m using x2 display ports to connect P870DM to two Dell U2414H and works well. It also has HDMI and Thunderbolt 3.
Welcome to the DTR world, because desktops are past!
I have the Clevo P870DM with a desktop cpu, GTX 980 (desktop gpu version) & 32GB ram. Works very well with UE4 + insane gaming performance for a laptop in general. Not to mention it can drive an oculus rift just fine, so VR dev is actually feasible.
The Clevo is too expensive, heavy and big, so it’s not a real portable computer. If you mind about portability you actually come into 2 main problems:
-good hardware;
-price point.
In fact the best portable computer in the price/performace ratio is the Dell XP 15 9550, because it has a discrete GPU and a Quad-core processor. The best alternative to it, but it’s too far expensive for me, is the Blade 2015, which has a GTX 970M coupled with a Quad-core i7-6700HQ.
So, I think I’ll get the XPS 15 9550 because is the best bang for the buck in price/perfomance ratio.
Thanks for your time and your kind replies, but I’ve made the finale decision. Thanks a lot again
I’ve got an MSI http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1088041-REG/i7-4710HQ_16GB_1TB+128SSD_W8.1-17.3_ that I picked up last year and it is still absolutely perfect for me. You can have up to four screens going at once (I’ve got the laptop screen, two monitors, and my DK2) and it’s got an 8GB GTX 980M. Boots from a powered down state to ready for input in about 3 seconds flat.
Since it’s a year old, you might be able to find some good deals on a used one. So far it still runs everything that’s thrown at it at the highest rendering settings.
You get a very portable ultrabook for light work and all the GPU power (and ideally an extra monitor) you need at home. Granted the CPU and RAM is not workstation class, but depending on your situation it could be a good compromise.
It is also a pretty good value, $1600 total if you get the base version and put a GTX 1060 in the dock.
I was hoping someone could shed some light on a question i have.
I am looking into buy a laptop which can handle software like UNREAL ENGINE 4 and LUMION 6 PRO along with various adobe products and Google sketchup, 3DS max.
Now the reason I want a laptop is because i need it while i travel.
I have my eyes set on “The New Blade (2016)” with the GTX 970m GPU.
Can somebody please tell me if this laptop could handle this selection of software. I will be using the laptop and software purely for Architectural visualization including 3d renders and 3d animation.
Now i know that has their core, and it is something i will look into at some point in the future, but i need a laptop to be able to travel and work with.
The blade 2016 appeals to me because of its sleek, slim and light design which would make it much better to travel with as opposed to lugging around a huge alienware laptop or the like.
Are there any other laptops that share these features but would be most suited for my architectural visualization needs? lightweight and portability is very important.
Can some one please shed some light so i may make the right purchase.
