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13" MBP for 3d rendering

gox81

gox81

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 25, 2011
34
0
Heya,
I'm a product developer student.
2nd semester of my school is starting soon (mid february),
I'm kinda waiting for the SB update, but I probably need a new laptop within a month, can't wait forever heh c:)
So I was looking at the 13" mbp model,
wondering if it runs 3d programs smoothly, I'll probably use solidworks / rhino 3d on bootcamp or parallels (yeah I'm a windows user planning to jump on the apple wagon :p), and if rendering will be a problem for it.
I'm fairly sure adobe creative suite won't be a problem..right?
the 15" mbp has always been an option, but if the 13" will give me what I need, I'll go for that.
thanks in advance (=
 
gox81 said:
Heya,
I'm a product developer student.
2nd semester of my school is starting soon (mid february),
I'm kinda waiting for the SB update, but I probably need a new laptop within a month, can't wait forever heh c:)
So I was looking at the 13" mbp model,
wondering if it runs 3d programs smoothly, I'll probably use solidworks / rhino 3d on bootcamp or parallels (yeah I'm a windows user planning to jump on the apple wagon :p), and if rendering will be a problem for it.
I'm fairly sure adobe creative suite won't be a problem..right?
the 15" mbp has always been an option, but if the 13" will give me what I need, I'll go for that.
thanks in advance (=
Click to expand...


The 13 inch will be fine. I've never used Solidworks or Rhino 3D but it runs Maya, ZBrush, and Cinema 4D just fine. Its not going to be the fastest rendering machine but it will still be just fine. I'd take the portability over speed aspect for college any day.

As for Creative Suite it will run that just fine too. CS doesn't need high end hardware to run.
 
chrono1081 said:
The 13 inch will be fine. I've never used Solidworks or Rhino 3D but it runs Maya, ZBrush, and Cinema 4D just fine. Its not going to be the fastest rendering machine but it will still be just fine. I'd take the portability over speed aspect for college any day.

As for Creative Suite it will run that just fine too. CS doesn't need high end hardware to run.
Click to expand...

would popping in an ssd harddrive and/or ram affect faster rendering? or is it mostly about the processor speed?
 
gox81 said:
would popping in an ssd harddrive and/or ram affect faster rendering? or is it mostly about the processor speed?
Click to expand...

a SSD isn't going to effect the working speed of a program BUT it will help load times of large files. It opens programs much faster than a HDD, at least 5X faster in most cases. I have Photoshop CS5 and Illy CS5 open at the same time and it takes less than 3 seconds till they are ready to use... with my HDD it was about 20 seconds each give or take.
 
gox81 said:
would popping in an ssd harddrive and/or ram affect faster rendering? or is it mostly about the processor speed?
Click to expand...

The graphics card affects faster rendering but if your making a movie out of your render an SSD will be slower creating the movie due to lower write speeds (provided that program acts like Maya and creates a series of TIFFs)

That being said I still would choose a solid state drive over a mechanical drive for the sheer performance gains from every single application.

Honestly you should be perfectly fine with the MBP 13 inch for rendering.
 
How do you expect to do anything of merit in graphic arts at 1280x800 -- glossy?
 
I haven't seen a laptop run anything like Solidworks/AutoCAD/Mastercam good yet. I have used Solidworks but havent tried it on Bootcamp yet, the graphics cards are poor for CAD to begin with but its going to depend more on how many parts you have. Do you plan on just drawing or actually assembling and running them?
 
13" just seems way too small for 4viewport apps.. i went from a 17 down to 15 and i really don't think i could handle any smaller for rhino (but hey, you're still a student.. deal with it ;) )

i also can't say how well rhino will run on the 13 as i've never used one but i can say that it runs great on the 15 (i7 2.6).. but then again, rhino runs well on just about any computer that can launch it.

seriously, if you can afford it, i'd say get something bigger.. or at least have a separate monitor that you can plug into sometimes..
 
the 13" MBP is anice laptop but not for what you need

I would get at least the 15" MBP with the higher res screen and possibly anti-glare.

The 15" and 17" MBP's have dedicated graphics that will refresh your screen faster and render much faster as well. i5/i7 i a much better CPU than core 2 duo

If you need it now, buy it now. You can alway save a little cash and get the Sandy Bridge update later after you sell your MBP. It will still have good resale value.

SSD's will help a lot but you need a good 3D card for 3D work. A dedicated card will help tremendously over integrated.

Plus, you need more screen real estate to do proper professional work. I find the 13" too small for photoshop/illustrator and video editing. I think the same can be said for 3D as well.
 
just a tip, when running a virtual machine instead of boot camp, it doesn't work that well with games and i'm guessing with 3d work too. but im sure you can find programs for mac OSX and use those instead of windows. but you can always use boot camp.
i would suggest you wait for the MBP update, it will be worth it.
 
Thanks for the replies :)
I was thinking about the 13" MBP screen size aswel, it might be a little too small for 4 views of rhino/sldwrks or the work I wanna do on it.
I assume you can connect any MBP to a fairly new LED tv..?(I got one lol)
I'll probably end up using the MBP mostly for Adobe CS work > presentation and log/portfolio of my work.
Rendering assemblies on either Rhino or sldwrks (.JPG, no movie rendering) is a bonus, I don't want superspeed, since it's a laptop in the first place
but I don't really want something that can't handle anything either..
I'm planning to do most of rendering/making parts on my desktop or the computer lab in school anyway.
I'm kinda tilting towards the 15" now but I'm stil thinking of the 13" portability (and price tag ofc) :'D
 
Is a laptop a necessity? I ask because my 13" gets terribly hot while rendering, and it is quite a dog compared to more modern computers. The old Core 2 Duo maxes our pretty quick in 3DS Max on me...heck, it maxes out in Autocad far too often. I spent ~$500 on a dedicated desktop for rendering and it is a much better solution. That way, your laptop also isn't unusable while you're rendering (which can take a really long time in my experience.) 2 computers might not be an option for you, but if it is, consider it.
 
mikeo007 said:
Is a laptop a necessity? I ask because my 13" gets terribly hot while rendering, and it is quite a dog compared to more modern computers. The old Core 2 Duo maxes our pretty quick in 3DS Max on me...heck, it maxes out in Autocad far too often. I spent ~$500 on a dedicated desktop for rendering and it is a much better solution. That way, your laptop also isn't unusable while you're rendering (which can take a really long time in my experience.) 2 computers might not be an option for you, but if it is, consider it.
Click to expand...

I don't really live close to my school..and I often move back and forth to my own place and my parents, so yeah, I prefer something mobile :)
I do have a desktop for the heavy work or computer lab, but I'll probably need my MBP for those tasks aswel when I'm not home, or not in school.
Do you think a non-apple laptop is better for me? (even though I've had BAD experience with windows based laptops) and I was just getting psyched about buying an apple computer for the first time.. :p
 
gox81 said:
I don't really live close to my school..and I often move back and forth to my own place and my parents, so yeah, I prefer something mobile :)
I do have a desktop for the heavy work or computer lab, but I'll probably need my MBP for those tasks aswel when I'm not home, or not in school.
Do you think a non-apple laptop is better for me? (even though I've had BAD experience with windows based laptops) and I was just getting psyched about buying an apple computer for the first time.. :p
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. You will get a bit more speed out of a Windows machine, but for your everyday needs, you might find the macbook nice to use. If it was a dedicated machine, then yes, I would absolutely recommend a windows laptop. But since you're looking for an everyday machine, I say give the mac a try.

The 13" is ok as others have said, and the 15" is even better; but at that price point, I find it hard to justify the 15".
 
I actually got to play around a bit on Maya the other day on a 15" MBP 2009 I believe and it was perfectly fine. A little jumpy at some parts... but it came through. Just use SMC Fan controller and crank them up. I am told they are one of the cheapest parts to replace on these laptops, better than a new mobo!
 
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