Have I got the wrong Mac? Do I need to buy another?

Never go with what "somebody" tells you in these situations, since people have a tendency to project their computing needs onto others. Best you go straight to the software vendors and ask them.

 

I think you'll be fine for a good while. People tend to over-estimate in the 3D graphics area. Is a demo of the software available for you to try?

 

If you freak out because someone tells you your graphics card isn't good enough then yes, you are screwed and you should learn to accept information without freaking out. Is that somebody an experienced user of these applications? Has he or she compared them on a MacBook Pro and on a MacBook? Or is it just some clueless twat shouting off their mouth?

The 9400M is a decent graphics card. And 3D graphics design software very often doesn't need a powerful graphics card at all. Also remember that (a) you will be a beginner, and the models that you are creating will likely be simple compared to those that professionals create and therefore will take much less time to draw and (b) professionals value their time a lot more than you do; they will spend a lot of money to save 10% of their design time, but you as a beginner will mostly sit in front of your computer trying to figure out what to do, and spend much less actual time using the graphics card. For a professional, 10% saved is almost an hour every day. For you, 10% will only be a few minutes.

 

Never thought about that before, but I bang on agree and it's a very good point.

AnDy

 

your graphics card is way beyond good enough, just look at the technical requirements for those programs

 

As a current Master of Architecture student, I can confirm that for basic autocad, revit, sketchup, rhino3d, or even 3ds max you should be just fine with the 9400, and you'll be glad to have the external, as the 13 is pretty small to work on (I have a 17 and want more space)
The macine should be fine enough to work with for most all you will be doing. You will want to look into whether your future school will have a renderfarm though, as rendering always asks for more power than you have.

The only times the 9400 will feel extermely slow is if you load it up with a rendered viewport on maya, that can be taxing (using hardware render anyway)

 

your spec is beyond what is needed... think of the guys on the course who are using windows... that is when you can freak out lol.... obviously it wont be as fast as say a Mac Pro, but it won't be sluggish or laggy, I myself did a bit of CAD on my sisters macbook last summer, and i didn't find many problems

 

What do you mean with freak out because using windows?
If you are serious with 3D modeling you will use Windows - Win is the way to go.

I only use Win for modeling 3ds/Maya/SolidWorks/(Autocad).

To answer the original question:
Keep your MB for CS4. Work on your modeling in school (use a render farm like mentioned before), or if you really want to work at home, get a desktop PC.

 

I'm doing an Engineering course at the moment, and the computers we use have nothing on the speed of your macbook. It seems CAD programs only actually require a GPU when textures are being used, which at a beginners level is very rarely.

 

You can keep your Macbook, but it needs to be transmogriforked. I can do that via email for you, for only $150.

(Seriously, don't believe everything people tell you. The graphics card isn't even mentioned in the system requirements of AutoCAD, so I'm pretty sure you're on the safe side. In the worst case, you'll have to upgrade your RAM).

 

I love this comment. A sensible comment with actual rational reasons rather than the usual blather you get on this forum stating you can't even really look at a computer with the 9400M in it.

I like the cut of your jib.

OP, I agree with this comment 100%. You will be fine.

 

This sounds more like game over for OS X than for your MacBook - most of the software that you are going to need will be pure Windows stuff.

Anyway. Your MacBook's graphics will be okay for a while. But when this CAD stuff is getting more serious, you might want to look into a workstation class computer with a --professional-- OpenGL accelerator card. Once again, a basic Mac Pro with an nVidia or ATI gaming card in it probably won't cut it.

But for the time being, I wouldn't worry about it. Relax and see how far your current machine will take you.