New Computer

Rhino Rhino for Windows
1

I am purchasing a new computer this week and was hoping for some final validation from the fine folks on this forum. I am entering graduate school this fall for architecture and want a machine that will be able to handle 3 years of work and join me in the early years of my career. My final decision is between a P51 and a P51s (trying to spend as little as possible of course). My final hangups are in regards to the CPU and GPU.

CPU(Comparison): P51 would be with a 7700HQ (4-core 6mb Cache @3.8) and the P51s a 7600u (2-core, 4mb Cache @3.9). I understand that Rhino only uses a single-core but want to know in the end will the smaller 7600u be sufficient for my work?

GPU: The P51s comes only with a Quadro M520 (Specs). The P51 with the beefier M1200 (given my selected processor). Will the M520 be strong enough to handle navigating in a complex Rhino model?

Thank you!

2

If those two are your options then I think you will regret not going for the p51.
During four years you will have situations where calculating images or big datasets will benefit from twice the amount of cores and the m1200 might even be good enough for simple VR models. The m520 only has 1GB vram while the m1200 has 4 gbs and Rhino6 will utilize the m1200 much better than Rhino5 does.

So either buy cheap now and save the money for a new machine in two years, or buy more expensive now would be my advice.

Regarding handling large files, both will do the job almost just as well in Rhino5.

Oh, and I would go for SSD, but that you can replace later on.

3

Thank you for your help. I spent the extra dough and got the P51. Looking forward to its arrival.

4

Great, good luck!