So I’m going to have to bite the bullet and drop the Mac There are so many plugins and software options available for PC that working on my MacBook Pro is just unviable at the moment.
At the moment I running Mac Rhino Beta and Keyshot. Luckily I can decommission Keyshot from my Mac and switch it to a PC, and as you know, Rhino is free as beta at the moment.
In order to be able to hot desk I need a laptop - I’m getting a load of advice on i5 over i7 intel chips based on clock speeds vs hyperthreading etc.
Do any of you run laptops?
What would be your suggestion for Rhino, Keysho & T-Splines to run smoothly on a PC laptop?
CPU is most important for Rhino and Keyshot - don’t really need the graphics card (open GL) for much - or do I?
I have a Lenovo W530 that works quite well with Rhino - I don’t use T-Splines or Keyshot so I cant comment on those. It has an i7 -3740QM @2.7GHz and a Quadro k1000m-2048.0 MB graphics card.
I use it with a dock that connects it to two external monitors, mouse, 3dmouse etc. If you want to do this I strongly suggest steering clear of the usb docks. I struggled with one for a while before giving up and getting the full blown dock.
It got reasonable results in the holomark test scores here. Have a look in that thread, there are a lot of configurations that you can compare.
The consensus seems to be that you need a decent graphics card, ideally a workstation one (ie quadro, not GeForce) as Rhino uses OpenGL and not DriectX. There are plenty of threads on this topic if you have a look. Exactly what you should get depends on your budget.
That was another thought - I could bootcamp. I only have 8gb in this machine though and it’s maxed out - I think I read somewhere that it will take 32gb even though it’s not specced for that - it’s a 2.2ghz i7 so not too bad.
The main point is lack of plugins etc.
I’m working on a job at the moment where I’m modelling coral to be 3D printed, it’s a real pain so thinking t-splines is the way to go.
I left behind the Mac and switched to Windows (for real, not Bootcamp), I’ve been much happier ever since. I recently got a new laptop for work and it’s proved to be a very capable machine. It’s a HP Z Book 15. My company buys very specific configurations and does the upgrades themselves, otherwise they’re very pricey. I have the fastest CPU offered, 16 GB RAM, 500 GB SSD and the Quadro 2100M. I even use my existing Thunderbolt Display with this laptop, which was nice not to need to buy another monitor. Not too many PC’s that have Thunderbolt, which makes it a good choice if you have any peripherals from the Mac side. I use this with Rhino, T-Splines and Keyshot, all with good success.
I second the SSD! Definitely worth spending a little extra on, even if you have 2 drives, one smaller ssd for installing all your programs on and a second, larger hdd for your files. You will notice the quick boots and load times.
I’ve just noted the Hardware Recommondations thread! oops
Just bought a seat for Keyshot this month and I’m self employed so have to watch the cash flow at the moment, otherwise I’d splash out - it’s such a quagmire on the PC front, so out of touch with what’s new!
Just been looking at Scan computers via Simply Rhino but your machine sounds like it flys, I’ll take a look at HP and these other threads.
Yes, it’s free for now but not for ever, when it’s launched it won’t have layout capabilities which is a drag… I’ve been looking at AutoCAD LT for Mac as a work around… Each decision is an extra cost and working within another program. I’ve used AutoCAD from 1992 - 2008 so not unfamiliar with it - I just prefer Rhino.
Rather than buy a cut down Mac version of Rhino and an expensive layout program I may as well buy Windows7 64bit, Rhino 5 for PC and T-Splines plugin. At least I’ll have all those other plugins and scripts at my finger tips.
The main thing is I can spend £100 on 2x 8GB modules and buy the software but I don’t have to buy another computer which pretty much pays for the software(ish)
There are many things I like about the Mac version though, I haven’t used Rhino on a PC since version 4 when it was first launched, the company I worked for had 2x licenses and that’s where I first used it.
I would caution you to be very diligent with the backup system that you put in place. WinClone is a must to backup the Bootcamp partition. I’ve been burnt a couple of times using Bootcamp. Without elaborating here, look up other Bootcamp discussions like this:
Thanks for the tips. It’s odd working in Windows again, especially on the MacBook Pro - Steve Jobs will be spinning in his basket! “One fifth of my HDD proffered to Bill Gates?! How could you?!” Etc…
Anyway, back in the real world; it’s been working a treat, and t-splines is awesome, just the ticket for this project, I was able to pick it up and run with it within about half an hour!
You may see me switch to a PC posts in a few short weeks, got my eye on an Alienware 18 dual graphics etc. Overkill? Maybe, but at least it’ll be a formidable 32gig machine, I can be mediocre on a flashy laptop which is only being used to half of its potential, rather than being mediocre on a Mac which is struggling a bit
There are so many plugins and software options available for PC that working on my MacBook Pro is just unviable at the moment.
