Gaming + Work = Geforce or Quadro?

[NotSoSavvy]

Hey everyone, this is my first post here so hopefully I don't sound too nooby but...
I'm getting a new laptop for college with main specs as follows:
Intel i7 4th Gen clocked @ 2.4 GHz
8 GB DDR3 Ram
1 TB HDD
15.6 inch screen
Windows 8 64-bit

The thing is I'm an engineering major so I will need to run some software modeling programs. Right now the programs I know are SolidWorks SDK, Dreamspark, and possibly AutoCad. However, I will also be doing some gaming on this laptop (nothing too extreme, maybe LoL, SC2, Sims 3, and Skyrim) so I know I need a good GPU. Would I be better off getting a gaming GPU like a nVidia Geforce or a work-oriented GPU like a Quadro? I'm not too sure about the models but I was looking at Geforce 650M or Quadro 2000M. If I get a Quadro I will have to get a Workstation laptop. So I have 1 main question and 2 random questions that are somewhat relevant:

1) Should I go with a Geforce or a Quadro if I want to work and play? (Which is a better mix?)

2) Why do workstation laptops cost so much? It is possible to get a laptop with similar specs that cost a good amount less. I was thinking it was mainly because of the Quadro GPUs. I asked my friend and he said that they were built with a better chassis, better battery, and intended to last longer overall. Is this true? Is there more? Are they worth it?

3) What is the difference between 3D modeling and 3D rendering? I keep seeing this over the forums and I'm a bit confused here.

Thank you so much and sorry if I went too much into detail or made this longer than necessary.

 

[taserbro]

I was standing where you were about 4 years ago and honestly both your options will give you more or less the same quality of computing but only the workstation will make you feel bad when it gets obsolete in 4-6 years.

1) The quadro will handle supported programs better than the geforce by the same margin the geforce of same budget will game better than the quadro. It would highly depends on whether the programs you'll be using will benefit from quadro and how much. I know autocad does but I'm not too sure about the other ones. You can look it up yourself if it's a large difference but usually student projects won't really require too much computing horsepower and your school would have a problem if it required every student to buy high end quadros.

2) Workstations laptops are much much better built and dependable in a lot of ways and enjoy a much better support service if you get one from a reputable company. They come with better screens, better keyboards, more output options and ports, much more solid constructions...etc But that said, the big slice of the price difference is due to the professional gear market demand being much less elastic than the consumer grade one.

3) Modeling is actually manipulating geometry in the real time viewport. It runs mostly on your GPU and the benefit is a smoother experience with higher geometry complexity that can be displayed on your screen.
Rendering is actually using a ray-trace or whatever other rendering algorithm to compute the final highest quality frames with all the bells and whistles of your scene/object from its pre-determined angle/animation. It runs mostly on CPU (with the exception of a few renderers that are compatible with gpgpu) and the benefit is a faster compute time.
Both of those tasks will run with very mediocre performance on a laptop, no matter how expensive but thankfully you can usually bring your file on a drive and use multiple desktops/servers (farms) to handle the rendering to cut down the time.

 

[NTMBK]

Are there no decent computer labs available at your college? I'd be pretty pissed off if my university had required me to run software packages that they didn't have the hardware to handle.

Failing that- does it really need to be a laptop? A good quad-core laptop with a powerful Quadro in it is going to be a) super expensive b) incredibly heavy and c) blast heat out of the side all day long. This isn't going to be a portable machine you can toss in a satchel and run down to lectures with, it's going to be a massive brick. Seriously consider getting a desktop PC- an entry level desktop workstation will give you much more computational power for your money, and you will be able to easily upgrade it in the future if you decide you need e.g. a better graphics card, or more RAM.

 

[NotSoSavvy]

Thank you both very very much for your replies.
NTMBK, I understand that I can get a better desktop probably for a cheaper price, but I really want to get a laptop. I won't be bringing it to school every single day, but I want that option in case I need to every now and then.
tasterbro, Sorry if this sounds dumb, but I didn't really understand your response to #3. Can you or someone else explain it again in simpler terms? Hahaha.

Any more replies will be greatly appreciated.

 

[taserbro]

Modeling is what you do when you manipulate geometry in real time using your 3D program's viewport.
Rendering is your program drawing you your final picture based on the model you made.

This picture shows you what you see on a basic viewport versus what your final render looks like:

Those two things are kinda separate subjects in scope but for the relevant part in the case of your choice of laptop hardware, the quadro GPU will benefit your modeling experience while a better cpu will benefit your rendering times.

That said, a mainstream laptop with a geforce is likely going to be more than sufficient for any task you'll be facing in school. If there are things your laptop struggles with, as NTMBK mentioned, you can always use your school computer lab as your render farm. My advice remains the same. Don't spend too much on a school laptop; they are disposable and you will buy your dream machine when you get a job. If you truly need it to be portable, get one that's compact and has decent battery life, computing power be damned.

 

[3DVagabond]

I agree, spend your money on a Geforce card. I really don't think you will benefit from a workstation card at your level on a laptop. A quadcore (or even hexcore if you really don't care about battery life) CPU w/Hyperthreading will improve your workflow more then a workstation graphics card will. The final render stage is far and away the most demanding and time consuming part of your workflow.