What processor type would you recommend for working with graphic-heavy software? I've had two people suggest to me that laptops are a bad idea for graphic use. One was a bit more specific in saying that frame-rate in games was too slow. I am interested in a laptop primarily for the benefit of being able to take it with me a do my 3D imaging wherever I happen to be, rather than being tied to only doing it when I am at home (which explains why my gallery here is so small). With whatever computer I get I can upgrade the RAM and increase the HD size but I will be stuck with the processor that it comes with. What are the real performance differences between Pentium, Athlon, and Centrino? I was told that Centrino (in laptops) runs much cooler (a good thing) but that they were crappy for graphics. Is that so? In what way? I plan to use Photoshop, Painter, Bryce, DAZ-Studio & Poser. Maybe someday try Vue. And on the side I will also play games with it. If laptops are really at a noticably lower performance than a desktop then I will not go that route. Do any of you use a laptop for 3D rendering, 2D art (Photoshop & Painter), and graphic intensive gaming?

I have a P4 3.2Ghz desktop at home and a Centrino laptop. I use the laptop more than the desktop for my 3D. Usually I will get it all setup then transfer the files to the desktop to do the rendering. But if it is just a quicky render I will just render it on the laptop. I would not do a major render on a laptop and the reason has nothing to do with speed. The problem is that 3D rendering heats up the processor like nothing else and laptops are designed to be run less vigorously.

ooo... nobody ever told me that before. That is good to know!

Basically if the render is going to take more than 10 minutes then I render it on the desktop. Glad to help.

I've got a Compaq R3000 with 512GB memory and an Athlon 2.8GB processor. It does fine for running graphics, but I don't use it for any heavy renders. I got it for the same reasons you're contemplating--I wanted to be able to take my Poser projects with me. Gaming, at least the online, graphics heavy kind, is going to be much more demanding than your average Poser/Painter/etc. session, unless you're trying to do a full-blown render of a large scene.

I have a 2.2Ghz P4M (the early "M"obile P4 processor) laptop with 1GB of PC266 RAM. Yes, it is slower than an equivalent desktop, with disk access being the most obvious bottle neck, and 32Mb of RAM on the graphics card can be a bit frustrating at times. But, I love being able to work while not sitting at the desktop so much that I probably use the desktop about 5-10% of the time I spend working with 3D (the desktop is a dual processor Athlon MP 2000+ with 2Gb Ram and a Nvidia Quadro 750XGL).

As for heavy use and rendering, I use the laptop all the time for rendering, and have had it running well over 24 hours straight doing renders. I've never had any overheating issues, but I do have a "laptop desk" which is much better than having the laptop sit directly on your lap, or the carpet, or your bed (a real bad idea). My "laptop desk" is simply a portion of the top of a small particle board desk that is cut to fit between the arms of my recliner, with a 1.5 inch lip on one side that helps level the the "desk" surface so the laptop sits at a better angle, and it provides ventilation between the "desk" and my legs to help keep both the laptop, and me cooler. You can find comercially made laptop desks at Best Buy, Comp USA, WalMart, etc. that have built in fans for cooling, and side platforms for a regular mouse (if you get a laptop that uses a desktop processor, one of these would be a good idea).

I would stongly recommend getting a wireless optical USB mouse for your laptop. There are several smaller mice made for use with laptops. They are much better than the built touch pad or joystick for extended/continual use.

If your primary concern is top of the line perfomance, then a laptop may not be what your looking for (although todays laptops can blast the doors off of desktops a couple years old). If convenience and being able to work anywhere is your top priority, then you have to have a laptop.

IMHO, if you use your computer more because it's easier to access, the slight performance boost of a desktop won't even come close to the boost in productivity you'll get from using the laptop more.

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For anyone who is interested, I posted this same question in multiple forums looking for lots of suggestions. If you want to read the details look in the forums for Hardware/Technical, Adobe Photoshop, Painter, DAZ-Studio, Bryce, Vue and Poser. Thanx everyone for your great responses. This has been very helpful. There are varying preferences (as would be expected) but you all have given me much information and food-for-thought to help me make my selection. In a nutshell the consensus seems to be as follows: A desktop unit will be faster, better display, and cost less than a laptop. In that vein an Athlon AMD64 processor would be the top choice. Lotsa RAM for sure (1GB or better). DirectX 9+ and OpenGL 2+ is desirable. 256MB video memory. A laptop will cost more, be a bit less powerful and the display won't have the contrast range of a CRT. Having dual processors will compensate a lot by using one for the rendering and the other one for other tasks. As for processors: some said they are happy with Centrino. Andytw suggested the new Intel "Core" chips which replace Centrino will give similar performance to an AMD64. Actually using AMD chips will run hotter and battery life will be shorter. From what you tell me, in either case, COOLING is of EXTREME importance or whatever processor you have will not last so long. Now it comes down to this: I can spend less and get a machine that is rooted on one location, or I can spend more and get a machine that performs a bit slower and be able to take it with me from place to place. Still thinking on that. Will do some shopping and see what I can get. (Hardly anyone suggested prices! but I do know I won't be going the route of the $3000+ Alienware laptop!)

Oh and by-the-way, I wanted to tell you what I currently have for a computer. I don't even remember how old this is. It is an HP Pavilion, 803Mhz Intel, running Windows 2000. A 32KB cache. 4x CDR. A couple of years ago I upgraded the video card, the RAM and added a hard drive. I now have NVIDIA GeForce 2 video, two HD's totaling about 140 GB and 390MB of RAM. It works but it is troublesome and tired.