Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Hi guys,

I have a small budget for a decent laptop that will act as my secondary editing machine (I have a good desktop to take care of the heavy work), and I'm hoping you guys can help me out

I've narrowed my choices to these two laptops (they're both Dell Vostro's...don't shoot me for being cheap,hehe):

1) Intel 3rd gen i5-3230M with nVidia Geforce GT 630M
2) Intel 3rd gen i7-3632QM with AMD Radeon 7670M (unfortunately no nVidia option)

Given that I can "hack" the 630M to work with GPU acceleration (or so I've read...please correct me if I'm wrong), which option would be better for using Premiere? I have yet to use Adobe Premiere so I don't really know how much GPU acceleration will benefit me.

Price is of course a factor, and the i7 is of course more expensive. However, with the price difference (about $200), I would upgrade the i5 machine to get an SSD and up the RAM to 8GB. The i7 model already has 8GB but no SSD.

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

I would be tempted by the i5 with the Nvidia card but both will struggle really badly but if you are only doing rough cutting on there might be okay for that.

If you find a laptop with a expresscard port you have the option to use external GPUs.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Thanks for your input, David. Yes, I will at most be only doing rough cutting. So if Premiere will edit quickly with 1080p footage (DSLR footage) then I should be good. :)

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Make sure you find a quick SSD, SATA3 is a must!

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Chris,

To be honest, I would pick neither of those two. The i5 would be limited by both the CPU (which, like all other mobile i5s, has only two physical cores - and even with hyperthreading and turbo boost, no dual-core CPU performs as fast as even a mediocre-performing quad-core CPU when it comes to performance in Premiere Pro CS6, the current version) and the GPU (which is not a true Kepler GPU, but is instead a renamed Fermi derivative with only 96 CUDA cores). The i7 does have four physical cores with Hyperthreading, but is restricted to only AMD GPUs, and therefore Premiere's MPE is permanently locked into the software-only mode. As equipped, both of those machines would probably fall below the bottom 10% (D1) in rankings when tested with Harm Millaard's and Bill Gehrke's PPBM5 benchmark tests (or simply put, the overall performance of either machine would be in the "hopeless" range).

As such, the lack of decent available options at your low price point makes this an extremely tall order for anything more complex than simple HDV or SD DV work (or put it this way, both laptops are a waste of money for video editing). Hence, the only way to fix that would be to spend more (and probably much more) money up front.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Randall, thanks for your helpful advice.

So if I can find an i7 laptop with an nVidia GPU, it would be the way to go? Unfortunately Dell doesn't have any of those offerings (at least not within my budget), but I'm seeing some laptops along the likes of Acer, Asus, and Lenovo (if I spring a little extra for that brand) that have that configuration.

I shall keep looking...

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

You don't mention what your budget is, exactly, so would something like this work for you?

ASUS R500VM-MS71 15.6" Notebook - Newegg.com

ASUS refurb for $680
ASUS R500VM-MS71 Notebook Intel Core i7 3610QM(2.30GHz)
15.6" screen
8GB Memory
750GB HDD
NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M (2GB dedicated DDR3 RAM)

If you're willing to get Windows 8, your options would expand more...

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

My budget isn't much to be honest, around $750 if it has the right specs. I know that's extremely low for something to edit video with but again, it's a secondary machine to just do basic cuts while I leave the heavy-duty stuff for the desktop to crunch.

The ASUS laptop you mention is great! I realize that with my budget that I can only keep 2 of 3 things important to me: processor, graphics, and screen resolution. I can always plug an external monitor if it bothers me that bad, and I'll just be either at home or in an office (not like I need to edit on a plane or hotel).

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Look at the Toshiba Qosmio - I have an older model with i7, 2 harddisks and Nvidia and it works great with premiere. Don't know how the prices are in the US. Both disk are switched to SSD's so no problems here.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

I would agree. Don't get either of those two. I also would look at saving up enough money to get what is needed. I have liked using my Lenovo 520. But it's more than twice what you want to spend. And nVidea is the only way to go. The CUDA core engine is superb and worth getting the right card to drive.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

The good news for all of you is that I've decided against the Dell Vostro's. I've upped my budget to around $1000 and just a couple hundred bucks will get me something much better with no regrets down the road.

So far I've been eyeing these laptops:

Lenovo Y580, i7-3630QM, nVidia GTX 660M, 15.6" display (1366x768 version @ $899, or 1080p version @ $1099)

Asus R500 (as mentioned earlier), i7-3610QM, 15.6" @ 1366x768, nVidia GT 630M - $689

And if I can find a REALLY good deal on a used Asus G-series laptop (approx. $1000), I'll be all over that!

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Chris, you dont need an all singing all dancing laptop to edit DSLR footage. I purchased a laptop a few months ago, to use in the same way as you describe. I now use it daily. It is an Acer with quad core i5, 8gb ram, and simple intel graphics. It cost me £400. Hard drives are WD 1Gb, USB2, nothing fancy. I run Prem 6.5 and Edius 6.5 on it without problems. Multicam with 2 cams run fine, even 1080/50p. for everyday rough cuts, and a whole lot more demanding work, something like this would be ideal.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Colin,

I can imagine that, when you use an era old version of Premiere 6.5, a 32 bit application. There have been numerous versions since then, Premiere 7.0, Premiere Pro 1.0, 1.5, and all the CS versions in between. I understood from the OP he was not interested in that antique version, but the current day version of 64 bit Premiere PRO CS6.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Sorry Harm my mistake, Its CS6, must have been thinking of Edius 6.5 when I typed. (senior moment)

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

In your case, you must have gotten a rare laptop that is equipped with a desktop i5 CPU. Only desktop versions of the i5 are quad-core. All mobile versions of the i5 (yes, that includes the very latest Ivy Bridge offerings) are only dual-core with hyperthreading.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Hey, your probably right, device manager shows 4 processors, Edius sees 4 logical processors when booting up, but I dont know what the heck all that means. All I know is that this very cheap laptop, with basic graphics edits all the footage I throw at. XDCam EX, AVCHD, 1080/50p, Multicam. The cheapest edit system I have ever purchased.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Here's the problem:

Windows Device Manager and Task Manager make absolutely no distinction whatsoever between a quad-core CPU with no hyperthreading ans a dual-core CPU with hyperthreading. Only the system properties will tell you the exact model of the CPU that's installed in that system.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Guys, as I said above, I dont have a heck of a clue what it all means, and to be honest dont really care. My point to the OP was simply that he doesnt need to spend a fortune on a laptop that will fulfil his requirements.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Agree in general although one should keep in mind that even the fastest laptop is about three to four times slower than a fast desktop.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

The one thing I'd add to all this is don't under estimate the effect of being pinched for RAM...and 8 GB can be a little tight...my Lenovo 520 has 16 GB (quad core HT i7, Quadro 2000M).

The other specs are important too, but RAM gets overlooked quite often. One of the most effective ways to "stretch" an otherwise limited system is to add RAM.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

If you're not doing any rendering work, the i5 should be good enough. I have edited DSLR projects on an old (now dead) Acer Core 2 Duo laptop with 4GB and a non-CUDA graphics card.

I used a thumb drive as cache/temp and my source footage was on an external drive, both connected by USB 2.0.

Having said that, if you can afford i7, go for it. The processor counts big time. For basic editing work, the Mercury Playback engine is good to have, but not essential. If you don't mind a little bit of lag here and there you'll be okay.

Remember, many people edit on NLEs without the Mercury Playback engine or GPU acceleration.

An SSD for DSLR work is overkill, in my opinion. It's not a necessity. If I were really desperate I'd look at an i7 with 8 GB RAM and forget the SSD and GPU.

I'd also try to get hold of legacy software, like CS3 or CS4 (if you're not round-tripping projects between your desktop - if that's running CS6, etc.) to edit because they are 'lighter' on your system. In the same vein, I'd also erase all proprietary software that Dell will throw into it and start afresh with Windows 7 64-bit (or the 8 GB would be useless).

Once you make this pay, you can always upgrade to a faster system. Hope this helps.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

"I'd also try to get hold of legacy software, like CS3 or CS4 (if you're not round-tripping projects between your desktop - if that's running CS6, etc.) to edit because they are 'lighter' on your system. "

Um...no, that would -not- be a good idea editing ANY H264-based footage.

First off, PPro CS3 and 4 are both 32 bit programs...less access to RAM...less power to get anything done, particularly using any H264 format.

Second...and most importantly...if you are editing H264 DSLR footage and intend to do that natively, using a version of the software that was released before DSLR video existed...simply won't work. You would have to convert all your footage to CineForm or some other intermediate format to edit it on a version of Premiere Pro that was released 5-6 years ago.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Good point, Tim. I missed that.

I've edited H.264 from Canon DSLRs natively on CS3 without any problems whatsoever.

There's a reason Adobe decided to give away CS2 free instead of CS3. :)

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

You would be the first person I've heard of that considers editing DSLR (or AVCHD, or POV camera footage...all H264 based) in CS3 to be acceptable. Most seem to struggle to make it work without transcoding to an intermediate codec like CineForm.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Feel free to continue the conversation guys, but I've decided on my laptop :)

ASUS G75VW
17.3" @ 1980x1080
i7-3610M
12GB RAM (4 slots!)
750GB hybrid drive + 750GB 7200rpm drive (yes, dual bay HDD's in a laptop!)
nVidia GTX 670M

The only drawback is that I got an earlier version that doesn't have thunderbolt. It would have been a huuuge plus to have TB, but I will be using my second HDD as my scratch disk and swap out projects as necessary.

Yes, I've upped my budget quite a bit to make my original questions obsolete, but thanks to everyone who provided their input. I sure am glad I stayed away from those Dells!

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Chris, How's your laptop working out?

I'm needing to upgrade my old Dell Inspirion laptop from 2007 which was great for SD, but can not handle HD.

I've been needing to upgrade for a while but have put it off because I haven't been doing much editing during the day (I have a day job and used to edit during my lunch hour on my laptop)... but now I've got quite a few projects and it would be nice to be able to do some rough cuts, review footage, do basic design stuff...

Thanks for the info! Looks like a nice laptop you got. I'm probably going to a 15.6" one just for size purposes.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

congrats on your laptop chris. the asus is a nice piece of hw indeed.
the lenovo y580 you mentioned is also a great laptop.
but my preference goes to sager:
XOTICPC | Sager NP9150 (Clevo P150EM)

i prefer 15.6 for portability. and i like the customizability options of sager. some people have used this with a 3940xm overclockable cpu/680m gpu (top of the line for mobile) or a k3000m quadro if you so choose. you can also swap out the dvd/bd player for an hdd caddy to add a third (sata 3). couple that with 32gb ram and a 95% color gamut, anti glare screen plus excellent copper cooling allowing you to overclock your components; and you have a portable workstation.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

Adobe shut down the activation computers for CS2. So its actually not free, but for people who have bought the program to continue without have to activate.

Re: Laptop: i5 + nVidia or i7 without nVidia?
 

CS3 cant even import avchd, many people used Cineform instead.
CS4 is a well known fact it cannot handle h.264 in a mov wrapper properlly.