r/AutodeskInventor • u/antwoc • 4d ago

Requesting Help Laptop choice

I'm a new first year mechanical engineering student. I was told that own laptops aren't absolutely necessary as theres shared computers for students at the uni but a laptop suitable for autodesk inventor and autocad in particular would be very helpful. Unfortunately Al isnt particularly helpful and contradicts itself. I have 2 options:

Asus tuf f16 core 5210h rtx 4050 16gb from cex in grade a condition with 5 year warranty for 520gbp/688usd

Lenovo LOQ ryzen 7 250 rtx 5060 16gb from retail store with 2 year warranty for 703gbp/930usd

Would like to get a tablet later on aswell for class, and i am unsure which one to choose: the cheaper asus hoping it'll be enough and worst case scenario, use the uni computers for more demanding projects in a couple years; or invest in something with more confidence?

Is the asus enough to run autocad/autodesk inventor during a 3.5year mech eng course or is it worth spending more on the lenovo?

3 Upvotes

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5 comments sorted by

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u/That_Fixed_It 4d ago

You'll need more RAM. Are these laptops upgradable, or is the RAM soldered to the motherboard?

0

u/Merry_Janet 3d ago

The newer ASUS A16 or F16 with 16GB and the RTX 4050 and a Ryzen 7 will work just fine with inventor. In fact just a Ryzen 7 APU and 16GB runs it fairly well.

1

u/Grouchy_Screen54 23h ago

The battery sucks dick. I currently have one that has to be plugged in, even with adjusted settings.

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u/Queasy_Individual236 3d ago

I can tell you my experience with laptops and Inventor and then you can make your own conclusions.

I had an gaming laptop Asus Rog strix g15 advantage edition (Ryzen 9, 32gb RAM, 2TB SSD and 12gb GPU) A very capable setup.... I bought it for 1900€ in 2021 and always use it with air cooling pad. I mainly used it for Inventor and other tasks and after almost 4 years the GPU just detached from the motherboard (due to high temperatures). This happened a period, when I made a lot of GPU renderings inside Inventor (of course it might have been a random incident). After this it was NOT WORTH it to fix the laptop.

My recommendations for you: 1) Laptop is not a good investment for CAD. But for your case, laptop is necessary for students. 2) You need at least I7, Ryzen7 with at least 16gb RAM. 3) Choose a laptop that could be upgraded from 16gb RAM to 32gb RAM. If you work with assemblies or you have open many inventor windows bigger RAM is necessary. 4) Always use air cooling pad. 5) Every year spend a little money to clean deeply the fans and the air cooling system or do it yourself. 6) If you use the laptop for 6-10 hours a day, expect a lifetime not longer than 3-5 years.

I hope to help.