Computers and Monitors
Should you get a Mac or PC?
If your major uses Solidworks or Inventor software, such as most engineering majors, you should buy a laptop with windows on it. Although using the Georgia Tech VMs is possible, it is a bit slower than just having Windows 10. (I'm not so sure about this; see Talk:Computers and Monitors)
Gaming Laptop or Business/Personal Laptop?
Whether you get a gaming laptop or a more "professional" laptop completely depends on your preferences. Many high school students already have gaming laptops, and gaming laptops can sometimes be cheaper than regular laptops. On the other hand, professors will respect you more if you walk in to office hours with a sleek professional laptop rather than a large, colorful. gaming laptop. Another consideration is the battery life of gaming laptops, as they usually only last a few hours, while most non-gaming laptops can last 8+ hours on a full charge. The final consideration is that gaming laptop's fans can sound like industrial power plants while running Solidworks, so it would be awkward to use them in quiet spaces.
Which Brand of Laptop?
The name brand laptops are Dell, Lenovo, HP, and Mac. There are other brands of laptops that may be cheaper, but its *usually* smart to spend an extra $100 on the name brand product, as debugging and management is usually easier.
Which Intel Processor Should You Buy?
Although processor names can seem like absolute gibberish, the numbers and letters are actually codes for basic information about the processor. For the following three paragraphs, please refer to this processor name (Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7 Processor) as an example. There are four generations of Intel processors: i3, i5, i7, and i9. Most laptops under $1000 will have i5 or i7 processors, while higher level laptops will have the newer i9 processors. Although there are a few i5 processors that are faster than some i7 processors, generally, i7 processors are faster than i5 processors.
The next two numbers in the label (11 in the case of the example) are the generation of the processor. The newest generation is the 11th generation, which is kind of like buying an iPhone 12. Most cheaper laptops that college students will buy have 9th or 10th generation processors in them, but make sure to not buy an 8th gen processor (comparable to an iPhone 7), as they are mostly outdated.
The next numbers are called "SKU Numeric Digits", which are basically numbers assigned to processors as they are produced, with the higher number being better. In the example, the SKU digits are "65", so this processor would be better than an 11th generation i7 with the SKU digit of "55". After the numeric digits, the processor title will either say G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6, G7 or a random letter; please consult the following chart from Intel(Source 1) to understand what the suffix means.
| Suffix | Meaning |
|---|---|
| G1-G7 | Graphics level, G1 being the lowest, G7 is the highest |
| E | Embedded |
| F | Requires discrete graphics |
| G | Includes discrete graphics on package |
| H | High performance optimized for mobile |
| HK | High performance optimized for mobile, unlocked |
| HQ | High performance optimized for mobile, quad core |
| K | Unlocked |
| S | Special edition |
| T | Power-optimized lifestyle |
| U | Mobile power efficient |
| Y | Mobile extremely low power |
| X/XE | Unlocked, High End |
The processor will also come with a certain amount of cores, and make sure to have four or more cores to effectively run a 3D modeling program, such as Solidworks and multiple Chrome windows.
Battery
Laptop manufactures often exaggerate the battery life of their laptops, so make sure to watch YouTube videos (don't read Amazon comments because they might be fake) about the laptop you want to buy. As long as the battery last six or more hours, it should be fine, as there are power outlets around Georgia Tech.
Which NVIDIA Graphics Card Should You Buy?
If you are an engineering major that will be using SolidWorks or Autodesk, you will need a dedicated graphics card. The main producer of graphics cards is NVIDIA, and their two most prevalent lines are GTX and RTX. There are also MX graphics cards from NVIDIA, such as the MX450, but those will struggle with most gaming and 3D Modeling programs such as Solidworks.
The GTX graphics cards are the cheaper of the two, which are usually in laptops around $1000, and the RTX are the top-of-the-line cards, which usually are overkill for most gaming and 3D modeling applications. GTX and RTX graphics cards are arranged by numbers, with the larger number equaling a better graphics card. To run 3D modeling programs, make sure to buy a graphics card equal to or better than the GTX 1050-Ti. Please refer the to the following website to see the relative levels of performance for each graphics card. https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/
How Much RAM?
In beginning engineering classes, you only need 8GB or 12GB of RAM to do basic programming or CADing. As you move into your third and fourth year, and classes become more specialized, you will need at least 16GB of RAM to manage large assemblies in CAD and run other programs at the same time. If you plan to upgrade your RAM half-way through Georgia Tech, make sure the laptop you buy has non-soldered, easily accessible RAM, to make it easier to upgrade. Also, some higher-end laptops have 32GB of RAM, but that is overkill for most of today's applications.
The one exception to this rule is for Computer Science majors. It is effectively required to get 16 GB of RAM if you are planning to get a new machine, because you will most likely be running at least one VM for either a class or a club, and good VM performance is highly dependent the amount of RAM allocated to the virtual machine.
SSD or HDD?
A solid state drive, or SSD, is a drive with no moving parts. Thus, it is usually faster and quieter than its counterpart, the HDD (hard disk drive). Most laptops either come with a 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB drive. Most people opt to purchase a laptop with 512GB or 1TB of storage, so they have enough room for files, games, and programs.
802.11ac vs. 802.11ax WIFI
Make sure your laptop has 802.11ax WIFI, more commonly known as WIFI 6. Devices with WIFI 6 will operate better in dense WIFI systems, as it will get premium access to public WIFI routers compared to devices with WIFI 5. Because WIFI 5 is the "old' technology, many laptop manufacturers are selling their WIFI 5 laptops at discounts, so make sure to look for 802.11ax or WIFI 6 in the product name.
Monitors
While most students don't have a portable monitor, it can be extremely helpful for CADing/Programming and using Chrome at the same time. The main consideration with picking out an extra monitor is making it as similar as possible to your laptop's screen.
As with laptops, monitors have their own set of lingo to describe them, so here are some common measurements to describe a monitor:
- 15" Monitor - A 15" monitor means the distance from the top right corner to the bottom left corner will be 15"
- 1920x1080 - This means the screen has 1,920 pixels horizontally, and 1,080 pixels vertically
- 60 FPS - A screen with a 60 FPS refresh rate means that the screen will refresh 60 times per second. This is the minimum refresh rate that a monitor should be.
- Panel Type: Please see the following table for the pros and cons of each type: TN, VA, IPS, and OLED.
| Panel Type | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| TN | Fast Response Times, Low Input Lag, Cheap | Bad Viewing Angles, Bad Image Quality, Bad Colors |
| VA | Good Contrast, Good Colors, Cheap | Slightly Better Image Quality than TN, Slightly Better Viewing Angles than TN, Slightly Blurry |
| IPS | Good Image Quality, Good Viewing Angles, Good Colors | Slightly Expensive, Response Times can be slow |
| OLED | Best Contrast, Best Image Quality, Best Colors | Screen Burns Possible, Extremely Expensive, Rare |
In conclusion, IPS monitors are the best for daily use and cost. This is because for group work, people can sit to the right an left of you, and view a non-distorted image, and the image quality will be sufficient enough to see small details in 3D modeling. I personally just purchased the ASUS MB168B, which has a 1920x1080 IPS display, and it is excellent for CADing with assemblies with 1000+ parts (Source 2).
Sources
1. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/processor-numbers.html
2. https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-MB169B-1920x1080-Portable-Monitor/dp/B013XFJKGI/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=asus%2BIPS%2Bportable%2Bmonitor&qid=1619705461&s=electronics&sr=1-3&th=1
