CGTalk - 3700m vs i7core

mikeo1313

11-07-2009, 05:18 AM

If you had the chance to either get :

#1.
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-720QM Processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1333MHz FSB)
1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 230M
Blu-Ray player
HP TV Tuner

OR

#2.
DELL Workstation m6400
Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.40GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1066MHZ) Dual Core
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M, 1.0GB Discrete
DVD-rom

All other things being equal, though the Quadro fx 3700 card is for 3d, an i7 core has its benefits also.

*Can a GT 230m be just so bad that anyone that uses VM's and has plans to fiddle with Maya & Zbrush on the go ought to not think twice and go for the m6400????

IMO it seems VM's & the art can benefit from the extra cores and if 6 months down the road if I got more familiar and involved with art either way I'd be better off as i7 machines w quadros will probably be more accessible. The only argument against would be somewhat if the gt 230m was soo bad in those apps it would be too much of a pain.

BoostAbuse

11-07-2009, 05:44 AM

Personally I'd take the i7-720QM as it is a quad core with hyper threading so you get 4 physical cores and 4 logical cores if you're doing any processor intensive work.

I have a M6400 for work and I cannot recommend it, the 3700M has terrible heat issues and constantly suffers from driver crashes not just in 3D applications but I've had it crash in Microsoft Word and right at the desktop of all places.

mikeo1313

11-10-2009, 02:47 AM

It heats up & crashes after a certain amount of hours? Even with windows 7?

Personally I'd take the i7-720QM as it is a quad core with hyper threading so you get 4 physical cores and 4 logical cores if you're doing any processor intensive work.

I have a M6400 for work and I cannot recommend it, the 3700M has terrible heat issues and constantly suffers from driver crashes not just in 3D applications but I've had it crash in Microsoft Word and right at the desktop of all places.

DanielWray

11-10-2009, 10:23 AM

I think the Gt230 would work quite well in Maya, you may get the occasional graphical glitch, such as part of the UI flickers, but it woudn't hinder your work, also the I7 would benefit Zbrush as it uses the CPU for drawing.

Personally I'd go for a desktop over the two machines, but if you do require a mobile machine then go for the I7, if it has 4GB+ of RAM, running windows 7 64 bit with Maya and Zbrush will allow you to take full advantage of the machine, I honestly can't see th GT230m holding the machine back though.

BoostAbuse

11-10-2009, 02:23 PM

It heats up & crashes after a certain amount of hours? Even with windows 7?

It could be a heat issue but I doubt it's the root of the problem because I've had driver crashes not even 15 minutes after a cold boot just hashing out a powerpoint presentation. I tried all Windows 7 RC's and nothing seemed to stabilize but have yet to try a final build of Win7 to see. Sadly the laptops just basically sitting there of no use to me it's so unstable.

I wouldn't doubt heat factors into the long term crashes though given the heat the QX9300 and 3700M produce.

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