High processing power notebook?

[SeductivePig]

My job has a software called SKM, used for power system engineering calculations. It's a math intensive program that deals with a lot of matrices. Since my particular project is so large, it takes a long time to process even the most basic of actions.

Can you guys please advise on what kind of computer I should be looking for?

My only constraint is size/weight - I am a consultant and prefer to have the smallest and lightest laptop possible, since everywhere I go I connect to a separate monitor and have a mouse/keyboard.

Right now I have a 15.6" dell core i5 2520m with 4gb of ram.

I tried upgrading the ram to 8GB and that gave maybe an 8-10% speed boost, which is useless.

 

[JWade]

I had a simliliar dell with 2520m and upgraded it to an i7 and 16gb ram, good improvement

 

[SeductivePig]

I had a simliliar dell with 2520m and upgraded it to an i7 and 16gb ram, good improvement

Interesting. I have heard of workstations and laptops with xeon processors, is that something you evaluated before getting the i7?

Also for a laptop like yours, is it possible to get one in a small size?

 

[firewolfsm]

The new XPS 15

 

[JWade]

as far as dells go, I think the smallest is a 14" with replaceable processors, the e62xx and e63xx series have the processor on soldered onto the motherboard.

i7-2640m will swap out, it currently sells for about $80 on ebay
i7-2620m sells for $45 to $80
i7-2760qm a true quad with hyperthreading sells for about
xeon's wont work in the laptops. $85 on ebay.


on my upgrade to a dell e6420 that I had the i5-2520 in I went to the i7-2640m and liked it

 

[Commodus]

I'd go with something using one of Intel's 6th-generation Core processors... since you want thin and light, this probably means a dual-core part. You'll also want to eliminate as many storage bottlenecks as you can, such as by getting a system with an SSD and as much RAM as possible (8GB minimum, 16GB or more is ideal).

Dell's new XPS line should hit the sweet spot in this regard. They're light, they're thin, and you can get higher-end configs with a Core i7 and an SSD. Go for the XPS 13 if you value size and don't mind going dual-core, and the XPS 15 if you want the best possible performance.

 

[sze5003]

I'd go with something using one of Intel's 6th-generation Core processors... since you want thin and light, this probably means a dual-core part. You'll also want to eliminate as many storage bottlenecks as you can, such as by getting a system with an SSD and as much RAM as possible (8GB minimum, 16GB or more is ideal).

Dell's new XPS line should hit the sweet spot in this regard. They're light, they're thin, and you can get higher-end configs with a Core i7 and an SSD. Go for the XPS 13 if you value size and don't mind going dual-core, and the XPS 15 if you want the best possible performance.

New xps 15 looks sweet. I wonder if you can upgrade the ram and pcie yourself. I would choose the middle model with the 6700hq i7 and add ram and a bigger ssd.

I think I'll end up going with the new inspiron 7000 15 inch model. Beast specs for the $899 model but its not as light.

 

[Blue_Max]

My gaming-class laptop didn't cost much but has a full 8-thread i7 (beware the i7's with only 2c/4threads!)

Does your program also use CUDA or other graphic processing power? Some great business machines have Quadro graphics which can really help out...

 

[Stuka87]

My first suggestion is a Dell Precision M4800 with an quad core i7. But they are not the lightest of notebooks (I have an M4600, same chassis, but is Sandy Bridge)

I also have a Precision M3800 (for about a month now). It has a quad i7 and 16GB of ram, and a PCIE SSD. Pretty happy with it so far. The XPS 15 is very close to the same machine, but actually cost a bit more strangely.

 

[giantpandaman2]

My first suggestion is a Dell Precision M4800 with an quad core i7. But they are not the lightest of notebooks (I have an M4600, same chassis, but is Sandy Bridge)

I also have a Precision M3800 (for about a month now). It has a quad i7 and 16GB of ram, and a PCIE SSD. Pretty happy with it so far. The XPS 15 is very close to the same machine, but actually cost a bit more strangely.

I agree with this. If the laptop is for mission critical work I'd select a business focused notebook over a consumer line notebook. Not as sexy but far more robust. Thin and light is almost always a trade off with toughness.

 

[sdifox]

does the software tap into video card for floating point processsing and matrix op in opengl?

 

[frumply]

Upcoming Precision 5510 should be a business laptop ver of the new XPS15. Skylake CPU all the way up to the mobile xeons (which look like they're just slightly higher-clock quad core i7's that can run off ECC RAM -- correct me if I'm wrong), RAM and HDD can be swapped out later, laptop size is akin to 14in laptop. I've been assigned a 17in laptop by work, I'm due up for a replacement and for me it's either going to be the precision or a SP4. Gravitating towards the latter since honestly the stuff I do don't require all that much horsepower.

 

[sze5003]

I ordered an xps 15 with i7, 8gb ram, 256gb pcie ssd and the 960 nvidia. Just before I ordered I realized they have the new precision series coming out.