Best computer to buy

[McGyver]

I am new to Home Designer. I  purchased the Home Designer Arch 2021 program because I do some residential space plan and design for friends and family. I was previously hand drawing main plans, using Room Sketcher for 3D and walk thru program and Lowes cabinet designer program for more detail cabinet plans. The  purchase of CA was to hopefully simplify to one program and save time although I know there will be some learning curve. I am searching for a new computer and wondering if there are suggestions. I would like to have a second monitor as well and had thought about a gaming laptop that meets all the requirements on CA website and then some. Having the  laptop gives me flexibility to take work with me when I am traveling. The laptop I found is an MSI and has two hardrives. (One TB of HDD and 512 SDD) Also 6 GB video card, 17.3 screen,  16 GB ram.  I am new to drawing digitally other that what I mentioned. Excited to delve into HD and want to be sure I have the right tools. Also wondering if I should have gotten the Pro version to start out.  Any pros or cons to both for a new user? 

Thanks!

 

[davidstvz]

I would say that device will do just fine.  If you're having any performance problems at all, it will be when navigating around in the 3D views in a fully detailed house (and this is probably an issue no matter how powerful your PC is). If that is ever a problem, you can set up one camera with graphics features minimized for navigation and editing, and set up physically based rendering cams with all the bells and whistles for generating nice images when you need them.

 

HD Pro has many nice features over Architectural.  You won't use them all, but here are some I've found most helpful. The sun feature is what convinced me to upgrade.

 

Manual roof and ceiling tools

 

Advanced cabinet tools

 

North pointer and sun angles for accurate sun shadows based on your longitude and latitude