Back to Questions
2.0k
views10
comments
Laptop recommendation for GPU computing?
f#

Forgive me if this is slightly off-topic. I'm looking to get into GPU computing, perhaps with F#, over the next few months. I expect to do most of my development on my desktop, and can buy an appropriate video card. However, it would be nice to do demos on a laptop. Due to other reasons, I need to purchase the laptop immediately and don't yet have a good understanding of what would be suitable as far as video options go. Can someone point me in the right direction so I don't purchase something I can't use later? I'm just pressed for time and won't be able to properly research this before needing to purchase the laptop this week.

.

If you are new to GPGPU and starting from scratch, I would recommand a laptop that has ATI Mobility Radeon HD 54xx GPU.

[link:www.amd.com]

You can use DirectCompute or even OpenCL. Since those GPUs are fully DirectX 11-compliant, that means that Accelerator (which is currently based on DX9, by the way) will work too. So it's a safe bet.

If you want go down to the NVIDIA path (because you are already into CUDA or need all the advanced features that CUDA has), you can pick one that features a Mobile Geforce 300M, or possibly wait the mobile version of last gen (aka Fermi) which will be also DirectX 11-compliant, OpenCL 1.x, etc, so more future proof.

Other advice, stay away from built-in graphics chipsets like Intel ones, if you want to jump seriously on the GPGPU bandwagon.

I wouldn't buy a QuadroFX/FirePro-based laptop, they are marketed at much higher prices and add absolutely no value for GPGPU.

And I wouldn't buy a Macbook Pro either (I think they can be bad at dissipating heat because of the sleek design) and GPGPU tech is still evolving at a fast pace, so the investment as a GPU computing laptop will be completly lost in 12 months ($1799 and only 256MB of dedicated GPU memory).

For ATI's DirectX-11 laptop you can check for constructor like Dell, Acer etc..

e.g. this one:

[link:search.dell.co.uk]

or check for configs on notebookcheck:

[link:www.notebookcheck.net]

By on 5/23/2010 9:29 AM ()

Thanks Stringer, that was helpful.
I'm more and more inclined towards that Vaio. Just trying to find out if Premiere CS5 supports accelerated live preview on that card...

By on 5/23/2010 9:56 AM ()

Thanks Stringer, that was helpful.
I'm more and more inclined towards that Vaio. Just trying to find out if Premiere CS5 supports accelerated live preview on that card...

Hi mau. About Premiere CS5, be careful because Adobe restricted artificially GPUs to "Quadros only".

By on 5/23/2010 10:51 AM ()

Thank you,
yes apparently PPCS5 only supports quadros, and "apparently" there's a simple hack.
Gonna try to find someone with a Mobile Geforce and test it...

BTW, what's wrong with quadros for GPGPU?

Cheers

By on 5/23/2010 11:02 AM ()

It's just that they will charge you a lot:

Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB): ~$2,000 USD

the equivalent mainstream GPU would be the Geforce GTX 260 (896MB) which is ~$200 USD.

And the different amount of memory doesn't represent the extra price. It's more that you will get optimized OpenGL drivers for professional application (like SolidWorks, etc). The underlying hardware is basically the same and should have same performance charasteristics as far as GPGPU is concerned.

By on 5/23/2010 12:25 PM ()

I'm leaning towards a Dell Precision M4500 right now. I guess there are no DirectX 11 laptops yet, so I wouldn't be able to take advantage of Microsoft's Accelerator anyhow.

I also thought about a Macbook Pro with the nvidia 330m graphics, but since the drivers come from Apple I'm unsure about how suitable they'd be for GPU computing. I think Apple drags their feet when it comes to releasing Bootcamp drivers.

By on 5/19/2010 12:49 PM ()

Does anyone know of a list of current laptops with Quadro GPUs?

By on 5/19/2010 2:24 PM ()

Does anyone know of a list of current laptops with Quadro GPUs?

Try going here:

[link:www.nvidia.com]

... and then click on the product name, and then "Buy Now". You'll then be shown laptops with that particular graphics system. I don't know how complete it is, as I have only seen Dell, HP, and Lenovo so far.

By on 5/20/2010 7:51 PM ()

Same problem.

I'm thinking about this one.

[link:www.sony.co.uk]

By on 5/18/2010 6:47 AM ()

This VISO is a little expensive.

I think a laptop with standalone Nvidia card is ok to do some GPU stuff.

By on 5/18/2010 7:10 PM ()

    Topic tags

    IntelliFactory Offices Copyright (c) 2011-2012 IntelliFactory. All rights reserved.
    Home | Products | Consulting | Trainings | Blogs | Jobs | Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy     		Built with WebSharper