Whats the best laptop for this software?

CrossFire ® General Discussion
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Newbie here
Whats the best laptop for this software?
Thanks for your help

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I want to make a funny remark…but not today.

The best is what you can afford really.

Some guys run the very basic of laptop or desktops…heck I am using a 20year old desktop running windows 7 and works fine

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It really depends on what software tools you’re going to be using.

The Firecontrol or Mach 3 software to run the CNC isn’t really demanding so most anything would be fine.

If you use Inkscape and Sheetcam for design & CAM then you can get away with a general purpose laptop.

If you’re going to use it to do design with Fusion360 then a gaming laptop is preferred because Fusion is really hard on a machine’s resources and benefits hugely from a good gaming style graphics card.

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Im in the same dilemma, I have 4x8 XR ordered and my current google chrome laptop (dont laugh too much) is not gonna be able to run Fusion 360. I would love some input from members who are successfully running a specific laptop with Fusion 360. The rabbit hole of laptop configurations is rather daunting. Fusion is saying that I need 64 Bit windows or mac, 8GB ram, multi core cpu - Intel 7 / Ryzen 7 and a dedicated GPU.

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I don’t use a laptop but this one has a good graphics cards and is pretty powerful. ASUS Laptop Amazon.com

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Welcome to the forum!

Just to make sure you understand your needs,

  1. the XR comes with a computer to run the table, so you don’t ‘need’ a laptop for that.
  2. a workshop with a plasma cutter is a very dirty environment and is not especially kind to laptops,
  3. You don’t need Fusion 360 to generate CAD files for your Plasma cutter, there are other, less demanding CAD packages you can use. You can use SheetCam to convert your designs into files for the XR system.

Edit:

Recognizing that ‘need’ and ‘want’ are two totally different things, I do use Fusion 360, running on a MAC Mini M4. It’s super fast, mostly due to the wickedly fast disk drive. My table is run with a 13 year old ThinkPad running Windows 7. Other CNC systems in my shop use Mini PCs dedicated to the CNC system.

However, I also use a LOT of other CAD programs so I use SheetCam as my Plasma CAM tool.

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to run the machine just about any computer will work. For 3D modeling I suggest the fastest single core speed you can afford. Modeling software does not multi-thread so more cpu cores does zero for you. It’s all about the individual core speed.

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I had an ASUS TUF Gaming laptop with the Ryzan 7 . It was able to do 3D modeling and video editing / Rendering.

I have an MSI now but the ASUS is a great bang for the buck.

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I have read a lot of mixed opinions / reviews on Fusion, I’m brand new to this Cad stuff and m really trying to go about it correctly or at least in a fashion that I’m at least building a solid foundation on the subject. What are your thoughts on sheetCam?

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@snipes welcome to The forum.

What do you plan on making with your plasma table?

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The immediate use is for car part fabrication (misc brackets and some light suspension stuff). Long term i guess i am waiting to see just how cost/tine efficient the profit margins would be on signage, crafty stuff etc etc althoughit seems that market is pretty saturated.

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Fusion, just get it over with. There is a learning curve. It is one powerful tool.

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I am a HUGE fan of SheetCam! I use MANY CAD tools and all of them can produce either/both of SVG or DXF drawing files that can be used by SheetCam.

I do use Fusion 360 but I also use a LOT of CAD tools. There is only ONE CAM tool I use, however, and that is SheetCam. Once I’ve set up a tool library, based on the MATERIALs I use, NOT based on the CAD TOOL du jour, then I am good to go with any design.

For one low and one time price, you get the right CAM tool for your system.

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Fusion.

Crazy easy and I use it for everything.

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I agree, it’s very easy to drive you crazy… :thinking: :rofl:

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:rofl::rofl:

Oh come on, it’s not that bad

It’s all I use!

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Thanks for all the tips and help everyone!

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I used vector graphic design software. Which is best for artsy stuff. I can make technical things with it, even a whole bumper. But…. It definitely requires a learning curve for technical stuff and it’s only 2D

I’m in the process of finally committing to learn fusion because now I have other things I need it for.

So if you’re starting with car parts, yeah, fusion.

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