I just purchased a Dell Precision 5510 with a Xeon CPU and the Quadro GPU: http://www.ebay.com/itm/291755935648
I plan on promptly upgrading the SSD to a PCIe NVMe SSD if it does not have one, the 16GB RAM is fine for now but I like that I have the option to go up to 32GB when I choose to.
I had some questions for anyone who is using this for more intense work in 3D or digital imaging, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information out there except that the Quadro 1000m is mostly better than a GTX 960-970m GeForce card because most 3D software is more compatible with it and it is more efficient in rendering which means better performance overall – is this true or just marketing for a lower powered GPU?
I mainly use Maya, Cinema 4D, After Effects and Photoshop in my workflow, most of the work is performed by the CPU but a decent GPU helps to boost render times with certain software and plugins for said software.
I read that the Xeon CPU is built for 24/7 high load server work and enterprise solutions and that it is more effective at heat dissipation than a GeForce variant. I really liked the idea of the laptop handling heat and performace better in this workstation type of a laptop, I plan to keep it cooled with a pad because I know that rendering can be a huge task for most laptops. What I gathered from that info is that I could use this for rendering and not really worry about frying the mobo like might happen with an i7 and GTX combination for this kind of work.
Do you think the Quadro is good for this? I'm super excited that I might also be able to game on medium to high settings in down time, it seems like an all-around workhorse laptop as opposed to a hardcore gaming machine.
Are my assumptions correct? Does anyone here use their Precision 5510 for this kind of taxing work? Can you tell me what bothers you if anything with your laptop?
Also, what type of M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD is best for this model? What do you recommend?
Thanks for your input!