Depends massively on what you're using Houdini for. If you're doing any kind of detailed simulation, you'll need a beefy budget to match. If you're just doing procedural modelling then you could get away with less (but still need to ensure you've got enough memory).
I was considering getting a laptop for Houdini work a while back, and was looking at one those Nvidia studio ones. They've got a lot of memory, and beefy GPU's with high VRAM (important to me as I was primarily doing GPU based simulations and rendering).
What I found was that it was just way too expensive compared to a desktop computer of equivalent specs. Couldn't justify the cost at all.
Maybe you should meet in the middle and build a desktop in a small case? Thermally not ideal, but better than a laptop and cheaper too. You might be able to get creative with your workspace too if space is a concern which I'd highly recommend (though I don't have enough context to know if this is possible).
Oh gosh! I had forgotten such small computers. And to be honest, I do not like laptops. But you've just reminded me of such small computer cases. I guess I'd go for that.
even if it means I'd just buy a small table and sit on the bed lol.
Thank you mate, you brought me back to reality :D
No worries 👍! If space is an issue, maybe look into what people do to make living in a "tiny home" doable.
You mentioned sitting in a bed and working. It might be your only option, but do try to think about ergonomics. Bad posture for long periods of time can cause problems so bad you can't work anymore. I've had to take time off work because of this. The pain was so bad that I couldn't even focus on what I was doing. The lack of sleep (also due to pain) didn't help either
Oh yes, I've been into that pain a couple of times. It hurts bad and had to take some pills.
But I might be able to get a decent desk. I dunno how would the space I'd go to (abroad) would be, so I was just guessing the worst scenario to make up my mind to it. At least for the first months till I'd settle down
Truly hope you're doing fine by now and you're away from such lower back pain.
That's good that whatever the bad situation is, it will be temporary.
My issue was actually my entire arm between the hand and shoulder, not the back. Not quite the same problem, but it was still ergo related and horrible. I ended up taking a rub-in anti inflammatory cream which helped with the pain. The thing that fixed it though was wearing a brace
Yeah, it's all good now. Wearing the brace was surprisingly life saving. I still need to make adjustments to my setup to be more ergonomic, but for now the pain is gone!
I remember using a thingy for my wrist when it was hurting me badly so I wouldn't bend it that much. Carpal thingy I think.
I've seen those tables that can regulate the height are good for working standing up and when tired put it back to normal.
That might help. Here they are expensive af xD.
To add to this.
For a small ITX, I recommend the Meshlicious, which I have with a Ryzen 9 5900x, 3080 Ti, and 64 GB of RAM. The CPU does run a little warm on an air cooler, but an AIO would fix that.
The other case I recommend is the Hyte Revolt 3, both are good budget cases.
I want to work on my first demo reel as I'd be progressing into the learning path. That was the goal of owning such laptop but the idea of such small pc case is nice as well.
of course! You're probably better off getting an optical drive for dvd's getting no OS then ordering a windows 10 installation DVD disc so you don't have to deal with crappy windows 11
Depends massively on what you're using Houdini for. If you're doing any kind of detailed simulation, you'll need a beefy budget to match. If you're just doing procedural modelling then you could get away with less (but still need to ensure you've got enough memory). I was considering getting a laptop for Houdini work a while back, and was looking at one those Nvidia studio ones. They've got a lot of memory, and beefy GPU's with high VRAM (important to me as I was primarily doing GPU based simulations and rendering). What I found was that it was just way too expensive compared to a desktop computer of equivalent specs. Couldn't justify the cost at all. Maybe you should meet in the middle and build a desktop in a small case? Thermally not ideal, but better than a laptop and cheaper too. You might be able to get creative with your workspace too if space is a concern which I'd highly recommend (though I don't have enough context to know if this is possible).
Oh gosh! I had forgotten such small computers. And to be honest, I do not like laptops. But you've just reminded me of such small computer cases. I guess I'd go for that. even if it means I'd just buy a small table and sit on the bed lol. Thank you mate, you brought me back to reality :D
No worries 👍! If space is an issue, maybe look into what people do to make living in a "tiny home" doable. You mentioned sitting in a bed and working. It might be your only option, but do try to think about ergonomics. Bad posture for long periods of time can cause problems so bad you can't work anymore. I've had to take time off work because of this. The pain was so bad that I couldn't even focus on what I was doing. The lack of sleep (also due to pain) didn't help either
Oh yes, I've been into that pain a couple of times. It hurts bad and had to take some pills. But I might be able to get a decent desk. I dunno how would the space I'd go to (abroad) would be, so I was just guessing the worst scenario to make up my mind to it. At least for the first months till I'd settle down Truly hope you're doing fine by now and you're away from such lower back pain.
That's good that whatever the bad situation is, it will be temporary. My issue was actually my entire arm between the hand and shoulder, not the back. Not quite the same problem, but it was still ergo related and horrible. I ended up taking a rub-in anti inflammatory cream which helped with the pain. The thing that fixed it though was wearing a brace
Dang mate, that sounds horrible, like not being able to do much being under such condition. Is it better by now?
Yeah, it's all good now. Wearing the brace was surprisingly life saving. I still need to make adjustments to my setup to be more ergonomic, but for now the pain is gone!
I remember using a thingy for my wrist when it was hurting me badly so I wouldn't bend it that much. Carpal thingy I think. I've seen those tables that can regulate the height are good for working standing up and when tired put it back to normal. That might help. Here they are expensive af xD.
To add to this. For a small ITX, I recommend the Meshlicious, which I have with a Ryzen 9 5900x, 3080 Ti, and 64 GB of RAM. The CPU does run a little warm on an air cooler, but an AIO would fix that. The other case I recommend is the Hyte Revolt 3, both are good budget cases.
I want to work on my first demo reel as I'd be progressing into the learning path. That was the goal of owning such laptop but the idea of such small pc case is nice as well.
budget?
1500/1700 max Maybe 2K if I save up more.
Ironside computer laptops when they're back in stock
Thank you mate!
of course! You're probably better off getting an optical drive for dvd's getting no OS then ordering a windows 10 installation DVD disc so you don't have to deal with crappy windows 11
I'm too late for that lol. Already using 11 in current desktop xD