[residual]

I am thinking of buying a laptop for my personal use and want to know whether it is "okay" to run simulations for a day or two on a laptop?
I am thinking of buying a 16GB, Core i7 computer and would be simulating transient flows with mesh count ~1M. At the moment I am modeling transient flows of bluff bodies for varied operating conditions.
If it is very harmful to a laptop to run these simulations, I am thinking of buying a desktop with the same specs for a lower price. But since I am traveling back and forth from the university weekly, it would be very hard for me to carry a desktop.

[flotus1]

Running high CPU load for extended periods of time should not outright damage any laptop with a somewhat competent design. But some laptops can handle sustained load better than others. You will have to look at some reviews once you narrowed down your search to a few models.

[mushtak]

Originally Posted by residual

I am thinking of buying a laptop for my personal use and want to know whether it is "okay" to run simulations for a day or two on a laptop?
I am thinking of buying a 16GB, Core i7 computer and would be simulating transient flows with mesh count ~1M. At the moment I am modeling transient flows of bluff bodies for varied operating conditions.
If it is very harmful to a laptop to run these simulations, I am thinking of buying a desktop with the same specs for a lower price. But since I am traveling back and forth from the university weekly, it would be very hard for me to carry a desktop.

To the best of my knowledge; you should not purchase the laptop for CFD simulations. It doesn't matter whether you will use 1m or 10m mesh cells. The thing which matter most is machine specifications. CPU's are slow enough to perform simulations whether it is attached with laptop or Desktop. GPU's are best option for CFD simulations. My suggestion is to purchase the Desktop workstation because even your simplest simulations will last 2-3 days so your laptop will heat up and stop working. Desktop can sustain that much pressure easily.

[aerosayan]

Originally Posted by residual

But since I am traveling back and forth from the university weekly, it would be very hard for me to carry a desktop.

May I suggest buying a powerful desktop to run at home, and when you're at college, connect to it through ssh if you're on linux/BSD, or remote desktop if you're on windows.


If the desktop is at home, you can simply ask your family members to switch it on/off when you need to use it.

[flotus1]

CPU's are slow enough to perform simulations whether it is attached with laptop or Desktop

Care to elaborate that point? It sounds like faster CPUs would be an issue

GPU's are best option for CFD simulations

In the vast majority of cases, they are not. Either because the solver does not support GPU acceleration. Or because suitable GPUs cost a fortune. And of course, limited GPU memory.

even your simplest simulations will last 2-3 days

No. Depending on what field you are in, you can have meaningful simulation results within minutes or even seconds.

your laptop will heat up and stop working

Only the crappiest of laptops will do that. There are plenty of options that can handle sustained CPU load with no problem whatsoever.

[residual]

Originally Posted by aerosayan

May I suggest buying a powerful desktop to run at home, and when you're at college, connect to it through ssh if you're on linux/BSD, or remote desktop if you're on windows.


If the desktop is at home, you can simply ask your family members to switch it on/off when you need to use it.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will consider that an option

[aero_head]

Originally Posted by aerosayan

May I suggest buying a powerful desktop to run at home, and when you're at college, connect to it through ssh if you're on linux/BSD, or remote desktop if you're on windows.


If the desktop is at home, you can simply ask your family members to switch it on/off when you need to use it.

Short of setting up a server to run simulations, this is probably the best option to proceed with in your situation.

[ait]

Have you considered using a cloud-based simulation tool. There's a couple of those around now

[joshwilliams]

I have a good spec Microsoft Surface Book which I often run CFD + ML on (i7, 16GB RAM, 2 physical cores + hyperthreading). I do not often run it overnight, but there have been times I have done it no problem.