What do you guys think about just upgrading the memory in my machine to 16 GB? Is that going to buy me anything worthwhile? I do know I can't upgrade to Windows 11 with my current setup. Maybe I should just forget the memory upgrade and keep looking for a laptop.
I'm plenty happy with the speed of this one for the most part. There are two thing it doesn't like, Google Earth and Fusion 360. It does work with Fusion 360 pretty good for a while, but I can tell right off that it is struggling as the fan starts running shortly after starting Fusion 360, then if I get a couple of drawings open before long it slows down.
As you discovered, the processing power of CPUs has actually hit a plateau for the last 10 years as chip makers make more power-friendly designs and approach the necessary transistor downsize to make the next leap in technology. In other words, a top-tier chip from a decade past will hold its own just fine in a horsepower competition against a new chip. There have been improvements in the memory bus and in the PCI bus that affect heavy software use, but when it comes to whether the newest graphics chip will actually help Fusion360... I'm not convinced. You can use anything, but a OpenGL video card will run CAD better than a gaming card. nVidia has OpenGL covered on laptops. Heck, I ran SolidWorks on a dying old dual-core Dell 15" with a professional series OpenGL card, and there was no file big enough to slow that system.Memory upgrade it will be.... I'm going to keep shopping and learning about laptops so when I do upgrade I might, I say I might have it down.
Thanks for all the help everyone! It's much appreciated. I will report back when I upgrade the memory.
Tim