Specifications for a laptop running Matlab

Hi,

I am considering buying a new laptop from Lenovo, either t470p or t480. Are there any issues in the spec. to pay attention to when running Matlab? Why I am asking is that my old computer has become very slow in figure operations/plotting, especially on callbacks using the function: ginput. I tried to upgrade my graphic card, NVIDIA Quadro FX 380, that helped sometimes, but other times my computer just turns into a black screen, and needs a reboot!

Here is what I'm running:

>> ver
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MATLAB Version: 9.2.0.556344 (R2017a)
MATLAB License Number: XXXXXXXXX
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Version 10.0 (Build 17134)
Java Version: Java 1.7.0_60-b19 with Oracle Corporation Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM mixed mode
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MATLAB                                                Version 9.2         (R2017a)
Image Processing Toolbox                              Version 10.0        (R2017a)
Signal Processing Toolbox                             Version 7.4         (R2017a)

Regards Aanund Storhaug

[Walter Roberson]

Your Quadro FX 380 is CUDA 1.1 only, which is not enough for MATLAB to use in any of the last few years. Some parts of MATLAB need CUDA 3.0 now. So your GPU is probably not being used for graphics currently.

[Aanund]

How do I find the CUDA version for a graphic card?

[Walter Roberson]

"How do I find the CUDA version for a graphic card?"

Google, especially https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUDA#GPUs_supported

Unfortunately the NVIDIA product page for any given device seldom mentions the CUDA version, so you sometimes have to look around including at product reviews.

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

Levano Canada and USA no longer sell the T470p; now it is T470s or T480s or T580.

If you want an NVIDIA (for future GPU work, perhaps future Deep Learning work), then you need the T480s or T580, and you need to customize, selecting one of the CPUs with the vPro feature, after which it will allow you to customize for MX150 graphics, which is the mobile version of the 1030 pascal architecture. But the memory limitation of 2 Gb is going to give you problems if you want higher resolution or deep learning; see https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-MX150-Benchmark-and-Specs-of-the-GT-1030-for-Laptops.223530.0.html.

The ThinkPad P series are easier to get with larger memory for the GPU, but they appear to be Quadro based rather than Pascal or Tesla based, so if you are serious about GPU use you would need to look more carefully.