Hi everyone, I am planning to buy a Thinkpad T480s with i5 8350u 8 GB 256 GB M.2 SSD to use it with Linux to surf the web, Inkscape and especially to use Blender to create models for 3D printing. Is there anyone who already has it and uses it for Blender? Does it work or are there any problems?

I currently have an Asus S56c with Lubuntu and I can do everything, but Blender does not even start because the graphics card of the PC does not allow it. Thanks to everyone in advance.

  • otacon239@lemmy.world
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    19 days ago

    That’s about the same model as I have (I’m using a slightly older X260) and Blender works plenty fine, even on decently demanding stuff. An important note is to make sure to reduce the default tile size to something like 256 if you’re using Cycles for rendering to prevent memory issues. Other than that, I’ve had no issues with modeling or Eevee rendering.

    Assuming it allows for it, I recommend upgrading your RAM to 16GB. 8 is fine for if you’re just working in Blender, but once you’re following a tutorial and are doing some browsing while listening to a YouTube video in the background, things can start to slow down.

  • Palacegalleryratio [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    19 days ago

    Assuming the Asus has an intel 4000 igpu then the GPU in the t480, a UHD620 is quicker, and the UHD620 is later than broadwell which is blenders requirement, so I think it should run. It can run OpenGL 4.6 and blender only needs 4.3.

    It’s not a graphical powerhouse mind, so I hope you’re not planning on massive models with loads of triangles as I imagine it’ll be pretty slow!

    • LukeSky@lemmy.mlOP
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      18 days ago

      Thanks for your answer and help! I will do only simple models, little characters, nothing complex with blender.

  • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.de
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    19 days ago

    Don’t know about the T480s, but the T580 with nVidia graphics has abysmal thermal throttling making the nVidia graphics useless. Blender basically cannot use the GPU making it harder to work with.

    What GPU does the laptop you picked out have?

    8 GB RAM also seems to be on the low side for me.

    But maybe it’s enough for 3D printing. No idea.