Laptop or desktop for Revit Arch 2012 (plus some Vray)

[turnbullp]

Hi,

I work for a large organisation with centrally managed IT and a few Core2Duo desktops are up for replacement. The new systems will largely be used for Revit Arch 2012, AutoCAD 2012 (and also Vray/Sketchup/Photoshop for myself). There'll likely be a choice between the two systems below. I'm not up to scratch on hardware, but am I right in thinking the desktop processor is quicker but the video card weaker?

Thanks

Laptop Precision M4600
Processor
i7-2720QM(2.20GHz 6MB cache, Quad Core)
Display
15.6 inch HD (1920x1080)
Memory
16GB DDR3 (4x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
Hard Drive
500 GB Serial ATA (7200rpm)
Graphics
Nvidia Quadro 1000M with 2GB GDDR3

Desktop Precision T5500
Processor
One Intel Xeon X5650(2,66GHz,6.4GT/s,12MB,6C)
Memory
12gb (6x2GB) 1333mhz DDR3 ECC RAM
Hard Drive
300GB (15000Rpm) SATA Hard Drive
Optical Drive
16x DVD ROM
Graphics
1 GB NVIDIA Quadro 2000

[cadtag]

normally i'd say that if portability is significant, then get a laptop. otherwise a desktop workstation is invariably a better choice. That said, piddling money away on a xeon processor is poor decision making. Get an i5 processor at the maximum speed they offer, and spedn the savings on RAM and an SSD system drive.

I wouldn't call the desktop video in your list weaker than the laptop's version. Probably be more reliable all around.