Photogrammetry reminds me of what the old timers told me of processing static in the old days...start it when you leave at night.
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I prefer cloud processing for that.
As long as you get a i7 processor and plenty of RAM (at least 16GB, preferably 32GB) should be suffice.
Also, the system drive should be a solid state drive (SSD).
If you are going to use external displays with a dock, you can get away with a smaller screen too and put the money in performance over size.
Something like this would work well.. it includes a decent Quadro video card that should be solid for what you need in CAD.
If you have to go down in $$ you can go away from a ??precision? line type laptop and go cheaper chassis and cheaper video card, don??t sacrifice Proc/RAM/SSD.
Hope that helps.
T. Nelson - SAM
Regarding the SSD for the system.
Best practices for the time being is use an SSD for processing, but not storage. The storage based use will wear out the drive over time, getting better, but still best to store on separate drive than the main OS and application drive?ÿ
Ssd or spindle matters not, just have Two drives. Or better yet, network attached and backup storage.
it's hard to forget about the stuff they stuffed into my head ....
yes I agree I think the i9 would fit the requirement for the needed speed but I believe the i7 would be plenty sufficient for Civil 3D. However, the more I think about it cloud processing might be the smarter option if I do go the photogrammetry route down the road in case I don't have all evening to let the machine do it. My only concern is if I'm going to buy a machine buy one once & be done with it haha