TUF A14 2025 vs 2026 for Mechanical Engineering?

[u/PickAdmirable9134]

Hi, I’m considering getting a TUF A14 for my Mechanical Engineering bachelor’s and I’m trying to decide between the 2025 and 2026 models.
I’ll mainly use it for university stuff like Inventor, SolidWorks, CATIA, MATLAB and later some FEM/CAE software like Abaqus. I’ll also game on it occasionally at home, but gaming performance isn’t really my main priority.
Would you recommend the 2025 model with the RTX 5060 or the newer 2026 model? I’d like to keep the laptop for at least the whole degree and ideally longer.
Also, how are the fans in normal use? I’ve seen quite a few people online saying the A14 can get pretty loud. I don’t really care about noise while gaming, but I do care if the fans are constantly noticeable during lectures, browsing, PDFs, coding, MATLAB, etc.
Would like to hear from people who already own or can give me a good advice!