The 5 Best Laptops for CAD and and 3D Modelling in 2024

Best overall for 3D modelling

You also get plentiful RAM here with 32GBs of DDR 5 memory, which is also double the recommended 16GB for AutoCAD, although we’d actually say the ideal amount of RAM starts at 32GB, so you’re good. It’s also the newer and faster memory compared to DDR4, so it should perform better overall. As for graphical processing power, you get an RTX 4070, which is a solid mid-range gaming GPU that should handle most 3D modelling tasks relatively well and should be fine for most use cases.

In terms of screen size, we’re happy to say that it’s a very solid 16 inches, so there is lots of room to see details, and it even runs a 2560 x 1600 resolution, which is perfect without pushing the GPU too much. It can hit a peak brightness of 300nits, which isn’t that great if you’re in well-light areas, although the 165Hz refresh rate is certainly nice for a smoother experience. We should also mention that it’s a bit on the heavier side, so be sure to take that into account if you need to move around a lot.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16

Best powerful Laptop for 3D Modelling

In a similar vein, the Zephyurs M16 runs an RTX 4090 under the hood, which is one of the best non-professional grade GPUs out there and, again, will easily handle most 3D modelling tasks you throw its way. That said, the inclusion of the RTX 4090 does mean that it drinks up electricity like it’s abundant, so the battery life is not that great, especially when you’re putting a lot of load on the GPU. It also means that it runs pretty hot, so these are two very important things to consider before buying in.

Luckily, the screen is excellent, with a 16-inch that runs a 2560 x 1440 resolution, which is always a nice addition to have. The same goes for the 240Hz max refresh rate, which you likely aren’t going to need for non-gaming needs, so setting it to 120Hz will give you a smooth experience while freeing up some processes for 3D modelling. We should also mention that you get a very impressive 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage, which really puts this configuration of the Zephyrius M16 in a league of its own.

MacBook Pro 16

Best powerful MacBook Laptop for 3D Modelling

Even better, the M3 Max also has a whopping 36 GPU cores, so it’s exceedingly well-suite for 3D modelling tasks, and some would argue that Apple has some of the best hardware for graphics rendering and work in general. That said, you should keep in mind that not all applications work on both Windows and MacOS, with MacOS sometimes missing out on a few, so be sure to check that your app is supported on MacOS before taking the plunge. That said, if it does run on MacOS, then you’ll be happy to know that you get an SSD with 1TB of storage, so your apps will load fast, and you’ll have a lot of space for any files you need, which are likely a lot for this sort of work.

Finally, while not exceedingly important, the 16-inch screen of the MacBook Pro is just lovely, as it has a 3456 x 2234 resolution running on a Liquid Retina XDR display, the best one that Apple offers. Also, it’s a relatively portable laptop for its specs, so even though you’re paying a premium, it’s perfect for those who tend to move around a lot.

LG gram 17

Best thin and portable laptop for 3D modelling

In terms of processing power, it has an Intel Core i7 Evo, so it’s more than capable of handling 3D modelling and clears the recommended specs of most apps by a good margin. That said, the RAM only meets the recommended specs with 16GB of DDR5 memory, and while we would have liked to see double that, it’s not going to grind any 3D modelling to a complete halt. As for storage, you get a 1TB SSD, so lots of space and quick loading of apps and data.

Finally, it’s worth touching on the fact that the display is very good, a 17-inch display that runs WQXGA and gives you a relatively large amount of space to do your work, and we hope you can appreciate that. Even so, one disadvantage of the larger screen is that, combined with how thin it is, it can feel a bit flimsy, which isn’t ideal for something this pricey. So, if you do end up buying this one, don’t treat it like a rugged laptop, but be sure to be somewhat gentle with it.

Best budget laptop for 3D modelling

While budget options aren’t ideal for heavy-duty 3D modelling, they’re a good option if you’re just starting out and don’t want to spend a ton of money. Funnily enough, this is the second gaming laptop on this list, but we can’t deny that the IdeaPad Gaming 3 is also great as a budget 3D modelling laptop. For example, it has the same RTX 4050 as the LG Gram 17 but costs only half the price, so it’s excellent value if you don’t care as much about having a thin and light laptop.

Another thing that’s more value-oriented is the 15.6-inch screen, which only has a 1920 x 1080 resolution and only hits 45% NTSC, which isn’t that impressive. Also, it can only hit 250nits of brightness, which is equally unimpressive and means that it won’t deal with bright direct lighting or even bright indirect lighting. On the other hand, it can run at a 120Hz refresh rate, so it’s still going to give you a smooth overall experience when viewing it, as will the 16GB of DDR5 RAM. Again, it is not the ideal of what we’d like to see, but it is more than enough to cover the recommended specs of most apps.

As for processing power, you get the mid-to-high-end AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS, which should handle most 3D modelling tasks without issue; plus, it’s generally a bit more power efficient and an excellent CPU for productivity. When it comes to battery life, you should expect around seven to ten hours, depending on what you’re using it for, with more general activity like watching a video taking up less battery.

Processing power

It’s probably not shocking to know that having a powerful CPU under the hood of any 3D modelling laptop is important since it’s one of the main number-crunchers of the CPU and goes a long way. That means that you should ideally aim for something like the Intel i7 or the Ryzen R7 as sort of the starting point, which is why most of our picks above are based around those processors.

In a similar vein, GPUs are also very important for 3D modeling, but this one is a bit more complicated due to the fact that there are consumer-grade GPUs and professional-grade GPUs. While professional-grade GPUs, like the Quadro family of cards, is excellent for 3D modeling, they are prohibitively expensive for most people, especially since high-end consumer GPUs have comparable specs. As such, we avoided any Quadro or professional-grade GPUs and instead focused on consumer GPUs that are cheaper and easier to find. Going with consumer GPUs also means that you have a lot more leeway in configurations and choices for laptops.

RAM

Memory is another important thing you’ll need to keep in mind, especially since a lot of more budget-friendly laptops tend to only go for 8GB. Unfortunately, the recommended specs for most CAD and 3D modelling software tend to sit at 16Gb, and even that is something we consider too low. Preferablly, we like to see something around 32GB or up, although anything above 32GB does tend to be quite expensive and will start giving you diminishing returns. So, if you’d like to go for a higher amount, just be sure that you actually are going to need it.

Screen

Ironically, the screen is the thing that will likely have the least impact on 3D modelling, mostly because it’s just a visual output more than anything else. So, while it would definitely nice to have a large 18-inch screen running 4K resolutions, 1080p is perfectly fine, as is a smaller screen. Also, smaller screens mean smaller laptops, so if you value portability, going with a smaller screen isn’t all that bad.

This article is managed and created separately from the Digital Trends Editorial team.

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