If you are using computer-aided software for your project, choosing the best laptops for AutoCAD is a very important step. Architects, engineers, and students need to choose carefully so they don’t get a tool that can’t meet the needs of the industry. We don’t need a full desktop PC to do heavy CAD work anymore, because laptops are now so powerful that many models can do the job just fine. This is great because you can take it with you and work wherever you want.
CAD software is pretty demanding, so your machine still needs to be high-end. This means you’ll need to buy a laptop that can keep up with your projects, no matter how powerful they are. The perfect machine will have high-end parts like a lot of RAM, a processor with multiple cores, and a graphics card that can handle complex work.
For design work, you’ll also need a big screen so that your eyes don’t get tired and your work looks its best. You’ll need to think about battery life, but these laptops are so powerful that this might be where you have to give up something. Below we have mentioned some of the best laptops for AutoCAD.
Best Laptops for AutoCAD
ASUS ROG Strix G15
Specifications
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon RX 6800M (12GB GDDR6) |
| Memory | 16GB DDR4-3200 |
| Storage | 512GB M.2 PCIe Gen 3 SSD |
| Display | 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, 300 Hz, IPS |
| Battery | 90 WHr |
If you need a laptop that can quickly work on any AutoCAD project, the Asus ROG Strix is the perfect all-arounder. The Strix is a good investment whether you are a student of engineering or a professional designer with years of experience. In a few words, Asus has made one of the best laptops for 3D designers and priced it at a fair level. ROG Strix has everything a 3D modeller needs and more when it comes to performance. Thus, this product is one of the best laptops for AutoCAD available right now.
The new Octa-Core i7 CPU can handle a lot of 3D modelling tasks quickly and without any annoying lags or delays. With its Turbo Boost Technology, the CPU can run at up to 5GHz, which is more than enough for any task that requires a lot of CPU power. Strix has an i7 CPU and 32GB of RAM, which is a lot. Most of us don’t need this much for 3D modelling, but it’s great for running multiple editing program at the same time.
Dell Precision 5560
Specifications
| CPU | Intel Core i7-11850H |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon RX 6800M (12GB GDDR6) |
| Memory | 32 GB |
| Storage | 2 TB |
| Display | 60 Hz |
| Battery | 7 hours |
AutoCAD runs smoothly on the Precision 5560 Workstation laptop from Dell. The laptop’s graphics card is a 4 GB NVIDIA Quadro, and it has built-in thermal cooling technology that keeps the machine from getting too hot while it’s working. Compared to other laptops that can do the same thing, this one isn’t too heavy.
More importantly, this machine can also be used with VR, which is a new way to look at models and graphics. It has a number of slots and ports that let you connect to external devices and share projects with clients and coworkers. Currently, this is one of the best laptops for AutoCAD that you can buy right now.
Pros
- Quite thin and light for a mobile workstation
- Handsome high-res 16:10 touch screen
- Stiff aluminum and magnesium build
Cons
- Expensive
- Short on ports
- No OLED screen option
MSI GF63
Specifications
| CPU | Intel Core i5-11400H |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q, 4GB GDDR6, 1,155MHz boost clock |
| Memory | 8GB DDR4-3200 |
| Storage | 256GB PCIe Gen 3 SSD |
| Display | 15.6-inch, IPS, 1920 x 1080, 60 Hz |
| Battery | 51WHr |
This is the least expensive laptop that meets AutoCAD 2023’s two most important requirements: 16GB of RAM and a separate graphics card. The GF63 Thin, which has an odd name, is a gaming laptop. It doesn’t even try to hide this fact. It has a Core i5 processor from the 11th generation and an Nvidia Geforce GTX1650, which should make it fast enough for even the most complicated AutoCAD drawings. Overall, it is one of the best laptops for AutoCAD that you can buy.
Aside from the fact that it’s a bit heavy (4.1 pounds), has a smaller-than-average battery (53WHr), and is thicker than most laptops (0.85 inches), it’s perfect. It has a 15.6-inch full HD screen, two 8GB memory modules for a total of 16GB, a 512GB NVMe SSD, a 99-key keyboard, and, wait for it, a 1TB hard disc drive. Oh, and don’t forget that it has four USB ports, a Gigabit Ethernet LAN port, an audio port, and an HDMI port.
Pros
- Relatively cheap compared to competitors
- Dedicated graphics card
- Plenty of ports
Cons
- Heavy for the size
Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3
Specifications
| CPU | Intel Core i5-12500H |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050Ti |
| Memory | 8GB DDR4-3200 |
| Storage | 256GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD |
| Display | 15.6-inch, 1920×1080, 120 Hz, 16:9 |
| Battery | 45 Whr |
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is a best laptops for AutoCAD that looks, feels, and sounds great. It has a sleek design and good speakers. But the hardware at the entry level is not good enough. The IdeaPad Gaming 3 we used for testing has a Core i5-12500H processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 256GB SSD.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 did poorly in the gaming tests with this hardware configuration, but it did better in the productivity tests. Geekbench 5.4, which is mostly about simulating CPU performance, gave the IdeaPad Gaming 3 a score of 1,640 for a single core and 7,908 for a number of cores.
That was good enough for third place, behind the Core i7-12650H-powered MSI Sword 15 (1,760/10,259) and the Core i5-12500H-powered Acer Nitro 5 (1,652/9,148). The Core i5-12450H processor in the HP Victus 15 put it in last place.
Pros
- Eye-catching price
- Sleek, modern styling
- Excellent speakers
Cons
- Single-channel RAM and 256GB SSD in base model
- 1080p gaming performance near the back of pack
MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021)
Specifications
| CPU | Apple M1 Max 10-core CPU |
| Graphics | 32-Core GPU |
| Memory | 64GB unified memory |
| Storage | 2TB SSD |
| Display | 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, 3,456 x 2,234, 120 Hz Pro Motion |
| Battery | 100 WHr |
Our review unit of the 16-inch MacBook Pro has 10 CPU cores: eight high-performance cores and two efficiency cores. It was also set up with 64GB of memory that the CPU and GPU could share. In our benchmark tests and in my everyday and photo-editing tasks, this processing speed was more than enough.
On Geekbench 5, which is a cross-platform test of productivity performance, the MacBook Pro got the best scores for both single-core performance (1,781) and multi-core performance (3,050). (12,683). Overall, this is one of the best laptops for AutoCAD that you can buy right now.
The next best was the Dell XPS 17, which scored 1,583 and 8,928, and had an Intel Core i7-11800H and 32GB of RAM. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4, which had the same Core i7-11800H processor as the Dell but only 16GB of RAM, and the Surface Laptop Studio, which had a 35W Intel Core i7-11370H processor and 32GB of RAM, both did worse than the Dell.
Pros
- Strong selection of ports
- Gorgeous screen
- Long battery life
- The best speakers on a laptop
- No more Touch Bar
Cons
- Upgrade pricing is extreme
- Notch design may bother some
- No facial recognition option
FAQs
Which is the best laptop for AutoCAD?
- ASUS ROG Strix G15
- Dell Precision 5560
- MSI GF63
- Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3
- MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021)
- HP Victus 15
Can all laptops run AutoCAD?
AutoCAD works with both Microsoft Windows 10 and Windows 11 (64-bit). The company recommends going to the Product Support Lifecycle page to find out about new updates and things that are being taken away. AutoCAD can run on a processor with a speed between 2.5 and 2.9 GHz, but anything with a speed of 3 GHz or more is better.
How much RAM is required for AutoCAD in laptop?
AutoCAD, including rendering with Mental Ray, doesn’t need a lot of RAM. In fact, Autodesk only recommends 8GB of RAM. But since RAM is cheap and most people use their computers for more than just AutoCAD, we think 32GB is a good starting point.
