Specialized areas of 3D graphics such as animation, video game design, realistic modeling, and professional CAD all depend on owning a computer that’s powerful enough to render complex 3D visuals. Here are some great laptops that are up to the job.
Rendering realistic visual scenes and creating detailed 3D objects is a demanding computing task that needs a very powerful computer.
Working with highly detailed models with complex lighting using 3D software such as 3ds Max, Solidworks, and AutoCAD as well as tools such as Blender and Maya involves millions of calculations. It all depends on having plenty of processor performance, a good graphics card, lots of system memory, and fast internal SSD storage.
So what laptops fill those needs? We dive in below!
Our Recommendations
- HP Pavilion 17 – Best Overall
- Acer ConceptD 5 Creator Laptop – Best In Portability
- 2021 Apple MacBook Pro – Best In Battery Life
- Asus ProArt StudioBook Pro 17 – Best In Speed
- MSI P75 Creator – Best Value For Money
- Dell XPS 15 – Best In Brightness
- Lenovo ThinkPad P52 – Best Basic Features
#1 HP Pavilion 17
Superb rendering performance for a great price
Our pick for a brilliant budget buy is this 17.3-inch powerhouse from HP. This laptop comes packed with all the requirements you might need to render your videos!
Let’s talk about the specs first. It runs on a six-core Intel Core-i7 9750H processor and a highly capable 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660Ti Max-Q graphics card. However, it mainly has two variations. You can pick either the i5 or i7 versions. It also has variation in terms of GPU as you can pick up either GTX 1050, 1650, or 1660TI.
The HP Envy is bundled with 8 GB DDR4-2666 SDRAM. You can also upgrade it in the future. It also has Fast boot-up and file transfer thanks to the internal 256 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive
The display is quite realistic too. This is all thanks to the real-time ray-tracing technologies. The display is a 17.3-inch diagonal Full HD IPS Anti-Glare display with Vr/mr ready. It also has a 60 HZ refresh rate which is always good.
However, a few corners have been cut to fit this price bracket. The large display is an IPS panel but it only goes up to 1080p resolution rather than 4K resolution. But if you consider the bigger picture, very few laptops are as great for rendering as the HP Pavilion 17.
Pros
- The Six-core Intel Core-i7 processor 9750H reduces rendering time greatly.
- A vast line up of strong GPUs to choose from (GTX 1050, 1650, or 1660TI).
- The 17.3-inch diagonal Full HD IPS Anti-Glare display with Vr/mr ready.
- 8GB RAM with the option to upgrade in the future.
- 60 HZ refresh rate.
- Superfast 256 GB NVMe M.2 SSD.
Cons
- No 4K resolution
#2 – Acer ConceptD 5 Creator Laptop
A good value 4K laptop that’s great for 3D
Acer’s ConceptD laptop line is aimed squarely at design use. And the ConceptD5 is no different. Regarded as one of the best laptops for rendering, this laptop allows its users to carry a mobile workstation in their backpacks!
The 17.3-inch ConceptD 9 Pro is particularly impressive. It’s a super-powerful rendering rig with Intel Core i7-9750H 6-Core Processor and 4GB NVIDIA Quadro T1000 RTX graphics. However, it’s not only a beastly muscle laptop!
The ConceptD5 comes with a highly color accurate touch-sensitive 4K display. And it also has a hinge that lets you separate the display from the keyboard, swiveling it round to become like a portable desktop computer.
On to the storage, and it features a 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD. The RAM section is standard too as it contains 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Memory. And the display was a treat to our eyes. This is all thanks to the 15. 6″ 4K Ultra HD screen!
Overall, the Acer conceptD5 is a perfect laptop for anything related to rendering! Though the price is a bit higher than expected, you can pay this much for a workstation-grade product, right?
Pros
- 4K color-accurate display (100% Adobe RGB)
- It runs on a powerful Intel Core i7-9750H 6-Core Processor and 4GB NVIDIA Quadro T1000 RTX graphics.
- The display can be separated and used as a tablet.
- Stylish and Compact design.
- 16GB 2666 bus fast memory ensures even faster rendering times.
- The PCIe NVMe 512GB SSD speeds up the entire laptop by at least 30% than an HDD.
Cons
- A bit expensive than normal laptops
#3 – 2021 Apple MacBook Pro
Up next we have the MacBook Pro. A favorite laptop of the masses, the MacBook Pro comes equipped with all the necessary features for rendering. Let’s take a closer look!
Before talking about the Processor let’s talk a bit about the Ram and Storage first. Though it’s not surprising that Apple offers higher capacity RAM and Storage with their MacBook, you can now get up to 8TB SSD storage and 64 GB RAM! That’s insanity!
On to the processor now. Here we’ve got an Apple M1 Pro chip. The processor is accompanied by a 10-core CPU with 8 performance cores and 2 efficiency cores. Both of these combined make a solid duo for rendering!
And as always the MacBook Pro comes equipped with a 16.2-inch (diagonal) mini-LED backlit display. The pixel sense technology enhances the pixels to provide even clear pictures and color adaptations. The battery life clocked at 21 hours on a full charge is great too!
Overall, we like the MacBook for what it is, A jack of all trades. Though it’s a bit expensive, you’ll surely find a place for this laptop in your work setup.
Pros
- Sleek and durable design.
- The 16” display features Immersive Retina technology.
- Runs a maximum of 21 hours on a full charge.
Cons
- Expensive
#4 – Asus ProArt StudioBook Pro 17
Powerful Intel Xeon and Quadro RTX performance
The ProArt StudioBook series from Asus is easily one of the best workstation laptops currently. Asus is aiming to offer the most high-end 3D laptops that you can buy anywhere, by offering both an incredibly beefy rendering specification along with a few high-end features you simply don’t find on other manufacturers’ laptops.
In particular, when the Asus ProArt StudioBook One is released at the end of 2024, it will be one of the only laptops in the world that offers the most powerful Nvidia Quadro RTX 6000 graphics card. Expect an eye-watering price tag.
However, Asus’ slightly more affordable StudioBook laptops have plenty to offer right now. The StudioBook Pro 17 stands out as a slightly more affordable option but still with a great internal specification that will work wonders for 3D rendering.
It has a six-core Intel Xeon E-2276M, combined with an Nvidia Quadro RTX 3000 graphics card, 2TB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage, configured as a RAID 0 array for blistering fast performance, and 32GB of memory. And although the 17-inch screen is WUXGA (1920×1200) rather than 4K, it delivers gorgeous image quality, color-accurate with 97% DCI-P3 gamut coverage.
And in addition to supporting the latest Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) standard, it has a number pad built-in to the trackpad, a feature that is usually omitted from laptop keyboards to save space.
Pros
- The six-core Intel Xeon E-2276M processor is a staple for workstation laptops.
- Insanely powerful Nvidia Quadro RTX 3000 GPU.
- WiFi 6 wireless networking
- 2TB of PCIe NVMe SSD Raid 0 storage
- Touch-sensitive number pad.
- The 17” display is super color accurate thanks to 97% DCI-P3 gamut coverage.
Cons
- No 4K resolution
#5 – MSI P75 Creator
Eight processor cores mean faster rendering times
As with all the Asian manufacturers whose product portfolios are now expanding to offer laptops aimed at creative professionals, MSI is offering multiple hardware tiers in its P series of Creator laptops, all of which are (relatively) good value for money for the feature sets they offer.
The 17-inch MSI P75 Creator is a truly superb 3D rendering rig that stands out from most of the competitors. For starters, it has the option of an octa-core Intel Core i9-9980H processor. The MSI P75 creator also features an 8GB Nvidia RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU that performs better than the RTX 2060.
The Core i9-9980H processor also features two extra cores on this laptop. These extra cores provide the much needed extra boost while using the 3D software. This boost ultimately leads to a much lower rendering time across the board.
The MSI P75 also comes with 32GB (2x 16GB) DDR4 2400MHz | Hard Drive: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD. For this, the laptop is easily one of the fastest available on the market.
Overall, this is one of the lightest workstation laptops for rendering. You wouldn’t be a single bit disappointed going for this one.
Pros
- 17-inch 4K display
- The octa-core Intel Core i9-9980H processor is capable of rendering in the least amount of time.
- As it’s quite thin and light, you can carry it anywhere.
- The 8GB Nvidia RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU is perfect for rendering.
- 1TB fast NVMe SSD storage.
- The 32GB RAM provides a much-needed performance increase.
Cons
- Couldn’t find one!
#6 – Dell XPS 15
If you’re looking to get off a bit cheap then the Dell XPS 15 isn’t a bad pick to go for. Though it doesn’t have all the super high specs that you might look for, they are good enough to get you through your normal rendering.
The Dell XPS 15 has a bit going on for itself. It comes with a 9th Generation Intel Core i7-9750h processor. The processor can be boosted up to 4.5GHz. It also has an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5 that works just well enough for rendering.
This laptop also comes with 16GB DDR4-2666MHz and 1TB SSD.So you can expect blazing fast speed from this laptop. This laptop also has a fingerprint reader and a backlit keyboard! We liked the battery backup too as it clocked at 10 hours on a full charge.
As for the display, it’s a 15.6″ 4K UHD display with InfinityEdge anti-reflective touch. It has a 100% Adobe RGB and a super-high brightness level of 500-nits. The infinity-edge display makes it seem like there aren’t any edges!
Pros
- 4K colour-accurate OLED display with infinity edge technology.
- The Core i7-9750h processor is perfect for rendering.
- The 16GB DDR4-2666MHz and 1TB SSD combo make a super-fast UI.
- Provides great value for money.
- The decent battery life of up to 10 hours.
- The display has 100% Adobe RGB so it’s nearly always color accurate.
Cons
- GeForce GTX1650 is overshadowed by RTX cards
#7 – Lenovo ThinkPad P52
If you’re of the mindset that a professional design laptop needs to be built like a tank, Lenovo’s ThinkPad range is probably the one to go for. The (now classic) design is one of the best keyboards and trackpad combinations in PC laptops, notable for including a physical number pad.
Though the 3D capabilities of this affordable 2024 model aren’t quite up to the big boy laptops, it’s certainly enough to get by in 3D without having to shell out a fortune.
For a reasonable price, you’ll be getting the 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8750H Processor, 16GB system memory, and Nvidia Quadro P1000 graphics card. Though the Nvidia Quadro performs a bit less than the RTX 2060, it surely gets the job done.
The Lenovo Thinkpad P52 banked all its money on the processor. And it’ll surely speed up the rendering time thanks to its 6 cores. Meanwhile, you’ll be blown away at how fast this laptop works thanks to its 32GB Ram and 1TB SSD storage.
Overall, the Lenovo ThinkPad P52 is a great model at an even greater price. It’s one of those devices that doesn’t age and does its job perfectly!
Pros
- The 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8750H Processor is an old but powerful processor.
- The Nvidia Quadro P1000 is capable of rendering videos quite fast.
- Fast 16GB RAM.
- 1TB SSD storage boosts up to read and write speed by quite a bit.
- Good build quality.
- Good value
Cons
- No 4K resolution.
- Slightly less hardware performance.
Expert Advice
Picking the best laptop for rendering can be a difficult choice. There are many different factors involved that will affect the usefulness of the laptop, including processor performance, graphics card/CPU, lots of system RAM, and a fast internal SSD.
On top of fast clock speeds, when running rendering software, processors benefit from having higher core counts, driving down render times by splitting tasks up and spreading their workload across each core. Some software can render using a graphics card as well, relying on OpenCL or Cuda to accelerate processing and reduce rendering times.
The downside is that the most capable laptops for 3D rendering won’t be kind to your wallet. Regardless of the manufacturer, expect to pay a high price for a laptop with the best possible 3D rendering performance, with a top-end graphics card and eight-core processor.
But by knowing the needs of your software, you might not have to spend this much. In the mid-range, where prices are around $1500-2000, you can still expect a fantastic laptop with both processing and graphics performance that’s more than up the job of 3D rendering.
Additionally, modern laptops are lighter and thinner, and with better battery life, even with high-end hardware inside. In laptops aimed at designers and creatives, you can also expect color-accurate displays, which are usually capable of 4K resolution, and produce a brilliant image that will make it easier to color-proof your work.
Leveraging the above information and our top choices for laptops, you can surely make an informed decision that gives you the best bang for your buck!