5 Best Laptops For Solidworks Reviewed

Laptops For Solidworks Compared

SolidWorks System & Laptop Requirements (Buyer’s Guide)

First off, the kind of hardware your laptop will need depends a lot on the type of tasks you'll be using SolidWorks for and the size of your projects. Some jobs demand much greater resources than others.

For example, if you’re working on complex simulation/rendering for large assembly size projects, you’re going to need a very powerful workstation with the best possible CPU, GPU, and RAM. If you’re a student working on small modeling/drawing projects, you might be able to get by with a regular, mid-range, consumer laptop.

For this article, I'm going to aim somewhere in the middle. The technical specifications below should be sufficient for most tasks for both professionals and students, and projects across all levels of complexity.

Processor/CPU/Frequency

The processor (CPU) is probably the most critical piece of hardware in your laptop, so it's important to get it right.

The two things you need to consider with CPUs are cores and clock frequency. Broadly speaking, the clock speed is a unit measured in GHz that tells you how fast the CPU is, while the number of cores tells you how many mini processors (calculators) are in your CPU.

Both are important factors. Ideally, I’d recommend aiming for a multicore processor with as high a clock speed as possible, and an absolute minimum of 3.3GHz. Any of the latest Intel processors should do the trick. For example, the Intel Xeon has a clock speed of 3.6GHz, and the i7 has 3.7 GHz.

If you are mostly planning on using SolidWorks to design, draft, draw, or model, you don’t have to worry too much about the number of cores - just go for the highest possible clock speed. However, if you plan on rendering and simulating often and you don’t use a second machine for those tasks, a multicore processor is essential.

It's also worth noting that other CPU factors like onboard cache size will also influence your SolidWorks performance. Some CPUs, like the Xeon Series, have been designed specifically for workstations and optimized to run heavy applications. If you can afford them, these represent the best possible choice.

Operating System

Windows 10 (64-bit) is required to run SolidWorks, so make sure you choose a windows laptop. The SolidWorks software is built only for Windows operating systems and isn’t compatible with the MacOS.

There are a few 'hacks' you can try, which may make it possible to run SolidWorks on a MacOS, like running a virtual machine, but nobody wants to have to deal with that. The option available to Mac lovers is that they install Windows onto their Macbook and run Solidworks that way.

RAM

RAM - random access memory - dictates the size of your assembly and the number of windows you can have open at once. More RAM allows for greater assembly sizes while modeling.

The question is: how much RAM do I need for SolidWorks? The answer is somewhere around 16GB - 32GB. If you’re only working with very simple parts and small assembly sizes, you might be able to get away with 8GB, but complex models will certainly require more than that.

I’d recommend choosing a laptop with 16GB RAM at a minimum, but more if it's within your budget. 32GB should be plenty, and 64GB is the gold-standard.

Graphics Card

The graphics card (GPU) of your laptop is another essential component when it comes to running SolidWorks. Not all graphics cards are supported by SolidWorks, and if yours isn’t, it can lead to crashes later down the line. You can find a list of supported/certified graphics cards here.

The best graphics card for SolidWorks is going to be a high-end, dedicated workstation graphics card that’s been certified to work with the software. Workstation cards are graphics cards built to be used in professional design workstations, such as the Nvidia Quadro.

I’d recommend getting the best-possible workstation card you can afford. The more you pay, the better it will do the job, but most workstation cards will work flawlessly.

If you can’t afford a supported workstation GPU, don’t worry. Many mid-range consumer/gaming cards work on SolidWorks too.

You should be fine with a good gaming graphics card or dedicated card from AMD or NVIDIA as long as you’re not planning on doing any intensive simulation or rendering. If you plan on working on projects with several hundreds or thousands of parts, though, this probably won’t cut it.

Screen Size & Display Resolution

CAD designers need to have a decent display that allows for comfortable viewing. I'd recommend a screen size of 15.6" if portability is important to you, or 17” if you plan on using it mostly at the office.

The screen itself should ideally be glare-resistant and color accurate with great viewing angles. I’d recommend an IPS display with either 1080p or 4K resolution.

Storage Space

When it comes to your laptop storage, capacity isn’t a huge deal - storage speed is much more important. Most mid- to high-end laptops capable of running SolidWorks will have plenty enough storage space (512GB or more).

However, my advice is to go for a laptop with an SSD over an HDD for CAD work as they’re much, much faster. Although HDDs tend to offer more storage space at a lower price tag, don’t be tempted - the sluggish speeds will eat into your valuable design time. SSDs will be able to load and save your assemblies a lot faster.

Battery Life

If you plan on using SolidWorks on the go, away from a power outlet, battery life is super important. As I said, SolidWorks is a very demanding piece of software, and it'll drain your battery very quickly while your laptop isn’t plugged in.

Aim for as much battery life as you can afford without sacrificing on other hardware like CPU, RAM, and GPU. Ideally, it should last at least 5 hours or more.

Design/Portability/Weight

Another often-overlooked factor to consider is the weight and portability of your laptop. If you plan on taking your laptop with you while you travel, you’ll want something lightweight and portable to save space in your luggage and fit on your lap in tight spaces. Make sure you check the weight of any product before you buy it and make sure it’s suitable for your needs.

Extra Features

Aside from the above, there are a few extra features you might want to think about, too, such as the number of USB ports, the cooling power of the fans, the thinness of the screen bezels, and so on. Think about the whole picture and how these extra features might impact your workflow.

For example, if you plan on using your laptop with lots of peripherals, like drawing tablets, computer mice, external hard drives, keyboards, and so on, you’ll need plenty of ports.

Price & Warranty

And finally, think about the price and warranty. The best laptops for SolidWorks don’t come cheap. You should expect to pay much more for a good-quality workstation than you would for a regular, everyday laptop. Expect it to cost somewhere in the region of $1000 - $2500 or more.

Since you'll be digging deep into your wallet for this, you'll want to make sure it's covered under a reasonable warranty period too. Check the fine print and make sure you understand what level of warranty cover you’re entitled to, and how you can claim it should you need to.

5 Best SolidWorks Laptops Reviewed

Alright, now that you know what to look for, let’s dive into the list. Here are our top picks for the best SolidWorks laptops on the market.

1. MSI P65 Creator-1084

Our top pick

The overall best laptop for SolidWorks (top pick) has to be the MSI P65 Creator-1084. It’s a fantastic all-round laptop with all the specs you want to see, including an Intel Core i7 processor that packs a high clock speed and 32GB of RAM.

The RTX 2060 6G is a powerful mid-range gaming graphics card that, while not officially certified for SolidWorks, should work just fine. As far as non-workstation cards go, this is about as good as it gets.

And the MSI P65 Creator-1084 delivers on those specs. It performs very well while running SolidWorks and handles intense rendering and multitasking well.

Aside from performance, the durability and display are both pretty great too. The aluminum-built chassis looks good in an office environment and seems sturdy, while the 15.6” 4K display looks sharp and provides excellent wide viewing angles with little to no glare.

It runs Windows 10 Pro, which is perfect for professional SolidWorks CAD designers. The inclusion of the Windows Hello feature is also a nice touch. It lets you sign-in using your face or fingerprint.

Not only does this make you feel like a spy in a Bond movie, but it also lets you login much more quickly so you can spend less time logging in and more time working, thus boosting your productivity.

The only downside I noted with this laptop is the cooling fans and temperature. The fans can be very noisy, and the laptop itself seems to get hot really quickly. The temperature got up to 75 degrees, even when it was running idle.

Still, it’s only a small downside in an otherwise great laptop.

2. Acer Predator Helios 300

Runner up

Our runner up is the Acer Predator Helios 300. This one’s more of a traditional gaming laptop than a workstation, and it has a slightly lower price tag as a result, but it still boasts some mean specs and should be more than sufficient for most basic/small projects on SolidWorks.

There are a few different options you can choose from. I recommend the i7-9750H/GTX 1660Ti/16GB/512GB product if you’re looking for a good balance between performance and affordability.

With 16GB of RAM, a 6-core Intel i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 GPU, and an SSD with 512GB of storage, it’s great value for money.

Paying a few hundred dollars more for the priciest package will bag you a laptop with the same stats but a better RTX 2060 GPU. There’s a more-affordable 8GB RAM option too, but I wouldn’t recommend it - 16 GB is the minimum you’ll want to have to run SolidWorks with decent performance.

And as a bonus, when you're not busy modeling, you'll also be able to enjoy all your favorite games at peak performance.

This is a laptop built for gamers, so if you count yourself one of them, you’ll appreciate the backlit keyboard, sharp IPS panel display, killer ax1650 wifi, and superior cooling power. Even the most demanding games run smoothly with high frame rates and excellent visuals.

3. New Apple MacBook Pro

Best Mac laptop for SolidWorks

First off, let’s address the elephant in the room - no, this isn’t a windows laptop. And yes, I included it in this list of the best laptops for SolidWorks anyway. Why?

Well, aside from the obvious operating system incompatibility, it pretty much knocks it out of the park in every other way. It has a top-of-the-line processor, ultra-fast SSD, stunning 16-inch retina display, and 11 hours of battery life.

The only real issue is the MacOS and the graphics card.

The reason I included the Macbook Pro on this list despite that, is because I know that a lot of professionals find Apple laptops much better for their workflow.  And, some of you are going to be so committed to sticking with an Apple product that I'll wager you'll be willing to work around the operating system problem.

And yes, it’s possible to run SolidWorks on your MacBook - you just need to install windows on it first using an application like Boot Camp or Parallels. SolidWorks themselves can vouch for this as their technical team mentioned it in this blog post.

However, as they point out, just because it will install doesn’t mean it will run will. As Macs don’t often have supported graphics card, you might run into some technical problems or find that SolidWorks performance isn’t quite as good as it would be on a Windows workstation.

That being said, if you won’t settle for anything less than a Mac, there are ways to make it work, so it’s definitely an option worth considering.

4. Lenovo ThinkPad P73

Best Lenovo laptop for SolidWorks

If you’re a Lenovo fan, look no further than the ThinkPad P73. This is, in our opinion, the best Lenovo laptop for SolidWorks that you can find.

The graphics card on this laptop, in particular, is perfect for SolidWorks. It comes with a NVIDIA Quadro GPU - the gold standard when it comes to workstation graphics cards and certified to work with SolidWorks.

It also boasts a 9th gen Intel Core i7 processor with 6 cores, a whopping 32GB of RAM, a huge 17.3-inch display that allows you to better view detailed 3D models on a larger screen,  a Windows 10 Pro operating system, 2TB SSD storage, and more.

On top of the 2TB SSD, you also get an extra 2TB HDD storage. This means you get a total of 4GB of storage capacity as well as the killer speeds that come with SSDs.

If you’d prefer to tweak the specs, there are tons of different hardware options to choose from. You can customize the specs to fit your needs and budget, upgrading or downgrading your storage capacity, RAM, and other features.

Another neat little feature that I liked about this laptop was the trackball cursor and two click bars that sit above the touchpad. It feels nice and responsive.

If I had to nitpick, I'd have liked the bezels to be a little thinner. They're quite thick, and it kind of limits the actual visible screen size.

5. ASUS ROG Strix Scar II

Best laptop for AutoCAD and SolidWorks

The ASUS ROG Strix Scar II is another great option. Despite being primarily a gaming laptop, it's also one of the best laptops for AutoCAD and SolidWorks. 

The i7 Hexa-Core processor is very powerful and should be more than sufficient for CAD work. It has a base clock speed of 2.2 GHz, but that can boost based on system load right up to 3.9 GHz

2.2 is the base clock, and it will boost based on system load.

As I mentioned earlier, you ideally want to see a clock-speed of at least 3.3 GHz in your CPU if you plan on running SolidWorks and preferably a multicore processor. This has a Hexa-Core processor that gets up to 3.9GHz, so it ticks both boxes.

Like the Lenovo ThinkPad P73, this also has both an SSD and HDD. The SSD is 512GB, which should be plenty of capacity, but if you need more, you can offload some data to the 1TB HDD. The screen size is very large, and, unlike some other laptops, it has very narrow-bezels so more of that screen is visible.

If you enjoy gaming when you’re not busy with SolidWorks, the Asus ROG Strix Scar II is sure to deliver on that too. It offers an ultra-fast, ultra-smooth, ultra-sharp gaming experience.

Also Recommended: 5 Best Desktops for AutoCAD

SolidWorks and Other CAD Software Compared

SolidWorks isn’t the only CAD software tool out there; there are many others. Below, I’ve written up a quick comparison to show you how SolidWorks compares to other popular CAD software programs.

AutoCAD vs. SolidWorks

AutoCAD is one of the early pioneers of CAD and is widely considered to be the 'original' computer-aided drafting program. It boasts many of the same advanced features as SolidWorks, but where it really stands out is when it comes to 2D design.

Both SolidWorks and AutoCAD can be used for 3D modeling, but AutoCAD is more geared towards 2D drafting, and this is where its main strengths lie. Another reason many users choose AutoCAD is that it offers a free 3-year license for educational use, which makes it the more affordable choice for students.

All of the laptops in this list should have good enough hardware to run AutoCAD as well as SolidWorks.  Also, unlike SolidWorks, the latest versions of AutoCAD are compatible with MacOS, so you have more laptops to choose from.

Fusion 360 vs. SolidWorks

Fusion 360 is another solid choice for CAD modeling. While SolidWorks has been an industry leader for a long time, Fusion 360 is a relatively new, cloud-based option that hit the market a few years back.

The main difference between the two is that SolidWorks is primarily an assembly-driven software (parts are built individually and assembled in a separate file). In contrast, Fusion 360 uses a multi-component part system (parts are built and assembled in the same file).

Fusion 360 is probably better for smaller assemblies with lots of cross-referenced parts than larger assemblies.

Again, any of the laptops on this list should be capable of running Fusion 360 just as well as SolidWorks.

Catia vs. SolidWorks

SolidWorks and Catia or both CAD systems developed by the same company - Dassault Systemes. As such, they have a lot in common and aren't really competitors; they're just aimed at different markets.

Catia is aimed at the higher end of the market and is used for high-level CAD work in specific industries like automotive and aviation, whereas SolidWorks is more of a mid-level CAD solution.

SolidWorks has an easier learning curve compared to Catia and is better for part-developers and non-specialized CAD companies. All of the best laptops for SolidWorks should be capable of running Catia too.

Basic Laptop Troubleshooting

Using one of the laptops on this list should keep technical issues to a minimum. However, if you do run into any minor issues while using SolidWorks, consult the troubleshooting guide below.

Graphics glitches

One of the most common problems people encounter on SolidWorks is graphics glitches. This might involve image chopping or lag while you’re panning, zooming, or rotating your models. Some users report parts of their models seeming to 'float off into space.'

These kinds of glitches usually indicate a graphics issue, which is caused by either an unsupported graphics card or out of date drivers. To verify this, launch SolidWorks in Software OpenGL mode.

You can do this by going into the SolidWorks program folder, clicking 'SolidWorks tools,' then 'SolidWorks RX,' then 'launch SolidWorks in Software OpenGL mode.'

This mode bypasses your graphics card and runs SolidWorks solely on your CPU. If this fixes the problem, you’ll know it was a graphics issue. You can click 'Diagnostics' to see if your card is supported and drivers are up to date.

You might want to try updating your drivers with a clean install to see if it fixes the problem. You can download drivers from the SolidWorks website.

Slow or unstable system

A slow or unstable system may be caused by a lack of free disk space. Your OS needs sufficient disk space to store important system and temporary files. Make sure you have at least 250MB of free space on your local drives.

Low memory error message appears

SolidWorks will provide a warning in the notification area if it notices you are low on memory. The only real fix for having low memory is to increase the amount of RAM on your laptop or allocate more of your system's virtual memory for current usage. If you’ve bought a laptop on this list with at least 16GB of RAM, you’re unlikely to run into this issue.

Slow cursor/pointer movement

This often happens when users are using 3D motion controllers. Try replacing it with a three-button mouse, or changing your cursor settings. 

People Also Ask (FAQs)

Why are SolidWorks laptops and computers expensive?

As we mentioned above, laptops that run SolidWorks need to be powerful, and this makes them a lot more expensive than other models. You’re paying for the superior hardware included in these laptops, like high-end processors, excellent graphics cards, and lots of extra RAM.

Are gaming laptops good for SolidWorks?

How much does SolidWorks cost?

The price of SolidWorks depends on which plan you choose. The different plans start at $1300 for the standard one year subscription.

Does SolidWorks use a graphics card?

SolidWorks uses your graphics card for RealView. Your graphics card will also impact visual performance and stability.

Is a 2GB graphic card enough for SolidWorks?

2GB GPU RAM may be enough to get by on SolidWorks, but I’d recommend at least 4GB if you can afford it.

How do you change materials in SolidWorks?

To change a material in SolidWorks, click ‘Features’, then right-click ‘Material <not specified>’, and click ‘Edit Material’. A new window should open up. Select a new material from the material database window and hit apply.

Conclusion