The 10 Best Laptops for 3D Modeling, Animation, and Rendering

Sep 30, 2024

If you want to work as a 3D artist, you absolutely need a laptop that can help you work on your project smoothly. But you are facing difficulties in finding a laptop on a budget with a great processor, RAM, screen, GPU, and many more basic things. So, here are the 10 best laptops for 3D modeling, animation, and rendering.

Many 3d artists choose to have laptops due to multiple reasons so in this article we’re gonna talk about some of the best mid-range laptops that you can find in the market today at a reasonable price.

Best Laptops For Animation & Rendering

Image Product Price
Asus ROG Zephyrus G15
Asus ROG Zephyrus G15Best Pick

RAM: 16 GB
ROM: 1 TB
Battery Life: 8 Hours
Price
Acer Predator Helios 300
Acer Predator Helios 300Second Pick

RAM: 16 GB
ROM: 512 GB
Battery Life: 4 Hours
Price
Lenovo Legion Y540
Lenovo Legion Y540Good Choice

RAM: 16 GB
ROM: 256 GB
Battery Life: 4 Hours
Price
Razer blade 15
Razer blade 15Good Choice

RAM: 16 GB
ROM: 512 GB
Battery Life: 7 Hours
Price
MSI GP65 Leopard
MSI GP65 LeopardGood Choice

RAM: 16 GB
ROM: 512 GB
Battery Life: 4 Hours
Price
Asus ROG Strix G
Asus ROG Strix GGood Choice

RAM: 16 GB
ROM: 512 GB
Battery Life: 4 Hours
Price
Asus TUF Gaming Laptop
Asus TUF Gaming LaptopGood Choice

RAM: 8 GB
ROM: 512 GB
Battery Life: 4 Hours
Price
Dell Alienware M15
Dell Alienware M15Good Choice

RAM: 16 GB
ROM: 512 GB
Battery Life: 6 Hours
Price
HP Omen 15
HP Omen 15Good Choice

RAM: 16 GB
ROM: 512 GB
Battery Life: 4 Hours
Price
MSI GS65 Stealth
MSI GS65 StealthGood Choice

RAM: 16 GB
ROM: 256 GB
Battery Life: 6 Hours
Price
1. Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 – Best Laptop For 3D Modeling

Source: Amazon
Brand ASUS
Series ROG Zephyrus G15
Display Size 15.6 Inches
Operating System Windows 10 Home
Processor Count 8
For 3d modeling animation or VFX work, Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 is a fairly competent all-around laptop that can perform nicely in demanding loads and pairs the hardware with the punchy and fast screen.

It is a good option for those who want to use it for 3d modeling or animation and it comes with AMD ryzen 4 800 hs, a Geforce RTX 2060, 16 gigabytes of ddr4 ram, one terabyte of a solid-state drive, and a 15.6 240 hertz screen.

This laptop has a really good processor from AMD and it can actually perform better than the Intel i7 9758 which is also a really good processor that comes with a lot of laptops this year.

16 gigabytes of ram is going to allow you to do a lot of things and the GeForce RTX 2060 is just amazing for real-time rendering, PBR texturing, and GPU rendering.

One of the downsides of having this laptop is its build quality because it is mostly plastic which makes it highly prone to showing smudges.

Pros
Superb FHD 240Hz IPS display
Impressive performance, mainly in demanding loads
Versatile power profile
76Wh battery included, along with USB-C charging support
Cons
Too plastic build
Just comes with a MaxQ graphics
2. Acer Predator Helios 300

Source: Amazon
Brand Acer
Series PH315-53-72XD
Display Size 15.6 Inches
Operating System Windows 10 Home
Processor Count 6
Predator helios 300. this laptop is actually known for being one of the best gaming laptops that are also great for doing 3d modeling animation and rendering because it has a good balance between CPU ram, GPU at a reasonable price, also it has a solid build.

It comes with an intel i7 9758, a GeForce gtx 1660 ti, and 16 gigabytes ddr4 ram. In addition to that, it has 256 gigabytes of SSD and has a 15.6-inch screen.

One of the downsides of having Acer predator helios 300 is the low storage capacity which will run out fast if you are working with large files or if you have a lot of media files.

Furthermore, it is a below-average battery life which means you can’t use it for a long period of time.

Pros
Super 1080p gaming performance
Super smooth 240Hz screen
Room of three storage device
Cons
Just one USB-A 3.0 connector
No thunderbolt support.
3. Lenovo Legion Y540

Source: Amazon
Brand Lenovo
Series Lenovo Legion
Display Size 15.6 Inches
Operating System Windows 10 Home
Processor Count 1
Lenovo legion y540. this is a slim lightweight laptop that packs a sensible mature and stylish design and several configuration options.

It comes with the intel core i7 9750h, 16 gigabytes of ram, 256 gigabytes of SSD, and the g4 gtx 1660 ti.

This laptop can help you do a lot of things whether you are 3d modeler, an animator, or a VFX artist. It is considered a very good laptop when we look at its price in fact you don’t always find a laptop with these good components.

Some of the things worth mentioning are the below-average battery life also Lenovo disables the intel UHD graphics GPU by default. In addition to that, there is no sd card reader and no Thunderball 3.

And when it comes to storage capacity I think it is very low so you will need to upgrade the SSD as fast as possible.

Pros
Too light and slim for a gaming laptop
Some configuration options
Great-looking design
144 Hz panel along with response times
Cons
No thunderbolt 3 supported
Doesn’t support an SD card reader
less than average battery life
4. Razer blade 15

Source: Amazon
Brand Razer
Series Razer Blade
Display Size 15.6 Inches
Operating System Windows 10 Home
Processor Count 6
Razer blade 15. This laptop is most popular among gamers but it can also be good for doing your work as a 3d artist.

It comes with an intel core i7 10750h, 6 cores, Nvidia GeForce gtx 1660 ti, 16 gigabytes of ram, 256 gigabytes of SSD, and a 15.6 screen.

So this laptop has the latest 10th generation intel i7 processors which are perfect for doing a lot of things, especially animation and simulations, and the 1660 ti which is also a good graphics card.

One of the problems with having this laptop is the low storage capacity of 256 gigabytes.

Pros
Smooth aluminum build
Stunning 4K OLED screen
Great battery life
The touchpad is huge
Cons
No ISV certifications or eight-core CPU option
5. MSI GP65 Leopard

Source: Amazon
Brand MSI
Series GP65 Leopard 10SFK-047
Display Size 15.6 Inches
Operating System Windows 10 Home
Processor Count 6
MSI GP65 Leopard is a good MSI laptop that can help you do your work as a 3d artist. It comes with intel i7 10 750h processors, an RTX 2060, 16 gigabytes of ram, 512 SSD, and a 15.6-inch screen.

The MSI GP65 Leopard is a good option to consider because it has a good combination of the latest 10th generation intel i7 processors and the MSI GP65 Leopard.

Overall the MSI gp65 is very good compared to its price. I just want to mention that this laptop is actually falsely advertised as being a 15.6 144 hertz laptop, but if you’re not gonna use it for gaming as well I think you’re gonna be just fine.

Pros
Solid hardware mix
144Hz display
GeForce RTX 2070 GPU
Per-key backlighting
Cons
The battery of this laptop runs out within a bit of hour.
6. Asus ROG Strix G – Best Performance

Source: Amazon
Brand ASUS
Series ROG Strix G
Display Size 15.6 Inches
Operating System Windows 10 Home
Processor Count 6
Asus ROG Strix G. this laptop from Asus can actually be one of the most affordable budget laptops on this list because it has a good balance when it comes to CPU, GPU, and ram at a good price.

It comes with an Intel 6 core i7 9758 processor, a g4 gtx 1650, 16 gigabytes of ram, 512 SSD and a 15.6-inch screen.

This is an overall great laptop especially when considering its price the display could have been better actually for a raw laptop but the price and performance will compensate for that.

Pros
Superb performance
Stunning design
Impressive build quality
Cons
Mediocre display
Poor speakers
7. Asus TUF Gaming FX505

Source: Amazon
Brand ASUS
Series TUF Gaming FX504
Display Size 15.6 Inches
Operating System Windows 10 Home
Processor Count 4
Asus TUF Gaming Laptop. this laptop comes with an AMD ryzen 5 3550H processor, GeForce RTX 2060, 16 gigabytes of ddr4 ram, 512 gigabytes of SSD, and a 15.6 screen even though this laptop has a good GeForce RTX graphics card and good ram.

I think that its points of weakness are gonna be the processor. I’m not saying that the processor is not good because you can do your work using it generally speaking.

It is less capable than the i7 8th or 9th generation processor but according to the price of this laptop, I think it makes a lot of sense.

Pros
Great performance for games and editing
Simply upgradable
Immersive, color perfect display
Cons
The outer lid and keyboard comes with flex
Doesn’t have multi-zone RGB lighting
8. Alienware M15

Source: Amazon
Brand Alienware
Series AWm15-7272WHT-PUS
Display Size 15 Inches
Operating System Windows 10 Home
Processor Count 6
Dell Alienware M15. this is another popular laptop from dell that has been around for a while. Now it comes with an i7 8750h processor, Nvidia g4 gtx 1060, 16 gigabytes of ram, one terabyte of SDD, and a 15.6-inch screen.

Some of the things I don’t particularly like about this laptop is that it not upgrade to the ninth or tenth generation intel processors.

And the absence of SSD storage leads to less speed when launching the operating system also when starting software you’re gonna be seeing less speed and overall I think this laptop is a little bit expensive compared to what it offers.

Pros
Powerful performance
Long battery life
Superb 4K display
High quality, luxurious metal chassis
Cons
Dull speakers
Big bezels
9. HP OMEN 15

Source: Amazon
Brand HP
Series 15-dh1054nr
Display Size 15.6 Inches
Operating System Windows 10
Processor Count 6
HP OMEN 15, is probably one of the best laptops you can buy from hp if you want to work on your 3d projects at a reasonable price. It comes with an intel core i7, Nvidia GeForce gtx 1660 ti, 16 gigabytes of ram, 256 gigabytes SSD and a 15.6-inch screen.

Overall I think that the HP OMEN 15 has a good balance between performance build quality and price.

Pros
Powerful eight-core AMD processor
Matte IPS display
NVMe SSD + HDD
Cons
Low-contrast display
Just support one storage drive
10. MSI GS65 Stealth – Best laptop for Rendering

Source: Amazon
Brand MSI
Series GS65 Stealth THIN-051
Display Size 15.6 Inches
Operating System Windows 10 Home
Processor Count 1
MSI GS65 Stealth double o6 is another popular laptop from MSI that you can buy with different components. This one comes with an intel core i7 8750h processor, Nvidia RTX 2060, 16 gigabytes of ram, 512 SSD, and a 15.6-inch screen.

I choose the double o6 model because I think this is the best one you can get for this price but compare to the other laptops it is a little bit expensive.

Pros
Portable build and high quality
144Hz display
Long battery life for a gaming laptop
Attractive, subtle design
Cons
A little of lid fix
Things to Consider Before Choosing A LAPTOP For 3D Modeling
How to choose your laptop? one of the first things I recommend if you want to buy a laptop for your 3d work? as an artist is doing your research because you don’t want to make a long-term decision on the fly.

Since The cities were more likely to backfire if you don’t have a good knowledge about the subject you don’t have to be an expert or anything you just need to have the basic knowledge of how hardware operates to help you do different things as a 3d artist.

Build Quality
The build quality is very important because if your laptop is mostly made from plastic it will probably get damaged very fast or if it has some serious points of weakness in the lid it can break if you move a lot or if you are using it excessively.

When it comes to the price I recommend paying the most you can afford at the moment because this is an investment in something that will make you better in the future.

In addition to that, you don’t want your machine to be outdated fast due to the fact that laptops are getting better every year.

I would say if you buy a mid-range laptop it will get old within three to four years so you want to make sure to stay ahead of the game and have better laptops than most people right now.

If you have a desktop pc this is probably not going to be a problem but if you have a laptop it is hard to upgrade.

CPU/Processor
This is the thing that many people ignore because they give just priority to graphic cards or GPU. But it’s not the right thing. The CPU is the major thing for much workload while doing the execution of the design software, also when utilizing CPU Rendering. Consequently, to have many cores is a better idea (due to this each core will distribute with a bucket at the same time).

Many 3D modeling software needs powerful, multi-core processors in your laptop to work/run fastly. Furthermore, we recommended you to go with an Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 processor, an i5 or R5 processor.

GPU/Graphics Card
You should have a better graphics card to handle the graphic workload 3D modeling foists on your laptop. By getting a higher-end GPU, you can render your assemblies faster, or in reality.

If you do work along with easy assemblies, you don’t need to go with an outstanding graphic card, but people who design much harder assemblies should go with GTX cards or much better from it. Many gaming laptops easily hold your choosable 3D software, but workstation laptops along with NVIDIA Quadro cards are great for making 3D models and assemblies.

RAM/Memory
When we talk about 3D modeling, many people ignore the laptop’s RAM. Be remember, if the RAM is too much so you can easily handle larger datasets. Considering more RAM, you can easily run your design software along with various programs and applications without any lacking issue.

You should get a laptop with at least 8GB RAM for creating assemblies without any issues. For artists or engineers to create 3D models, we recommend going with Higher-end laptops that provide 16GB or more than it.

Storage
We highly recommend you to go with a solid-state hard drive, like an NVMe M.2 SSD, this hard drive offers larger agility to your system. Although, you require a second unit to store your creations, which generally take much space, and even sometimes using external hard drives for it.

Screen
It’s necessary but not as important as the other that we discussed above. Many recent panels do a great job. Obviously, an ultrabook that provides a small screen size isn’t good to have, or it can create many difficulties to work. So, you should purchase a laptop that offers at least 15.6 sizes.

What else is important in a Laptop for Animation
If you think to use a laptop with external devices for increasing efficiency and workflow, you should ensure that it has all the needed connectors.

A docking station generally provides you many connectors, but all connectors aren’t directly available on your laptop for space reasons.

If there isn’t a docking station available, ensure that your laptop offers some of the required connectors.

Considering external monitors, you should have an HDMI and/or Display port connector.

Some older projectors or monitors only connect with DVI or VGA, but you can handle this issue with an adapter.

If you are doing work on a Local Area Network or home, you require an RJ45 LAN port for joining a LAN cable that provides much faster speed as compared to a wireless connection.

Considering external USB devices like external HDDs for backup and storage, Input Devices like Mouse, Headsets, or Tablet, you need many USB ports.

8GB RAM is sufficient for Animation or not?
As we discussed before that 8GB RAM is enough for Animation on normal scenes. You can get much better results with 16GB or 32GB, when your Scenes offer much geometry, or if you wanna use various software aligned.

Gaming Laptops – Are better choice for Animation?
Obviously, lots of Laptop designers market laptops to Gamers, because Gaming laptop users are too much as compared to Animation or Content Creation users. And it’s not mean like that, you can just play games on a “Gaming Laptop”.

Which is the most necessary factor that we should look at in a laptop for 3D modeling?
However, there are some features as display refresh rate, GPU, and more, the much former assign has to be the CPU even-though with a higher bass and turbo clocking speed. Enhancing clocking speeds support you to unlock the hidden features and performance of the CPU, which providing you better animations, 3D modeling, and computer-aided designs.

Using a gaming notebook is good for 3D modeling?
In many instances, a gaming laptop is a much better option for basic 3D modeling and rendering. Although, when we handle high-end AI-assisted rendering or viewport rendering, then gaming laptops can drop behind, in a condition of power, OpenGL and DirectX compatibility, and upgradeability deficiency.

NVIDIA Ge-force and NVIDIA Quadro GPU – What’s the difference between them?
In spite of being exact architecture, Quadro GPUs feature extra computational power like the drivers are manufactured to accommodate graphic-intensive 3D modeling. GeForce cards, along with RTX and GTX, are powerful but many times restricted to gaming satisfaction. Quadro cards are workstation standard units, mostly utilized by production managers, architects, and further 3D modelers.

Desktop, laptop, or tablet – Which is the preferable choice for working on 3D modeling?
As the reviews of many designers, a powerful desktop machine is great for heavy working like 3D modeling. Although, we do not agree with them. In today’s era, you can easily find lots of laptops that are great for 3d modeling tasks. Furthermore, a laptop is easy to take and can work with it where you want. Apart from that, tablets are good but they aren’t much powerful as laptops or desktops.

Conclusion
Thanks for reading I hope you liked the content and if you found it helpful please remember to leave a like and share it with your friends and family. If you have any questions related to these products you can leave a comment below, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.