Finding the best laptop for AutoCAD can be very confusing.

If you browse around the web you’ll find…

People on reddit claiming that laptops with integrated graphics cards will run AutoCAD just fine.

Then you have laptop review sites & AutoDesk claiming only  ‘workstation’ laptops will work. 

Having worked with AutoCAD since my undergrad years, I understand  the confusion.

The reason is…

There’s not one size fit all.

What’s the best laptop for AutoCAD will depend on what you do with AutoCAD. 

Most people…

Work with objects of the size / # polygons shown above (house planning, mechanical design). For a fast workflow , they’ll need fast viewport (3D manipulation of the object).

For that, you only need a laptop with 4GB vRAM GPU (<$700 dollars).

On the other hand…

If you’re plans or designs are limited to 2D as shown below. You don’t need “dedicated graphics”. 

This reduces the price significantly , makes it more portable and you only need a laptop with a recent CPU (they sell for about 500 bucks).

What about workstation laptops? 

The only difference between workstation laptops and regular laptops are the graphics cards. But the performance difference is non-existent for the average AutoCAD user.

Although, workstation GPUs are said to be SPECIFICALLY designed for CAD software, which is true, most people will not find them useful UNLESS on projects with parts in the  several 1000s (the higher the number of parts the more likely glitches and artifacts are to show up). I go over this issue in the last section if you’re interested.

Now before we go over the best laptops for AutoCAD, I want to be more specific about the HARDWARE you need, the bare bone minimum recommended hardware for you to have lagless and smooth viewport performance which is CRUCIAL for a fast workflow.

Best Laptop Specs For AutoCAD

The following requirements are based on AutoCAD 2024 official requirements and my own experience with the software:

The minimum hardware will depend on the size of your models. While you can find these hardware requirements on AutoCAD’s official website, they aren’t detailed or specific. I try to fix this by listing the MIN requirements based on the # of parts. 

a) Small : 90% of YOU fall into this category (Civil engineers, Architects, engineering students).

b) Medium: Most engineers (mechanical, aeronautical) will need this much.

c) Large: CAD engineerins designing large scale machinery or very large buildings on multiple sheets need at least 6GB vRAM  if the overall design is going to be split into several files (work collaboratively on this project) . If you’re on your own, you probably need a desktop GPU or the workstation GPU with the largest amount of vRAM (currently 16GB vRAM on laptops – Ada RTX 5000).

CPU

Drawing/Drafting/Viewport:  AutoCAD is not  multi-threaded. That means it doesn’t matter how many CORES you CPU has when it comes to FAST drawing. In other words, forget about CORES and choose the FASTEST CPU instead (the fastest one usually has the highest number Ex: 4.0GHz vs 3.5GHz but not always). Below is a quick summary:

Rendering: while it’s true the more cores the faster the rendering. All recent CPUs have at least 6 cores so #cores should not be a concern. If you want even faster rendering you don’t need to go beyond 8 cores (Ryzen 7 & Core i7 ).

GPU

TL;DR:   ONLY helps with 3D viewport (rotating, zooming, panning a 3D model). Doesn’t help with 2D viewport. 

Viewport: Though CPU is ALSO used for viewport. The vRAM within a dedicated GPU, MASSIVELY speeds up viewport fps. So for 3D objects w/ +100 parts or polygons, it is a must if you want a fast workflow. 

99% of 3D CAD users only need a 4GB vRAM since most 3D models take ~1-2GB vRAM). 2D CAD users don’t need to worry about it.

Rendering: Although AutoCAD will somewhat use the GPU to speed up rendering. #CPU cores is way more important. Some renderers (3DS Max & Lumion) will use the CUDA cores on NVIDIA GPUs and speed up significantly, not AutoCAD however.

RAM
8GB: It is OKAYish for small models. There will be barely any RAM left after AutoCAD and Windows is open though (so you cannot open more programs, web browsing is OKAY).

16GB:  Useful if you want to speed up rendering. If you want to speed up viewport (in the absence of dedicated graphics).
32GB-64GB: Somewhat helps work with extremely large models (with the addition of dGPU). Speed ups rendering somewhat too. 

Storage
256GB: AutoCAD Files take anywhere from 10MB-4GB with 100MB being the average. If you install AutoCAD & Windows (both add up to 50GB), there’ll be around 200GB left for everything else (including CAD files). Students should be fine with this much.
512GB: If you’re going to install other CAD software or make a living with AutoCAD (be it for 2D or 3D plans) you’re going to need at least this much.

Top 8 Best Laptops For AutoCAD in 2022

Five out of the eight laptops on this list are for AutoCAD 3D. I’ll start with those first since most people landing on this page work with 3D viewport. The remaining ones are for  5 are for AutoCAD in 2D.  A quick summary:

Laptops 1-2: Ideal for students or those getting started with AutoCAD.

Laptops 3: Ideal laptop for ALL users especially those making a living out of AutoCAD 3D designs. 

Laptop 4: Same as Laptop #3 but way more portable. 

Laptop 5:  This is a workstation laptop with the latest & most powerful GPU for CAD software. Should only be used by those with unlimited funding, usually those working for companies that specialize in designing very complex 3D projects.

1. HP Victus

The Best Laptop For AutoCAD

  Core i5 13420H

  8GB DDR4

  NVIDIA GeForce GTX 3050Ti 4GB vRAM

  512GB PCIe NVMe

  15” Full HD IPS 144Hz refresh rates

  5.06 lbs

   5 hours

  GPU Performance (4GB vRAM)

The cheapest laptops with dedicated graphics cost about 600 dollars (usually have a MX450 or 1650GTX GPU) but this model isn’t that much more expensive (about 100 dollars more) and you get a GPU that not only has 4GB vRAM but ALSO more CUDA Cores , thus better performance than both 1650GTX and MX GPUs.

I believe this laptop shoud lbe enough for MOST of the people who came across my post.

4GB vRAM GPUs are pretty common in small start ups using CAD software. If you are a student, it is a little overkill (as shown in this link) but still USEFUL nnetheless.

Also super useful if you are a CAD engineer working SOLO or as a freelancer. Basically, if your models do not get significantly more complex (more parts) than what’s shown below, this will be way more than enough.

2GB vRAM GPUs:

Now 700-750 dollar is still a lot of money. If you can’t afford a 4GB vRAM like the 3050TI (there’s also the 2050Ti but it costs about the same), then you’ have TWO options:
– Go for a GPU with 2GB vRAM (MX Series).
– Go for a slightly older 4GB vRAM (1650GTX or 1050).

The second option is better but it’s not far from 750 dollars (approx 650), I show you laptops with those graphics in the next review.
For now we’ll talk about the first option: MX series.

MX Series GPUs ONLY have 2GB vRAM and this is IDEAL if you’re a student or getting started with AutoCAD (this reduces the price to 500-550).

If you can’t even afford a 2GB vRAM, you can still ‘MAKE DO’ with integrated graphics (laptops below 500 dollars).  Even an old Radeon 4000 (old desktop GPU) will run AutoCAD and let you work on 3D models (as long as they’re small) but obviously there’s going to be some lag. 

If you useAutoCAD 5 with an old laptop that has a 2GB vRAM GPU (940MX, MX350) , you SHOULDN’T face ANY lag as long as your models are not around 400-500 parts. The following are all laptops with a MX GPU I’ve found as of Q3 2023. 

Please be sure NOT to buy MX250 or MX150 as their performance isn’t that much higher than regular integrated GPUs found on laptops under 500 dollars.

CPU: Core i5-13420H (4 Cores , 4.4GHz)

3050Ti laptops are usually 680-720 dollars but this laptop is a bit more expensive (around 750 dollars), the main reason for this is the 13th gen Core i5 in it. 

This CPU is currently the. FASTEST in this price bracket and was just recently released a few weeks ago (on laptops). Although any of the CPUs I’ve gone over are already CRAZY fast for DRAWING & DRAFTING in.AutoCAD, it’s always NICE to have a faster CPU because even a tiny bit increase in clock speed has huge performance gains for drafting but more importantly RENDERING!

Another PLUS from this CPU is the fact that it has MORE cores than its predecessors (11th and 10th gen Core i5 CPU), this CPU and it’s 12th generation equivalent not only have more “cores” but also their cores are more “efficient” thus making rendering way faster (I’m talking minutes!).

GPU: 3050Ti vs High Tier GPUs

You probably read in some forum that the ideal GPU has to have 6GB vRAM and that’s not incorrect. But like I said, it’s an individual thing, most CAD users will be HAPPY with a 4GB vRAM like the 3050Ti.

But most people feel “at ease” having a GPU that can provide some headroom for possible future extremely complex models. Most people do not work with those models and hence why I recommend this GPU to you. Nonetheless if you want to join the “6GB vRAM GPU community” , scroll down and you’ll find the latest best bang for your buck 6GB vRAM GPU.

Before you do that though, I want you to run a small test (just to be sure you’re not wasting money on unncessary power):
– Find ANY laptop with a 4GB vRAM (or borrow one).
– Open BOTH AutoCAD and the task manager (CTRL+ALT+SUPR) just like I did in the screenshot near the intro.
– Open the biggest model you think you’ll work with (or download a similar one from some CAD site).
– Now, notice how the GPU almost NEVER bottlenecks. If it does, then yes you need a better GPU (6GB vRAM).

Why go through all of this? Because laptops with 6GB vRAM are COSTLY.

Q: What about going buying a better GPU (6GB vRAM or 8GB vRAM GPU) for upcoming GPU accelerated effects in AutoCAD or any upcoming future updates?

AutoCAD was released about 20 years ago (probbaly a lot more) and never have they mentioned anything about GPUs used for video instruction sets that will speed up drafting & drawing, it’s always been about the CPU and it always will.

If they however, decide to add GPU rendering to the software, then yes it MAY help speed up rendering but it’s already PLENTY fast with high-tier CPUs, any GPU-performance gain when rendering isn’t going to be significant.

Of course, if you KNOW you’re going to move up to much BIGGER projects in the future then YES by all means a 6GB vRAM is a good investment. 

Alternatives:

For those willing to go for slightly older CPUs or laptops with less storage, you may save a few bucks while still getting the same 3050Ti GPU. 

2. HP Victus 15-fa0031dx

Best Budget Laptop For AutoCAD

  Ryzen 5 5600H

  8GB DDR4

   GeForce GTX 1650

  256GB PCIe NVMe SSD

  15” 120Hz Full HD IPS

  4.96lb

  5 hours

Laptops with the 1650GTX are about 100 dollars cheaper, there isn’t much performance loss when you compare it with the 3050Ti.

Hardware:  1650GTX vs 3050Ti

The only real difference between the 3050Ti and 1650GTX is the #CUDA cores & ability to use RTX mode (for gaming), other than that both GPUs have the same amount of vRAM and this is the only real useful spec in AutoCAD ( for viewport purposes) since all other functions (drafting & rendering and even viewport to some degree) is CPU dependent.

CPU: Core i5-12450H 4.4GHz

Now, while there are many other 1650GTX models that might be cheaper. This model has the fastest CPU in the price range of 600-700 laptops with a 1650GTX.

As we discussed, the CPU is WAY more important for a quick AutoCAD workflow. Once you’ve got a dedicated GPU, it’s ALL about the CPU. That’s where alll the ‘apply effects’ ‘run functions’ ‘drawing’ calculations happen.

Even a 0.1GHz clock speed gain makes a huge difference ESPECIALLY when rendering.

Storage & RAM: 512GB & 8GB DDR5

All laptops in this list can be upgradeable. 8GB RAM however should be plenty for students and those starting with AutoCAD, it will make rendering take a bit longer but it’s not a deal breakre (maybe 5-10 minutes tops). If you want to speed up rendering , especially on larger models, then you want to up RAM to 16GB.  I advice you to do the upgrade yourself ( I have a tutorial demonstrating how easy it is to upgrade RAM) instead of buying a laptop with 16GB RAM because they are unncessarily expensive.

Alternatives:  1650GTX

The following are alternatives to the HP Victus MIGHT be a little cheaper but you may have to compromise display (refresh rates) or SSD space besides the 12th gen CPU. None of them are a deal breaker, they’ll work just as good just slightly slower though.

3. Surface Laptop Studio 

Now as of 2023, there are SEVERAL laptops that have managed to pack the power of gaming laptops into a very portable machine. Of course this is going to make it more expensive. 

Now the best bang for your buck portable laptop as of 2023 is either going to be the Surface Book or the Surface Laptop Studio…there may be a few others like the MacBook Pro or Dell XPS 15 but they’re INSANELY expensive and really offer no performance gain over the Surface Laptop Studio. Why? For most CAD users, the surface studio featured here for example, is ALREADY maxed out. 

Core i5 11th gen CPU isn’t that far off from the Core i5 13th gen CPU…yes it’s slower but no deal breakers, you still get a fast workflow when drawing.

As for the GPU, it’s the exact same 4GB vRAM GPU (3050Ti) of the first laptop.  Needless to say, 90% of you should be fine with this model.  If you have extra budget and more cash to spare, I suggest you pick a surface laptop studio with the Core i7 BEFORE upping any other spec. If the budget is higher then you want to upgrade RAM then storage in that order.

Surface Book 3:  6GB vRAM GPU

For those of you working with VERY LARGE CAD models and need 6GB vRAM for high fps numbers in viewport, you have to choices:

• Buy the Surface Book 3 which has a 6GB vRAM GPU
• Wait for the NEW SURFACE LAPTOP STUDIO which should come out this year and will have a 4050RTX (6GB vRAM)

Either way, truth is, viewport performance is the most crucial aspect for a fast workflow when working with very large models. The Surface Book 3 & The new Surface Laptop Studio should get you the same performance (both have 6GB vRAM ). But the Surface Laptop Studio, again still to be released, will have a 13th gen which will have way more clock speed, which will significantly (compared to the Surface Book 3) increase drawing & rendering performance.

Surface Pro 9: 

The Surface Pro 9 is much cheaper but doesn’t have a dedicated GPU and beleive it or not AutoCAD will run just FINE too. I’m not talking about 2D AutoCAD or 2D CAD models….it CAN work with 3D models too . That is , viewport will be fast, as long as you meet the following requirements:

• Models must obviously be small (50-100 parts).
• Must have 8GB but preferably 16GB RAM (this will speed up viewport with 150-200 part models).
• Grab one of the latest versions (which have a more recent CPU).

Basically the Surface Pro 9 is the ideal laptop for engineering students taking a few courses that use AutoCAD 2D.

Rendering: Important!

I don’t advice you use the Surface Book or Surface Pro 9 for CONSTANT rendering. Actually I wouldn’t use the Surface Laptop Studio for continous rendering either.

By that I mean, don’t go around rendering with either of those laptops all day. They are more deliqate in a sense that their cooling system will not be able to keep temperatures down for HOURS of rendering non-stop (some projects can take that long).

Of course if you are working with SMALL or MEDIUM projects, rendering should be quick and it SHOULDN’T be damaging to the CPU or GPU. In fact, I think whatever you RENDER with AUTOCAD on either of these machines should be okay because AutoCAD rendering is pretty basic thus FAST.

But it’s not OKAY to use other sotware like Revit or 3DS Max for high quality renders all day with these laptops. 

Buy Desktop: 

If you are an engineering who has to constantly render large models, then I suggest you buy a desktop on top of ANY of the laptops in this list. Use the laptops to do your craft and the desktop for the final touches and render.

4. Lenovo Legion 7 Gen

The Best Laptop For AutoCAD – Large Models

  Ryzen 7 6800H

  32GB DDR5

   NVIDIA RTX 3060 6GB vRAM 140W

  1TB PCIe NVMe

  15” full W QHD 

  5.3 lb

  4 hours

This is a bullet proof laptop for someone working as a CAD engineer mostly because of the 6GB vRAM GPU. I don’t recommend students or CAD beginners to buy this because it may be unncessarily expensive.

3 Best Laptops for AutoCAD in 2D & Small 3D Models

The following laptops are not limited to AutoCAD LT & Electrical, you can run ANY model on AUTOCAD on these laptops with ZERO LAG as long as plans stay in 2D and if there’s 3D viewport (plans of a city’s electrical connections ot buildings), you can still viewport in 3D with no issues.

If you’re working on small 3D models (50-100 parts) you’ll also be able to use viewport and have zero lag. In other words, these are useful for any 2D CAD engineer (electrical) and civil engineer.

6. Acer Aspire 5

Cheap Best Laptop For AutoCAD LT 2023 and AutoCAD in 2D

  AMD Ryzen 5 7530U

  8GB DDR4

   Radeon Vega 7

  512GB PCIe NVMe SSD

  15” FHD TN Anti-Glare

  3.83 lbs

  7 hours

    Windows 11 HOME

Laptop with the latest CPUs (such as the 7th gen Ryzen & or 13th gen Intel) aren’t a MUST to have performance with viewport/drafting/rendering with 2D CAD models.

You could go for cheaper models. In fact, if you’re strictly limited to 2D models, you can go as low as 300 dollars and find a Core i3 or Ryzen 3 laptop with 8GB RAM.

If your budget is higher, I wouldn’t advice you to go for Ryzen 7 or Core i7s. Instead you should try to get a 2GB vRAM (which we’ll go over next). Sure you may not viewport or work with 3D models nonetheless having a dedicated GPU still offloads some of the workload and processing from the CPU to the GPU and this will come in handy when you come across very HUGE models in 2D say of city plans or when you start working with 3D models.

7. Lenovo Business Pro 5

Best Lenovo Laptop For AutoCAD in 2D & Small 3D models

  Core i5 11300H

  8GB DDR4 

   MX450

  512GB SSD

  16″ 2.5k resolution

  4.2lbs

  3 hours

Probably the best bang for your buck laptop for 2D CAD engineers. Under 600 dollars, you’re getting:

16” Display: This makes a huge difference although it may seem like a small gain. If you go to a computer store and compare to displays with one 1 inch difference , you’ll notice there’s a huge extra screen space because this extra 1 inch is measured diagonally.

QHD: Now add the fact that the resolution is QHD (that’s TWICE the resolution of FHD). You’re going to have EVEN MORE extra screen space. How’s that useful? Well your canvas will be bigger, there’ll be less need to viewport as you’ll get a bigger view of your models AND you also get space to have customized toolbars right next to your canvas. In other words, this translates to less time clicking on drop down menus or keyboard commands to access a function. 

MX450 & 11th gen Core i5 CPU: Now the MX450 is a dedicated GPU. I know I said you don’t need a dedicated GPU but then it still becomes useful as I’m sure you’ll encounter a 3D CAD model every now and then and you might even work with other CAD software too. The CPU is not the latest but it’s still somewhat recent, it has 4 cores (8 threads) all running at around 4GHz so rendering will be a BREEZE.

512GB: This is just a nice bonus. Most laptops under 700 with dedicated graphics do not have this much RAM and they’re MUCH MUCH less likely to have them if said laptop has a QHD display (this is expensive ).

This laptop will probably run out of stock by the time you read this, it’s just too much computer goodness under 700 bucks (mostly the display). If that’s the case, then don’t worry the dGPU or the display are not requirements they’re nice additions sure but any laptop that doesn’t have either it’s a not a deal breaker. 

Buying The Best Laptop For AutoCAD – Hardware Guide

This section is basically a guide that will include everything you need to know to get the best bang for your buck hardware for AutoCAD.

• Although this section may only be useful for those who do not have a reseller of the models I posted above,  if you are in the US and have no problems finding the models I posted above,you can also use read this section to understand how AutoCAD uses specific hardware specs. If this will be be your main tool of work you might as well learn everything you need to know about the software.

AutoCAD Software

AutoCAD is actually a broadterm which encompasses several products fromAutoDesk. Whether they are hardware demanding or not depends on 

AutoCAD
This is the regular & original version of AutoCAD which all of you are familiar with. You can draw/draft models in both 2D and 3D.

Today the software has diverged into several other specialized versions. However, this (original) version is still out and it’s still used today especially in engineering schools. The main reason being because you can draft/work with it regardless of what your field is. 

AutoCAD LT
A less powerful version of the AutoCAD described above,used mainly for 2D objects.

AutoCAD Electrical
Mostly for circuit design. Most circuit blueprints only need a 2D representation so it is a 2D software.

AutoCAD Architecture
In regular AutoCAD you have to draw everything from scratch but this version will give you advanced tools and access to small objects for architecture drafting such doors, walls, windows, etc. This is a 3D software.

AutoCAD Civil 3D
Same as  AutoCAD architecture. However optimized for planning roadways, rivers, landscapes , etc.

*A few points before we move on to the next section:

• If you buy a laptop for 3D AutoCAD software, it will have obviously no issues with any CAD software in 2D.
• AutoCAD in 2D doesn’t really need high-tier hardware, even the CPUs found on laptops baove 400$ will work fine. You do not need a dedicated graphics card so that really opens up your options to very low priced machines. The upcoming section applies to AutoCAD in 2D as well but keep what I said in mind.

Recommended Specs For AutoCAD

This section will only talk about AutoCAD (not revit, inventor or any other software out there). Hardware usage and requirements will vary from software to software (Inventor may be more GPU intensive), so keep that in mind. If you want to know more about other CAD software look for my other posts on the site: Revit, Architecture, SolidWorks.

Again let’s start with the most important spec.

CPU

Just like most CAD software, AutoCAD will predominantely use your CPU when you draft and draw.

As you probably know there are two specs on a CPU: clock speed and # cores, there’s also cache size but that’s sort of irrelevant for laptops because there isn’t much CPU variety as in desktops. 

Because the speed of your workflow is based on how fast you can use tools, draw and rotate. We’ll check the performance of CPU in each of these instances so we can draw conclusions on whether to focus on clock speed or # cores when shopping for a laptop or desktop.

Rendering is going to be a multi-core task, no matter what kind of software you use, if there’s something to render, more cores will do it faster. Now the question becomes how many cores will AutoCAD find useful for rendering? Well, it makes sense to say that the more you have the better and there’s no limit to it and that’s true…

But…

What if 4 cores already render a model as shown above in less than 5 seconds? Would you spend an additional 300 dollars to make rendering take 2.5 seconds? That’s totally up to you. But if you’re going to work with super large models (with 5000 polygons and maybe even a 3D render of the object) then you probably want to invest on a CPU with as many cores as you can afford because that should take MUCH MUCH longer ~1h on average. Most people don’t do that anyways.

Conclusion: Recommended CPUs

AutoCAD 3D : Extremely large Models with +1000 parts

You would nee at least a Core i7 or Ryzen 7from the table above to make design tasks, drafting, fast. You’d want to break the project when it starts to lag though.

Xeon CPUs:

Xeon W-11855M	3.2	4.8	6
Xeon W-10855M	2.8	5.1	6

The only real advantage they bring to the table is making super high resolution and details render faster and by faster I mean taking 30 seconds as opposed to taking 1:30 half with regular CPUs because they have way way more cores.

As for the ECM feature (Error correcting memory) it is not paramount for AutoCAD. All CPUs will do the same job.

These Xeon CPUS  however are useful for servers/banking systems/stock trading where small fluctuations in calculations can translate to much bigger consequences.

GPU

Integrated GPU: AutoCAD 2D

If you are using AutoCAD for 2D projects as shown below (landscape, maps, circuit design, etc):

You do not need to worry about graphics cards, the ‘integrated GPU’s that come by default with CPUs will do the work. You’d want to make sure to pick a recent CPU so you can get ‘by default’ a recent integrated GPU, though not exactly useful for AutoCAD in 2D , it’ll be useful for small models in 3D or any viewport you may come across in the future. 

CPU	iGPU
i3 1315U	Intel UHD 64EU
i3 1220P	Intel UHD 64EU
i3 1115G4	Intel Xe*
i5  1135G7	Intel Xe
i5 1240P	Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs
i7 1135G7	Intel Xe
i7 1255U	Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (
i7 1355U	Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs

Intel UHD

CPU	iGPU
Ryzen 3 5300U	RX Vega 6
Ryzen 5 5500U	RX Vega 7
Ryzen 5 7530U	RX Vega 7
Ryzen 7 5700U	RX Vega 8
Ryzen 7 7730U	RX Vega 8

I would avoid the Ryzen 7 and Core i7 CPUs for 2D AutoCAD simply because they’re unnecessarily powerful and too expensive.

Dedicated GPU: 3D AutoCAD

Dedicated GPUs add +200 dollars to the overall cost of a laptop or a desktop. Some graphics can add up to +1000 dollars to the total cost (on laptops) so it’s important to know which of these graphics cards will be enough for what you do, you don’t want to overspend on a graphics card you’ll literally never put to full use.

Below is a summary of all modern graphics cards found on laptops and desktops (desktop specs will be different though).

NVIDIA	Shaders	vRAM	Speed
MX150	384	2GB-4GB	1532
MX250	384	2GB-4GB	1582
MX 230	256	2-4GB	1519
MX 350	640	2-4GB	1354
MX 450	896	2-4GB	1580
1050	640	2GB-4GB	1493
MX 550	1024	4GB	1320

 

NVIDIA	Cores	vRAM	Speed
1050 Ti	768	4GB	1620
1650	1024	4GB	1560
2050	1477	4GB	2048
1060	1280	6GB	1670
1660 Ti	1536	6GB	1590
3050Ti	2560	4GB	1485
4050	2370	6B	2560
2060	1920	6GB	1680
2080	2944	8GB	1710
2070	2304	8GB	1620
3060	3584	8GB	1780
3070	5888	8GB	1730
4060	3072	8GB	2370
3080	8704	10GB	1710
4070	4608	8GB	2175
4080	7424	12GB	2175

There’s only two instances where they become useful ‘3D Viewport’ an PERHAPS Rendering.

A) Viewport: vRAM

They’re called dedicated because they have their own ‘vRAM’. Dedicated ‘memory’ for graphics. If you have a 3D object and configure AutoCA D to use your ‘dedicated’ graphics card as show below:

It’ll store your 3D project on vRAM which massively accelerated the speed at which you can interact with the object through viewport. If you are having LAG right now and you have dedicated GPU, you may not really need to upgrade your graphics but rather make sure that AutoCAD is using your dedicated GPU by checking hardware options.

2-4GB vRAM: Viewport for a house or a 3D object with ~100-500 parts as shown in the all the figures will run totally fine with GPUs labeled Red/Blue in the table.

If you are a student, this is definitely going to be the case for you (50-100 parts models) so you don’t have to spend more than 700 bucks on a laptop for AutoCAD. If you are a professional architect, mechanical engineers, 3D engineers (freelance), etc, you will probably be fine with a 4GB vRAM GPU too

6GB vRAM:  Useful for viewport for extremely large models with ~1000 polygons. Sort of like the Tait towers. This is still not too expensive so you can grab a dGPU with this much vRAM to sort of be ‘future-proof’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B) Rendering: CUDA Cores

As shown in the CPU section, rendering is mostly a CPU task. There will be a slight GPU usage when you render much bigger objects (the CUDA Cores act as additional cores) but it will still be 95% CPU’s job. This is for AutoCAD’s built-in renderer!

Having the latest GPU will not significantly increase rendering times as much as having a better CPU will. Most rendering tasks in AutoCAD take a few minutes TOPs very rarely will they take 30min to 1h.

Rendering with third party software

Now if you use third-party renders such as Lumion or 3DS Max for which GPUs ‘much more useful.

The part that does the rendering FASTER are the CUDA ‘CORES’ found in NVIDIA GPUs, they’re not as efficient as ‘CPU Cores’ but they still speed up performance when rendering because there are hundreds if not thousands of little ‘cores’ inside a GPU.

Thus if you want to render with OTHER SOFTWARE OUTSIDE of AUTOCAD & YOU WANT RENDERING TO BE MUCH FASTER then it is WISE to spend A LOT of MONEY on a dedicated GPU whether it’s for a laptop or desktop. If those two conditions are not MET, you should just settle with 4GB vRAM GPUs.

C) Workstation GPUs

You can probably see why you don’t need any workstation GPUs now:

• Graphics card are only useful for Viewport. Not for Drafting & Editing.
• Viewport only uses a small fraction of the GPU total power.
• Most people work with very small models for which autocad will only use ~1GB vRAM.
• There is zero issues regarding errors & stability with consumer gaming cards.

Now if the old IT guy in the building has forced you or told you to look for WORKSTATION LAPTOPs or WOrkstation GPUs on desktop or you have so much money you can afford the ‘extra’ stability when using viewport (this is sarcasm btw) then you gotta make sure you use the following table so you are not ripped off:

These are the latest workstion cards please note that for AutoCAD purposes, they’re simulation enhanced by AI feature is extremely helpful for CAD software where simultaneous variations of the same simulation must be run to find the optimum structure.

Say you’re building a tower using AutoCAD with mechanical parts, running this simulation to find the best fit will take longer with regular GPUs due to the fact that each variation must be tested seperately. With the Ada, the problem is in a way ‘extrapolated’ and there’s less need to test each variation. 

Whether that feature is useful to you is up to you. 

Author Profile

Miguel Salas

I am physicist and electrical engineer. My knowledge in computer software and hardware stems for my years spent doing research in optics and photonics devices and running simulations through various programming languages. My goal was to work for the quantum computing research team at IBM but Im now working with Astrophysical Simulations through Python. Most of the science related posts are written by me, the rest have different authors but I edited the final versions to fit the site's format.

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