What should I look for if I want a laptop that can run solidworks ?

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ygzer

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Feb 8, 2015
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Hi, as the title says what should I look for in a laptop if I want it to run solidworks as I may be looking for a new laptop

I'm afraid to choose what I think is good for my budget as I did that with the current laptop I'm using and it's not powerful enough for solidworks


I also play games
 
alceryes said:
What are your current laptop specs and how close does it come to being 'good enough'?
Click to expand...

Current laptop specs are ryzen-7 3750h and graphics is rx5500m
When I asked how to solve the problem which I've encountered in solidworks on r/solidworks, someone said that my laptop wasn't strong enough
 
ygzer said:
Current laptop specs are ryzen-7 3750h and graphics is rx5500m
When I asked how to solve the problem which I've encountered in solidworks on r/solidworks, someone said that my laptop wasn't strong enough
Click to expand...
and I forgot to mention 16gb ram
 
ygzer said:
These are all workstation graphics, what about something more normal like gtx1660 or rtx2060 on laptop?
Click to expand...

I built a Solidworks desktop for our small business and needed to make sure that it had a workstation graphics card in it. Nvidia Quadro cards or AMD FirePro are usually what they call for. Problem with Solidworks is that they do not work well with gaming cards. You can use gaming cards, but you will suffer drawbacks in that Solidworks may not function as promised. All has to do with gaming cards using DirectX because of its ability to generate a lot of graphics that don’t require overlay planes, stencils, or other high-detail features. Workstation cards using OpenGL which the interface is known for precision and handling large amounts of mathematical data. Solidworks has a specific requirement for graphics. A lesson I learned is that you build a PC for what you will be using it for the most. If it's gaming, spec it that way.

This is what I learned when trying to spec a PC for Solidworks. If you're ok with glitches or slow performance, you can use a gaming card but don't expect it to function as it normally would, including increased instances of unexpected crashes.
 
stylinspeak said:
I built a Solidworks desktop for our small business and needed to make sure that it had a workstation graphics card in it. Nvidia Quadro cards or AMD FirePro are usually what they call for. Problem with Solidworks is that they do not work well with gaming cards. You can use gaming cards, but you will suffer drawbacks in that Solidworks may not function as promised. All has to do with gaming cards using DirectX because of its ability to generate a lot of graphics that don’t require overlay planes, stencils, or other high-detail features. Workstation cards using OpenGL which the interface is known for precision and handling large amounts of mathematical data. Solidworks has a specific requirement for graphics. A lesson I learned is that you build a PC for what you will be using it for the most. If it's gaming, spec it that way.

This is what I learned when trying to spec a PC for Solidworks. If you're ok with glitches or slow performance, you can use a gaming card but don't expect it to function as it normally would, including increased instances of unexpected crashes.
Click to expand...
I'll keep that in mind, building a pc is the best option because I can choose whatever part works best for me but now I'm just a university student that has to move to a dorm in another state so it's not an option for me. I would use the pc at university if it weren't for covid. I'll ask my classmates and see how their laptops run solidworks
 
ygzer said:
I'll keep that in mind, building a pc is the best option because I can choose whatever part works best for me but now I'm just a university student that has to move to a dorm in another state so it's not an option for me. I would use the pc at university if it weren't for covid. I'll ask my classmates and see how their laptops run solidworks
Click to expand...

Probably your best bet. Everyone can quote all kinds of requirements but nothing beats real world experience using the parts. Solidworks is already prone to some crashes even when using the recommended cards. You would just need to remember to save more often if you're using a graphics card that is not recommended because a crash can lose a lot of work.
 
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ygzer said:
1st video is the problem that I first had
and 2nd video is after changing settings to fix problem in video 1
Click to expand...

If you fixed the problem you had with a change of settings, why are you trying to swap the systems? If something is running slow, you need a faster computer. For things like the CAD programs, they are designed to work best with the workstation cards and the drivers for those. That is why the certified workstations that pros use run those workstation cards not gaming cards. When actually working on projects I know I have seen requirements for the systems to generate blueprints, etc... having to be built with certified parts for the programs before you can bid or work on a project.
 
hang-the-9 said:
If you fixed the problem you had with a change of settings, why are you trying to swap the systems? If something is running slow, you need a faster computer. For things like the CAD programs, they are designed to work best with the workstation cards and the drivers for those. That is why the certified workstations that pros use run those workstation cards not gaming cards. When actually working on projects I know I have seen requirements for the systems to generate blueprints, etc... having to be built with certified parts for the programs before you can bid or work on a project.
Click to expand...
I fixed the problem that I had initially when I started solidworks, and then another problem came up. I'm just a student trying to get through my solidworks classes not a professional who uses solidworks to make a living. The recommended parts are workstation graphics which i cannot afford. Just a student
 
Your laptop is fine. Just a bit outdated. Newer laptops come with %60-70 stronger CPU and better GPU, but RX5500M is fine at CAD work, better than NVIDIA 1660ti or 1650, NVIDIA wants people to buy their Quadro Gpu's on laptops for working where AMD doesn't. For Solidworks, simply buy a power station notebook, from HP, Dell, or Thinkpad. Which will have a "Quadro" GPU or "Radeon Pro W/WX" and comes with desktop-level CPUs. Absolute beasts.
 
ygzer said:
I fixed the problem that I had initially when I started solidworks, and then another problem came up. I'm just a student trying to get through my solidworks classes not a professional who uses solidworks to make a living. The recommended parts are workstation graphics which i cannot afford. Just a student
Click to expand...

So all you can do is just buy the fastest laptop you can with your budget and live with whatever the results are. Since the system you have has issues, move up a level or two in the speed. nVidia 1660 Ti in mobile is probably the next step up from what you have.
 
Well, if you know anyone who uses ADP for their business payroll (which is like half of the businesses out there):

$1460 gets you a very nice P1 g3 workstation laptop.
  • Processor : 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-10750H Processor (2.60 GHz, up to 5.00 GHz with Turbo Boost, 6 Cores, 12 Threads, 12 MB Cache)
  • Operating System : Windows 10 Pro 64
  • Memory : 32 GB DDR4 2933MHz (2 x 16 GB)
  • Hard Drive : 1 TB PCIe SSD
  • Warranty : 1 Year Depot or Carry-in
  • Graphics : NVIDIA® Quadro® T1000 with Max-Q 4GB
$1700 for a P1 w/ Xeon® W-10855M and T2000 card; they also have 4k screen options.

I have the last-generation consumer versin (X1 Extreme) and it's quite nice, also has 2 user accessible SSD and RAM slots for upgrades.


Or for larger screen and better cooling tou can buy a lenovo p17 laptop workstation for $1620 on sale. That will also support two SSDs and two RAM slots, though you can boost RAM to 128G
  • Processor : 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i9-10885H Processor with vPro™ (2.40 GHz, up to 5.30 GHz with Turbo Boost, 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 16 MB Cache)
  • Operating System : Windows 10 Pro 64
  • Memory : 16 GB DDR4 2933MHz
  • Hard Drive : 512 GB PCIe SSD
  • Warranty : 1 Year Depot or Carry-in
  • Graphics : NVIDIA® Quadro® T2000 4GB
 
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