What are the requirements of a laptop for running AutoCAD, Revit, 3ds Max, and SketchUp for an architecture student? Which laptops would be recommended for this?

Answer 1

These are NOT minimums, just my recommendations. I have used and bought many laptops and have done renders with them and this would be what I would look for if I was wanting to buy one for Autodesk software.

Brands:

MSI

DELL (Alienware)

ASUS

Processors:

i7 or i9

check model numbers make sure of last characters do NOT include

for laptops anything ending in letter "H" will be best for these Autodesk software

you can use lower but don't recommend it.

reference: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/processor-numbers.html

Memory/RAM size:

32GB min, 64GB best

Hard drives:

1 TB and larger If you use a lot of 3D software then 2-5GB storage would be best.

SSD or any newer technology will be fine if it connects into the motherboard and not an external HDD.

Graphics card:

Ray-trance enabled or onboard to the card.

Brands dont matter too much but MSI and NVIDIA have amazing products

you can read the reviews or look at how many people are going for the cards

Some of the differences are so small you might not notice it from 1 gen to the next.

Graphics amount:

6gb and up

The rest of the features are user specific, but you defiantly want to use a mouse not just the pad it will drive you crazy without one, mice are more of a user pref but corded for performance is what I would say.