07 Best Laptops For SketchUp In October 2023 – Reviewed & Ranked

Use the best laptops for SketchUp to design architectural, interior, and mechanical designs. Our Site is supported by readers like you. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. If you’re planning on learning SketchUp, you’ll want to purchase a new computer.

We realize that as an architect or designer, you are working on a lot of projects and don’t have a ton of time to do research. If you want to avoid buyer’s remorse, just make sure you check the quality of products before you buy them. I’ve been reviewing laptops for years and my team of technical support specialists reviews hundreds every year. We help thousands of customers make good purchase decisions.

SketchUp System Requirements at a Glance

SketchUp requires the minimum system requirements to run. You’ll need a recent version of Windows, along with a processor of at least 2 GHz and a graphic card that supports OpenGL or DirectX but for professionals, we recommend that you go with a system.

Top 07 Best Laptops For SketchUp

  1. ASUS ZenBook Pro DuoBest laptop on our list
  2. Razer Blade 15 – Best For 3D Designers
  3. ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 – Best for Architects & Games
  4. MSI Modern 14MSI Modern 14 is the ideal budget laptop
  5. ASUS TUF Dash – Best with Long-lasting Battery Life
  6. Lenovo IdeaPad 3iBudget Option From Lenovo
  7. Acer Aspire 7 – Laptop with great internal specs 

What are the Best Laptops For SketchUp Overall in 2023?

Here’s a quick and easy way to organize your SketchUp models. You’re sure to find the perfect laptop for you in just a matter of minutes.

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How to Choose the Best Laptops For SketchUp

Now that you understand what to look for in the best laptop for SketchUp, here is an ultimate guide for what to look for in a high- We’ll look at them one by one.

Screen Resolution

If you want a great 3D model, the better the display the better the outcome. If you have a higher-resolution display, it’ll give you more information on the page without having to scroll much. It’s like having a bigger screen so you don’t have to move your eyes as much to see what’s going on.

These images look bright and crisp, and for SketchUp, either choose a Full HD or 4K resolution. With this magnifying glass, you’ll be able to see the most intricate designs in detail without straining your eyes. Your panel doesn’t need to look fancy or spend more money than other panels. A quality panel is a must-have to help create the best possible project.

Screen Size

The size of your design will influence the resolution you can set for your design. The higher the resolution, the better it is for your screen. That’s why buying an old or cheap laptop to run the software and install software from scratch is not recommended.

The 14-inch screen size is perfect if you’re looking for a large monitor that fits in your lap but also isn’t too heavy. You’ll have plenty of room to arrange your toolbars, menus, and windows on a single screen, which makes it easy to access everything you need, fast

This setup is an excellent choice for multitasking. A touchscreen screen might be a better option, along with a stylus to bring your ideas to life. If you’ve used a stylus before, but never used a pen, and don’t need to take notes with it, a touch screen is.

Graphics Card

You should definitely not compromise on the graphics card when you want to get a great laptop for SketchUp. In addition to low-end laptops, most budget laptops would not qualify for the software. They’re mainly equipped with integrated graphics cards.

In addition to throttling your laptop’s performance, the integrated GPU may reduce the output quality. You should invest in a dedicated graphics card. It helps determine how fast and accurately your laptop’s screen will display the designs you’re working on. There are other factors that influence how much you can spend on a graphics card, but if you’re on a budget, the NVIDIA MX350 will provide the best performance for the money A powerful GPU such as NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 is good for complex design projects.

Processor

The performance and speed of the software depend a lot upon the processor, but you don’t want to pay too much for a powerful processor when you are just starting out. That’s why you need a strong CPU with a fast Turbo clock to be able to handle the load. There is no need for an enthusiast or generalist to have more than one processor. They’re all capable of the task at hand.

However, computer-aided design (CAD) drawings require a powerful computer. It depends on which processor you have. The i7-6600U CPU will be your best bet, and the i5-6600U won’t be the best.

RAM

RAM helps to speed up the processor and it gives the laptop performance. When you’re looking for a computer that’s great for SketchUp work, it’s important to pay particular attention to it. The more RAM you have available, the better when working with projects involving Building Information Modeling (BIM).

To work efficiently and effectively, an architect should consider using 16GB RAM. But, if you have a limited budget, you don’t have to go for anything less than 8GB RAM as it will reduce your creativity and productivity.

Storage

3D animation includes high-quality projects that can take up a considerable amount of your hard drive. With the right tools, the SketchUp models you create are portable, so you can take them with you on the go. The 512GB SSD storage is a must for any architect, interior designer, engineer, or gamer who stores his/her designs.

In the case of 1TB SSD storage, you can opt for SketchUp and your operating system to run at lightning speed. SSD over HDD is better than HDD because it’s 5 times faster at reading and writing data. This computer keyboard boots the operating system and saves your design files within seconds. You can achieve efficiency in your life by putting your energy into areas that add the most value to your life, to the things you care about.

Battery Life

An artist or an animator using SketchUp will find it easy to navigate their toolbox, as it offers a good battery life. Imagine running out of power during the middle of a productive session with the client. Definitely not something we want to think about. You may want to find a laptop with a battery life of at least 5 hours. But, even though 8-hour battery life is a good option to consider, there are a lot of laptops today that have great batteries.

Portability

Whether you’re an engineer, architect, or a 3D animator, you should have portability and feasibility when you’re creating designs or designs, so that you don’t have to sit in a room, just like you You’ll probably have to visit the site you’re working on or with clients to their place.

Since portability is an important consideration, when buying the best laptop for SketchUp Pro, make sure it has a battery that will last for a long time. It’s recommended to opt for a lightweight device that you can carry anywhere with ease.

Top Best Laptops For SketchUp in 2023

Let’s check out our top 7 picks for the best laptops for SketchUp.

ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo

Best Overall

PROS

  • Innovative dual-screen display
  • Speedy performance
  • Massive storage
  • User-friendly build that supports multitasking

CONS

  • Expensive
  • CPU: 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7-10750H
  • RAM: 16GB
  • Storage: 1TB SDD
  • Display: 15.6-inch OLED (3840 x 2160)
  • GPU: 6GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
  • Battery: Up to 5 hours

This amazing laptop comes with two high-res screens and a powerful processor for designing your SketchUp designs on the go. The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo is the ultimate tool to design, edit and render 3D sketches.

SketchUp for Mac is the best version of SketchUp, and it’s available at a fraction of the price. Artists love this display because it’s so large. It allows them to make their art look great on the big screen. You can use either display to work with SketchUp, but you have to use the right tool for the right job. With the 3840 x 2160 resolution for the main display and 3248 x 1100 for Screen Pad Plus, you can benefit from the extraordinarily enhanced sharpness needed for the creation of your interior designs and landscape architecture.

The Device comes with an internal 4-core 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, a high-performance liquid cooling unit, and 8GB of DDR4-2933 memory. This model can efficiently process several system-intensive and heavy 3D models at once.

This card ensures fast rendering in both real-time and the final output. As for the memory, the 16GB RAM allows the architects and engineers to handle all their tasks smoothly and listen to their favorite music while browsing the web. The 1TB solid state drive further boosts the laptop’s speed by ensuring it boots in a flash, and the software starts up quickly.

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. If you’re looking for a laptop with a good battery, look elsewhere. It’s an understatement to say this phone packs a lot of power into a compact size. In this case, 3D Touch was a pretty big hit because Apple did away with the home button and brought it all under one control button. Besides the screen, ASUS ZenBook Pro offers plenty of storage, and we vouch for the notebook.

Razer Blade 15

Best For 3D Designers

PROS

  • Mighty Intel Core i7 processor
  • 16GB RAM ensures a lag-free experience
  • Sleek design
  • Stunning display

CONS

  • Fans are noisy
  • Heats up under load
  • CPU: 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-10750H
  • RAM: 16GB
  • Storage: 512GB SSD
  • Display: 15.6-inch 4K UHD OLED Touch (3840 x 2160)
  • GPU: 8GB NVidia GeForce RTX 2070
  • Battery: Up to 8 hours

With a mind-blowing performance and delicate look, it looks like Razer has specially crafted the Blade 15 to complement the passions of architects, artists, and engineers. This compact and lightweight model is built to last and to carry the same weight as other models at 4.5 lbs. There’s additional 8-hour battery life, and you get a portable device that’s safe to carry around and free of location.

One key reason this laptop is so light is that it’s been designed to be lightweight and portable. On the inside, equipped with a remarkably able 6-core 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, there isn’t any 3D model it can’t handle. The NVIDIA RTX 2070 video card is great, and it doesn’t take long for it to start showing the benefits ray tracing. If performance and value are your things, then the laptop is for you.

Its 16GB RAM is enough to switch between multiple tabs, programs, and windows simultaneously. It’s good to go! In addition to being a fast-working computer, the 512GB SSD storage provides enough space for multiple projects, source files, and references.

Blade 15’s 2.6-inch 4K OLED Touch display gives users better and crisper images than ever. It also comes with I really appreciate this new release. With the latest software update, the curves appear a lot smoother. With its thin profile, solid construction, and powerful Intel Core i5 processor, the MacBook Pro is a solid choice for people who need a fast, quiet computer that can handle demanding tasks But other than that, the Razer Blade 15, because of its phenomenal display and powerful GPU is definitely our favorite when it comes to laptops for SketchUp.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14

Best for Architects & Games

PROS

  • Brilliant system performance
  • 1TB SSD storage
  • Doesn’t heat up under intense use

CONS

  • Thunderbolt 3 is missing
  • CPU: 3.0GHz AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS
  • RAM: 16GB
  • Storage: 1TB SSD
  • Display: 14-inch FHD (1920 x 1080)
  • GPU: 6GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
  • Battery: Up to 10 hours

This computer offers all-around solid performance, a great display, and an elegant look, making it perfect for the most demanding professionals and creative users alike. The 15.6-inch 1080p IPS FHD touch display is perfect for watching movies and enjoying your favorite apps. It enhances small details and delivers super-rich colors.

Your processor under its hood is an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS with 16GB RAM which makes multitasking super easy for you. This is the best laptop for drawing and creating artwork, and its large, spacious 1TB of SSD storage makes it the ideal tool for those who create a lot of art.

You could rarely use an external storage device, as a result. NVIDIA RTX 3060 is an amazing graphics card that gives users access to all the needed APIs to perform quality renders and obtain the best level of performance. In terms of battery life, this laptop will easily last for ten hours under extensive usage. You won’t find the system heating up or lagging despite the heavy loads.

The only sad thing about the Thunderbolt 3 port is it’s missing. It might take longer to transfer design files because of USB 3. So, you still have a wide range of connectivity available. The Laptop is designed with SketchUp Pro’s specific needs in mind, so it makes a great fit for those looking for something special. It’s also a niche in its own right. Is it our best laptop for SketchUp? It is, without a doubt.

MSI Modern 14

Best 14-inch

PROS

  • 1TB SSD storage
  • Weighs only 2.6lbs
  • A decent NVIDIA MX450
  • 9-hour battery life is quite reasonable

CONS

  • The performance might drop under prolonged use
  • The image quality degrades at off-center angles
  • CPU: 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-1135G7
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Storage: 1TB SSD
  • Display: 14-inch FHD IPS (1920 x 1080)
  • GPU: 2GB NVIDIA GeForce MX450
  • Battery: Up to 9 hours

The MSI Modern 14 is the ideal budget laptop for beginners and students, due to its reasonable battery life, oh-so-light chassis, and enough storage. This is a great laptop we couldn’t leave off this list. This baby is very lightweight. It weighs just 2.6 lbs. So, you can easily carry it around or fit it into your bag for school.

This laptop packs a 9-hour battery that will get you through the day without the worry of running out of juice. This model has a 1.8GHz Intel Core i5-8400 processor and 16GB RAM, which makes it ideal for students and hobbyists. You might notice a drop in performance under prolonged load.

If you’re serious about performance, the better-performing Core i7 version is recommended. As for the CPU side, the 4-core Intel i5 6600K is a good fit. This will help improve performance while making sure your system stays within the budget. You’ll also notice that the render times are greatly improved due to the increased horsepower.

The full HD screen will certainly allow you to create high-quality designs. In theory, the picture quality should degrade as the display is viewed off-center. All said, if you’re seeking a lightweight laptop with a long battery life to practice SketchUp designs, the MSI Modern 14 is something you won’t want to miss.

ASUS TUF Dash

Best with Longest Battery Life

PROS

  • 16-hour battery life
  • Effective Intel Core i7 processor
  • Vivid and vibrant display
  • Weighs only 4.4lbs

CONS

  • 8GB RAM
  • The card reader is missing
  • CPU: 3.3 GHz Intel Core i7-11370H
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Storage: 512GB SDD
  • Display: 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080)
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
  • Battery: Up to 16 hours

The ASUS TUF Dash has an all-day-long battery life, and it delivers a beautiful display that makes you want to spend hours sketching. It was hard to decide what we loved (and didn’t) about this movie. What did you love (and hate) about it? The main attraction of the laptop is its 16-hour battery life.

The Device has a mere weight of 4.4 pounds and is the lightest Android tablet to date. For gaming, the ASUS TUF Gaming Series offers an Intel Core i7 processor with a Turbo-Clock speed of up to 4.8GHz. It comes with 8GB RAM, which is a bit on the lower end for a lot of SketchUp tools. This allows you to store different outfits in the same space while allowing you to see them all at the same time.

The GPU is an NVIDIA RTX 3050, which will give the display better quality. The GeForce RTX 2080 comes as an upgrade of the GeForce GTX 1080 and gives up to 20% more performance than its predecessor. This model comes with 16GB of memory, so for most people, that’s enough. But if you do want more storage space, you can add an additional 256GB USB-C 3.

The stunning 15.6-inch HD display at 1920×1080-pixel density adds vividness and vibrancy to the designs enabling you to enhance your output digital workpieces. Overall, the ASUS TUF Dash is a great SketchUp laptop for designing. It’s got excellent battery life and a large, bright display for working in SketchUp.

Lenovo IdeaPad 3i

Budget Option From Lenovo

PROS

  • Speedy 1TB SSD
  • 350 nits brightness
  • Effective performance

CONS

  • Fans get noisy under heavy usage
  • GPU could be better
  • CPU: 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-1135G7
  • RAM: 20GB
  • Storage: 1TB SSD
  • Display: 17.3-inch HD+ (1600×900)
  • GPU: Integrated Intel Iris Xe
  • Battery: Up to 11 hours

SketchUp’s best combination for this amount of money of performance and reliability is the Lenovo IdeaPad 3i. It never fails to impress architects, engineers, animators, and anyone else using SketchUp. Here’s why. This Windows 8.1-based laptop is powerful enough for entry-level 3D modeling and motion graphics. It features an 11th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and integrated Intel XE graphics.

And with the 20 GB RAM onboard, you can run multiple tabs while you’re designing your app. There’s a lot to like about the 1 TB hard drive. It’s quite reasonable, and it delivers good transfer rates. This is what I would say.

Equipped with a 17.3-inch HD+ display at 1600×900-pixel resolution, the laptop offers excellent color reproduction for intricate designs. While it is a plus to have a screen with a brightness level of 350 nits, the screen also has another interesting feature. You can use it to create designs without working indoors, in a bright and well-lit environment.

If you want to work without any distractions, then this might be the right laptop for you. It will last up to 11 hours and you don’t have to be near a socket to charge it. Designing is made easier with a large 12-inch display. The only problem is that the fans get a bit noisy under heavy loads.

Acer Aspire 7

Best Budget Option

PROS

  • Features decent internal specs
  • Full HD resolution for excellent rendering
  • Upgradable 512GB SSD storage
  • Affordable price

CONS

  • Not suitable for professionals
  • The build quality is average
  • CPU: 2.1GHz AMD Ryzen 5 5500U
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Storage: 512GB SDD
  • Display: 15.6-inch FHD IPS (1920 x 1080)
  • GPU: 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
  • Battery: Up to 10 hours

For students who don’t want to spend a lot, the Acer Aspire 7 is one of the best laptops for SketchUp. This cell phone has long 10-hour battery life. This is great for students who like to study and work in the library with limited access to power outlets. The Ryzen 5 5500U processor is a high-performance CPU that’s easy for you to use. You’ll be able to work on your complex designs at a fast speed.

This laptop supports up to an Intel Core i7 processor, 8 GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card. This combination of laptop components makes it fast. This mid-range laptop is equipped with 512GB of solid-state storage which is rare in a laptop of this price point, but it also comes with an option to upgrade.

Of course, it is! It’s a great display for a great tablet. The Full HD IPS screen works very well on SketchUp. It’s nice to be able to see the colors and contrast of the images clearly, which makes the design process more enjoyable.

While the Acer Aspire 7 may not be the ideal workstation for professionals due to the lack of powerful specifications, it is a great option for students because it offers more than enough power to run all the basic programs, they need to complete their studies. You can’t beat the price and quality of an Acer Aspire 7. So, even though it’s a bit dated, it still makes a good choice for students looking for a cheap, reliable, and functional laptop.


FAQs About Laptops & SketchUp

Let’s look at some of the most frequently asked questions about the best laptops for SketchUp.

Do you need a high-end GPU for SketchUp?

A high-end GPU, preferably consumer-grade RTX 20-series models, will run SketchUp well, courtesy of the decent spread of CUDA and Ray Tr Apart from the fact that all the required APIs like Vulkan, DirectX, and OpenGL are available, and the fact that it is a high-performance graphics engine, it.

Which processor to use for SketchUp modeling?

You’ll need to have a powerful computer with a fast turbo clock speed if your only purpose is to create 3D designs. This will signify a fast single-core performance which is the most desirable trait for 3D modeling.

Why should SketchUp be the first choice for architects?

SketchUp is the best 3D modeling and rendering software available. It’s very easy to use for conceptual designs. That’s why it’s so important for architects and interior designers to imagine their ideas before they are even created so that the design.

Why do professional SketchUp artists require higher RAM?

For a seamless experience in SketchUp, you should have at least 16GB RAM. That’s because 3D models and renders require more system memory than 2D images do. It’s possible that you may run out of memory from time to time.

Conclusion

A fast processor with a gorgeous display is a fantastic upgrade for architects and animators who use SketchUp. You can use the following guide to help you find your ideal match This one is easy, right?

  • Best Overall: ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo
  • Best 14-inch: MSI Modern 14
  • Best for Architects & Games: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14

If you have anything else to ask, please feel free to ask We’re available to help.

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