Are you trying to find the best laptop for Blender? Glad to say, you have landed in the right place.
If you’re a professional blender user and searching for a laptop to satisfy all of your blender needs, then this article can come in handy. The best laptop for blender should consist of a powerful and fast processor, high resolution, high RAM and very significantly a color-accurate display.
Blender, as you may or might not know is open-source and free-to-use 3D Animation software developed by 100s of skilled to give you an experience of a powerful 3D computer graphics software for free.
Basically, the blender is what Linux (Ubuntu OS) is to pc OS, and being developed by various VFX experts, animators, graphics artists, enthusiasts and then on. Blender has become a beast in itself and might offer any paid 3D animation software a run for its money.
However, what’s interesting is to induce started with the blender you would like a powerful laptop because 3D animation and Modeling deals with plenty of complex operations performed by CPU and graphical rendering that’s taken care of by the GPU.
5 Best laptop for Blender 3D Modeling and Rendering
Buying the Best laptop for blender should not have to be considered a daunting task. Whereas you need to think about a budget, you may also have to make certain that you are having your money’s value.
The best laptop for blender will be very effective. It isn’t like you have to spend plenty of money to obtain a good laptop. Good hardware price less than ever before and you will get a significant effective laptop despite a restricted budget.
These laptops will run the most basic tasks like graphic designing. They will also allow you to play games, watch movies online or any other streaming videos. Since all laptops have a webcam, you will also depend upon them to talk with buddies and family whereas you are away.
The main one factor you would like to think about is exactly what you will be whereas using the laptop for. If you’re considering basic programs like the ones pointed out, then you will realize a cheap laptop that’s ideal for such use.
You have to design programs. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing website design or 3D design. A designer’s laptop should carry effective hardware. it is because it should handle programs like Adobe illustrator or blender.
About Blender
Blender is being actively developed by many people from all around the world. These include animators, artists, VFX consultants, hobbyists, scientists, and much more. All of them are united by an interest to further a totally free and open-source 3D creation pipeline.
Blender is the free and open-source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline modeling, animation, rigging, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion pursuit, even video editing and game creation. Advanced users employ Blender’s API for Python scripting to customize the appliance and write specialized tools. Typically these are included in Blender’s future releases. Blender is well suited to people and little studios who benefit from its unified pipeline and responsive development process. Examples from many Blender-based come are available within the showcase.
System Requirements for Blender:
Take a look at all three of them, but take note that the 5 Best Laptops for Blender mentioned below exceed these system requirements by a large margin.
Supported Platforms
Blender is available for:
- Windows Vista and above
- macOS 10.6 and above
- Linux
Graphics
Blender 2.7x should run on all systems that support OpenGL 2.1 and above, with recent graphics drivers.
For Windows users, in case of issues try installing the latest drivers from the graphics card manufacturer website (Intel, NVIDIA, or AMD).
Unlike other system requirement tables, System Requirements for Blender consists of 3 different configurations: Minimum, Recommended and Optimal.
Minimum:
- 32-bit dual-core 2Ghz CPU with SSE2 support
- 2 GB RAM
- 1280×768 Display
- Mouse or trackpad
- OpenGL 2.1 compatible graphics with 512 MB RAM
Recommended:
- 64-bit quad-core CPU
- 8 GB RAM
- Full HD Display
- Three-button mouse
- OpenGL 3.2 compatible graphics with 2 GB RAM
Optimal:
- 64-bit eight-core CPU.
- 16 GB RAM.
- Full HD Display.
- Three-button mouse and Graphics tablet.
- Dual Open GL 3.2 compatible graphics cards with 4 GB RAM.
Now you must have a better plan of the best laptop for 3d modeling and rendering blender system requirements currently on the market, covering each end of the price spectrum. No matter the product you go with, you’re sure to get a higher level of performance and functionality in comparison to the cheaper laptops available. So let’s jump straight into the Best laptop for blender.
#1: Apple MacBook Pro 15”
Apple MacBook Pro 15” is “the” go to a laptop if you are a creative professional who needs to get started with Graphic designing, 3D Modeling, 3D Animation and something hardware resource intensive. Due to excellent hardware and software improvement, MacBook Pro 15” is able to provide better performance compared to several beefed up Windows Desktops and Laptops.
For starters, currently, it’s the only laptop in the market that comes with Intel Core i7-8850H CPU, which, is an absolute beast in itself because it’s a base frequency of 2.6GHz but once required can offer Turbo boost up to a whopping 4.3GHz.
The provided GPU (AMD Radeon Pro 560X) isn’t as mighty and impressive as GTX 1080 or GTX 1070 featured in other laptops in this list. However, it’s no slouch either, and as I discussed earlier due to top-class Hardware-Software optimization makes it the best GPU for 3D modeling.
Apple MacBook Pro 15” boasts 500 nits screen brightness, which is presently the highest on a laptop screen. Whereas the 2880 x 1880 resolution screen in a 15.4” frame offers the highest pixel density compared to the other laptop mentioned in this list.
Additionally, using the Thunderbolt 3 ports, you’ll connect this MacBook Pro with up to four screens at 4K resolution each.
Despite that, Apple disappoints in the RAM section, as for a laptop priced over $2.5K, you only get 16GB DDR4 RAM stick, which is ideal for a blender laptop but the price feels a bit low.
On the storage front, Apple provides a single 512GB NVMe SSD, which is a faster and compact version of a regular SATA-based SSD.
With the 84WH in-build battery, you get a battery life of around 10 hours on full charge via the 87W USB-C Power Adapter, whereas the weight is capped off at about 4lbs.
- Fantastic design
- True Tone works well when you want it
- Touch Bar is improving
- Very good performance
- Expensive
- Lack of ports
- Keyboard still feels a little flat
#2: Asus Zephyrus GX501
After Apple MacBook Pro 15”, the following best laptop for blender is definitely the Asus Zephyrus GX501.
Not only is that the Zephyrus best for gaming, but for also the most effective laptop for 3D animation hands down!
Asus is known for building excellent gaming laptops, however, at first look, you’ll notice that the GX501 is different from a conventional gaming laptop.
Asus wanted to make a light-weight but powerful gaming laptop, and that they happen to get it right with the Zephyrus GX501. It weighs around 4.9 lbs, which is not as light MSI GS65, however, it gets the job done for people who’re into 3D animations and modeling.
It has an uncommon design with the keyboard placed in a different position than we’re used to, while the touchpad is placed on the right side of the keyboard. There isn’t a physical Numpad, but with excellent engineering from Asus, you can flip the touchpad into Numpad at the touch of a button.
Now a laptop that features a powerful Intel Core i7-8750H CPU and an enormous Nvidia GTX 1080 Max-Q 8GB DDR5 things are bound to get heated upon the full load, and it was the right decision on Asus’ part to place the keyboard less than it usually is because you will feel the heat while using the keyboard.
On the contrary, the Asus Zephyrus GX501 features only a 16GB RAM, which is kind of a downfall for the price, however, you are doing get a bigger 512GB PCIe SSD as standard.
Besides that, you get a 15.6” Full HD IPS-Type display that gives a speedy refresh rate of 144Hz and response time of 3ms. On paper, it should not look like a lot but in reality, once you are working with animation or game development with fast action. This screen can make that experience butter smooth.
Likewise, the Taiwanese brand has done a good job in heat dissipation that keeps the laptop temperature low compared to other similar spec laptops.
Having said that, the Asus Zephyrus GX501 will suffer from poor battery life and with a battery pack of the only 50WH, realistically you must expect somewhere between 3-4 hours of battery life on full charge.
- Stunning Max-Q design
- Quiet under heavy load
- Inclusion of an Nvidia Max-Q GTX 1080 GPU
- Very expensive
- Poor battery life
- Dark and dull display
#3: MSI P65 Creator
The MSI P65 Creator is a good example of what a laptop should be for creative professionals. It’s light-weight, well-engineering and breathtaking to look at.
Based on MSI’s GS65 gaming laptop, the P65 Creator weighs a whopping 4.14lbs considering the hardware that it packs within.
This definitely makes it easy for you to carry your workstation of a laptop anywhere with you in the least times.
MSI has always been known to manufacture excellent gaming laptops, however with the MSI P65, they have hit the ball right out of the park.
Featuring a 15.6” screen inside a body of 14” is an engineering marvel in itself. additionally, it’s the slimmest bezels of 0.19” that you’ll be hard-pressed to search out in any other gaming laptop.
And similar to the previously mentioned Asus Zephyrus GX501, the P65 Creator too features a Full HD screen with 144Hz refresh rate but with a response time of 7ms.
Sideways, it’s only 0.7” thick and features multiple connectivity options like USB 3.0, USB 2.0, USB-C, mini-HDMI port and Thunderbolt 3 port too.
Even with such a small footprint, it comprises of a bigger battery pack that offers a battery life of around 7-8 hours on a full charge.
Talking about the internals, it features a top-of-the-line Intel Core i7-8750H CPU that’s coupled with Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB DDR5 GPU which makes it the most effective laptop for blender.
On top of that this is the only laptop in our list that features a 32GB (16*2) DDR4 2400MHz RAM modules and a faster 512GB NVMe SSD drive for fast performance.
In case the screen feels small for you to work on, you can connect this laptop to a monitor, and it’ll offer up to 4K resolution via the Thunderbolt 3 port.
All in all, the MSI P65 Creator is a dream laptop come true, and it undoubtedly features the best GPU for 3D Modeling.
- Dependable performance
- Dedicated graphics
- Stays cool
- Impressive connectivity
- Boxy design
- Not quite XPS standards
- Some usability issues
#4: Gigabyte Aero 15X
Gigabyte is not a household name once it comes to gaming laptops or even laptops for that matter.
But their Aero series of gaming Laptops have placed them in an excellent position and maybe a game-changer for the entire gaming industry.
It features an Intel Core i7-8750H CPU along with Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB DDR5 GPU, that as I said earlier is the best graphics card for 3D rendering.
Just like the previously mentioned MSI P65 Creator, the Gigabyte Aero 15X features a Full HD 15.6” screen with bezels having a thickness of simply 5mm. Not only that, the display features a 144Hz refresh rate and is packed in a body of 14”.
Though it’s a bit heavy than the P65 at 4.65 lbs, still overall it’s a lightweight blender laptop that you will carry around without breaking a sweat.
However, what you will love about this laptop is its battery life. It features a bigger 95WH battery that’s good to offer battery life near 9 hours on a full charge.
On the design front, this laptop looks ideal, and you would not get eyeballs rolling off you when people notice that this is a laptop meant for serious gaming.
However what I don’t like is that for a price just like MSI P65, the Aero 15X features only 16GB of RAM that is coupled with 512GB NVMe SSD for storage.
- Excellent performance
- Fantastic battery life
- Gorgeous screen
- Plenty of ports
- Not super premium for the price
- Chin-facing webcam
#5: Asus ROG Strix Scar Edition
If you feel a 15.6” screen would not cut for you, and you wish a bigger-screen laptop with the powerful specification, then my recommendation would be Asus ROG Strix (Scar Edition)
Out of all the opposite laptops mentioned in this list, this laptop is my personal favorite!
Not only is the laptop wonderful for gamers however it is the best laptop for blender as well.
However, my suggestion is that the one with a combination of 512GB NVMe SSD and 1TB of SSHD, all of this storage coupled with a whopping 32GB (16*2 2666MHz) of DDR4 RAM.
Ticking inside is that the Intel Core i7-8750H, that by now; you want to have known; is the Best CPU for blender, mated with a strong and extremely efficient Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB DDR5 GPU.
Since this laptop is sold by ExcaliberPC on Amazon, you will also get 3 extra accessories like the Asus ROG Gladius gaming Mouse, Asus Wireless gaming Controller, and Asus ROG Compact Case.
Now, most of you might be disappointed as shortly as I tell you that this laptop features a TN display. However, it’s not a budget kind of panel you find on cheaper or budget gaming laptops.
The panel featured on Asus ROG Strix is of wonderful quality and a wide color gamut that ma, sure enough,h help in creating color-accurate 3D models.
While we’re talking about the screen, let me tell you that it features a 17.3” Full HD Anti-Glare Screen with Nvidia G-Sync that offers a refresh rate of 144Hz and low response time of 3ms.
On the design front too, this laptop could be a looker. A few years ago Asus’ ROG series of laptops were very large and dripped in red, however with the Strix Scar Edition, Asus has gone for a muted look and also the only red you’ll see the ROG logo that glows red once the laptop is turned on.
You also get an RGB Keyboard, which can not appease to most people who are doing 3D Modeling or Rendering; but, you can turn the keyboard backlighting to white with the provided software or flip it off entirely to save battery.
- All the gaming firepower you’ll ever need
- Lots of game-centric customizations
- Impressive 3D soundstage
- Limited battery life
- Mediocre trackpad and buttons
Conclusion
If you have reached till here, I bet you enjoyed this article, and I’d be glad to know if you’d choose your blender laptop from this list.
In case if you are still in any kind of perplexity, please don’t hesitate to leave your questions or thoughts in the comment section below. Please make full use of it!
However, if you are still confused over which laptop to choose for a blender, I’ll just write a short summary below:
Get the Apple MacBook Pro 15” laptop if you would like a no-nonsense and professional laptop that may stay relevant for at least the next 3 years and last for around 5 years. Macbooks usually have a long-lasting life.
Supposing you are not happy with Macbook for reasons like high price or don’t want to go through the learning curve of MacOS, my next best suggestion is Asus Zephyrus GX501.
It’s a lot powerful than MacBook pro in terms of specs, and its graphics card is almost 40th quicker than Radeon Pro 560X. Additionally, Asus has put a lot of work into the laptop, and with their cooling technology and heat dissipation, the laptop doesn’t go too hot even during peak load.
Moving forward, assumptive that portability is your primary concern, then the MSI P65 Creator or gigabyte Aero 15X won’t disappoint at all. each of them weighs under 2kgs yet offers powerful specifications for the price.
If you are not interested in all the fancy bells and whistles and want a laptop that is a complete bang for your buck, I can not help but suggest the custom-upgraded Asus ROG Strix Scar Edition that offers 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD + 1TB SSHD and Nvidia GTX 1070 all for a price near $2000.