Are you an architect or are you in architecture school, dreaming to become one? You will need to get a desktop computer or a laptop with a dedicated GPU that can display and process large models, drawings, scenes, and rendering procedures in CAD and many more 3D visualization software.

It doesn’t have to be the one with the most power, weighting tons of kilos, bulky and costing you all your hard earn money. This guide is meant to look for the best bang for your buck, but also the best machine for your needs.

We’ll walk you through some of the best computers from this year that are some of the most used in your industry, with tips for architects that are always on the go, and that should probably trade some power for portability. Also, we’ll share some tips of how to make the most out of a machine that perhaps isn’t the best out there, but you can make do.

Without further ado, let’s explore together what are the best computers for architects in 2023.

Photo by Evgeniy Surzhan on Unsplash

Recommended Hardware Specs

Most people don’t need to spend all their savings to get a laptop that fits their needs while working in the architecture industry. This article is meant to guide and help you understand what machine is best for you and to stay clear of frequent errors, such as getting a graphic card that’s too slow, not having enough RAM, and ending up with a small or low-performance screen.

GPU Get an Nvidia X050 or X060 GPU (eg RTX 3050 – 3060) to have enough power. Only get a Quadro/FirePro if you are dealing with special plug-ins and if specifically required by the software you use. In any case, always get a video card with at least 2GB of Video RAM.

RAM 8GB of RAM is the minimum but you should consider at least 16GB. 32GB is fine for those with a large amount of data to process.

CPU Preferably an Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7. Core i5 and Ryzen 5 may be fine but there’s always the risk of slowing down the heaviest operations.

Screen Get a 15-inch, at least in full HD. 17″ is better when you work, but that means more weight to carry. Advisable only for professional architects who do not travel constantly to present a work.

Storage Get a 512GB or 256GB + 1TB SSD (also hard drive). This way you will have enough space for all projects.

Laptop vs Desktop: Which One to Buy

You may have already noticed that it’s probably easier to buy a great desktop computer to work on architectural projects. And it’s true: a laptop will be less powerful than a desktop and you’ll start to feel its limitations faster.

Rendering will always be much easier, faster, and of higher quality with a desktop computer. If shopping for a laptop, chances are you’ll have to spend quite a lot more to get anywhere near what a much cheaper computer desktop can do.

The whole point of a laptop is portability. In general, these are the options you should consider at the end of the day:

• Buy a powerful laptop with a high-end graphics card that can process all of your heaviest work.

• Or buy a mid-range laptop, along with a powerful desktop computer. Use your laptop for mobility and your desktop for more complex projects. As easy as that.

Best Laptops For Architects 2023

In this ranking we examine the laptops that are suitable for most architects: these are powerful products and are good value for money. Let’s see the best-recommended laptops for architects in 2023 that fall within this category:

ASUS Notebook TUF Gaming Dash F15

• Intel Core i7-11370H 4 Core CPU

• 512 Gb SSD pci Nvme

• Dedicated Svga Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti 4 GB

• 8 Gb Ram

• 15.6 Full HD display

Advantages

• Military-grade resistance, can resist some serious impact.

• It has sufficient ports, USB type-c, and a Lan card, which has now been abandoned on many models, but which can be very useful for many users

Disadvantages

• Very square regular lines, not the prettiest design with organic curves

• There’s not a webcam (probably because the screen is so thin)

• There’s not a numeric keypad

HP - Gaming Victus 16-e0003sl Notebook

• AMD Ryzen 5 5600H

• 16 GB DDR4 RAM

• 512GB SSD NVME PCIe M.2

• 16.1” FHD Display

• IPS

• Nvidia GTX 1650 4GB GDDR6 Graphics

• Wi-Fi 6

• BLE 5.2

Advantages

• It feels like a fast processor and it’s pleasant to use

• Nice, modern looks and feel.

Disadvantages

• The screen is not very bright

• It only comes with one keyboard layout

• Loud cooling system

ASUS TUF Gaming F15 FX506HM-HN114W

• Notebook 15.6”

• FHD Anti-Glare

• 144Hz

• Intel Core 11th Gen i5-11400H

• 16GB RAM

• 512GB SSD PCIE

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6

Advantages

• Light but resistant.

• Powerful, dedicated video card

• Good value for money

Disadvantages

• Some users complained about a green hue on the screen, that stayed even after changing the screen settings.

• Short battery life

• Some users complained about it being slow when just turned on, only after a while everything works more fluidly.

Best Laptops For Architects 2023

Do you want to be sure that the laptop you’re buying is powerful? Here are some of the best powerful laptop recommendations for architects in 2023:

MSI Titan GT77HX 13VI-017IT

• Gaming Notebook 17.3”

• MiniLED UHD 144Hz

• Intel i9-13980HX

• Nvidia RTX 4090 16GB GDDR6

• 64GB RAM DDR5

• 2TB SSD PCIe 4

• WiFi 6E

Advantages

• Monster power thanks to the titan gt 77hx with 16 GB and the laptop’s 64GB of ram

• Pleasant Cherry MX mechanical keyboard experience

Disdvantages

• Loud fans in the cooling system, that’s probably the price to pay to support such a performance

• Short battery life

• One of the most expensive machines out there

MSI Raider GE78HX 13VH-069IT

• Gaming Notebook

• 17” QHD+ 240Hz

• Intel i9-13950HX

• Nvidia RTX 4080

• 12GB GDDR6

• 32GB RAM DDR5

• 2TB SSD PCIe 4

• WiFi 6E

Advantages

• Excellent cooling system, keeps the laptop performing well and smoothly for long sessions

• Amazing OLED screen

Disadvantages

• Short battery life

• Quite expensive, but sometimes it can be found on sale and that’s a bargain.

MSI GF63 Thin 11SC-497IT

• Gaming Notebook 15.6”

• FHD 144Hz

• Intel I7-11800H

• Nvidia GTX 1650 4GB GDDR6

• 8GB RAM DDR4

• 512GB SSD M.2 PCIe 3.0

• WiFi 6

Advantages

• Affordable, the best value for money in the super-duper category

• Lightweight and elegant lines

Disadvantages

• Noisy fan cooling system

• Short battery life

Best Ultra Light Laptops For Architects 2023

Do you need a laptop that is powerful enough but light? Let’s see some Ultra-light laptops available for architects:

SAMSUNG Galaxy Book3 Ultra Laptop

• 16” Dynamic AMOLED 2X

• Intel EVO

• Intel Core i7 13th gen

• NVIDIA RTX 4050

• 16GB RAM

• 512GB SSD

Advantages

• Beautiful design, light and compact

• Exceptional screen quality

• Decent battery life

Disadvantages

• Trying to take full advantage of the computing power, the CPU goes into Thermal throttling, reducing its frequency below the base one (2.9GHz)

• Underpowered power supply for this type of video card and CPU

ASUS PORTATIL GAMING

• TUF506 I5-11400H-16G-512SSD-RTX3060-15-FR

Advantages

• Excellent value for money

• One of the best battery life in the laptops reviewed

• Military-grade resistance to impacts

Disdvantages

• There is no operating system, which can create problems for those who have never performed a format or an installation of an operating system

• The color rendering is not the best, so for specific graphic jobs it might not be the best option

Best Macbooks For Architects 2023

Apple certainly needs no introduction. We should be mentioning that the M1 chip integrates a respectable graphics part, especially in the Pro version. Sure, it doesn’t hold the comparison to a mid-range Nvidia or AMD, but it remains very thin, light, and portable despite having great power. These are the best recommended Apple MacBooks for architects in 2023:

Apple Laptop MacBook Air 2020

• M1 Chip

• 13” Retina Display

• 8GB RAM

• 256GB SSD

• Backlit Keyboard

• FaceTime HD Camera

• Touch ID

Advantages

• Incredible retina display

• The M1 chip does a great job of coming back from sleep mode

• Super fast, responsive machine

Disadvantages

• There is no possibility of expanding its memory, as with every Apple laptop

• Some software compatibility between Mac and Windows is still a cause of struggle for some users

• Can heat up quickly when processing “hard”

Apple 2022 MacBook Air Laptop with M2 chip

• 13.6” Liquid Retina display

• 8GB RAM

• 256GB SSD storage

• Backlit keyboard

Advantages

• Excellent value for money

• The M2 chip makes everything very quick

• Comfortable quiet keyboard

Disadvantages

• Again, being it a Mac is not upgradeable

• We miss the keyboard backlight keys

Apple 2023 MacBook Pro

• M2 Pro Chip

• 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display

• 16GB unified memory

• 512GB SSD storage

• 10 core CPU

• 16 core GPU

Advantages

• It has one of the most powerful chips available on the market

• Durable

• Great, quiet fans

Disadvantages

• It misses the Touch Bar

• Somewhat heavier than other Mac Book Pro models

Vagon Cloud Computers

If you use vagon, you won’t even have to worry about your computer performance.

What computer specs do I need for video editing? How much memory do I need? How much storage will be required to run graphic intensive?

Leave it to vagon to enjoy your cloud-based personal computer, on any device, anywhere, any time, with just a simple internet connection.

Let’s give a try!

Conclusion

As we’ve mentioned above; some architects find it more convenient to purchase a powerful laptop as they will rarely carry it around or leave it in the studio. Others find it more convenient to have a slightly more portable laptop as they will be constantly going to pitch their designs to clients. Others will prefer the desktop + laptop combination. It depends on you.

Regardless of your setup, especially in your student life, you’ll often have a machine that is just not powerful enough for the heavy work you’ll be required to process while working on architecture projects, Vagon comes to the rescue, with it you can work on your laptop like it was a machine of much higher specs, make sure you check it out.

Feel like these suggestions are not enough? You can keep scrolling and find our suggestions from 2020 which will help you for a better comparison!

Best Computers for Architects in Previous Years

A computer that can undertake any tasks such as modeling, rendering and animation without lagging is the dream for every architect.

These powerful computers and workstations are the best laptops and desktops for professional architects, city planners, and students.

Since most of the architectural designs of today are prepared on computers, professionals rely upon powerful laptops and desktops to work faster and more productively with Revit, SketchUp, ArchiCAD, Dynamo, Fusion360, Rhino 3D and many others.

Image by sutulo from Pixabay

If you are a student or an architect searching for a workstation and want to get your hands on something meeting your requirements regarding CPU rendering and GPU rendering with i7 processors, read the list we have prepared below before making any decisions!

Dell XPS 15”

Looking for a lightweight laptop with a strong processor and display features? Dell XPS 15 has 8 hours of battery life to get you through the day. It is a 15” screen including 4K display feature.

CPU: 9th generation i7-9750H up to 4.5 GHz

Memory: 16GB ram DDR4

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB vRAM

Storage: 1TB SSD PCIe NVMe

Price: $1,565

Advantages

Even though it might seem pricey at first, it’s noteworthy storage, 8 hours of battery life and lightweight build will be sufficient for anyone in architecture and city planning.

Disadvantages

Some users complain about key travel and it is claimed that the keyboard is not that efficient.

MSI GE72 Apache PRO-242 17.3”

Perfect for architectural rendering, MSI GE72 is able to operate pretty efficiently even under demanding tasks. Preventing overheating with its dual cooling system, multitasking will feel like nothing.

CPU: i7-5700HQ 2.7 GHz Processor

Memory: 16GB RAM DDR3L

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX970M with 3GB GDDR5 VRAM

Storage: 1TB

Price: $1,300

Advantages

This powerhouse will work smoothly without giving you any hassle and its GPU is the best one in the market so far. So leave aside all your worries regarding what graphics card is best for you with MSI GE72. Its top-notch speakers with subwoofers are additional traits.

Disadvantages

Many complain that the battery life is about 4 hours and it is advised to keep it plugged in while gaming.

Dell XPS 8930 Special Edition

When it comes to laptops, Dell XPS 8930 comes with all its glory among the best all-round desktop list. Its tower design and durable features will be worth considering for architects using all kinds of CAD software.

CPU: 9th Gen Intel 8-Core i7-9700K Processor up to 4.9 GHz or 9th gen Intel 8-Core i9 9900K

Memory: 24GB

GPU: Intel UHD 630 Graphics

Storage: 512GB SSD + 2TB Hard Drive

Price: $2,459

Advantages

Special editions by Dell offers K processors and it is powerful as a gaming desktop as well. Durable and firm design of Dell XPS comes with a handful of ports allowing a more convenient usage.

Disadvantages

A select few of users experience noise problems with Dell XPS 8930 Special Edition and there are mixed feelings about the design.

MacBook Pro - 9th Generation

Widely used by designers and architects, MacBook Pro has been favored and preferred by many. It offers stability and high performance for rendering, modeling, and designing.

CPU: Intel Core i7-Core i9 9th generation

Memory: 16-64GB RAM DDR4

GPU: 1050ti and 1660GTX

Storage: 512GB-2TB PCIe SSD

Price: $2,499

Advantages

With its 10 hours of battery time and 16” retina display and powerful processor, MacBook Pro will be another high-end option that is determined to hold its ground in the market for a long time.

Disadvantages

Many claim that the battery life is not as good as it is claimed to be, and melts away especially on models with i9 processors. If your work does not require mighty performance and you still need that 10 hours of battery life, then i7 models are worth the try.

A Budget-Friendly Alternative with Vagon

Investing in a high-end computer might be a common route, but there’s a budget-friendly alternative that doesn’t compromise on performance. With Vagon, you have the power of a high-performance computer right in your browser.

It’s like having a powerful machine that’s always available, without the expensive cost. Whether you’re running complex CAD software or rendering architectural visualizations, Vagon’s cloud computers provide the computing power you need.