3D, CAD and rendering
Modelling and rendering apps use the graphics chip and its memory heavily; CAD apps often list certified workstation cards.
What matters
- Graphics memory: scenes and textures must fit in it for fast viewports and renders.
- System memory: large assemblies and scenes need plenty.
- A dedicated graphics chip: most of these makers list one.
General guidance in our own words. The figures below are the makers' published requirements.
The requirements
| App | Minimum | Recommended | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blender | 8 GB memory, 2 GB graphics memory, 2 GB VRAM with OpenGL 4.3 and Vulkan 1.3; NVIDIA GeForce 900 series or newer, Intel Kaby Lake or newer | 32 GB memory, 8 GB graphics memory, 8 GB VRAM | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| Autodesk AutoCAD | 16 GB memory, 2 GB graphics memory, 2 GB GPU with 29 GB/s bandwidth, DirectX 11 | 32 GB memory, 8 GB graphics memory, 8 GB GPU with 106 GB/s bandwidth, DirectX 12; page advises a card with dedicated VRAM | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| SOLIDWORKS | 16 GB memory, Certified graphics cards and drivers only; page gives no memory figure | 32 GB memory, Certified graphics cards and drivers only; page gives no memory figure | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| Autodesk Fusion | 8 GB memory, DirectX 12 GPU; integrated Intel UHD 630 or newer accepted | 32 GB memory, 8 GB graphics memory, DirectX 12 GPU; 8 GB or more dedicated memory for discrete GPUs | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| Autodesk Revit | 16 GB memory, 4 GB graphics memory, DirectX 11 card with Shader Model 5; page recommends 4 GB video memory | not published | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| SketchUp | 8 GB memory, Discrete graphics card with OpenGL 3.1; 8 GB VRAM for models with PBR textures, ambient occlusion or image based lighting | not published | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| Autodesk Maya | 8 GB memory, Refers to Maya certified hardware list; no memory figure | 16 GB memory, Refers to Maya certified hardware list; no memory figure | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| Maxon Cinema 4D | 16 GB memory, No GPU figure for the editor itself | Card that meets Redshift requirements: NVIDIA CUDA 5.0 or newer or AMD RDNA 2 or newer with 8 GB VRAM | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| Rhino | not published | 8 GB memory, 4 GB graphics memory, OpenGL 4.5 video card with 4 GB video memory | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| KeyShot Studio | 4 GB memory, OpenGL 2.0 capable system (CPU mode) | 16 GB memory, 8 GB graphics memory, GPU mode: NVIDIA Maxwell or newer (Turing or newer preferred) or AMD RDNA 3 or newer, ideally 8 GB dedicated VRAM | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| Unreal Engine 5 editor | not published | 32 GB memory, 8 GB graphics memory, DirectX 12 graphics card, 8 GB or more graphics RAM | official page read 2026-10-22 |
| Unity editor | 8 GB memory, DX10, DX11, DX12 or Vulkan capable GPU | not published | official page read 2026-10-22 |
Which laptops meet the most of these
The 30 best of 128 listed laptops, compared with each laptop's largest memory option. Memory and graphics memory only. The operating system is not checked: many of these apps and games run only on Windows or only on macOS, so open the source link before you rely on a ranking. The graphics class and processor each maker names are in the source links too.