5 Best Laptops for 3D Printing in 2024
From this article, you will know what are, in our opinion, the best laptops for 3D printing you can buy and use in 2024.
3D printing is a process of creating a physical object from a CAD or 3D design model. This can be done by using CAD or 3D modeling software to create the model file before sending that file to a slicer program so it can be converted into something readable to a 3D printer. After that, we just need to upload the converted file into the 3D printer to create the physical object.
To do the printing, besides a 3D printer, you need a computer device like a laptop to process the file you want to print. If you create the model file from scratch, you are going to need a high specs laptop since CAD or 3D modeling software needs that to run smoothly, especially if your model is a complex one. If your laptop is just for the printing part, you still need a laptop with good specifications to convert the model file into a printable file before you send it to the 3D printer, but probably not as high specs as the one you use to create the model file.
If you want to do the 3D printing process but you don’t have a capable laptop to do that yet, then it is probably the right time to buy a new laptop. However, it can be hard to pick the right laptop for the purpose from many laptop models and specification choices out there. This is why Compute Expert has created a list of the best laptops for 3D printing that you can use as your laptop-buying reference.
Want to know what laptops that make it into our list and why they are the recommended laptops? Let’s get on the list right away.
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| Image | View on Amazon | Product |
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Dell XPS 15 9520 | |
 
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MSI Creator Z16P | |
 
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Lenovo Legion 5 | |
 
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Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 | |
 
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Acer Nitro 5 |
Table of Contents:
What are the Best Laptops for 3D Printing?
Now, let’s see the laptops we think are excellent for you to use in 3D printing activities. Using one of these laptops should give you the laptop support you need to do 3D printing smoothly on the model files that you want to print.1. Dell XPS 15 9520
Dell XPS 15 9520 is the first laptop we recommend in this list. Coming from the popular Dell XPS line, this laptop is an excellent work laptop that should be able to do 3D printing well.
To back up its performance, this laptop has a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB RAM capacity. These are great performance specifications that can run the slicer software you want to use to convert your model file smoothly. The relatively large RAM capacity can help you when you need this laptop to multitask to optimally print your 3D models.
The GPU that this laptop uses is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 with 4GB VRAM. It is a quality GPU that should be able to support your slicer software well and even process the graphics needed if you want to edit some things in your model file. Additionally, two Thunderbolt 4 ports can help you to transfer the data you need for your 3D printing process in and out fast.
The design of this laptop looks nice and it has a premium build so it shouldn’t look out of place in any setting where you do your work. All in all, this Dell XPS 15 9520 can be the ideal laptop choice for you if you want to buy a laptop to support your 3D printing process.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1200 pixels
- Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i7 with speed up to 4.7 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 9 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support 3D printing processes
- Premium design and build
- Two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
- Great speakers
Cons
- No USB-A and HDMI ports
2. MSI Creator Z16P
MSI Creator Z16P is also a nice laptop for 3D printing that you may want to take a look at too. It is a solid creator laptop from MSI that is fast and has good specifications to support your printing process.
The processor of this laptop is a 12th Gen Intel Core i7. It is a similar processor to our previously discussed Dell XPS 15 9520 and it should do well when you need to process your file using slicer software. The 16GB RAM capacity also helps to provide the memory space needed, especially if your model is a rather complex one.
To process graphics, this laptop has an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti with 8GB VRAM. It is a high-quality GPU that shouldn’t have trouble even for a 3D model creation process, let alone its printing process. The QHD+ display on this laptop is also nice and allows you to view the details of your model well before you convert its file and print it.
This laptop uses vapor chamber cooling in its cooling system so it should give you more stable performance when you process a complex model file. Overall, this MSI Creator Z16P can be an excellent laptop for 3D printing too should you buy and use it.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 16 inches, 2560 x 1600 pixels
- Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i7 with speed up to 4.7 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 5 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support 3D printing processes
- A Thunderbolt 4 port
- Solid build
- Vapor chamber cooling
- Great display
Cons
- No HDMI ports
3. Lenovo Legion 5
Lenovo Legion 5 is the next laptop you may want to consider buying and using. As a laptop coming from the reliable Lenovo Legion series, this laptop seems to have everything you need to print your 3D model into a solid object without much problem.
This laptop uses an AMD processor with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H in place. It is a stable processor with a speed range of only 3.3 to 4.2 GHz. This makes this laptop runs cooler than many laptops but is still fast enough to handle the slicer program you use.
The RAM capacity here is 16GB, which is plenty to give the memory space you need for your 3D printing process. For a smoother printing process of the 3D model, this laptop has an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU that your slicer program can use.
The keyboard of this laptop is another plus point and should give you a comfortable typing feeling when you need to input or edit something during your 3D model printing process. All in all, this Lenovo Legion 5 is a good laptop that can be a solid choice to support your 3D printing activities.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 5600H with speed up to 4.2 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 5 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support 3D printing processes
- HDMI and lots of USB ports
- Flexible hinge (stretchable up to 180 degrees)
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
- Solid build
Cons
- No SD card reader slots
- Average speakers
4. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is another laptop you might want to consider buying and using for your 3D printing. It is a gaming laptop from Asus that is quite sleek and lightweight, uncommon for a gaming laptop model.
This gaming laptop seems to have all the specifications needed to ensure you can get the right physical object from your 3D model. This laptop has an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS processor and 16GB RAM to support its performance. These specifications should be enough to handle any slicer program you want to use smoothly.
As for the GPU, this laptop uses an AMD GPU rather than an NVIDIA GPU. The AMD GPU itself is an AMD Radeon RX 6700S with 8GB VRAM. This GPU shouldn’t lose out to the NVIDIA GPU in terms of graphics processing for 3D printing as it can do it smoothly too. When you need to connect to external devices to do your printing work, it has USB-A, USB-C, and HDMI ports ready to help you do it easily.
The design of this laptop makes it easy too to bring around whenever you need to use it in other places. Overall, this Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a capable laptop you might want to take a look at as well when you want to buy a laptop to support your 3D printing process.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 14 inches, 2560 x 1600 pixels
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 6900HS with speed up to 4.9 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 10 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support 3D printing processes
- Quite sleek and lightweight
- Good battery life for a gaming laptop
- USB-A, USB-C, and HDMI ports
- Great display
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
Cons
- No SD card reader slots
- Can get hot and loud under an intense workload
5. Acer Nitro 5
Acer Nitro 5 is the last laptop we recommend for 3D printing in this list. It is a good laptop from Acer that can offer you splendid support in terms of processing your model file until it becomes a physical object.
Performance-wise, this laptop should have enough to run your slicer software and send the converted file to your 3D printer. It has a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and 16GB RAM. These are nice performance specifications that should be capable of handling all the tasks you need this laptop to execute when you do 3D printing.
To support the graphics processing of your slicer software, this laptop has an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU with 4GB VRAM. There is also the Wi-Fi 6 technology that can help you get optimum internet connection from your Wi-Fi network when you need to work online (you can use its ethernet port too if you want).
Looking for a capable laptop to support your 3D printing process? You may want to consider buying and using this Acer Nitro 5 laptop too.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
- Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i5 with speed up to 4.5 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 5 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support 3D printing processes
- USB-A, USB-C, and HDMI ports
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
- Good display
- Solid build
Cons
- No SD card reader slots
- Can get hot and loud under an intense workload
- Average speakers
What are the Things We Should Consider When We Want to Buy a Laptop for 3D Printing?
Here are the things we think should be considered when we want to buy a laptop to support 3D printing processes.- Operating System (OS). As some software we use to do CAD or 3D modeling only runs/runs optimally on Windows, we recommend you buy a Windows laptop instead of a MacBook or a Chromebook as you may need to run CAD or 3D modeling software in case you need to edit or process something from your model file before you print it
- Processor. The laptop you buy should have a good processor so it can run the software needed to convert your model file into a printable file and then send it to the 3D printer. We recommend a laptop with at least a late-generation of i5 or Ryzen 5 processor for this
- RAM capacity. The laptop you buy should also have an adequate RAM capacity as processing and printing more complex models may require more memory space on your laptop. We recommend a laptop with at least 16GB RAM for a smooth printing process
- GPU. Processing 3D models in slicer software may require a dedicated GPU in your laptop so they can be processed optimally. Thus, we recommend you buy a laptop that has a good dedicated GPU as one of its specifications
Can You Use Any Laptop for 3D Printing?
In our opinion, it cannot be just any laptop. Using slicer software to convert your model file into a printable file needs a laptop with a good processor, RAM, and possibly a good dedicated GPU too. You may need an even better laptop if you plan to create your model file from scratch by using CAD or 3D modeling software, especially if the model you want to create and print is a complex one.This can be different, though, if what you want to print are just very simple models. For that, a basic laptop might be just enough.
Wrap Up
When you want to buy a laptop, you may want one that can support your 3D printing activities smoothly. However, it can be confusing to pick the right laptop for that from many laptop choices out there. This is why Compute Expert has created a list of the best laptops for 3D printing to help you.To summarize, here are five laptops we think are great for 3D printing.
We hope our list can help you buy the best laptop for you to use!
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