Computers I Recommend For Rendering (Not Apple)

(Updated August 2025)

I generally do not recommend Apple laptops for 3D design and rendering. Generally speaking I recommend a windows gaming laptop.

The main reason I recommend using windows computers with an NVIDIA graphics card is that D5 Render software only work windows. Chief Architect ray tracing is also better on windows with NVIDIA RTX graphics cards.

If you are committed to Mac, you can still great renderings using Chief Architect and Twinmotion or Enscape software. I just think D5 Render is better than Twinmotion or Enscape.

My favorite brand for laptops is Lenovo. Here is what I’m currently using myself as well my current top picks for laptops based on budget.

What I’m currently using and why I don't use desktop computers anymore

I used to preach that desktop computers were the best for photorealistic renderings because of how fast they were.

While this is still true, desktop computers are generally about 30% faster for rendering than laptops (dollar per dollar spent on the computer), when it comes to photorealistic renderings, we're only talking about an extra few seconds saved per image.

Nowadays, I value portability over maximum performance for renderings.

Considering that a high-end laptop can now cost around $2,500 and render out a 4K image in about 25 seconds, that's good enough for me.

I now keep my desktop computer around as a backup.

I'm currently using the Lenovo Legion Pro7 with an RTX 5090 that I got from Micro Center.

I used to only use desktop computers, but now with this new computer, I've found that the render times are almost as fast as a desktop computer.

This computer comes in multiple variants with different graphics card options. Obviously, the most expensive graphics card is going to render faster, but we're only talking about several seconds of improvement per image.

RTX 5070ti Version (least expensive)

RTX 5080 Version (mid price)

RTX 5090 Version (most expensive)

The performance between these three models is honestly pretty small when it comes to photorealistic renderings.

If you search the D5 Render benchmark results for these different laptop graphics cards, you can see that you're really only saving seconds per image.

https://www.d5render.com/result

RTX 5070 laptop = 34 seconds for a 2K image

RTX 5080 laptop = 28 seconds for a 2K image

RTX 5090 laptop = 23 seconds for a 2K image

All this being said, it depends how many renderings you're doing per day, but since you can batch render stuff now, the argument for spending an extra $1,000 on the laptop for a 5090 versus a 5070 is harder to justify.