I'm after a new laptop budget is low do, what is the laptop requirements for onshape? Thanks

scott_denne

• I'm after a new laptop budget is low do, what is the laptop requirements for onshape? Thanks

alnis

What scale of projects are you working on? If you are just doing simple parts and small assemblies as a hobby, you can run it on just about anything, even cheap chromebooks.

For bigger models, you'll want a more powerful laptop. Personally, I ran it on a computer with an i5-3337U, 8 GB of RAM, and no dedicated graphics for a long time and designed a 1,800+ part robot using it. However, I now have a computer with an i5-10210U and it runs great. It would be even better with a graphics card.

Here is how I'd order priorities:

1. Something recent/new
2. Graphics. Iris instead of UHD for Intel processors, AMD seems to always be pretty good, any of the M1 MacBooks are great. Dedicated graphics such as Nvidia cards will give very good performance.
3. Processor (more recent is much more important than i7 vs i5 vs i3)
4. Memory is not too important for Onshape, but if you have many large models open you'll need more
5. Storage - Onshape does not require local storage, but try to get an SSD if possible (even if it's much smaller) since it will make your computer much more responsive

Non-factors (provide no advantages whatsoever):

• "Workstation" graphics card (e.g. Quadro) instead of "gaming" graphics card (e.g. GeForce). Gaming graphics cards give much better performance for the money.
• ECC memory
• "Workstation" processor (e.g. Xeon) instead of "consumer" processor (e.g. i5)

If you can, see if you can get someone with the laptop model you want to run the benchmark: Compatibility check (onshape.com)

It will give you a good sense of whether the computer is compatible and how fast it will be. 100 million triangles & 50 million lines per second is good enough for all but very large projects, but more will always give a smoother experience. 

alnis

What scale of projects are you working on? If you are just doing simple parts and small assemblies as a hobby, you can run it on just about anything, even cheap chromebooks.

For bigger models, you'll want a more powerful laptop. Personally, I ran it on a computer with an i5-3337U, 8 GB of RAM, and no dedicated graphics for a long time and designed a 1,800+ part robot using it. However, I now have a computer with an i5-10210U and it runs great. It would be even better with a graphics card.

Here is how I'd order priorities:

1. Something recent/new
2. Graphics. Iris instead of UHD for Intel processors, AMD seems to always be pretty good, any of the M1 MacBooks are great. Dedicated graphics such as Nvidia cards will give very good performance.
3. Processor (more recent is much more important than i7 vs i5 vs i3)
4. Memory is not too important for Onshape, but if you have many large models open you'll need more
5. Storage - Onshape does not require local storage, but try to get an SSD if possible (even if it's much smaller) since it will make your computer much more responsive

Non-factors (provide no advantages whatsoever):

• "Workstation" graphics card (e.g. Quadro) instead of "gaming" graphics card (e.g. GeForce). Gaming graphics cards give much better performance for the money.
• ECC memory
• "Workstation" processor (e.g. Xeon) instead of "consumer" processor (e.g. i5)

If you can, see if you can get someone with the laptop model you want to run the benchmark: Compatibility check (onshape.com)

It will give you a good sense of whether the computer is compatible and how fast it will be. 100 million triangles & 50 million lines per second is good enough for all but very large projects, but more will always give a smoother experience. 

scott_denne

Amazing reply and answered all my questions thanks mate appreciate your time👌

edward_petrillo

I've been running Onshape almost daily on a Chromebook for more than 5 years and recently upgraded to an ASUS C536E: no Windows hassle, 15 in screen, keyboard with convenient numeric keypad.  Graphics are more than adequate for my 200-300 instance assemblies in high school robotics.  But don't take my word for it- go to a bricks-and- mortar retailer like Best Buy, sign in to OS, run the system check, and open up one of your own models or a public model that looks like what you'd be working on.  

alnis

No problem! Happy to help!

I 100% agree with @edward_petrillo - go to a physical store and run the benchmark + test drive a CAD model you could see yourself working on to see if it's good enough.

Test model - Onshape design competition entry that won
Test model - my high school robotics team's robot from about 1.5 years ago - 12788 Ultramain 2019 | Ultramain (onshape.com)

Chromebooks are the best bang for the buck for Onshape, and I've heard that the new M1 MacBooks are absolutely incredible for their price if you can afford one (but they do not have the same price floor as Chromebooks).