Civil engineering is one of the most popular fields in the world. There are many reasons that people pursue civil engineering as a profession, but what they all have in common is that they need to be able to work with their hands. The best laptops for Civil Engineering students will need to be lightweight and compact so that they can easily carry them around campus or across the country for an internship during summer break. They also need powerful processors and graphics cards because designing structures requires complex calculations and 3D modeling software. Here are some great examples of Best Laptops for Civil Engineering Students!
Civil engineering students need to run softwares like AUTOCAD 3D, StandPro, SketchUp, Revit etc. To run all these power-consuming softwares flawlessly and complete all the civil engineering projects, you will need a powerful laptop. The minimum recommended configuration is provided below. The CPU must be Intel Core i5 9th gen or above for AMD CPU must be Ryzen 5 or above. Must have at least 8GB of RAM. Must include at least 256GB of SSD storage. SSD is better than HDD as they increase the laptop performance.
Dedicated graphics cards are very much recommended. You can run your civil engineering softwares with integrated graphics CPUs. But this will increase the pressure on your CPU and performance might get slow. Better to go for a minimum dedicated graphics card like the GTX 1050 which comes at a very cheap price. The working pressure will be divided between the graphics card and processor thus providing you with much faster performance. If you are looking for the best budget laptop for civil engineering students at $700 with a dedicated graphics card, it is HP Pavilion Gaming. Check out the review below.
| Laptop | Configuration |
| Microsoft Surface Pro 7 | CPU: 10th Gen Core i5 GPU: Integrated RAM: 8 GB SSD: 128GB |
| Acer Aspire 7 | CPU: Ryzen 5 5500U GPU: GTX 1650 RAM: 8GB SSD: 512GB |
| ASUS TUF Gaming F17 | CPU: 10th Gen Core i5 GPU: GTX 1650 Ti RAM: 8 GB SSD: 512GB |
| HP Pavilion Gaming | CPU: 9th Gen Core i5 GPU: GTX 1050 RAM: 8GB SSD: 256GB |
| MSI GL65 Leopard | CPU: 10th Gen Core i7 GPU: RTX 2070 RAM: 16 GB SSD: 512GB |
Microsoft Surface Pro 7
With Microsoft Surface Pro 7 you get a lightweight and portable device that seamlessly syncs with Microsoft Office programs and Outlook email. With a powerful 10th Gen Intel Core i5 inside, the Surface Pro 7 is a great investment for civil engineering students, professionals, and average users who want a versatile computer that can easily transition from university, office to car to home.
In order to operate all your civil engineering softwares perfectly, this laptop is equipped with 8 GB of DDR4 RAM and 128GB of SSD storage to keep all the civil engineering documents and projects. For graphics support, this laptop contains integrated Intel Iris Plus graphics. Also, fast charging is enabled, you can charge 80 percent in just an hour. Super cool right? Surface Pro 7 contains a 12.3-inch touch screen display 2736 x 1824 resolution, which weighs only 1.70 pounds. A very lightweight and slim body makes it very easy to carry around to your home, office, or school. Also include USB type C port and average of 8 hours of battery backup.
This laptop can be easily transformed into a tablet by removing the detachable Type Cover. Its slim 12-inch profile makes it easy to carry around, while its magnesium alloy body offers a premium feel that is hard to find in competing devices. The Surface Pro 7 doesn’t use an ugly keyboard cover like Microsoft’s other laptops either. It features a smooth, fabric finish on the inside with a soft-padded exterior. The trackpad is equally as impressive, offering smooth gliding and accurate palm detection.
With the Surface Pen, you can take notes on the fly with Microsoft’s OneNote app or easily sketch an idea before converting it into a digital file using the new Screen Sketch feature in Windows 10 which can be very handy for Civil engineering students. The Surface Pro 7 is made for those who need to draw, write words, or manipulate photos. The Surface Pro 7’s middle-of-the-road specs keep its price lower than premium laptops while offering a user experience that rivals Apple’s MacBook.
Final Thought
With this configuration, this laptop can easily handle all your civil engineering softwares and complete all the projects very easily and smoothly. The graphics of this laptop is below average. They provided integrated graphics. This may be a little issue with civil engineering 3D modeling works and CAD works. The processor has to take care of all the load which will eventually take more time. With dedicated graphics cards, things could be done much more efficiently.
| Pros | Cons |
| Perfect budget laptop for Civil engineering students. | 3D modeling and CAD works might run slowly due to a lack of dedicated graphics. |
| Fast charging included. | The battery backup is not good. Average 6 hours with proper use. |
| Can be used as both laptop and tablet. | Thick bezel with the display. |
| MicroSD slot for upgrading memory; USB type C port. | Don’t support HDR or 4K quality apps. |
| To use an external monitor you will require an extra USB type C to HDMI adapter. | |
| Might face a bit of a random freezing issue. |
Acer Aspire 7
The Acer Aspire 7 is the perfect high-performance laptop designed for civil engineering students who want high productivity as well as speed in their 3D modeling, rendering, and CAD works. This laptop has the perfect budget-friendly configuration every civil engineering student will require for their workstation.
The Acer Aspire 7 has a 15.6 inch Full HD display with 1920 x 1080 resolution. It is an IPS display with LED-backlit. This laptop is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 5 5500U processor. This is a very powerful 6 core and 12 thread CPU. Ryzen 5 5500U contains 11MB of cache and can run up to 4 GHz speed. This CPU is equivalent to the latest 11th Gen core i5 processor. So, super stunning speed for all your power-hungry academic Civil engineering softwares is a must.
To support the CPU this laptop has 8GB DDR4 RAM which is 3200 MHz. It also has a 512GB NVMe SSD, which is more than enough to store all your academic civil engineering data. The Acer Aspire 7 weighs 7.13 pounds and includes Windows 10 Home Edition as the installed operating system. This laptop contains 1 USB Type C port 5Gbps. 2 USB 3.2 ports and 1 USB 2.0 port. Enough USB ports to connect your external devices.
The most important feature which makes Acer Aspire 7, the best laptop for civil engineering at $800 is the dedicated graphics card. This laptop includes a dedicated 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Graphics card.
Final Thought
Due to the dedicated graphics card, all the heavy-duty civil engineering softwares for 3D modeling, rendering, CAD can work very fast in a matter of seconds. As this laptop doesn’t contain integrated graphics rather a dedicated one so there will not be any pressure on the CPU while running 3D modeling, rendering, or CAD softwares. The load will be divided between CPU and Graphics card thus providing a super-fast output in a couple of seconds.
This laptop is worth every penny you pay for it. Just go through the Amazon reviews, you will see very less negative experiences among the users compared to other laptops. Try to purchase the highest RAM SSD variant and don’t try to upgrade the RAM or storage without expert supervision. This may lead to further complications.
| Pros | Cons |
| The CPU is super fast; RAM is expendable. | The 512GB NVMe SSD is not upgradable. This laptop doesn’t support more than 512GB NVMe SSD. |
| Battery backup is good, average 8 hours, in heavy load probably 6 hours. | You can add SATA SSD or hard drive but many reviews show that you may have to go through a lot of trouble during the upgrade. |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 dedicated Graphics card boosts up the performance. | In order to upgrade the RAM, you have to add an extra stick of RAM as the motherboard doesn’t have the ribbon cable connector. |
| Enough USB ports and keyboard backlit are provided. |
Related Article: Best Budget Laptops 2022
ASUS TUF Gaming F17
ASUS TUF Gaming F17 may seem like a gaming laptop but it also fulfills all the requirements of an academic Civil engineering laptop. Gaming laptops don’t mean the price would be ridiculously high. It is the best budget laptop for civil engineering students. Also as being a gaming laptop, it comes with a very sturdy build.
ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is a full-featured 17.3″ gaming laptop that delivers exceptional performance thanks to the 10th gen Intel® Core™ i5 processor. Which is a 4 core CPU, has 8M of cache, and speeds up to 4.5 GHz. Also comes with 8 GB DDR4 RAM and 512GB NVMe M.2 SSD. It has a 4GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 Ti dedicated graphics card for fluid frame rates with detailed textures. ASUS TUF Gaming F17 also delivers an exceptional cooling performance so the system never buckles under extreme graphics pressure, which makes it an excellent laptop for Civil engineering students.
ASUS TUF Gaming F17 provides exceptional thermal performance even at low fan noise so it has highly efficient heat dissipation – with anti-dust technology, the laptop can survive heavy graphics use and high-temperature environments. The all-metal body adds structural strength and rigidity to prevent flexing under pressure.
In addition, ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has a comfortable ergonomic backlit keyboard that’s durable for up to 20 million key presses and rated as military-grade to withstand high temperatures, low pressure and spills. The full-sized one-piece trackpad has an anti-sweat coating so you can control your game without having to remove your gloves.
Final Thought
If you are a civil engineering student and you also love gaming, ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is the perfect laptop you are looking for. If you are not into gaming, then again at this price point this laptop is more than enough for all your civil engineering softwares. A very powerful CPU that also comes with a dedicated graphics card will help you do all your 3D modeling, rendering and CAD softwares work very fast and smoothly without any pressure on your CPU.
This laptop is also super upgradeable. You can add extra RAM and M.2 SSD on the dedicated slots and use this laptop to its full potential. The build quality and cooling system are also very impressive. Capable of keeping it cool while running all those high-power consuming civil engineering softwares to their full potential.
| Pros | Cons |
| Contains extra slots for both M.2 SSD and RAM upgrades. | Doesn’t come with a camera you will have to buy a webcam separately. |
| The display looks really good with a 144Hz monitor. | The average battery life is only 8 hours. |
| Keyboard Backlit and USB type C included. | The keyboard LED only has one color. |
| Military-grade very sturdy and durable build quality. | Might face difficulties while upgrading the RAM and SSD; Expert supervision is recommended. |
| The powerful CPU and GPU combination makes it worth every penny. |
HP Pavilion Gaming
If you are looking for the best low-budget laptop for Civil engineering students HP Pavilion Gaming is undoubtedly the answer. It can handle all your civil engineering softwares very easily due to its dedicated graphics card and advanced cooling system.
HP Pavilion Gaming is a 15-inch laptop built to deliver top-notch gaming and multimedia experiences for both casual and hardcore gamers alike. It is powered by a 9th Gen Core i5 processor 4.1 GHz paired with 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a 3 GB dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card which is good enough to handle most modern games on the market at decent frame rates. 256GB M.2 SSD for storage.
The highlight here, however, is its rich, crystal clear display that can go up to 60Hz, making it one of the best panels on a laptop that we have seen to date.
In addition, it’s worth pointing out that the laptop features a surprisingly good design despite being targeted towards gamers with its aggressive lines and sharp angles. You also get a healthy number of ports including one for USB Type-C which makes the device futureproof as well as an Ethernet port to make wired connections stable. However, there is no optical drive.
Final Thought
If you ask why this laptop is the best budget laptop for civil engineering students? The obvious answer is that you are getting an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 dedicated graphics card with a 9th Gen i5 CPU for just $700. You can also call it the best civil engineering laptop for $700. Although the graphics memory is not much, only 3GB. But it’s more than enough to process all your heavy civil engineering softwares very fast. You will also get a superb gaming experience. Powerful CPU and GPU divide all the workload from the 3D modeling, rendering, designing and thus providing you a very fast response. An advanced thermal system is also there to keep things cool during heavy work. RAM and SSD are also upgradeable so you can use it to power to full potential. All these amazing features with budget price also come with a small tradeoff. The battery backup won’t last very long while you are using it to its full potential. Use it while the charger is plugged in.
| Pros | Cons |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 dedicated graphics card with 9th Gen i5 in a $700 laptop is such an amazing deal. | The battery backup is below average while heavy workload. Other than that it’s pretty decent. |
| RAM and SSD are upgradable. | USB type C is not a thunderbolt. |
| 60 Hz refresh rate and keyboard backlit. |
Related Article: How Much Does It Cost to Replace a Laptop Keyboard?
MSI GL65 Leopard
MSI GL65 Leopard is a heavy-duty gaming laptop with a 15.6 inches full HD display. With a 144Hz refresh rate, the display is vibrant and crystal clear. Powered by a very powerful 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. Which provides up to 5GHz of CPU clock speed. 16 GB DDR4 RAM which is upgradeable to 64 GB. Also, include 512GB NVMe SSD which is enough to keep all your civil engineering documents. A dedicated 8GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Graphics card is also provided to support the CPU.
Very powerful graphics card capable of handling any sort of heavy gaming and 3D rendering workload. You can play any game with the top FPS very smoothly. The cooling system is also flawless. You can do all your civil engineering design, 3D modeling, and rendering very smoothly. The CPU and Graphics card is powerful enough to handle any sort of pressure. The thermal system will keep things cool even in heavy pressure.
Final Thought
If you want to do heavy gaming as well as work on your civil engineering softwares and money is not an issue then this is perfect for you. This laptop is capable of any sort of heavy 3D rendering, modeling, CAD projects. This laptop has much more features than an academic civil engineering student will require. You will not probably need this high configuration for your academic civil engineering purpose.
I will not recommend this laptop to those civil engineering students who have budget issues because this laptop has more configuration than you need and is very pricey as well. If you are into heavy gaming and price is not an issue for you then it’s worth every penny. Also, be aware of the loud fan noise while heavy load and low-quality sound issues.
| Pros | Cons |
| Steelseries gaming keyboard with anti-ghosting and per-key RGB lighting. | Speaker is below average. Probably have to use headphones. |
| RTX 2070 with a 10th Gen i7 very powerful combination. | If you push the performance to an extent fans can get very loud. |
| 144Hz refresh rate with thin bezel feels amazing | The price is very high. |
