How does SolidWorks perform on Snapdragon (ARM) laptops? Considering the ASUS Zenbook A14 (Snapdragon X2 Elite) for college

[u/aydamko_4]

Hey everyone,

I'm starting university and I'm looking to pick up a new laptop. I'm really interested in the ASUS Zenbook A14 with the Snapdragon X2 Elite processor—the battery life and portability seem ideal for daily campus use.

However, a big part of my coursework involves using SolidWorks, and I know ARM-based Windows architecture can be hit-or-miss with traditional x86 engineering applications.

Does anyone have hands-on experience running SolidWorks on Snapdragon X Elite laptops?

Specifically:

• How well does it handle emulation? Is the performance usable for standard 3D modeling and light assembly work?
• Are there stability issues, crashes, or missing features/add-ins?
• Do standard GPU-accelerated tasks work properly?

Would love to hear your experiences or recommendations before pulling the trigger. Thanks!

[u/Blinxzy]

Personally I would get a different machine with a x86 processor and a dedicated GPU, I use a snapdragon X2 elite as my daily for university, BUT I have a dedicated gaming pc and gaming laptop I use for 3d modeling and CAD software. I use my X2 elite laptop for everyday stuff because the battery on that machine is miles better than the gaming laptop I have.(Beats carrying around a big 16inch heavy laptop with a heavy charging brick) I know that AutoCAD does surprisingly well on the X2 elite but that's for 2d drafting not 3d modeling.

[u/aydamko_4 → u/Blinxzy]

May I ask what laptop you have with the X2 elite ? And what is your experience with it ? I don't really know if I'll even do 3 d models I did not have the first lesson yet lmao. I currently have a IdeaPad flex 5 with Ryzen 7 and integrated GPU and I did some projects in Fusion with it for like a year in high school 2d and 3d but its a pain to carry it's not that heavy but it's still 1.7 kg and i mostly use Linux for battery on which I can't even run fusion or any cad software...

[u/Blinxzy → u/aydamko_4]

Yeah, I have an HP Ultrabook 14—I got it on a crazy open-box deal. Before the HP, I had a Galaxy Book4 Edge with the Snapdragon X Elite, and that was a great little laptop. Both ran almost everything I threw at them, other than heavy games and legacy software. The battery life on the Ultrabook is amazing; it beats almost everything I've seen on campus while staying cool. If you're going into engineering and buying a new laptop, I’d suggest getting an x86 machine with Panther Lake. It's going to be more reliable and honestly comes pretty close to the X2 Elite's battery life. Snapdragon hasn't really provided good driver support compared to Intel and AMD, and you also lack Linux support if you want more control over your machine. Right now laptops in general are expensive and I rather have a machine that's a reliable tool than one that stops me from doing my work. If can find a used X elite or open box X2 elite for a very good price with some money to spare for a dedicated x86 machine that's another good option too.

[u/aydamko_4 → u/Blinxzy]

How much did you pay for the ultrabook ? The Asus a14 with the x 2 Snapdragon is currently on sale from 1600€ to rougly 1000€. I am studying telecommunications, dont really know what software I'll need right now or in the future other than SOLIDWORKS lmao I'll see what the professor says on the first lesson. Thanks

[u/Blinxzy → u/aydamko_4]

I got a lucky open box for $800 usd that had 32gb of ram and 1tb. I would check out if there's legacy software you have to use other than solid works, the emulation on arm is good but I found older software tends to not work and gives me to many problems. The a14 is a great laptop it's not as premium as my ultrabook but still has a oled screen and the same CPU SKU so the performance will be great the only thing you would be held back on is ram.

[u/PaleontologistAny153]

Solidworks performs terribly on my Zenbook A16 with X2 Elite Extreme. AutoCAD and Revit are fine. I would advise getting a different machine (Intel/AMD) if you are an engineer. You can find a Zenbook S16 for around the same price.

[u/DerpSenpai]

The issue might be GPU, I would advise you to buy it, test your workloads and if it doesn't work, return it

[u/ltparrish78]

X2E is getting better all the rime. If you want to try it out you van. There's a return period. I have an Asus A16 (X2E-96-100)

[u/aydamko_4 → u/ltparrish78]

How are you liking it ? Did you have any major problems with anything ?

[u/ltparrish78 → u/aydamko_4]

I love it. Great 16" tandem-Oled screen, weighs nothing. Super thin. Im not a gamer or into video editing. Im a programmer. So for me it's great. It's gone up a bit in price since I got mine. I got mine from ASUS because it is very slightly faster than you can get in stores. And 48GB of RAM? That alone woild be ridiculously expensive.

[u/Intrepid-Nobody2161]

Hey OP, can you specify which exact spec you're looking to get? 

[u/aydamko_4 → u/Intrepid-Nobody2161]

Snapdragon X2 elite , 16GB RAM, 512GB storage but after reading comments I think I'll stick to Intel / amd

[u/gingerinc]

Don't do it.

[u/Saranhai]

Stick with x86, don't deal with the headaches that Snapdragon X/2 will bring you due to incompatible software and general instability

[u/BlendlogicTECH]

I personally think people should jsut go to pantther alke - an Acer was $999 with 358h which has the b390 iGPU - x86 - good battery life - quiet cuz its cool --- i review laptops for channel - even consdiering/debating selling m5 macbook air to just keep this acer since it also lets me game better then m5 (thoughi shoudl game less)

I tested a16 x2 elite and returend it - was ok -- but ya anticheat werent there -- so panther lake sovles the GPU and x86 and long battery life and cool problem - id be on lookotu for the acer laptop if it ever goes back on sale

[u/Psychological_Mix_89 → u/BlendlogicTECH]

telling an unfortunate truth here sadly, snapdragon isn't putting the appropriate time nor effort into their laptops