Morgan State University
School of Architecture + Planning
CPU Specs
Rev. August 2021
STUDENT CPU NEEDS & REQUIREMENTS BY YEAR
CPU (Device)Type
- Laptop recommended to ensure availability at school;
- Desktops can still be more beneficial for heavy production,
- No tablets, Surface books, Macbook Air, Chromebooks or hybrid devices/mobile devices will have the necessary computing power and is strongly recommended against as a primary computing device.
- Apple computers are accepted as long as they meet the specs given below and have Windows 10 installed.
100 Level Courses
Graphic Software Needs:
- Rhino (heavy in arch 103, light in arch 104)
- SketchUp (light in arch 103, heavy in arch 104)
- Adobe; Illustrator (heavy)
- Photoshop, Acrobat (light)
- AutoCAD (light)
Hardware Requirements:
- Min: Intel Core i5
- Rec: Intel Core i7
- Min: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB
- Rec: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB
200 Level Courses
Graphic Software Needs:
- SketchUp (medium)
- Rhino (medium)
- Revit (medium)
- Adobe; Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat (medium)
- AutoCAD (light)
Hardware Requirements:
- Min: Intel Core i5
- Rec: Intel Core i7
- Min: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB
- Rec: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB
300 Level Courses
Graphic Software Needs:
- SketchUp (light)
- AutoCAD (medium)
- Adobe; Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat (heavy)
- Rhino (light)
- Revit (heavy)
- 3D immersive; i.e. Lumion, Enscape, Prospect VR (medium)
- Advanced Model; i.e. 3D Max, Grasshopper, Dynamo(optional)
- Render CGI; i.e. VRay, Maxwel (optional)
Hardware Requirements:
- Rec: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB +
400 Level Courses + Graduate Level
Graphic Software Needs:
- SketchUp (light)
- AutoCAD (heavy)
- Adobe; Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat (heavy)
- Rhino (med)
- Revit (heavy)
- Lumion (optional)
- 3D immersive; i.e. Lumion, Enscape, Prospect VR (optional)
- Advanced Model; i.e. 3D Max, Grasshopper, Dynamo(optional)
- Render CGI; i.e. VRay, Maxwel (optional)
Hardware Requirements:
- Laptop or Desktop PC
- Mac computers not recommended unless having windows 10 installed through boot camp
- Tablet, MacBook Air, and hybrid devices not recommended for production and computing
- Rec: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB +