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:

• Screen Size

• Min: none
• Rec: 15” +

• Processor

• Min: Intel Core i5
• Rec: Intel Core i7

• Memory (RAM)

• Min: 8GB
• Rec: 16+ GB

• Graphics Card

• Min: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB
• Rec: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB

• Storage

• Min: none
• Rec: 1TB

200 Level Courses

Graphic Software Needs:

• SketchUp (medium)
• Rhino (medium)
• Revit (medium)
• Adobe; Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat (medium)
• AutoCAD (light)

Hardware Requirements:

• Screen Size

• Min: none
• Rec: 15” +

• Processor

• Min: Intel Core i5
• Rec: Intel Core i7

• Memory (RAM)

• Rec: 16+ GB

• Graphics Card

• Min: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB
• Rec: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB

• Storage

• Min: none
• Rec: 1TB

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:

• Screen Size

• Min: none
• Rec: 15” +

• Processor

• Rec: Intel Core i7+

• Memory (RAM)

• Rec: 16+ GB

• Graphics Card

• Rec: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB +

• Storage

• Min: none
• Rec: 1TB

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:

• CPU Type

• 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

• Screen Size

• Min: none
• Rec: 15” +

• Processor

• Rec: Intel Core i7+

• Memory (RAM)

• Rec: 16+ GB

• Graphics Card

• Rec: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB +

• Storage

• Min: none
• Rec: 1TB