College of Architecture Laptop Policy
2023 – 2024 Academic Year
Laptop Requirement
Laptops are required for all undergraduate and graduate students in the College of
Architecture at the beginning of their first year. Software requirements vary by division (see
below).
Support Infrastructure
Information Technology and the College of Architecture have partnered to provide a support
infrastructure for the laptop policy. This includes wireless coverage, repair services and
network file storage.
Wireless: The Gibbs College of Architecture (Gould Hall) has wireless coverage throughout.
To connect, simply choose the network called “WIFI@OU”. If you need assistance with
connecting to wireless, please call 405-325-HELP.
Available Software and Storage Solutions: The University offers Office 365 free for all
students. Installer can be found at portal.office.com. Students also have access to 1TB of
storage space through OneDrive. This drive can be accessed through the portal website. For
more information regarding available resources please call 405-325-HELP or visit ou.edu/ouit
Repair Services: The nearest IT Service Centers is available at OU Bizzell Library basement LL1,
provides College of Architecture students support for all their computing needs. The IT Service
Center is a Dell and Apple certified warranty repair center, but repairs all brands of computers.
This service is free of charge, but students must pay for any parts or additional software
required. There are two IT Service Centers on campus, one located in the Engineering
Laboratory room 201 and Bizzell Library room 125. All Service Centers are open Monday
through Friday 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM.
Network Storage: All students will have access to their Microsoft OneDrive, which provides up
to 1TB of storage space.
Financial Aid Help: To help aid in the purchase of a new laptop, students may apply for the
Robert B. Lewis Computer Loan.
OU Institutional Loan Form: https://lfforms.ou.edu/Forms/instloanapp
Students can also get up to a 12% discount by purchasing a Dell laptop at itstore.ou.edu or
www.dell.com/ou.
Recommended system*
*
Additional specifications for each division below.
We recommend PC as the primary platform for work in the college. For those choosing to use
a MAC, students will be required to run Windows 10 for software required in respective
departments to be available for use in class. Students are responsible for finding the best
method to install Windows on non-PC computers.
Students should expect to allocate at least 100GB of space to Windows on a Mac. Software
versions installed on student laptops need to be the same versions installed in the GCA
computer lab unless noted otherwise.
Division of Architecture Guidelines:
Recommended Minimum Laptop Configuration:
We recommend PC as the primary platform for work in the college. Architecture students are
warned that some software will run unacceptably slow or not at all on a MAC and as such a
MAC is not recommended.
Recommended Minimum Laptop Configuration:
Processor
Intel ® Core ™ i7-7560U Processor (4M
Cache, up to 3.80 GHz) or better
Memory
16GB of RAM or better
Hard Drive
128 GB HDD minimum
Graphics Card
2 GB Graphics Card (DirectX 11
Compatible)
Miscellaneous:
-802.11G/N wireless or better
-USB-A Ports
-Built-in Speakers
-1920 x 1080 resolution display
-Windows 10 64-bit
-Webcam
*Note on Hardware Lifespan:
Considering the five-year length of the architecture degree, it is suggested that students will
experience the normal technological life span of computers and should plan on upgrading to a
more up-to-date model as usage increases in the upper-level studios.
Architecture Software Requirements:
•
Microsoft Office
•
AutoCAD
•
Autodesk Revit
•
3ds Max Design
•
Adobe CS Suite
•
Rhinoceros (includes Grasshopper)
•
SketchUp Pro
•
Lumion (suggested/class specific)
Division of Interior Design Guidelines:
Students in the Interior Design Division use laptops and iPads starting in their freshman year
for an array of daily functions that include email, internet research, paper writing, and posting
of course assignments and projects. iPads are required during the Fall semester of the
freshman year for digital sketching, rendering, and other design and graphics studio-related
projects. Laptops are required during the Spring semester of the freshman year as the use of
computers increases with applications in computer-aided drafting, modeling, rendering, and
animation. Students will be required to use their iPads and laptops during studio and lecture
classes from the second semester of the freshman year continuing through the end of the
senior year. Students will also be required to have a three-terabyte external hard drive or
equivalent cloud storage and a wireless mouse (left and right click buttons and scrolling wheel)
at the beginning of the second semester of their freshman year. It is suggested that
undergraduate students will be required to enter the program with a laptop that meets the
College of Architecture system specifications. Graduate students will be required to enter the
first semester of their first year with a laptop meeting the system specifications above.
Students should expect to upgrade memory or speed over the recommended system
specifications as usage increases in the upper-level studios.
iPad Requirements:
Recommended iPad Configuration:
iPad Pro 11” - $799 (Best)
iPad 10.9” - $549 (Meets)
11” Screen Size
10.9” Screen Size
128 GB Storage Space
258 GB Storage Space
8 GB System Memory (RAM)
A14 Bionic chip
Apple M2 chip w 8-core CPU
Apple Pencil (1
st
Gen) - $99
Apple Pencil (1
st
or 2
nd
Gen) - $99/$129
Interior Design iPad App Requirements:
• Procreate
• Concepts
• Color Wheel
• Adobe Acrobat
• Microsoft Office
Laptop Requirements:
Recommended Minimum Laptop Configuration:
The Division of Interior Design has created a three-tiered system for students to be able to
choose their preferred level of computer performance. These tiers are to provide students with
expectations of performance for the software that will be used. We highly recommended that
you only look at Windows-based computers and do not recommend Apple/macOS. Please see
the following pages with additional information and recommendations:
OU INTERIOR DESIGN LAPTOP COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS
Windows Only, Pre-Built Computers
Important note concerning current or future Apple/macOS users: if you have already invested in an
Apple laptop/computer, you might run into some issues with some software that requires a specific
type of GPUs or CPUs. Some software applications utilized in the program are not compatible with
macOS and will require you to install either Bootcamp or Parallels to be able to run Windows. If you're
looking into investing in a new machine, we highly recommended that you only look at Windows-based
computers, so you won't need to worry about installing Bootcamp/Parallels and overwork your
computer or run into constant issues. We also recommend avoiding tablet-laptop hybrids at all costs,
no matter what operating system they have.
Tier I
Compatible
Software &
Loads
Price
Range***
Specs
Processor/
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 1500X, Intel Core i7-3770K
equivalents (Intel or AMD processor
scoring a single thread CPUMark of 2000 or
higher.)*
- Microsoft
Office (should
run with
ease.)
$900-
$1,200 or
more.
- Adobe
Products
(might be a bit
slow to run
some Adobe
software such
as After
Effects.)
- Autodesk
AutoCAD
(should run
with ease.)
- Autodesk
Revit (might
be a bit slow
to run large
projects.)
- SketchUp
(should run
with ease.)
- Lumion (16
GB RAM
preferred to
run small
projects,
might not
handle
complex files.)
Graphic Card/GPU
Nvidia GeForce RTX 1650, AMD Radeon RX
470 equivalents, with 4 GB memory.**
- Enscape
(should run
with ease,
might not
handle
complex
projects.)
Memory/RAM
8 GB or 16 GB (16 GB preferred to run a
small project in Lumion.)
- ElumTools
(might be a bit
slow to run.)
Internal Hard
Drive
512 GB SATA3 SSD or HDD.
Miscellaneous
- Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit.
Notes: render
times might
be slow and
computer
might crash a
few times
when
attempting to
create large or
complex
scenes.
Multitasking
might be
doable but
not
recommended
to avoid
crashes.
- Screen resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels or
higher.
- USB Ports.
- Built-in Speakers.
- Bluetooth and wireless internet
connection.
- 1 TB or 2 TB external hard disk for
backups and system image.
Tier II
Compatible
Software &
Loads
Price
Range
Specs
Processor/CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 2600, Intel Core i7-4790
equivalents (Intel or AMD Processor
scoring a single thread CPUMark of 2,200
or higher.)*
- Microsoft
Office (should
run with
ease.)
$1,500 -
$2,000 or
more.
- Adobe
Products
(should run
with ease.)
- Autodesk
AutoCAD
(should run
with ease.)
- Autodesk
Revit (should
run with
ease.)
- SketchUp
(should run
small projects
with ease).
- Lumion
(should run
small projects
with ease.) It
is not able to
run Lumion
liveSync.
- Enscape
(should run
small projects
with ease.)
- ElumTools
(should run
with ease.)
Graphic Card/GPU
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070, AMD Radeon RX
5700XT equivalents, with 8 GB memory.**
- It is not able
to handle two
or three
software at
the same
time.
Memory/RAM
16 GB or 32 GB (Lumion might require 32
GB for better performance.)
Internal Hard
Drive
1 TB SATA3 SSD or HDD.
Miscellaneous
- Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit.
Notes: render
times should
be decent and
computer
might crash
less when
creating large
or complex
scenes. Some
multitasking
should be
doable with
such specs.
- Screen resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels or
higher.
- USB Ports.
- Built-in Speakers.
- Bluetooth and wireless internet
connection.
- 2 TB or 4 TB external hard disk for
backups and system image.
Tier III
Compatible
Software &
Loads
Price
Range
Specs
Processor/CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, Intel Core i7-7700K
equivalents (Intel or AMD Processor
scoring a single thread CPUMark of 2,600
or higher.)*
- Microsoft
Office (should
run with
ease.)
$2,500 -
$3,000 or
more.
- Adobe
Products
(should run
with ease.)
- Autodesk
AutoCAD
(should run
with ease.)
- Autodesk
Revit (should
run with
ease.)
- SketchUp
(should run
medium
projects with
ease.)
- Lumion
(should run
medium
projects with
ease.) It is
able to run
Lumion
liveSync.
Graphic Card/GPU
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 equivalents, with
11 GB memory or more. **
- Enscape
(should run
medium
projects with
ease.)
Memory/RAM
32 GB or 64 GB (64 GB preferred to run a
complex project in Lumion.)
- ElumTools
(should run
with ease.)
Internal Hard
Drive
1 TB, 2 TB, or 4 TB SATA3 SSD or HDD.
- It is able to
handle two or
three
software at
the same
time.
Miscellaneous
- Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit.
Notes: render
times should
be decent
depending on
how complex
the scene is
and computer
crashes might
be non-
existent or
minimum
depending on
how many
software are
operating at a
given point.
Multitasking
with such
specs should
be doable.
- Screen resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels or
higher.
- USB Ports.
- Built-in Speakers.
- Bluetooth and wireless internet
connection.
- 2 TB, 6 TB or 8 TB external hard disk for
backups and system image.
Tier IV
Compatible
Software &
Loads
Price
Range
Specs
Processor/CPU
10th Generation Intel® Core™ i9-10980HK
(8-Core, 16MB Cache, up to 5.3GHz Max
Turbo Frequency)
- Microsoft
Office (should
run with
ease.)
$4,000 -
$8,000 or
more.
- Adobe
Products
(should run
with ease.)
- Autodesk
AutoCAD
(should run
with ease.)
- Autodesk
Revit (should
run with
ease.)
- SketchUp
(should run
with ease.)
- Lumion
(should run
large to
complex
projects with
ease.)
- Enscape
(should run
large to
complex with
ease.)
Graphic Card/GPU
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3080 or 3090
- ElumTools
(should run
with ease.)
Memory/RAM
64 GB or 128 GB
- LiveSync of
Lumion with
various
software such
as AutoCAD,
Revit, and
SketchUp .
Internal Hard
Drive
2 TB SATA3 HDD+ 2TB SSD.
- It is able to
handle two or
three
software at
the same
time.
Miscellaneous
- Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit.
Notes: render
times should
be decent
depending on
how complex
the scene is
and computer
crashes might
be non-
existent or
minimum
depending on
how many
software are
operating at a
given point.
Multitasking
with such
specs should
be doable.
- Screen resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels or
higher.
- USB Ports.
- Built-in Speakers.
- Bluetooth and wireless internet
connection.
- 2 TB, 6 TB or 8 TB external hard disk for
backups and system image.
*Check CPU/CPUMark benchmarks here to see similar options:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html
** Check GPU/G3D benchmarks here to see similar options:
https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
*** You can go higher than tier III requirements if you'd like, but keep in mind that your computer
might not use the full capacity of your specs. You can stay within tier III and still manage to work
without minimum issues, but having a machine with tier III specs has it perks when it comes to
operating multiple software at once, or rendering complex projects faster and with ease.
**** The price ranges set are purely estimates. Prices vary depending on specs and brand.
General notes:
- Internal hard drives capacity is a critical detail. The lowest you can go is 512 GB due to today's
software requiring decent amount of space to install, files are becoming heavy, and last thing one
would need to worry about is what to delete in order to make space for other files. 1 TB is a happy
medium, 2 TB or more is for peace of mind.
- As for external hard drives, you can either get a single hard drive or multiple ones, it depends on how
you prefer to organize and access your files. Pro tip: get three, two for backups and system images, and
one that contains a copy of your asset library and completed project files that you no longer need on
your computer's internal hard drive. Don't forget to backup your computer and update your system
image at least once a week. Also, invest in DropBox's Plus plan to get a 2 TB worth of cloud storage for
those extra important files.
- Gaming laptops/PCs are great for architectural/interior projects. Just make sure the specs are
somewhat similar to the tier you're aiming for. You can check lists similar to this one:
https://www.pcgamer.com/best-gaming-laptop/ to check/compare different specs and brands.
- You might see M.2 and NVMe SSD mentioned as internal hard drives in some laptops/PCs. These are
just hard drives with new technology that makes them operate faster.
**Many of our students find it beneifical to have a tablet or iPad to create digital sketches and markups
of digital drawings throughtout the design process. These devices are not required and do not replace
the laptop requiremets listed above.
Interior Design Software Requirements:
•
Microsoft Office
•
AutoCAD Architecture
•
Autodesk Revit
•
Adobe CS Suite
•
ComCheck
•
Lumion
•
Enscape
•
SketchUp (free version)
•
AGi32
•
ElumTools
*
Software versions installed on student laptops need to be the same versions installed in the
GCA computer lab unless noted otherwise
Division of Landscape Architecture
Guidelines:
Students are required to use their laptops, with software below, the first semester of the
Landscape Architecture program.
Recommended Minimum Laptop Configuration:
Processor
4
th
Gen Intel Core i5 2.6GHz or better
Memory
8GB of RAM or better
Hard Drive
128GB HDD minimum
Graphics Card
1GB GPU or better
Miscellaneous:
-802.11G/N wireless or better
-USB-A Ports
-Built-in Speakers
-1920 x 1080 resolution display
-Windows 10 64-bit
-Webcam
Landscape Architecture Software Requirements:
•
Microsoft Office
•
AutoCAD Architecture
•
Adobe CS Suite
•
SketchUp Pro
•
Google Earth
•
Student license ArcGIS 10.0 or later (instructions for mac users
http://edcommunity.esri.com/software/mac/ )
•
Esri City Engine
•
Land F/X
Division of Regional and City Planning
Guidelines:
Students are required to use their laptops for basic word processing and data analysis the first
semester of the Regional & City Planning program. Students are required to use their laptops
with GIS and related supporting software during their first semester. Some software may be
provided free of cost by the instructor when possible. Software listed below is Microsoft
Windows compatible only.
Recommended Minimum Laptop Configuration:
Processor
4
th
Gen Intel Core i5 2.6GHz or better
Memory
8GB of RAM or better
Hard Drive
128GB HDD minimum
Graphics Card
1GB GPU or better
Miscellaneous:
-802.11G/N wireless or better
-USB-A Ports
-Built-in Speakers
-1920 x 1080 resolution display
-Windows 10 64-bit
-Webcam
Regional & City Planning Software Requirements:
•
Microsoft Office
•
Student license ArcGIS 10.2.2 or later (first semester of program)
•
SketchUp Pro (first semester of program)
•
Google Earth
Haskell and Irene Lemon Construction
Science Division Guidelines:
Students in the Construction Science Division use laptops starting in the first semester of their
freshman year for an array of daily functions that include email, internet research and paper
writing. The use of computers increases in the freshmen second semester with the Computers in
Construction course in which students learn CAD and 3D modeling, along with traditional
spreadsheet software.
Additional software with intense processing and memory requirements will be utilized as
students advance through the program. It is suggested that undergraduate students enter the
program with a minimally equipped laptop with the GCA system specifications required in the
second semester. Laptops meeting the system specifications above will be required second
semester of the freshmen year. Graduate students however will be required to enter the first
semester of their first year with a laptop meeting the system specifications above. Students
may discover a need to increase memory or speed over the recommended system
specifications and should be considered with the initial laptop purchase.
Construction Science Hardware Requirements: Students should have a PC, it is imperative that
student computers can run Windows. Please note that many of the programs used in
construction are not Mac compatible. Students who chose to use Mac computers nearly always
have technical difficulties which cause them to fall behind in classes.
Also, certain courses may require the use of a webcam, please consider laptops with a built-in
webcam, otherwise, you may be asked to purchase and additional webcam.
Recommended Minimum Laptop Configuration:
Processor
Intel ® Core ™ i7-3840QM CPU @
2.80GHz or better
Memory
16GB of RAM or better
Hard Drive
128 GB HDD minimum or better
Graphics Card
1 GB Graphics Card (DirectX
Compatible) or better
Miscellaneous:
-802.11G/N wireless or better
-USB-A Ports
-Built-in Speakers
-1920 x 1080 resolution display
-Windows 10 64-bit
-Webcam
Construction Science Software Requirements:
•
Autodesk Revit
•
Autodesk Navisworks Manage
•
Bluebeam Revu eXtreme
•
Microsoft Office
•
Microsoft Project
•
Primavera P6
•
SketchUp Pro
•
Synchro Pro