Personal Computing at the School of Architecture and Planning

Architecture Recommendations General Recommendations

Professional design, drafting, modeling, and imaging software and platforms require high-performance computing resources. We highly recommend that all architecture students to have access to a personal, Windows laptop meeting the minimum specifications listed below.

Minimum Hardware Specifications for Professional Design Software

  • Intel Core i7 2.5- 2.9 GHz CPU or faster
  • Windows 10 or above - MacOS is not supported
  • 32 GB RAM minimum
  • Discrete graphics card with 4 GB or more of memory (NVIDIA graphics card with 4 GB or more of video RAM recommended)
  • 512 GB or larger SSD hard drive storage
  • 4 year/extended warranty/multi-year service agreement 
  • Web Cam/microphone
  • A USB-enabled mouse with scroll wheel (Bluetooth wireless or corded.)

Please note:

  • We do not support Apple and Mac OS.
  • Chromebooks are not capable of operating professional design software.

While we recommend the use of UBbox, the university’s cloud storage system, it is also recommended that you purchase a portable external hard drive and/or flash drives.

You can find special discounted pricing on Dell laptops. 

Software Needs

Install the latest versions of the following software onto your laptops before arriving at orientation.

More information about UB provided software and ways to access it.

Please contact the School of Architecture and Planning IT services (ap-itservices@buffalo.edu) with any questions with regard to Computing Hardware and Software.