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Architecture (B.Arch)

When shopping for a laptop for your Architecture education there are a few things to consider. A new PC laptop can be expected to last 3-4 years and still function for most workloads. Many companies offer Workstations and Consumer or Gamming class products. This can affect prices a lot.

  • Workstation products are geared towards professionals and come at a higher cost for stability and better support. They are not necessary for your education but can provide benefits if you encounter problems. They often have lower specifications for a higher price.
  • Consumer class laptops are focused on general computers and can fulfill the tasks of your undergraduate education. They typically have lower resolution screens and lower powered Graphics Processors and sit in a mid to high price range.
  • Gaming class laptops can be a good fit for the workload we use during Architecture as they are geared towards higher performance, especially in graphics, and provide higher resolution screens. They often cost costs in build quality and some of the ancillary components, which usually do not affect working performance and functionality. Lower-cost options can offer a lot of performance, but may not be as durable long term (get the 3-4 years warranty).

Of course, the specifications you chose and different brands may offer many options at a wide price range. To serve you well in your education it is recommended to look for options with the following hardware. there are also many good sites and YouTube channels that review the price/performance of these laptops. You may also be able to find good deals on one-generation older models that will be cheaper and work well if they match the specifications below.

These configurations fit into three categories, Lower Cost, Midrange, High End

PC Laptop (Low End) ($1800-$2500)
8-12 core processor (AMD or Intel)
NVIDIA RTX Graphics (6GB VRAM or higher) 4060, 4070, 4080, A1000, A2000

(Currently, AMD and INTEL Graphics are not supported in all Applications)
14″ – 16″ screen (QHD+ 1440/1600p or UHD 2160/2400p)
32GB RAM (2×16)
512 – 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD

Alienware m16 Gaming Laptop (Gaming Class)
AMD Ryzen™ 9 7845HX (76 MB total cache, 12 cores, 24 threads, up to 5.20 GHz Max Boost Clock)
Windows 11 Pro
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4080, 12 GB GDDR6
16″ QHD+ (2560 x 1600) 240Hz, 3ms, ComfortView Plus, 100% DCI-P3, FHD IR Camera
32 GB: 2 x 16 GB, DDR5, 4800 MT/s
1 TB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD
$2,094.99

Precision 3581 – (Workstation Class)
Intel® Core™ i7-13800H, vPro® Enterprise (24MB Cache, 14 Cores, 20 Threads, 2.5-5.2 GHz Turbo, 45W)
Windows 11 Pro
NVIDIA® RTX™ A1000, 6 GB GDDR6
32GB, 2x16GB 5200MT/s SODIMM, DDR5, non-ECC
1 TB, M.2 2230, PCIe NVMe, SSD, Class 35
$2,018.36

PC Laptop (Midrange) $2500-$3000
12-16 core processor (AMD or Intel)
NVIDIA RTX Graphics (8GB VRAM or higher) 4070, 4080, A2000, A3500/4000

(Currently, AMD and INTEL Graphics are not supported in all Applications)
14″ – 16″ screen (QHD+ 1440/1600p or UHD 2160/2400p)
32GB RAM (2×16)
1TB M.2 NVMe SSD

XPS 9530 (Consumer Class)
13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-13700H (24 MB cache, 14 cores, up to 5.00 GHz Turbo)
Windows 11 Pro, English, French, Spanish
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4070, 8GB GDDR6
32 GB: 2 x 16 GB, DDR5, 4800 MT/s
1 TB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD
$2,559.00

Precision 5680 (Workstation Class)
Intel® Core™ i7-13800H, vPro® Enterprise (24MB Cache, 14 Cores, 20 Threads, 2.5-5.2 GHz Turbo, 45W)
Windows 11 Pro
NVIDIA® RTX™ 2000 Ada, 8GB GDDR6
32 GB: 2 x 16 GB, LPDDR5, 6000 MT/s
512 GB, M.2 2280, Gen 4 PCIe NVMe, SSD, Class 40
$2,599.00

PC Laptop (High End) $3,500+
16+ core processor (AMD or Intel)
NVIDIA RTX Graphics (12GB VRAM or higher) 4080, 4090, A4000, A5000

(Currently, AMD and INTEL Graphics are not supported in all Applications)
14″ – 16″ screen (QHD+ 1440/1600p or UHD 2160/2400p)
32GB RAM (2×16)
1TB M.2 NVMe SSD

Alienware m18 R2 Gaming Laptop (Gaming Class)
14th Gen Intel® Core™i9 14900HX (24-Core, 36MB L3 Cache, up to 5.8GHz Max Turbo Frequency)
Windows 11 Pro
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4080, 12 GB GDDR6
18″ QHD+ (2560 x 1600) 165Hz, 3ms, ComfortView Plus, NVIDIA G-SYNC + DDS, 100% DCI-P3, FHD IR Camera
64 GB: 2 x 32 GB, DDR5, 5200 MT/s, non-ECC, dual-channel
2 TB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD
$3,394.99

XPS 16 9640 (Consumer Class)
Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 processor 185H (24MB Cache, 16 cores, up to 5.1 GHz)
Windows 11 Pro
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4070, 8 GB GDDR6, 60W
16.3″ OLED UHD+ (3840 x 2400)
32GB, LPDDR5X, 7467MT/s
1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
$3,594.00

Precision 5680 (Workstation Class)
Intel® Core™ i7-13800H, vPro® Enterprise (24MB Cache, 14 Cores, 20 Threads, 2.5-5.2 GHz Turbo, 45W)
Windows 11 Pro
NVIDIA® RTX™ 3500 Ada, 12GB GDDR6
32 GB: 2 x 16 GB, LPDDR5, 6000 MT/s
1 TB, M.2 2280, Gen 4 PCIe NVMe, SSD, Class 40
$3,241.98

Macbook Pro laptops are not recommended as they do not support some of the software typically used in your courses. There are workarounds if you already have a Mac but if you are getting a new computer it is recommended at this time to get a PC laptop with Windows 11 Pro. The models below should have the hardware capable of the workloads in Architecture, but you will have to verify software compatibility through a Virtual Machine solution like Parallels Desktop.

Macbook Pro (not recommended, minimum)

Macbook Pro 14
12-Core CPU
18-Core GPU
18GB Unified Memory
1TB SSD Storage¹
14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display²
Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, headphone jack, MagSafe 3 port
Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
Force Touch trackpad
96W USB-C Power Adapter
$2,199.00

MacBook Pro 16
12-Core CPU
18-Core GPU
18GB Unified Memory
512GB SSD Storage¹
16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display²
Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, headphone jack, MagSafe 3 port
Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
Force Touch trackpad
140W USB-C Power Adapter
$2,299.00

Macbook Pro (not recommended, ideal specs)

Macbook Pro 14
14-Core CPU
30-Core GPU
36GB Unified Memory
1TB SSD Storage¹
14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display²
Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, headphone jack, MagSafe 3 port
Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
Force Touch trackpad
96W USB-C Power Adapter
$2,899.00

MacBook Pro 16
14-Core CPU
30-Core GPU
36GB Unified Memory
1TB SSD Storage¹
16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display²
Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, headphone jack, MagSafe 3 port
Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
Force Touch trackpad
140W USB-C Power Adapter
$3,199.00

  • MacBook Pro
    • Important Note For MacBook Pro: Software required for degrees in the School of Architecture, Industrial Design, and Interior Design will only run within Windows OS. Download Windows for free, and install using Boot Camp Assistant (Intel processors) or by using Parallels (M1 and M2 processor).
  • External Drives
    • Note: all Pratt students have unlimited Google Drive capacity.

Required Software