Computing Requirements for Students

Students at UB are required to have access to a computer—access beyond what is provided in the University’s public computing sites and School's labs. While ownership is not strictly required, ninety-eight percent of UB's students owned a computer, and most will find it essential for success in their academic pursuits. If you already have a computer, this site and UB's computing site, will help determine if it complies with UB’s and the School’s support standards to ensure that it meets your needs for discipline-specific work in the School.

Note: While the University specification provides recommendations for several different computing platforms, due to software integration and plotting issues in the School of Architecture and Planning, we do not currently recommend or support the Macintosh or Linux platforms. Note: Any version of Windows up to version 7 (including x64) may be selected..

Information on the University computing requirement can be found at www.ubit.buffalo.edu.

The above site provides a MINIMUM guide of system requirements mandated by the University. However, due to the data-intensive and graphic-intensive nature of computer-based work undertaken in the School of Architecture and Planning,workstation class desktop and laptop machines are recommended. As such, the following upgrades to the minimum requirements are necessary:

  • Processor: no Celeron. 2.0 GHz or greater dual core required; 3.0 GHz quad core recommendend for desktops.
  • RAM: 32-bit version of Windows: 3 - 4GB minimum; 64-bit version of Windows: 6 - 8 GB.
  • Hard drive: 250GB, 7200 rpm minimum for laptops; 300GB, 10K rpm for desktops.
  • Removable storage: DVD+/RW burner and a 16GB (min.) thumb drive or other external hard drive.
  • Display: 22" minimum for desktops (larger recommended); 15.4" minimum for laptops.
  • Graphics card: 512MB minimum video memory; OpenGL/Mid-range CAD graphics card with 512MB video memory highly recommended for Architecture majors.

Workstation-class desktop and laptop computers configured to meet the School's equipment requirements are available at special discounted educational pricing through UBMicro, UB's on-campus not-for-profit computer store.

Additionally, students should acquire a supply of storage media (cd-r, cd-rw, dvd-r or dvd-rw) for storing and backing up their projects. It is highly recommended that students acquire a means of securing their laptop or computer for security purposes (i.e. a security lock down cable). Architecture majors must also have access to a 5+ megapixel digital camera with 2 GB memory (minimum) for documenting their work and completing other course assignments.

Recommended Software

In addition to software required as part of the University computing requirement as detailed at www.ubit.buffalo.edu, the following discipline specific software is also recommended:

Undergraduate and Graduate Architecture Majors

  • Adobe Creative Suite 5.x Design Premium.
  • AutoCAD (required at the sophomore level and beyond)
    • (available as a free download to student at: http://students.autodesk.com/)
  • Rhino 4+ (required at the sophomore level and beyond)
  • Revit (required at the junior level and beyond)
    • (available as a free download to student at: http://students.autodesk.com/)
  • Autodesk 3ds MAX (required at the junior level and beyond)(available as a free download to student at: http://students.autodesk.com/)

Any software that must be purchased is available at special discounted educational pricing through UBMicro, UB's on-campus not-for-profit computer store.