| Description | PC/Mac* Laptop or Desktop Recommended Hardware Specifications |
|---|---|
| The Interior Design Department does not require students to purchase computers, but highly recommends that those who do follow these recommendations. Consult with your computer sales vendor of choice to find the right combination of performance and price. | |
| Operating System* | Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit Enterprise or Professional edition Windows 10 64-bit Home, Enterprise or Professional edition Mac OS 10.15+, 10.14+, and 10.13+ |
| Browser | Software | Internet Explorer 9.0 (or later) SketchUp Pro for Windows requires .NET Framework version 4.5.2. |
| CPU Type | PC | Multi-Core Intel: Core i5 or i7 Xeon processor; or AMD equivalent with SSE3 technology. Highest affordable CPU speed rating available. 3+ GHz minimum. Multiple cores used for many tasks, with Revit using up to 16 cores for near-photo-realistic rendering operations. |
| CPU Type | Mac | Boot Camp, VMWare, and Parallels are not supported environments for SketchUp. Parallels Desktop 15 for Mac recommended for Revit. SketchUp: 2.1+ GHz Intel processor. Revit: 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel i7 for Revit. Get highest affordable GHZ. |
| Memory | • 8-16 GB RAM, 16-32 GB highly recommended; DDR4, 2666MHz • 8 GB is usually sufficient for editing a single Revit model up to approximately 300 MB on disk. For typical 3D modeling and rendering, in SketchUp or Rhino, 16 MB RAM is recommended. • 16 GB is sufficient for editing a single Revit model up to approximately 700 MB on disk. For complex 3D interior models, real-time rendering and VR, 32 GB RAM is highly recommended. |
| Video Display | 1,280 x 1,024 with true color minimum; recommend 1,680 x 1,050 with true color DPI Display Setting: 150% or less. Laptops with smaller display size may have lower resolution. |
| GPU/ Graphics Card : PC | 3D class, DirectX® 11 compliant graphics card, OpenGL 3.1 Compliant, with onboard GPU memory (1 GB minimum), with 29 GB/s bandwidth. Shader Model 3 as recommended by Autodesk. Intel GPUs are not compatible with software required for INDES program. NVIDIA GeForce cards are highly recommended : GTX (low-end) or RTX (high-end, VR capable). |
| Hard Disk | 256 GB total minimum capacity; 5 GB free disk space. Highly recommended 256-512 GB SSD or 512-1TB HDD SATA. Recommend additional external HDD with at least 1TB storage. SSD drives are faster, but higher cost per GB. |
| Pointing Device | 3 button scroll-wheel mouse (notched, incremental click wheels are more precise for navigating CAD/models) |
| Connectivity | Internet connection for license registration and prerequisite component download |
| Windows-Based Computer Systems | PC systems are widely available and options for customization and combination of features provides higher levels of performance for less money than a comparably priced Mac. All required software runs on PC systems. Mac versions of all programs are available except Revit, which require Windows emulation software. Many students use iMac, Mac or Macbook. |
| *Apple Computer Systems* | Consult an Apple sales representative for equivalent iMac, Mac Pro, or Macbook specifications. A summary of general recommendations: • 2.1+ GHz processor • 8GB RAM • Graphic cards: 3D class video card with 1 GB of memory or higher and support for hardware acceleration. Video card driver supports OpenGL version 3.1 or higher. • 64-bit CPU (Intel Core Duo CPU, 2 GHz or faster recommended) Apple bundles the following Mac systems minimally compatible features. • Apple Mac Pro® 4.1 or later • MacBook Pro® 5.1 or later • iMac® 8.1 or later • Mac mini® 3.1 or later • MacBook Air ® 2.1 or later • MacBook® 5.1 or later |
Design Software Programs – the following programs are installed in the department labs
- Revit Architecture – latest version (avail. Free from Autodesk Education Community website)
- AutoCAD – optional (avail. Free from Autodesk Education Community website)
- Adobe Creative Cloud – online monthly subscription at student rate from Bellevue College
- SketchUp PRO – latest version at student discount
- Rhino (optional) – latest version
Last Updated February 26, 2018