Information Technology

Computer Recommendations

 

Students and parents frequently ask us about computer requirements for the College of Engineering. Currently, the college has no policy requiring students to own a computer or a specific set of software. In general, the wide variety of technologies – both hardware and software – makes standardizing on one platform difficult. And, because of licensing issues, much of the software is restricted to use in university-owned laboratories or via remote access servers. Very little engineering software can be run locally on a personally-owned computer. As a result, the College of Engineering has made the decision to not require a personal computer.  

However, students will find owning a computer to be highly beneficial through their educational experience. A few engineering applications can be purchased through the University Bookstore and others can be downloaded free of charge. Furthermore, students will benefit from wordprocessing, email, and internet access with a computer of their own.   To help you in selecting an appropriate computer, please consider the following:

Recommended hardware:

  • Memory - with applications taking more memory all the time, we recommend 3GB or more of random access memory (RAM). More than 4GB is too much at this time.
  • Hard Drive - If possible, configure a 7200rpm hard drive - the faster rotational speed will increase performance considerably, especially in laptops. 
  • Graphics - Discrete (non integrated) graphics such as Nvidia or ATI are recommended, especially with the Microsoft Vista operating system. Applications are also becoming more and more visual, so the extra horsepower for the graphics can make a big impact on overall system performance.

Recommended software:

ISU students have access to university discounts on Dell, HP and Apple via the TechCyte group in the ISU Bookstore in the Memorial Union.