Whether you are an architecture student or a professional, the question arises when we have to choose a particular computer.
Depending on our needs and our day to day, we will need a computer or another.
Apple (Mac OS) vs Windows
It is the eternal debate. My recommendation is that if you want to optimize your money, have no software compatibility problems and that repairs are cheaper, choose a computer with Windows 10. The myths of one or the other are out of date, since the Mac OS also has viruses and since I use Windows 10 I no longer constantly have errors or blue screens.
Student
As a general rule, a laptop is best suited for those who want to work in a group with their classmates, study in a city other than where the family lives (will travel there during the holidays and need to work) or if you want to work at home and at home. classroom.
You will work hard and use all possible programs (Autocad, Photoshop, Sketchup, Rhino, Word, Indesign …) so you need a powerful and well-ventilated notebook. Any computer is a box full of transistors through which electricity passes.
This produces heat when it passes through the components. So you need a laptop that is kept at the lowest possible temperature at any time.
Through marketing, they try to convince us of new cooling systems, but if you see thermal analysis of portable computers (laptops), the thinner they are, the more they heat up on tasks with a lot of CPU and GPU load.
GAMING
Type notebooks are very interesting for anyone studying or working in the field of architecture.
They are aimed at people who want to play video games, who need very powerful hardware. They are large (with good ventilation), heavy and usually have 17 inch screens.
The advantage is that RAM and hard drives (both mechanical and SSD) are very easy to expand. So you can choose one with little RAM and a mechanical hard disk and buy more RAM and an SSD disk separately and add it yourself.
Independent architect
For those who have finished the course, set up on their own and work from home, sharing an office with other professionals or directly from the job site, they need to choose whether to use a laptop or a desktop PC.
For those who choose a laptop I recommend a 15 inch one so you can work with a good range of vision and be able to carry it easily (most laptop bags and backpacks are 15 inches).
If you run contests, process or use BIM programs, like Revit, you need consistent hardware.
In this case I recommend an i7 processor (CPU), minimum of 12 Gb of RAM and a powerful graphics card like the Nvdia 1050ti.
Do not choose integrated cards, because they are not powerful enough or Nvidia Quadro graphics cards (GPU), because they are 10 times more expensive and offer the same results as “gaming”, like an nvidia gtx.
If you can invest a little more money, you can buy a 25-inch (DELL) or 27-inch (BENQ) external display to combine it with your laptop and use both at the same time.
Can connect via HDMI, Thunderbolt or USB. So you can leave the screen at the station you work at and you can take the laptop and work while traveling.
For those who draw all day
The next recommendation goes to architects who are part of a team / company / office and are dedicated exclusively to the elaboration of projects. In this case, who will decide and make the purchase of the computer will be the owner of the company.
If your firm is made up of several architects or designers who are dedicated exclusively to designing projects, a desktop computer is what you need.
Not only because whoever is going to use it will always be using it in the same place, but as a company asset, investment must be maintained and optimized over the years. As components deteriorate or become very old, they can be upgraded separately. There is no need to buy a new one in its entirety, as with a laptop.
For this, depending on whether you use software that requires few resources (Autocad, Sketchup, Microsoft Word, Excel) you can opt for an i5, 8 Gb of RAM and a basic graphics card. You just have to add a 25 or 27 inch screen with a keyboard and mouse and you already have a job.
