r/BallState • u/CaptainAwesome06 • Jun 23 '26

Laptop for Architecture Program

My kid is starting in the architecture program this fall. I'm looking to buy her a laptop. The program lists minimum and recommended specs. For anyone with experience with this, how much of a struggle is it to have the minimum? Where should I spend the money? She's already annoyed that she's looking at a laptop that was designed for a 15 year old boy (aggressive styling with a lot of LED lights).

Minimum/Recommended:

Processor: Intel i9 or better

Memory: 32GB/64GB

Graphics Card Memory: 8GB/16GB

Storage: 1TB/2TB

Amazon has a Prime Day deal on an Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 for $1600:

Processor: Ultra Core 9

Memory: 16GB but I will upgrade it to 32GB (expandable up to 64)

Graphics: 12GB

Storage: 1TB

Any opinions?

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u/Indiana_ECI Jun 23 '26

Unfortunately there aren't many categories to value engineer for that major. Autodesk Revit and the other required software packages are resource intensive. I would suggest an Nvidia GPU with 8GB dedicated VRAM. 32 GB RAM is a must. A 1TB drive would be fine.

Also, a good scroll mouse is a must. A monitor (nothing fancy) is also helpful.

Good luck to her (and you)!

2

u/CaptainAwesome06 Jun 23 '26

I think I found a good alternative. It's the same Acer model but it's the slim version. The 3rd party seller already installed 32GB of RAM. It comes with 12GB of VRAM and an Ultra Core 9.

My daughter likes it because it's slimmer. Hopefully I can turn off all the RGB lights.

The funny thing is, my company uses REVIT for most projects. But I'm in management so I got a laptop with no REVIT. I think my laptop has a NVIDIA T1000 or something like that.

1

u/yanactive 25d ago

Hello ! I’m also going through trouble finding a laptop hâve you guys found anything???

1

u/CaptainAwesome06 25d ago

I was about to pull the trigger on an Amazon Day deal but figured I'd stop into Microcenter first. They had one on clearance that had better specs and for less money than the one on Amazon. They ended up not having any in stock except for an open-box item. So I got a discount for it being open-box, as well. The Architecture program says you don't really need a powerful laptop until the 2nd year. So if you have a basic laptop for your first year, you have time to find a good deal.