Recommended Computer Specifications for Students and Employees

Whether you are purchasing a new computer or planning on using an existing computer, there are some minimum computer hardware requirements necessary to install and use the tools available to students and employees alike.

General Computer Use – Office 365 installed:

At a minimum, in order to install and use Microsoft Office 365, please follow the guidelines listed on Microsoft’s Office 365 site.

An overview of that list includes the following minimum specifications:

Computer Hardware Recommendations
Recommended minimums (PC) Recommended Minimums (MacOS)
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i5 / AMD A8, A10 Current Intel Processor
Memory (RAM) 8GB RAM or more (16GB RAM preferred) 8GB RAM or more (16GB RAM Preferred)
Hard Disk (HDD/SSD) 250GB SSD or more (512GB SSD preferred) 250GB SSD recommended (512GB SSD preferred)
Display 1920×1080 (1080p) screen resolution or better 1920×1080 (1080p) screen resolution or better
Browser Current version of Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome and/or Firefox
Audio/Video (for use with WebEx or Teams meetings) Video camera (USB or built-in) recommended (720p minimum, 1080p preferred), Headset with Microphone (boom, inline or built-in) recommended

 

For Graphics Arts Computers:

If using Adobe Creative Cloud, the specifications may be higher. This is an overview of the information from Adobe:

Creative Cloud desktop apps

The Creative Cloud desktop app has the following requirements:

  • Microsoft® Windows 10 (64 bit only)
  • Mac OS X v10.12 and later
  • Internet connection

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(Specifications taken from Adobe Premiere Pro system requirements)

Windows

  Minimum specifications Recommended specifications
Processor Intel® 6thGen or newer CPU – or AMD equivalent Intel® 7thGen or newer CPU – or AMD equivalent
Operating system Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1803 or later Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1809 or later
RAM 8 GB of RAM
  • 16 GB of RAM for HD media
  • 32 GB for 4K media or higher
GPU

2 GB of GPU VRAM

For a list of recommended graphic cards, see Recommended graphics cards for Adobe Premiere Pro.

4 GB of GPU VRAM

For a list of recommended graphic cards, see Recommended graphics cards for Adobe Premiere Pro.
Hard disk space
  • 8 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (will not install on removable flash storage)
  • Additional high-speed drive for media
  • Fast internal SSD for app installation and cache
  • Additional high-speed drive(s) for media
Monitor resolution 1280 x 800 1920 x 1080 or greater
Sound card ASIO compatible or Microsoft Windows Driver Model ASIO compatible or Microsoft Windows Driver Model
Network storage connection 1 Gigabit Ethernet (HD only) 10 Gigabit Ethernet for 4K shared network workflow
Internet Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services.*
More system requirements

macOS

  Minimum specifications Recommended specifications
Processor Intel® 6thGen or newer CPU Intel® 6thGen or newer CPU
Operating system macOS v10.13 or later macOS v10.13 or later
macOS v10.13 or laterRAM 8 GB of RAM
  • 16 GB of RAM for HD media
  • 32 GB for 4K media or higher
GPU 2 GB of GPU VRAM 4 GB of GPU VRAM
Hard disk space
  • 8 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (will not install on a volume that uses a case sensitive file system or on removable flash storage devices).
  • Additional high-speed drive for media
  • Fast internal SSD for app installation and cache
  • Additional high-speed drive(s) for media
Monitor resolution 1280 x 800 1920 x 1080 or greater
Network storage connection 1 Gigabit Ethernet (HD only) 10 Gigabit ethernet for 4K shared network workflow
Internet Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services.*
More system requirements