FSU College of Education: Recommended Computer Specifications

Hardware

	Recommended	Minimum
CPU (Intel)	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz (1333Mhz FSB) or better	Pentium 4 2.4GHz
CPU (AMD)	AMD Phenom 9850 2.5GHz or better	Athlon 64 X2 Brisbane 2.9GHz
CPU (Apple)	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz or better	G4 1000MHz
Memory	4GB or better	2GB
Hard Drive	250GB or better	80GB
CD/DVD Drive	DVD+RW/CD+-RW or better	CD+-RW, DVD ROM
Video Adaptor	256MB RAM or better – Nvidia chipset	128MB RAM, Dedicated or Shared
Display Screen Size	Biggest you can afford	Desktop – 17” / Laptop 13.8”
Nic/Ethernet Card	10/100/1000 MB/S NIC	10/100MB/S NIC
Wireless Ethernet	802.11b/g	802.11b
Modem	56K or better*	56K*
Sound Card	Any (nonbuilt-in)	Any
USB	USB 2.0 – 4 or more ports	USB 2 – 2 or more ports
Backup / Transport Storage Device	USB Flash Memory - two 2GB or better	USB Flash Memory - 512MB
Printer	Inkjet or Laser	Inkjet or Laser
Power	UPS 500 or better	Surge Protector
Warranty	Extended 3 year warranty or better	-

* Get a 56K modem that uses the V.92 standard. Make sure the modem is not a Winmodem (also known as soft modem, controller-less modem, or Dell’s “For Windows” modem).

Software

	Recommended	Minimum
Operating System (Intel)***	Microsoft Windows XP Pro Service Pack 3 or better (partial Vista Support)^	Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
Operating System (Apple)***	Apple OSX 10.5 or better	Apple OSX 10.4
Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)*	Office 2007 (Windows) or Office 2008 (Mac)	Office 2003 (Windows) or Office 2004 (Mac)
Antivirus**	McAfee VirusScan 8.0 or better	Any antivirus with regular updates

* Microsoft Office is available at education price level at User Services Software Licensing.

** Virus definition updates for McAfee VirusScan are free.

*** Operating Systems should be kept up to date with at least critical updates via Windows update (Windows - must be running Internet Explorer) or Software Update (Apple). Windows XP should NOT be Home Edition.

^ Microsoft Windows Vista Business and Vista Ultimate Edition have limited support, all other versions are unsupported by COE staff. Not all networking features work with Microsoft Windows Vista (Business and Ultimate Edition included).