Computers and Monitors

Mac or Windows?

If your major uses Solidworks or Inventor software, such as most engineering majors, you should buy a laptop with windows on it. Although dual-booting is possible, it is far slower and more problematic than just having Windows 10.

Which Processor to Buy?

There are two main brands of processors: Intel and AMD. Intel is the older, more well established corporate brand, with AMD being the younger, newer technology. Although the clock speeds of the new AMD Ryzen 5000s is faster than most Intel 11th generation processors, there are a few bugs users have ran into with the 5000 series.

What Do All the Numbers in the Processor Title Mean?

When you see "Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7 Processor", the numbers and letters are actually codes for basic information about the processor. There are four generations of Intel processors: i3, i5, i7, and i9. Most laptops under $1000 will have i5 or i7 processors, with high level laptops having the newer i9 processors. Although there are a few i5 processors that are faster than some i7 processors, generally, i7 processors are faster than i5 processors. The next two numbers in the label (11 in this case) are the generation of the processor. The newest generation is the 11th generation, which is kind of like buying an iphone 12. Most cheaper laptops that college students will buy have 9th or 10th generation processors in them, but make sure to not buy an 8th gen processor (comparable to an iphone 5), as they are mostly outdated. The next numbers are called "SKU Numeric Digits", which are basically numbers assigned to processors as they are produced, with the higher number being better. After the numeric digits, the processor title will either say G1 to G7 or a letter; please consult the following chart from Intel(Source 1) to understand what the suffix means.

Suffix	Meaning
G1-G7	Graphics level, G1 being the lowest, G7 is the highest
E	Embedded
F	Requires discrete graphics
G	Includes discrete graphics on package
H	High performance optimized for mobile
HK	High performance optimized for mobile, unlocked
HQ	High performance optimized for mobile, quad core
K	Unlocked
S	Special edition
T	Power-optimized lifestyle
U	Mobile power efficient
Y	Mobile extremely low power
X/XE	Unlocked, High End

NVIDIA Graphics Card

If you are an engineering major that will be using SolidWorks or Autodesk, you will need a dedicated graphics card. The main producer of graphics cards is NVIDIA, and their two highest lines are GTX and RTX. There are also MX graphics cards from NVIDIA, such as the MX450, but these will struggle with most gaming and 3D Modeling programs. The GTX graphics cards are the more budget cards, which are usually in laptops around $1000. The two main GTX graphics cards on the market are the GTX 1050 and the GTX 1060.

Sources:

1. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/processor-numbers.html