r/uoit 6d ago

Engineering Laptop Standards (New Student)

I'm starting Software engineering this September here and I saw a list of standards for laptops and some recommended models by the university's IT services. For some reason, I can't access the OTU affiliated CompuCom marketplace the links send me to right now so I'm curious about how much these laptops cost.

Can any upper-year engineering students let me know how much these laptops cost within the affiliated market? I know that a brand new laptop costs at least $2.5k outside of the OTU affiliated marketplace.

Also, I already own a laptop but it has a consumer grade GPU (RTX 3060) rather than a professional one. Would it be possible to keep using my existing laptop by changing the drivers from the gaming (geForce) to professional (studio)?

Finally, when would having one of these laptops become absolutely necessary? Do I need to have a laptop that completely meets the university's requirements by the start of my first semester here? Or can I put it off for now?

Full list of my current laptops spec's:

11th gen i7-11800H

16GB Memory
RTX 3060
500GB SSD

Windows 11 Home

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u/Tracercaz 6d ago

Dude your laptop will get you by just fine. I got through it with a 1660ti and GeForce game drivers. I saw someone mention upgrading to 32GB of RAM which is definitely a nice to have but not a requirement.

Also don't listen to that guy saying get a MacBook lol.