Computer recommendations for the Geospatial Sensing Program
Here is a short list of what is needed in a computer (laptop or workstation) to run geospatial software:
- Windows 7 64-bit or newer
- A quad-core Intel Core i5 2.4GHz processor or better
- 8GB of RAM (more the better)
- A dedicated NVIDA or AMD (was ATI) graphics card (required to work properly with the ESRI ArcGIS extension 3D Analyst)
Instructions of how to find such a computer include:
- New Egg:
- Go to the New Egg web site
- Click on “Computers & Tablets -> Laptops/Notebooks”
- Click on “All Laptops/Notebooks”
- Click on “Graphic Type” and select “dedicated card”
- In “CPU Type”, Check “Intel i5″ and Intel i7”
- In “Memory”, check 8 Gig at least
Note: We have had issues with refurbished machines. Our best machines are consistently Dell, ASUS, and Leenovo.
Currently, the main GIS software that is used at Cal Poly Humboldt is ArcMap, part of the ArcGIS suite of GIS software. Unfortunately, ArcGIS is only supported on the MS-Windows platform. While it is possible to run MS-Windows on a Macintosh based computer, there are challenges and it is hard enough to run ArcMap on an IBM-PC based computer. We have a limited amount of time to help configure systems and help with compatibility problems. For this reason, we can only support GSP software on IBM-PC based computers (sorry – we know Macs are cool – we just can’t support them!).
“The major graphics card manufacturers (NVIDIA and AMD [ATI]) categorize their graphics card solutions into desktop, workstation, and mobile. Experience has shown that the workstation class graphics cards have better performance and support for professional 3D applications, including the 3D Analyst.”
http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.1/index.html#//00q800000020000000
NVIDIA GeForce or AMD Radeon HD models are desktop-class video chip sets not workstation-class video chip sets.
Examples of workstation-class dedicated graphics chip sets include NVIDIA-branded NVS or Quadro chip sets or AMD-branded FirePro chip sets.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/workstation-solutions.html
http://www.amd.com/us/products/workstation/graphics/Pages/workstation-graphics.aspx
