The following guidelines were developed for typical office use. In most
cases, this includes word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail, and Web browsing. If your needs go beyond that, you may need a more powerful system.
Computing technology changes a lot, and ITS makes every effort to keep these recommendations up to date. Check back often for the latest information.
These recommendations are for new computers only — please call
us for advice before upgrading an existing machine. ITS generally advises
that an office computer be replaced after 3 to 5 years of service. With
the cost of new equipment constantly declining, upgrades are generally
not cost-effective after a machine becomes four or five years old.
Students: the information on these pages can be used to aid in purchasing
decisions, however you should consult your academic department for any specific
computer hardware or software you may need for your academic work.
Recommended Configurations
Mac OS
Level of System
Low-cost system
Mid-cost system
Recommended system
Picture
Image may not
match configuration below.
Image may not
match configuration below.
Image may not
match configuration below.
Purpose
For general-purpose office tasks involving electronic
mail, Web access, Microsoft Office, calendaring, Oracle Applications,
and other basic tasks where expandability is not an issue
For moderately taxing tasks involving office
use, general purpose image/video editing, for the use of more ports and
expandability, or for those looking for a more self-contained system.
For those needing larger screens,
multiple displays, higher performance, or more expandability
Operating System
Macintosh OS X Leopard
Model
1.66GHz Intel Mac Mini
17" 2GHz Intel iMac
Dual 2.66GHz Intel Mac Pro
Processor
Single 1.66 GHz Intel Core
Duo
Single 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2
Duo
Two 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
(Faster and Quad-Core processors
optional)
Memory (RAM)
2GB, no slots remain.
2GB, no slots remain.
2 GB of 667MHz DDR2 ECC fully
buffered DIMM, four slots remain available
Disk drives
60 GB Serial ATA
hard disk (larger available)
Slot-loading Combo
drive DVD-ROM/CD-RW (reads DVD's, reads and writes CD's)
160 GB Serial ATA
hard disk
8x double-layer
Superdrive DVD-RW / CD-RW optical drive (reads and writes both CDs and
DVDs)
250 GB 7200-rpm
Serial ATA hard disk
(Three additional
hard disk bays remain available)
16x Superdrive
with double-layer support DVD-RW / CD-RW optical drive (reads and writes
both CDs and DVDs)
Ports, slots, and expansion
Four USB 2.0 (480
Mbps)
One FireWire (IEEE1394,
400 Mbps)
Three USB 2.0 (480
Mbps)
Two USB 1.1 (12
Mbps, on keyboard)
Two FireWire (IEEE1394,
400 Mbps)
Five USB 2.0 ports
(480 Mbps)
Two USB 1.1 ports
(12 Mbps, on keyboard)
Two FireWire (IEEE1394,
400 Mbps)
Two FireWire 800
(800 Mbps)
AirPort Extreme
slot
Three PCI Express
slots
Video and display
Intel GMA 950 graphics
processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory
DVI (VGA with included
adapter) with video mirroring out (using optional adapter, explained here)
ATI Radeon x1600
with 128 MB SDRAM
17-inch active
matrix LCD, 1440x900
VGA with video
mirroring out (using optional adapter, explained here); 20-inch widescreen LCD available
NVIDIA GeForce
7300 GT 256MB of GDDR2 SDRAM with single-link/dual-link DVI ports (supports
monitor spanning, explained here)
Network
Built-in 54-Mbps
AirPort Extreme Card
Built-in Bluetooth
2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) module
Built-in 10/100/1000
Gigabit BASE-T Ethernet
Built-in 56K V.92
modem
Built-in 54-Mbps
AirPort Extreme Card
Built-in Bluetooth
2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) module
Built-in 10/100/1000
Gigabit BASE-T Ethernet
Built-in 56K V.92
modem
Optional 54-Mbps
AirPort Extreme Card
Optional Bluetooth
2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) module
Built-in 10/100/1000
Gigabit BASE-T Ethernet
Optional 56K V.92
modem
Peripherals
USB keyboard with integrated unpowered USB hub (extra on mini)
USB optical mouse (extra on mini)
Built-in speaker(s)
External stereo speakers may be optional
Software
Ships with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, and may provide other bundled software from Apple. The bundled Apple software does not imply support from ITS.
Other software, including Microsoft Office, available as per the ITS Software Licensing and Volume Purchasing page, or at an academic discount through the RIT Campus Connections bookstore.
Faculty and staff systems can be imaged with RIT standard disk image when the computer arrives on campus for the fastest available setup and installation. This service may not be available initially when major new versions of Mac OS X are introduced. Faculty and staff systems must comply with the security standards available from the RIT Information Security Office. Please make arrangements for setup service through the ITS HelpDesk.
Warranty
Extended AppleCare warranty optional but recommended
for critical desktop systems and all laptops (adds two years of coverage
for three total); auto-enrollment available for institutional purchases
(requires no additional paperwork)
The following key may help you with terms used in these charts.
Ethernet: makes it possible to connect directly to the campus network
AirPort and AirPort Extreme: Apple's brand name for wireless 802.11b and 802.11g networking, respectively, which is ready to use with RIT's 802.11b wireless campus network
GB: gigabyte or 1 billion bytes
Hard disk: a magnetic disk on which you can store computer data.
MB: megabyte or 1 million bytes
OS: operating system. The master set of programs responsible for overseeing the basic hardware resources of a computer such as disks, memory, keyboard, screen, and CPU time.
RAM: random access memory. The working memory of the computer into which application programs can be loaded and executed
