Student Support

Incoming Students

One common question new incoming students ask is the recommended laptop configuration and platform type.

Either a Mac or Windows will do. It will depend on your concentration, interests, comfort, and preferences. If you are interested in making games using engines such as Unity or Unreal Engine (some students use these for projects in Computer Science), we recommend a system with a discrete or dedicated GPU. However, the department and the college have high-end gaming machines available for students with computers that do not meet the minimum requirements.

Knowledge of Unix is essential in the industry. MacOS, a BSD derivative, could be an advantage. However, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) – a feature of Windows allows you to run a Linux environment on your Windows machine.

We recommend students buy as “much computer” as their budget allows since it will last much longer.

Please refer to the Student-Owned Computing: Buying a New Computer or Laptop Web page for further information about computer configuration specifics.

Current Students

CSC IT doesn’t support “personal” computer equipment. The department offers computing resources and services to students engaged in instruction, research, and/or temporary employment that may require specialized computing environments. Please contact your instructor and/or faculty advisor to submit a request to csc_help@ncsu.edu. Some of these “departmental” resources and services include but are not limited to, desktops, bare metal servers, Virtual Machines, laptops, smart tablets, etc.

Students assigned departmental computer resources are required to abide by NCSU computer use policy and more fine-grained departmental rules and guidelines. See below for a glimpse of departmental rules and guidelines: